The classical Rolex Cellini timepiece from Rolex has modern touches of beautiful lines and luxurious materials like white gold or rose gold to add to its vintage appeal.
The Rolex Cellini collection has a case size of 39mm with a self-winding mechanical Rolex movement and is dressed with a black alligator Rolex leather strap. The Cellini is a different kind of Rolex. It isn’t a tool watch designed for a specific activity such as driving race cars, diving, yachting, etc. It is just meant to be a beautiful simple creation – a dress watch meant to be worn under a suit rather than doing athletic activities.
The Cellini brand was named after the great 16th century Florience/Italian artist, goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. Rolex started the Cellini line of timepieces as early as 1928, and today only features one Cellini option on its site.
The Rolex Cellini Traditional Dress Watch.
It is commonly thought that in every man’s collection of timepieces there should be at least one simple Dress Watch. Although many Rolex timepieces with the Oyster brand have crossed over into the dress watch category (specifically the Oyster line), they are still primarily tool watches and are quite a bit thicker than the typical simple design of a dress watch.
Genius Rolex marketer Rene-Paul Jeanneret pioneered the idea that you could own multiple Rolex timepieces for different purposes. Why own just one timepiece when you could own a dress watch for dinner parties, a Submariner for pool and ocean diving, and a GMT Master for traveling.
The Cellini does not have the screw down crown and case back. A Cellini isn’t meant to be used for athletic endeavors, and therefore has rather minimal waterproofness support at generally 165 feet or less.
The Cellini has had multiple shapes, sizes and designs over the years. The above King Midas is one very unique Cellini that was sold between the 1960’s and 1970’s. John Wayne and Elvis Presley were wearers of this unique Rolex design.
The King Midas was known for its Greek inspired look. Designed by the famous Gerald Genta, who designed famous timepieces for Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe, this Cellini has a picture frame style to it. This could be considered the ultimate dress watch.
It is made from pure yellow gold. It’s value is tied to its rather unknown connection to Rolex and that its price tag hasn’t risen to the levels of other Oyster style Rolex models. In fact, due to the current price of Gold, it is like purchasing a brick of gold and actually feels like wearing a brick of gold on your wrist.
In 2022 Rolex quietly discontinued most of its Cellini timepieces. The only remaining Cellini is the above Moonphase reference 50535 made with Everose gold. This was launched in 2017 and is a perfect example of an elegant dress watch.
The case is 39mm large and has both a polished inner and fluted outer bezel. The winding crown has a fluted outer edge and gives an appearance of the Rolex crown. It is a natural fit to this gorgeous timepiece.
The white lacquer dial has the date which appears around the edge. A blue hand is used for the date indicator. This is a much more classic look rather than the normal Rolex date window aperture with cyclops lens that doesn’t appear on the Cellini line.
The moonphase dial appears at the 6 o’clock position with a downward applique that indicates the position of the moon in the night’s sky.
The gentle hour marker appliques are positioned throughout the dial, with the Rolex crown appearing at the 12 o’clock position and the moonphase dial overlapping the 6 o’clock hour marker.
The hour markers are split to allow an inner 0-60 notation at 2/3 of the distance to the edge of the dial. Numerals are given at 5 minute/second marks around the dial allowing you to count seconds or minutes accurately. The swordlike hour and minute hands pierce through the dial with precision.
Powered by an automatic 3195 caliber, this timepiece has a 48 hour power reserve. The Cellini pictured above has a tobacco leather strap with a folding crown clasp. Listed at just under 27k, this timepiece is a significantly luxurious timepiece.
However, it seems that Rolex is either going to redesign the Cellini line or discontinue it altogether. I would not be surprised to see a more powerful caliber added to the Cellini, or an attempt to create a more complicated timepiece in order to compete with other brands.
Rubber B initially developed the Structure Series band which has 6 leather bracelets for the Rolex Moonphase reference 50535. The two black leather bracelets are available in genuine alligator or full-grain leather with the patented Rubber B vulcanized rubber base for comfort and durability.
However, now, Rubber B also developed Swimskin – 100% Vegan friendly waterproof bands made from pure vulcanized rubber. These bands are made with the same look and feel of real leather, with the same creases that a truly leather band would have. This process is a machine invented solution developed over several years, and perfected into making faux leather and fabric and other style bands which are fit for strength and athletic activities.
The Rubber B bracelets are made in Switzerland out of pure vulcanized rubber with leather stitched on top. The Rubber B Structure Series bands are fitted with a 316L Stainless Steel tang buckle-providing a durable clasp that provides excellent support for a sports watch of this caliber. For more information visit the Rubber B universal band page here.
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