Cellini is Rolex’s dress watch, so without the Oyster case, but with great elegance, symmetry and simplicity. The new 2016 version has a redesigned white enamel dial, with elongated hour markers that are interrupted by the minute track, so that the hour hand corresponds to the inner extremities of the batons while the minute hand aligns with the outer sequence of markers. It’s an unusual arrangement that provides a sense of balance. The Cellini Time doesn’t have a date window, and that, in my opinion, is a positive feature.
The case, in Everose gold or white gold, is 39 mm in diameter, fairly slim at 12.5 mm, and is very attractive with flowing lines from caseband to lugs, with restrained fluting and a nice, slightly conical crown. The caseback is solid and slightly domed (a reference to historical Rolex watches), and the watch is waterproof to 50 metres (5 bar), attained in part by the screw-down crown.
The Rolex-designed self-winding movement (possibly the Rolex 3135) runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hertz) and has a Parachrom antimagnetic balance spring. Power reserve is about 48 hours. The Cellini Time is tested in-house by Rolex in its Superlative Chronometer certification procedure, in which precision, power reserve, waterproofness and self-winding efficiency are tested for each fully-assembled and cased watch. Precision is approximately +2/-2 seconds per day deviation, an industry-leading performance. The movement is also tested by COSC.
The watch is mounted on a brown alligator strap (black in the white gold version) with gold pin buckle.
Price and reference
The Rolex Cellini Time, reference 50505, costs €14,150, in both Everose gold and white gold versions.
Rolex ref 50505 white gold