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Synchronized Sailing Starts Made Easy

Rolex Yacht-Master II gives regatta
lovers a chance to count it down

By Steve Heisler

What can you do with one hand? Wave goodbye, steady the tiller as you tack into the wind and, if nimble enough, adjust the trim of your sails. And, oh yes – you can easily manipulate the functions of your new Oyster
Perpetual Yacht-Master II regatta chronograph as race time approaches.

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YACHTMASTER II

That’s the beauty of this newest bit of horological mastery from Rolex: The first watch to sport a programmable countdown feature with a mechanical memory. With it, you can set it to the countdown time of each race, resulting in a timepiece that is indispensable to experienced skippers as well as anyone who loves yachting. With the Yacht-Master II, it’s possible to program a countdown of 0 to 10 minutes. It can be synchronized to the official countdown during the starting sequences.

This watch has much to offer anyone though, whether serious watermen or not. It all begins with a new horological complication that is heir to all of Rolex’s watchmaking know-how.

It also benefits from the company’s well publicized vertical integration that has been carried out during the past 10 years. A never-before-seen interaction between the movement, the case and the bezel make this Yacht-Master II a watch designed decidedly for the future.

The Yacht-Master II’s new movement, the caliber 4160, consists of 360 components, all designed and manufactured by Rolex. Its heart beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour. The blue PARACHROM hairspring with a Breguet overcoil is resistant to magnetic field and up to ten times more resistant to shocks.

The hairspring and overcoil help it display excellent chronometric performance and earn certification by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute.

There’s some new architecture to appreciate with the Yacht-Master II as well. The countdown mechanism is constructed using a column wheel and a vertical clutch.

Rolex’ Yacht-Master II retails for $35,850 ration that is clearly characteristic of the Rolex new-generation chronograph movements.

Perhaps the most innovative element of this timepiece, however, is the Ring Command bezel. Designed and developed by Rolex, it rotates 90 degrees and allows access to the programming function of the countdown, then to the locking of the programming. It’s quite complex from a watchmaking point of view but the interaction between the

The Yacht-Master II’s new movement, the caliber 4160, consists of 360 com ponents, all designed and manufactured by Rolex.

The Ring Command bezel is available in two versions. It comes with a blue ceramic disc with numerals engraved in yellow gold for the 18ct yellow gold version. Or the bezel comes in one-piece platinum with raised numerals for the 18ct white gold version.

White or yellow gold is also the choice for the case, which is crafted from a solid block of either to a dimension of 42.6mm. Its Triplock winding crown is protected by shoulders and it has two pushers, one on either side of the winding crown. You’ll find the start/stop pusher at 2 o’clock, the function that starts and stops the countdown. The reset pusher can be found at 4 o’clock and has three functions: programming, synchronizing and setting the countdown.

The dial, as is the case with all Rolex products, stands apart in terms of functionality and legibility. The hour and minute hands are fixed in the center of the Yacht-Master II while the seconds hand is at the 6 o’clock position. The countdown counter is located between 8 o’clock and 4 o’clock and the countdown seconds hand, in red, shows the time remaining before the start of the regatta. It can be easily read at a glance, the result of great attention to detail by the Rolex design team.

The final achievement with the Yacht-Master II comes with the bracelet itself. The watch features an Oyster bracelet with an Oyster clasp and an Easylink comfort extension.

The bracelet slips on and off easily as a result – since its manipulation takes, after all, only one hand. www.rolex.com

This article was printed in the September/October 2007 (10.5) of hr:

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