Datejust

The Datejust began in 1945 as a gold automatic watch with the date in a small window at three o'clock. Rolex made a new bracelet for it, the five-link Jubilee. It was a dressier watch than the sports models that would follow, but its useful combination of automatic winding, a sealed case and a visible date did not depend on an occasion.

Some of its best-known features arrived later. The magnifying Cyclops lens was added in 1953. The instantaneous date-change mechanism was another subsequent development. The familiar modern Datejust was assembled over time, not delivered fully formed in its first year.

The family expanded into different sizes, metals, dials and bracelets. That variety is central to it. A smooth bezel and three-link Oyster bracelet produce a comparatively plain watch; a fluted gold bezel and Jubilee bracelet divide the surface into many smaller reflections. Both remain Datejusts.

The 41-millimeter 126334 uses a steel case and bracelet with a white-gold fluted bezel. Rolex calls that combination white Rolesor. The nearby 126300 has a smooth steel bezel instead. The distinction is easy to miss if both are described simply as steel Datejust 41s.

The mint-green example in this collection pairs the fluted bezel with a Jubilee bracelet. It uses the modern calibre 3235, with roughly seventy hours of running reserve. Its color is a recent choice within a much older format: three central hands, a date window and a bracelet whose small links have been part of the family since the beginning.