Welcome to the unconfirmed list of new Rolex watches that all watch enthusiasts like us are hoping and dreaming to come true.

To give a little bit of context to this article, not many people know the inside scoop around the annual Rolex releases and while many speculators (including ourselves) can try and figure it out we are all just imagining the possibility of our own predations coming true.

With that being said let’s focus on the facts of what we know about Rolex and what they have done in the past.

Special Birthdays

Every couple of years, Rolex will celebrate the birthday of one or two of their current model lines. This year (2023) is no different with the special 70th Birthday of the Rolex Submariner and the 60th Birthday of the Rolex Daytona.

Both these sports watches have had some commemorative upgrades in the past few years which have either been a great success or (in our opinion) significant downgrade.

Let’s start with the Submariner. This watch got an upgrade in 2021, featuring the new 3235 movements, a 41mm case size, a thicker bracelet, and replacing coloured dials on some models with black dials. While many saw this as a great improvement on the submariner the markets, unfortunately, didn’t. This saw the updated model 126610lv (The Starbucks) dipping way below the previous generation (116610LV – The Hulk).

However, on the flip side in 2016, the Rolex Daytona had a significant upgrade featuring a new 4130 movement and a ceramic bezel on all steel models. This upgrade was seen as a huge success and this started in the now infamous waiting lists that we know today.

In the background to the steel Daytona was the Daytonas Golden brother the 116508 which features a vibrant Green Dial most commonly seen on the Rolex Hulk. This watch, (nicknamed the John Mayer after the famous Hodinkee interview ‘Taking Watches’), was Rolex’s way of commemorating the Daytona’s success over its troubled beginnings as Rolex’s first and only chronograph watch. These new additions to the Daytona collection catapulted the demand for the brand and the word on everyone’s lips in 2023 is…What’s happening for the 60th birthday?

The Predictions

With two big birthdays happening for both the Submariner and the Daytona, we are expecting Rolex to issue some god-tier magic to live up to previous birthdays for other models.

So what do we think could be introduced in 2023?

Submariner Date -  126618LV

For those fans of the 116610LV (aka The Hulk), you will be drooling over the thought of a full yellow-gold submariner with a green dial and bezel. Some might say this will never happen however, everyone wants it to happen.

When the 116610LV got discontinued back in 2021, everyone was hugely disappointed as it was a simply stunning watch at a fantastic price point. Today it has been replaced with the 126610LV which features a less attractive black dial and green bezel. Did Rolex remove the green dial from the steel version to make way for the new updated gold version for the big 70th birthday?

We think so! Looking back at the Daytona and how that watch received the same treatment back in 2016, it would seem convenient to reissue the green dial submariner back into production in a beautiful 18k gold finish.

Rolex Daytona -  126501

The Rolex Daytona has been featured in many colour ways throughout the years, however, one colourway that has not been applied is the use of steel and everose gold. The beautiful colour tone which recently came out in 2018 on the GMT master 2 (aka the Rootbeer) became a smash hit and subsequently replaced steel with the yellow gold GMT master 2 variation.

Is this a big enough birthday surprise for the iconic Daytona? Well no, I don’t think it is and the leaves the door open to a holy grail Daytona which could be in the form of…

Rolex Daytona -  126505

This solid everose Daytona with the blue sunburst dial would be a collector’s dream as such a combination has never been tried on the Daytona. However, the rumor mill for 2022 had watch pundits such as Paul Thorpe suggesting that this colour variation could be featured on the day date line. Unfortunately, this never came to reality in 2022, however, the desire for everose gold on sports model watches has been growing since the introduction of everose in the GMT Master 2 range, and adding a blue dial to the Daytona would definitely be a statement piece.

Could this new addition discontinue the current 116508 ‘John Mayer’ Daytona? Yes, we think it could. Rolex have always been a fan of discontinuing watches even if they are immensely popular, so it wouldn’t be out of character for Rolex to do the same again here.

So, when will we know?

We can expect the rumor mill to be churning at least 1-2 weeks before the Watches and Wonders event in April 2023 but we won’t know for sure until the 1st of April 2023. Be sure to tune in to our Instagram stories as the news unravels and hopefully, we will all be in for some good surprises from Rolex this year.