The Beauty of the Rolex Pearlmaster

Rolex Pearlmaster 39mm with 18ct White Gold and Mother of Pearl Dial

So many articles have been written about the Gem-free Rolex timepieces such as the Daytona, Submariner, Yacht-Master, GMT and others.  However, it is clearly a mistake to overlook the beauty and exquisite workmanship that goes into developing a Rolex Pearlmaster.  For years, the lack of attention was due to a belief that although Rolex is tops in watchmaking, the gemology could never come close to the quality. 

Rolex Pearlmaster Datejust 34mm with
Diamonds on the Bezel, Ruby VI at 6 o'clock
and a champagne dial. Ref: 81318

However, Rolex has made a distinct point this year at Baselworld to display their Gem Design skill set.  Now it is clear that the workmanship of selecting diamonds, gems for their size, color, durability and then setting it into the bezel and on the dial itself is an art form worthy of great admiration. 

Others might put their noses up at the thought that having so much bling on a timepiece actually reduces the wearability and utility of the time honored timepiece.  Or maybe some might consider it too feminine to don a timepiece with such blatant luxury on display.  However both would be shortsighted viewpoints.  Not only are many of the Pearlmaster timepieces built for daily wear, much of the bling can look quite natural as a part of nearly any daily wear.   And as for the masculinity of a timepiece, let's just say that many of the Pearlmasters, although they may be marketed to women, would look spectacular on the wrist of any businessman or sports icons like LeBron James, on and off the court.  So, let's pay homage to this stone-clad giant of timepieces. 

The Rolex Pearlmaster comes in either 34 mm or 39 mm sizes.  It is designed using the classic Rolex Oyster case and a Pearlmaster bracelet, with 5 piece links.  The Oyster case, scratch-resistant sapphire, and screw-down, Twinlock double waterproofness system gives the Pearlmaster water-resistance to 330 feet. 

Rolex Pearlmaster Ref 81319 has a simple
"steel" look and white dial.

The Pearlmaster comes in 18 ct gold only - yellow gold, pink gold, or white gold. However, the white gold can easily be mistaken for steel and appear quite masculine in nearly any situation.  The bezel can be set with 12 diamonds, one for each hour marker.  On this bezel the diamonds are set on a smooth gold bezel of the chosen color.  The bracelets can either be solid gold, or adorned with
diamonds.

Rolex has a large selection of dials to fit nearly any taste.  You can find dials with diamond hour markers or Roman Numerals.  Dials may be a solid color like Gold, Pink, or Blue, or they might be Mother of Pearl or diamond-paved.  On all diamond-paved dials, gold Roman Numerals, matching the timepiece gold color are placed at each hour marker.  This takes stellar workmanship to carefully place diamonds precisely around each hour marker with a natural look. 

Although both size Pearlmasters utilize the datejust name and 3 o'clock date aperture with cyclops lens on the sapphire crystal, each size use a different movement.  The new Pearlmaster 39 is powered by the new calibre 3235 which provides an outstanding power reserve of 70 hours.  However, the 34mm Pearlmaster is powered by the older generation 2235 providing a 48 hour power reserve.