Rolex Sky-Dweller Blue Dial 336934
Rolex Sky-Dweller 336934
First launched in 2012, the Sky-Dweller was the first “new” watch line that Rolex had released in 20 years. The new kid on the block prior to that was the Yacht-Master which made its debut in 1992.
More importantly though, it has a whole new bells and whistles set of complications, dedicated movement (calibre 9002), and is Rolex’s most complex watch ever produced containing an annual calendar, dual timezone, date and month display.
The Sky Dweller is the first annual calendar watch that Rolex has ever made, which is quite surprising given the age of the brand, but if you think about it, its done dates, days, chronographs, GMT's and moon phases - but never an annual or perpetual calendar.
(They did make a triple calendar in the 50s with ref 6062 but you’re looking at around a million for a good example, such is their rarity.
Triple calendars are named because they display the day, date and month, not because they are self governing in the same way as annual and perpetual calendars - you still need to adjust a triple five times a year so theyre complex, but not that complex.)
The watch has its Sky-Dweller moniker because it’s designed for those crossing time-zones, and while it IS a GMT, the annual calendar complication makes it just that little bit “extra”.
It’s an incredibly well thought out piece of engineering and unlike anything else in the Rolex line-up
Aesthetics wise, on first inspection it looks like the Schwarzenegger of Datejusts with a 42mm diameter by 14mm thick gold or stainless case. Its chunky and distinctive but still exceptionally well balanced and comfortable.
It’s definitely a casual piece due to its size and presence, but at the same time, it’s one that looks perfectly at home in a formal setting thanks to its fluted gold bezel which, as Datejust owners will be able to testify, adds quite the rippling light show when on the wrist, in short, it goes well with anything.
While the Sky-Dweller is offered on pretty much all the bracelet options - Oysterflex, Jubilee and Oyster (with some early models available on alligator) the one we have in had today is the eternally popular steel and white gold blue dialled model on an Oyster bracelet which is probably the sportiest option of them all.
The dial is a lovely sunburst blue which ranges from electric to navy depending on lighting and while its showing a lot of information, doesn’t look cramped.
There’s a central disk displaying 24 hours, and an inverted triangle pointer at the top which is used to mark “Home” time, while the standard hour and minute hands deal with local. This is effectively the GMT complication.
The date is found in its usual spot at 3 beneath the trademark cyclops, and the month appears marked above one of the 12 hour indexes (which double up as months) on the dial in red, so for example, if the red appears above the four marker, you know its April, above the ten marker, October, and so on.
Clever, and uncluttered.
So, how do you set it?
Via the RING COMMAND system, which sounds like something out of Star Trek but is actually very intuitive to use once you get the hang of it.
Its worth noting at this point that as the Sky Dweller is an Annual calendar, once you’ve set the date, month, and time to your preference you should only need to re-set it on the first of March.
Annual calendars differ from perpetuals because they don’t recognise the fewer number of days in February so require some owner input to deal with the change.
The Ring Command system operates from 4 different bezel positions.
Turned all the way clockwise to the right, you can unscrew and wind the crown as you would a normal watch, but if you pull the crown out fully, nothing happens.
Fear not, it isn’t broken.
This is the neutral safety position, and the spot where you turn the bezel back to whenever you’ve finished setting.
To set the home or reference time (24 hour scale), which you will need to sort prior to setting local time, move the bezel to its third and furthest anti-clockwise position and pull out the crown 1 click, then you can set the reference time via the crown.
Set your chosen hour so that it sits below the red triangle, and correct the minutes and seconds.
Then, advance the bezel 1 click clockwise, and use the crown to set the jumping hour hand to local time.
Another bezel click clockwise enables you to use the crown to set the date and month.
Cycle through the date display until the date jumps over at 30/31 and advances the month indicator above one of the 12 indexes on the dial.
When month and date match up to your liking, rotate the bezel one further click clockwise to set it into its nautral/safety position.
Job done, and nothing further to do until the end of February puts a spanner in the works, or you need to correct the time which shouldn’t be too often as the Sky-Dweller has a superlative chronometer rating to -/+2 seconds per day.