Yacht-Master Origins & History..

Yacht-Master Origins & History

An Ultra-Rare Rolex Prototype

The 1967-1969 Rolex YACHT-MASTER

My pal and fellow Rolex fanatic from Italy, John Goldberger recently sent in these stunning photos of his Ultra-Rare 39.5mm Rolex Yacht-Master Chronograph Prototype [Reference 6239/6242] the dial of which was made in 1967 and the watch in 1969. How rare you ask? It is one of only two known examples. I know Eric Clapton owned one.

Note: You have to click on this image to check out the detail. It is also a great piece of desktop wallpaper courtesy of John Goldberger.

John is one of the worlds leading vintage Rolex collectors and last year he published his amazing 100 Superlative Rolex Watches which I did a detailed review of, along with a fascinating podcast interview with John which you can see by clicking here.

So what is the origin of the Rolex Yachtmaster Chrongraph? From my study of Rolex design it is crystal clear to me that Rolex experimented like crazy and one could argue that Rolex threw everything they could think of at the wall and waited to see what stuck. The original Rolex Yachtmaster is interesting because it was the second Rolex developed around the Nautical theme–the first being the Rolex Submariner.

Ironically, Rolex developed the Yachtmaster Chronograph before they developed the SEA-DWELLER. I believe Rolex wanted to try to capitalize on the extreme success of the Submariner as a tool watch.

The original Yachtmaster looks like early Rolex Daytona models, but the Daytona models at the time were 36mm, where the Yachtmaster was 39.5mm. Rolex ultimately decided not to bring the Yachtmaster Chronograph to market in the late 1960s, but it remains a very interesting piece of Rolex design history!!!

The Rebirth Of The Rolex Submariner Yacht-Master

In the early 1990s Rolex introduced an all new Yacht-Master, but what was its design genesis? A friend of mine, many years ago told me the story of how and why Rolex developed the modern Yacthmaster. I can't confirm his story, because I was not there but I will share it with you:

In the late 1980s, Rolex wanted to significantly update and modernize its Rolex Submariner model. The Rolex design team experimented like crazy and came up with what today is the modern Yacht-Master. The challenge was that Rolex loved the new design, but was scared to death to radically transform the Submariner. The Rolex Submariner was at the time and remains to this day, the most iconic watch in the world.

One could argue that for the last half-century, the Submariner has been Rolex's bread & butter.

Rolex loved the design of the new Submariner prototype; where the original had hard right angles, the new one had smoothly radiused edges. The new version had an etched bezel insert that was permanently soldered to the bezel. The new watch had fat hands and maxi markers and was a magnificent work of streamlined art. The challenge was that it looked nothing like the original.

Jocke, the famous Rolex photographer took the side by side photo above of the Rolex LV Submariner with Black Bezel Insert next to his Stainless and Platinum Yacht-Master. If you look at the two watches side by side, you really see how similar they are-so much so, one could argue they are the exact same watch.

Rolex Design Language Evolutionary Steps

Design Note: Rolex design language has always been about evolving and then checking back-in with the past. This design methodology typically results in a timeless product that has strong ties to its past. If you examine the all-new Rolex Submariner Rolex Introduced in 2011, you see how it leap-frogged right over the Yacht-Master, while building on the Yacht-Master design language.

In other words, the new Supercase Submariner (2011 Model) has a ceramic bezel insert with lowered white gold markers, which give it a more sculptured/etched look like the Yacht-Master bezel in reverse. Just in the same way the crown guards grew fatter on the Yacht-Master than on the older Submariner, the new Ceramic Submariner has even fatter, crown guards.

Same thing with the new Ceramic Submarine getting fattened up lugs that give it a SuperCase. Also, add the fat hands, and Maxi-Markers, and the Ceramic Submariner leap-frogs the Yacht-Master by adding the super-innovative glide-lock clasp.

I realize I got a little sidetracked with the Submariner/Yacht-Master discussion, so now let's go back to the Yacht-Master. Rolex ultimately decided to revive their old trademark of Yacht-Master, and the rest, as they say, is history. If you carefully examine the modern Yachtmaster you will find it is almost identical in every way to a Submariner!!! The stainless steel and platinum Yacht-Master below almost looks like an albino version of the Submariner.