If you’re a fan of Rolex or luxury watches in general, it’s only natural to want to know what new watches the Swiss watchmaking giant has released for 2022. However, it can also be interesting to know what models, references, and collections Rolex has discontinued. Since discontinued Rolex watches can no longer be purchased at authorized dealers, the secondary market is the only place to buy them.
Yes, some models go up in value since Rolex is no longer producing them, but that isn’t always the case. The value of obsolete Rolex watches can dip in the short term because people are holding out to buy newer versions. And it’s also entirely possible that some discontinued Rolex watches neither go up nor down in price on the secondary market because no one is really paying attention to those particular models.
Let’s get right to it and have a closer look at all the Rolex watches that were discontinued in 2022.
Discontinued Rolex Oyster Perpetual
It’s hard to imagine, but Rolex has dropped some of its most popular colorways from the Oyster Perpetual collection. We recently published an article about how watches with colorful dials are a hot timepiece trend right now, with Rolex leading the pack (as usual.)
Yet, for reasons unknown to everyone except for a select few inside the company, Rolex has stopped making Oyster Perpetual watches with yellow and coral red dials, in addition to canceling turquoise and candy pink dials for certain sizes.
Here’s a list of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual watches discontinued in 2022:
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41 ref. 124300 turquoise dial
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41 ref. 124300 coral red dial
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41 ref. 124300 yellow dial
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36 ref. 126000 coral red
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36 ref. 126000 yellow dial
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 31 ref. 277200 yellow dial
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 31 ref. 277200 candy pink dial
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 31 ref. 277200 coral red dial
Oyster Perpetual watches with yellow, turquoise, coral red, and candy pink dials were already difficult enough to get while they were in production thanks to their immense popularity. The decision to stop making them all together (after only two years in production) will only make it even more challenging and expensive to buy pre-owned colorful Oyster Perpetual watches
Discontinued Rolex Day-Date
The Rolex Day-Date, better known as the Rolex President, has always been the brand’s most prestigious watch collection. Every Day-Date watch, regardless of size or when it was made, has always been crafted exclusively in precious metal, be it gold or platinum. One of the options the Day-Date has long offered was the style of the bezel; it can be smooth, fluted, or gem-set. One thing that was always true was that if a Day-Date (or any Rolex for that matter) had a fluted bezel, the bezel was made from 18k gold. And platinum Day-Date watches always had smooth bezels (or diamond-set bezels).
However, that all changed in 2022 when Rolex introduced new platinum Day-Date watches with platinum fluted bezels — and discontinued the platinum Day-Date 40 ref. 228206 watch with a smooth bezel.
While we’re big fans of the fluted bezel and it’s no doubt a signature Rolex design detail, we do have to point out that a platinum Day-Date with a fluted bezel could easily be mistaken for a white gold model given their identical design and almost indistinguishable metal colors. Does it matter? Maybe not, but the price difference between a platinum Rolex and a white gold Rolex is significant.
Discontinued Rolex Yacht-Master II
One of Rolex’s largest and most complicated watches, the Yacht-Master II regatta chronograph has always been a watch that garners strong opinions. It’s unapologetically big and brash, not to mention ultra-expensive. Rolex once offered four variations of the Yacht-Master II: stainless steel, yellow gold, two-tone steel/Everose gold, and bi-metal white gold/platinum.
However, Rolex has now let go of the white gold Yacht-Master II 116689 with a platinum bezel. Funny enough, despite the pairing of the two precious metals, this variation was the most subtle of the quadrant of Yacht-Master II watches due to the monochromatic colorway. Unlike the three other models, the now-discontinued Yacht-Master II ref. 116689 did not have a bright blue Ceramic bezel but instead, a sandblasted platinum bezel that matched the silvery tone of the white gold case and bracelet.
Discontinued Rolex Air-King
Rolex released the Air-King 116900 in 2016. Although the Air-King name has been a part of Rolex’s history since the mid-1940s, the reference 116900 was unlike any other Air-King model that came before it. Not only was it significantly bigger than its predecessors but it also sported a black dial with quirky details like a mix of hour and minute markers, and the Rolex branding in a striking combination of green and yellow.
After 6 years in production, the Rolex Air-King 116900 was discontinued in 2022 to make way for the new-generation Air-King 126900 with a new movement, a slightly revamped dial, and a redesigned case now featuring crown guards.
Discontinued Rolex Deepsea
One of the more puzzling discontinued Rolex watches of 2022 is the Deepsea 126660, which made its debut in 2018. Yet, after only four years of production, Rolex has replaced it with the new Deepsea 136660. What has many of us scratching our heads is that there’s not much difference between the two references. The latest Deepsea has a bezel that’s a touch thinner, a slightly reshaped sapphire crystal, a date window that's 8% larger, and a bracelet that lacks the Fliplock extension link.
Do these minor updates warrant the termination of the Deepsea 126660 in favor of a brand new reference? Even if there have been plenty of other times where Rolex watches have received significant upgrades but retained the same reference number)
Rolex says yes; so yes it is.
Discontinued Rolex Cellini
Home to the brand’s range of non-water-resistant (i.e. non-Oyster) dress watches in precious metals, the Cellini has long been Rolex’s least-known collection. The biggest update to the Cellini occurred in 2014 when Rolex redesigned the entire line with new cases, materials, dial styles, and complications. Then in 2017, Rolex added the delightful Cellini Moonphase, and the future of the Cellini collection looked bright.
However, in 2022, the future of the Cellini may very well be in jeopardy because Rolex has canceled every reference in the collection except for the Moonphase ref. 50535.
Here’s a list of the Rolex Cellini watches discontinued in 2022:
Will the Cellini Moonphase eventually follow suit and be kicked to the curb soon or will other models join the solo reference? We’ll be keeping an eye on this one.
Discontinued Rolex Pearlmaster
The entire Pearlmaster watch collection has disappeared from Rolex’s website. That’s right, the lineup of ultra-exclusive gem-set Rolex jewelry watches with its signature five-link bracelet is nowhere to be seen. Therefore, we can only assume that the Rolex Pearlmaster collection has been discontinued in 2022.
Will it make a return soon in a fresh new way? It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Rolex quietly takes a whole collection out of production only to revive it later (Sea-Dweller, Air-King, and Milgauss are some examples), gleaming with a slew of updates.
From retail to the secondary market
There you have it, all the Rolex watches that were given the ax in 2022. Some made sense because they made way for newer references to take over while other withdrawals were more surprising.
It will be interesting to see if these now-discontinued Rolex models will attract more attention in the pre-owned market simply because they’re no longer being made. Or perhaps buyers won’t react because they were never that popular to begin with.
