Rolex Debuts First New Line in 13 Years: the Land-Dweller

By Rob Bates | April 02, 2025

Rolex just released its first new model in 13 years—the Land-Dweller, a slim sports watch that the Financial Times called “the brand’s most radical launch in years.”

Visually resembling Rolex’s Oysterquartz (1969) and Oyster Datejust (1974), the Land-Dweller boasts a thin 9.7 mm case, integrated with a flat link bracelet. It is available in Oystersteel and white gold, in platinum, or in Everose gold and diamonds, and in two sizes (36 mm and 40 mm). Prices range from $13,900 to $63,500.

The new watch has gotten the most attention for its technical advancements—particularly, its caliber 7135 self-winding movement, which operates at a frequency of 5 hertz (or 36,000 vibrations) per hour, up from Rolex’s standard 4 hertz. That allows the watch to measure time to one-tenth of a second.

The movement’s performance is boosted by Rolex’s new escapement, dubbed Dynapulse. The subject of seven patents, Dynapulse uses silicon and ceramic to achieve greater shock resistance and energy efficiency than the standard Swiss lever escapement in Rolex watches.

The company is seemingly so proud of its new watch’s guts that it has made the unusual move (for Rolex) of giving the timepiece a partially see-through sapphire caseback.

“You can see some of the tiny escapement at work through the back, but I wished you could see more,” wrote Bloomberg reporter Chris Rovzar.

Rolex said the Land-Dweller was seven years in the making and required 32 patent applications—18 of them exclusive to this watch.

This is the watchmaker’s third “Dweller” model, after the Sea-Dweller (1967) and Sky-Dweller (2012).

It “completes the [Dweller] sequence,” a Rolex press officer said during an April 1 briefing at the Watches and Wonders show in Geneva, noting that this watch is “grounded in the here and now.”

There had long been rumors this watch was coming, especially when online sleuths discovered a 2023 Rolex trademark application for “Land-Dweller.” Just before Watches and Wonders, tennis champion (and Rolex spokesperson) Roger Federer “leaked” the new design when he wore a Land-Dweller in an Instagram post.

In what might be the most surprising part of this release, Olivier Greim, head of research and development for Rolex, not only spoke to Bloomberg about the production process but admitted he occasionally reads online critiques of his company.

“We need to be aware of the comments,” he said, though he added, “Our decisions are not influenced by their will.”

As with Patek Philippe’s Cubitus release last year, online reaction to the Land-Dweller was mixed. It won widespread admiration from professional critics for its technical advances, but some commenters were less enthusiastic about its design—particularly the honeycomb pattern on the dial.

Even so, in this era of massive Rolex waiting lists, most naysayers acknowledged that wouldn’t matter a bit.

“It smacks of a company so set in its ways that it has seemingly lost the ability to innovate in terms of design,” wrote one commenter on a watch blog. “That said, customers will allow Rolex dealers to score a field goal with their firstborn children in order to get one.”

(Additional reporting by Victoria Gomelsky)

Top: Rolex Land-Dweller 40 in Oystersteel and white gold (photo courtesy of Rolex)