Basel 2012: Contemplation's on the Rolex Sky-Dweller

In a days time we should see Rolex's new watches for 2012, and rumor is one of these watches will be a new Rolex Sky-Dweller. But I do have some reservations about that. 

History. Every Rolex Professional watch is built for some ostensible purpose. The Submariner was made for scuba divers, and the Sea-Dweller for deep sea explorers. The GMT Master was a tool for transatlantic pilots, and the Explorer for those who intended to go where no one has been before. The Daytona was built with motor sports in mind, and the Yatchmaster for the regatta. For engineers and scientist working in environments with strong magnetic fields we have the Milgauss.

Still, the image does highlight the thin atmosphere above the clouds...

But who are Sky-Dwellers. I really would not consider pilots and crew of transatlantic flights as Sky-Dwellers, they are more like transient passersby. Airships which would spend days in the sky have been phased out since World War II. The days where aviation pioneers would circumnavigate the globe is history. Well almost. 

The Brietling Orbiter circumnavigate the globe in 1999. In a year or two, the Solar Impulse, a Swiss long-range solar powered plane of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne hopes to succeed in the first circling of the earth with a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power. Maybe they are the modern Sky-Dwellers.

Image from Wikipedia

Sky-Dwellers could also refer to astronauts in space stations. One of the earliest space stations was called Sky Lab.

Image from Wikipedia

Features. Whether referring to aviators or astronauts the watch, a watch suitable for a Sky-Dweller would have certain desirable features. The ability to keep track of multiple time zones would be useful, and the image picture does definitely hint to that. A chronograph function is useful in navigation. Will we see a dual time chronograph watch?

Enough pointless rambling. Let us wait, and savor it. In a day, all will be revealed and we wont have the same level of excitement for another year. Sometimes, not knowing is more satisfying.