While most Rolex fans were busy checking out the new Daytona, Sky-Dweller, and Sea-Dweller; another of the most famous Rolex watches received a few new upgrades of its own. The 10-year anniversary edition of the Yacht-Master II didn’t necessarily make a splash (pun intended), it did bring some small but important changes in 2017.
Here’s what you need to know about the 2017 Rolex Yacht-Master II Ref. 116680:
Calibre 4161
No major changes here, which is probably a good thing. The Calibre 4161 has powered the Rolex Yachtmaster since 2013 when it was unveiled at Baselworld, and is just a solid movement for this watch. It’s an automatic movement that is infamous for the nearly 35,000 hours of development that went into its creation, as well as the 360 parts that it is comprised of.
Other than time, the movement powers the Yachtmaster’s Regatta chronograph complication, which is a programmable countdown timer controlled by a “Ring Command” bezel.
The updated Dial
This is where you’ll see most of the major changes to the new Yacht-Master II. In a move to make the Yacht-master more similar to the other “Professional” series watches like the Day-Date and Daytona, Rolex has tweaked some of the older elements of the watch.
Specifically, on the dial, Rolex replaced two of the hour markings. The 12 o’clock marking is now an upside-down triangle, while the 6 o’clock is a longer rectangle.
Again, not major stuff here, but the difference in the dial’s new look is noticeable.
New hands
The most prominent change to the Yacht-master II is in the hands. The older Yacht-master references featured slimmer hands. Those have now been replaced with larger “Mercedes” style hands that offer up more space for luminescence and also fall in line with the newer professional watch designs that we mentioned previously.
Overall, the robust look from the new hands matches up well with the Yacht-Master II’s aesthetic. It’s a large and bold watch at 44mm, and the newer hands only accentuate that.
Final thoughts
As always, the Yacht-Master II is a solid watch. We don’t consider it the best daily wear because it’s a fairly “loud” and large watch, and there is no date on the dial (which is one of our favorite characteristics of a great daily wear), but it would certainly get the job done for you if you wanted to use it in that capacity.
Ultimately, the Yacht-Master II is at home on the water where it belongs. Here’s to 10 more years with this incredible watch!
Technical specs
Oyster, 44 mm, steel
Monobloc middle case, screw-down case back/winding crown
44 mm
Bidirectional rotatable Ring Command bezel
904L steel
Screw-down, Triplocksystem
Scratch-resistant sapphire
Waterproof to 100 meters/330 feet
Perpetual, mechanical, self-winding, regatta chronograph
4161
-2/+2 sec/day, after casing
Centre hour and minute hands, small seconds hand at 6 o’clock. Programmable countdown with mechanical memory and on-the-fly sync
Bidirectional self-winding
Approximately 72 hours
Oyster, flat three-piece links
904L steel
Folding Oysterlock safety clasp with Easylink 5 mm comfort extension link
White
Highly legible Chromalight display
If you are interested in purchasing your own Rolex Sea-Dweller, give us a call or fill out our contact form. Check out our Facebook page for box openings and watch reviews by our in-house watch expert Sergio Nuncio!
