Rolex Land-Dweller Watch Review

The elephant in the room at Watches & Wonders 2025 is the launch of the brand new Land-Dweller collection from Rolex. Aesthetically it’s a revival of the Oysterquartz, Rolex’s original integrated bracelet watch, but this time they’ve given it an automatic movement instead of a quartz one. We got hands-on with it to discover all the details.

First thing’s first, there are two size options to choose from. 36mm or 40mm. At 36mm it leans towards the more feminine though in terms of style it remains resolutely unisex. The 40mm is my personal preference as it has a bit more wrist presence, especially with the broad surfaces of the integrated lugs and bracelet. It’s fitted with a fluted bezel in the same style as the Sky-Dweller that inspired the collection’s name.

There are also a couple of materials on offer as well. There’s white Rolesor, which is the term Rolex give to their bi-metallic watches, this example is specifically a combination of steel and white gold. There’s then also an Everose gold edition and a platinum one. On the wrist it’s noticeable how much the materials affect the weight of the watch with the steel being the lightest and platinum the heaviest as it’s the densest model.

The bracelet is also notable for its new interpretation of the jubilee style, flattening the links. It actually wears very well and with its combination of brushed and polished finishing it fits the sports-luxe vibe perfectly. It definitely suits the Rolesor model best.

Looking to the dials, the Rolesor and Everose models have white opaline displays while the platinum edition is sky blue, following in the Rolex platinum tradition. It features a new honeycomb pattern of tessellating hexagons that have been slightly stretched on a horizontal axis. It reminds me of a more stylised, somewhat sportier interpretation of the ‘fluted’ dial motif from the old Datejust collection.

The use of a repeating pattern textured dial is a well-established trope for integrated bracelet sports watches. The Royal Oak has its Tapisserie, the Nautilus has its horizontal engraving, the Laureato has its Clous de Paris, the PRX has its squares (similar to the RO) and even more recent designs follow the same concept such as the Christopher Ward The Twelve. So while the honeycomb pattern itself is new, the overall design of the watch doesn’t feel fresh. A rare example of Rolex being behind the curve because if they had released this watch in 2022 it would’ve brought the house down but in 2025, the zeitgeist has moved on.

Don’t get me wrong, I think people are still going to buy the watch and there are definitely people who already love it. But you can definitely be a little cynical about the design. What’s harder to be cynical about though is the movement housed inside. It’s the new calibre 7135 with 66-hour power reserve, based on the 7140 introduced in the 1908 collection. It features a new hi-beat Dynapulse escapement which beats at a 5Hz frequency and which has seven new patents.

Rather than bumble through my own description, this is how Rolex describe it: “It is composed of a transmission wheel that engages with two distribution wheels; these, in turn, activate the impulse rocker, which then connects with the oscillator. This innovative architecture reduces the escapement’s energy consumption since the various components interact by rolling against each other, rather than by sliding as in the case of the Swiss lever escapements used in the brand’s other mechanical movements.”

Then we come to the price, which varies dramatically depending on material and size. At 36mm: Rolesor £12,250, Everose £36,900, Platinum £50,800 and at 40mm: Rolesor £13,050, Everose £40,300, Platinum £54,600. Plus, you can go further by adding an optional diamond bezel in place of the standard fluted one.

Considering that the Oysterquartz was an entry level Rolex, it feels slightly odd that the Land-Dweller hasn’t followed suit. Conceptually it feels like it should be in the OP price range, although as a counter argument to that Royal Oaks and Nautili aren’t exactly entry level watches either and those are the watches Rolex want this release to compete with.

So soon after the watch’s release it’s difficult to form a definitive opinion on the Land-Dweller. Time and sales will be what determine if it’s a success. Is it just an expensive PRX or is it the next mega-hit sports watch?

More details at Rolex.

​Oracle Time 

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