Roger Federer after winning Wimbledon, wearing Rolex Datejust

Roger Federer is a Swiss Tennis player who many consider to be the greatest male tennis player of all time.  He has won more Grand Slam tournament titles (20) than any other men's singles player and he played in 30 Grand Slam finals.  He spent 308 weeks atop of the ATP Rankings, a record in the Open Era.  He also won a record breaking 8 Wimbledon titles. 

Federer has had some of the steepest competition over his years of play, facing tennis greats like Andre Agassi in his early years, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal.  Federer is a popular player, winning several awards for sportsmanship and his humanitarianism. 

Federer has been a long-time ambassador for Rolex, wearing a large amount of beautiful Rolex timepieces over his years of tennis excellence.  Let's delve into his Rolex collection a bit deeper.

Rolex Day-Date

The Rolex Day-Date is the same model worn by Federer in the above Wimbledon Winning picture.  Federer has quite an assortment of Rolexes in his collection.  This is one of the most unique color combinations, with the green Roman Numerals on a grey dial.  The gold hands and gold and steel rolesor band and two-toned case bring together an odd assortment of colorings in my opinion.  However, winning is a style of its own, and none of that seemed to hold Federer down. 

Rolex GMT - Master II "Batman"

The Rolex GMT-Master II is nicknamed the "Batman" for its combination of Black and Blue on its bezel and all black dial.  This is a stunning timepiece and with its steel case and bracelet, it can certainly take a beating.  I specifically love the matching 24 hour hand in blue with the blue bezel.  This timepiece is clearly one of the most useful Rolexes in Federer's collection since he is traveling from his Swiss home to France, England, the US and Australia each year for his many tournaments.  The 2 time zone functionality and the fast hour setting are features which would allow him to stay rooted and yet on time for another dominant performance on the court.

Rolex Presidential Day-Date

This is a very interesting Presidential Day-Date.  Federer clearly enjoys the utility of having both the Day at the 12 o'clock position and the date at 3 o'clock in this Rolex model.  The dark blue hands and Roman numerals have a bright, yet calming appeal on its polished steel case and bracelet.  This is one of 3 timepieces where Federer has opted for the Roman numeral as his hour markers.

Presidential Day-Date

This is the other Presidential Day-Date in Federer's collection.  This time he has a pink (Everose) gold case and band, a fluted bezel and a chocolate colored dial.  I love the combination of pink gold and chocolate dial.  It is as if they were always intended to be together.  On the dial, there are pink gold hour markers with baguette shaped diamonds inside.  This is Federer's most extravagant Rolex since it is the only one with diamonds and obvious gold color.  Although he does own other gold Rolex's, they are white-gold and are less overtly valuable since they can clearly be mistaken for stainless steel.

Rolex Sky-Dweller

Federer seems to really enjoy the Rolex Sky-Dweller.  He has two of them in his collection.  This one uses a white dial and Roman numerals.  Since the Sky-Dweller combines the power of the date function and the dual time zone, it is clearly one of the most useful timepieces for a globetrotter like Federer. 

Rolex Sky-Dweller

This Rolex Sky-Dweller is absolutely stunning.  I love the dark blue with white luminescent hour markers.  The blue color is dazzling and clearly a favorite color of Federer's.  Of this collection at least 4 of these timepieces have a touch or more of the blue coloring.

Rolex Yacht-Master II

The Rolex Yacht-Master II is maybe an odd timepiece to have in Federer's collection.  I am not sure if he owns a Yacht of his own, but clearly this is a beautiful timepiece which combines the Red White and Blue elements in a very diminutive, yet appealing timepiece.  Although most of his selections are useful workhorses, Federer has earned his right to be playful.  This is the 6th Rolex in Federer's collection that utilizes either steel or white-gold as its primary color for the band and case.  Like the rest of the collection, Federer seems to go for 40 mm or greater in size which look exceptional on his fairly large sized wrist. 

Ashton Kutcher wearing Rolex Milgauss white dial: Image from rolexwallpaper.com

Christopher Ashton Kutcher is a highly sought out A-list actor who burst on the stage as a ditsy teenager in That 70s Show.  This established him as a comedic actor and he was quickly added to movies like Dude, Where's My Car, Cheaper by the Dozen and later replaced Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men.  He is a former model and has been a successful venture capitalist in several winning companies such as Skype, AirBnB, and Foursquare.  He was married to A-list actress Demi Moore, and later married Mila Kunis.

Although Kutcher has been seen in Baume & Mercer ads promoting their timepieces, he has been seen in public wearing Rolex.  The above white dial Rolex Milgauss is an interesting and hip timepiece.  The Rolex Milgauss 116400 was designed to withstand a 1000 gauss magnetic field - a tradition that was born in 1956 when CERN scientists had issues with watch precision when working near equipment emitting high magnetic energy such as particle accelerators.

The Milgauss 116400 was in production for a reasonably long 10 years, but has since been replaced by a Z-Blue and Black dial versions.  However, the orange lightning bolt remains part of the new Milgauss models.

This hip version has orange hour markers to match the orange lightning bolt.  The 60 seconds markers are notated around the dial in orange notches and numbering.  Interestingly, the orange is the last color the human eye can register before losing consciousness, so it has a practical purpose that could save one's life.  However the orange against the white dial alone provides a youngish appeal. 

The timepiece is waterproof to 300 feet with a twin-lock screw-down crown on its 40mm case.  The timepiece is made from steel and features a 3-piece Oyster link bracelet.  It is powered by an Automatic 3131 movement with a power reserve of 48 hours.

The Black Sea Dweller reference 16600 Ashton Kutcher is wearing has an incredible depth of 4000 feet.  The black case appears almost identical to the newer 116600 released in 2014 with a few exceptions.

Kutcher's Sea Dweller, has a thinner case and thinner lugs.  The bezel has minute markers indicating all of the 60 minutes, rather than just depicting minute markers from 1-15.  The luminescent hour markers are also larger than those on the newer model.

It is powered by a 3135 movement with approx. 50 hours of power reserve.  The black dial is quite impressive with the luminescent hour markers, especially at dark diving depths.  It also has a useful date window at 3 o'clock.

These two Rolex models are probably the two least popular models Kutcher could have invested in.  Whether that was a decision as an investment (as many collectors would advise to do the same), it is hard to tell.  Kutcher's investment prowess would lead me to believe led him to select these two models.

It is possible though that Kutcher likes the underdog, the timepieces least likely to be worn by his costars.  Additionally, Kutcher does have a technical background - having once been hired by Lenovo as an engineer.  It is possible that he chose these two models for their bow to the technical gods - appeasing his inner nerd.  Or maybe there was a combination of factors that led him to these choices.  Regardless, I am quite impressed with this small selection of his collection.

Rolex Deep Sea Reference 12660

It is easy to overlook the Rolex Deepsea timepiece since we typically talk about the more widely used timepieces such as GMT, Submariner, Day-Date, and Yachtmaster, to name just a few.  However the newly released 2018 versions of this timepiece are worth talking about.  

New Oyster Datejust 31 Reference 278289 RBR

The new Datejust 31 launched this year at Baselworld 2018 is interesting because Rolex offers a redesigned case, new original-designed dials, and each timepiece is equipped with the new-generation caliber 2236 with a power reserve of 55 hours.  I particularly love the 31mm size.  Much lighter than the 40+ mm sizes so often seen in high end timepieces.  This is a timepiece that can be enjoyed by both men and women.

The new Datejust 31 is fitted with a President bracelet with ceramic inserts in the links to enhance flexibility and longevity.  It has a concealed folding Crownclasp.

The Oyster Datejust is part of the long line of Oyster Cases, noteworthy for their guaranteed waterproofness with its Twinlock system, robustness and elegance.  The Datejust 31 is waterproof to 330 feet.  The virtually scratchproof sapphire crystal has a cyclops lens at 3 o'clock for easy reading.

One thing Rolex has done this year at Baselworld is promote its art of gem-setting.  Of course Rolex regularly gets top ranks for its timepiece design, caliber design, and overall quality of workmanship from the case to the bracelet.  However, often overlooked is the extensive skill of the Gemmologiests who are responsible for examining and selecting the gemstones with the highest level of beauty, color and sparkle.  In addition, these stones and the placement must have the reliability, robustness and resistance to shocks and magnetic fields - technical features that, although may not be required by fashion jewelry makers, is part of Rolex's stringent quality criteria.

The Reference 278289 RBR is a perfect example of the expert gem design.  The case and bracelet are made from a block of the finest 18k white gold.  The bezel is encrusted with 46 brilliant-cut diamonds which are hand picked for the exact size and brilliance to build an exquisite timepiece.  The dial is made from mother of pearl and looks incredible against the white gold and 10 diamond hour markers (the 12 o'clock position has a white gold Rolex crown and the 3 o'clock position has the date window).

Reference 278245 in Everrose gold

The Reference 278245 is made from Everrose gold.  It has 10 diamonds on its mother-of-pearl dial.  The bezel is a domed Everrose gold which is smooth to the touch.  This model has the President style bracelet.
The Reference 278278 is built from a block of yellow gold.  It has a fluted bezel and a champagne colored dial.  The 10 diamonds are surrounded by yellow gold on the dial.  This uses the President's band to complete the nearly all yellow gold model.

Reference 278278 in yellow gold

 I like the design of this Reference 278278 which is made from yellow gold primarily because of the use of yellow gold Roman numerals for the hour markers on the white colored dial.  The fluted bezel and Oyster bracelet makes this timepiece stand out as superlative piece of workmanship for years to come.

Reference 278285 in everrose gold

The Reference 278285 is clearly a feminine timepiece with its mother of pearl butterfly designed dial.  It is made from Everrose gold and utilizes 46 diamonds in the bezel.  However its lack of hour markers makes telling time particularly difficult in my opinion.  It also lacks the typical text such as Superlative Chronometer and Oyster Perpetual wording on the dial, not that those items are mandatory.  This seems to me to be aimed to be more jewelry than a watch, which seems to me to be a waste of the exceptional workmanship that goes into this being a stellar timepiece.

Reference 278285RBR in everrose gold

The Reference 278285RBR is made from Everrose Gold and has a matching Oyster bracelet.  The unique chocolate dial provides a beautiful balance for the pink gold and can be worn with many styles with stunning effect.

Reference 278288RBR in yellow gold

 I don't recall the use of green Malachite on a Rolex dial before, however, this unit is clearly a stunning piece.  Although I would prefer hour markers across the dial, the use of the diamond encrusted roman numerals at 6 and 9 o'clock adds functionality to the beautiful dial which is bound to catch the attention of anyone that catches a glimpse of this timepiece.

Reference 278289RBR in white gold

Here is a white gold version of the butterfly dial discussed above.  Since the white gold, mother-of-pearl dial and diamond seem to blend together, this timepiece will be more diminutive and work with nearly any outfit one might wear.  Still, highly feminine, I could imagine giving a timepiece like this to a daughter, mother, wife or girlfriend.  I feel this is more wearable since it has the appearance of a steel timepiece.

Reference 278289RBR in white gold

The chocolate dial is quite popular, and although it looks exceptional against the Everrose gold case and band, it also looks beautiful on this white gold case and band.  The white gold has a more universal wearability and rugged look similar to stainless steel.