Inside the Oyster

Since the end of 2007, all of the Rolex Oyster Perpetuals are now powered by in-house self-winding COSC certified automatic movements which beat at a uniform 28,800 vibrations per hour. The last hold-out was the no-date 14060M Submariner, but even that was COSC was sold with COSC certified movements shortly before it was discontinued last year.

While the physical appearance of the watch is a major deciding factor in purchasing a new Rolex, we are taking a look what inside Rolex's Oyster Perpetual gentlemen's watches.

Caliber 3130. The Rolex 3130 movement is found inside Rolex's entry level watch, the Air King, and other no-date watches in Rolex's line-up like the Rolex Explorer since 2001.

Caliber 3131. The Rolex 3131 movement is a 3130 movement with a Parachrom-Blu for the hairspring material. This movement is found in the Rolex Milgauss. The Parachrome-Blu hairspring provides better resistance to magnetism and shock.

Parachrome-Blu hairspring

Caliber 3135. The workhorse of the Rolex line-up. It is a 3130 movement with the date complication. This is found in the Rolex Datejust, Submariner, Yatchmaster and the recently discontinued Sea-Dweller 4000 since 1988.

Caliber 3155. The Rolex 3155 movement is a 3135 movement with the day complication. This is found in the Rolex Day-Date and Masterpiece watches since 1988.

Caliber 3135

Caliber 3185. The Rolex 3185 movement is a 3135 movement with an independent 4th hand which rotates once every 24 hours (GMT). This used to be the movement used in the older GMT Master II. This movement which was first used in 1988 in the GMT Master II and Rolex Explorer II, is used only in the latter. Some of the newer Explorer II's are reported to use the Caliber 3186 movement instead.

Caliber 3186. The Rolex 3185 movement is a 3185 with a Parachrom-Blu for the hairspring material. This movement used in the current GMT Master II with the ceramic bezel.

Caliber 4130. The Rolex 4130 movement is a chronograph movement with 30 minute and 12 hour totalizators. Parachrom is used for the hairspring material. Essentially the same as Parachrom-Blu without the blue color. Later production models now have the hairspring in blue. This movement is used only in the Rolex Daytona, and has been in use since the year 2000.

Caliber 4160. The Rolex 4160 movement is a chronograph movement with a 10 minute countdown timer. Parachrom-Blu is used for the hairspring material. This movement is used only in the Rolex Yachtmaster II.

What's coming? A bit of guess work on our part, but this is what we expect to see in Rolex's new watches.

Caliber 3136. Inside the soon to be released Rolex Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA and Submariner with ceramic bezels we expect to see the Rolex 3136 movement, basically a 3135 movement with Parachrom-Blu for the hairspring material.

Caliber 3156. For the Day-Date II, we expect to see the 3156 movement, which is essentially a 3155 movement with Parachrom-Blu for the hairspring material.

About Rolex. Rolex SA is a Swiss manufacturer of wristwatches and accessories founded in 1905 by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis. Rolex is the largest single luxury watch brand by far, producing over 2000 watches per day. Rolex is the best known and most sought after watch brand in the world.