The most-anticipated watch of 2025 takes Rolex to unconquered territory

Rolex evoked the wonders of the galaxy with its Space-Dweller watch of 1963, followed it up four years later with the Sea-Dweller extreme dive watch and then set about catering for the international jet-set with the Sky-Dweller travel number of 2012. So that left just one place for the mighty watch brand to cover – Mother Earth herself.

Enter the Land-Dweller, the first new Rolex sports watch for 20 years and the most talked-about new timepiece launch of 2025 before, during and after anyone got a first glimpse of it at April’s Watches and Wonders show in Geneva.

Actually, that wasn’t the first time anyone got a first glimpse of it because the day before the show opened on April 1, tennis legend and Rolex ‘testimonee’ (a Rolex term used since the 1960s) Roger Federer was snapped wearing one while out and about.

As watch-savvy readers will see, the Land-Dweller is an integrated bracelet design, i.e. the bracelet and case blend seamlessly together rather than the bracelet or strap being attached using a case with conventional lugs and bars. Several Rolex rivals have been making the most of the revival of the design in recent years, but Rolex hasn’t offered an integrated bracelet watch since the demise of the Oysterquartz in 2001,

The original precursor to such quartz-powered Rolex watches was the Reference 5100 which was launched in 1969 after the maker, together with 21 other watch companies, established a consortium based in Neuchâtel called the Centre Electronique Horloger to develop the first Swiss made quartz movement.

But while the Land-Dweller’s appearance harks back to those battery powered watches of the past, it’s entirely 21st century in terms of its state-of-the-art, made-for-the model Calibre 7135 self-winding movement.

Operating at the high-frequency of 5HZ (that’s 36,000 vibrations per hour) for increased accuracy, the movement alone has warranted 16 patent applications and includes features such as the maker’s silicon Syloxi hairspring and its Paraflex shock absorber system.

The distinctive honeycomb-pattern dial is laser cut and features hour markers treated with Rolex Chromalight luminous material, while the hands have been especially designed for the new Land-Dweller model, as has its unique, flat-link Jubilee bracelet.

Flipping the watch over reveals a sapphire crystal case back that gives a view onto the beautifully finished movement (which is claimed to be accurate to plus/minus two seconds per day) and the distinctive fluted retaining ring that keeps the Oyster case water resistant down to 100m.

A range of sizes and metals promise to give the watch a wide appeal.

Rolex Land-Dweller, from £12,230. rolex.com