There’s nothing wrong with inspiration found outside the world of watches, but translating a foreign design element into a watch is not easy. Nobody cares that on a purely functional speedometer, the “5” doesn’t have a “0” in front of it to balance the dial design of the instrument. On a watch dial, however, that does matter immensely. You can’t ignore aesthetics on a modern-day wristwatch, no matter its instrumental inspiration or history. But that wasn’t all. It was the 3, 6, and 9 numerals that put me off the most.
When Rolex introduced the 116900 Air-King, the brand also presented the 39mm Explorer 214270 MK2 with luminous 3, 6, and 9 numerals. These numerals replaced the high-polished, applied 18K white gold numerals of the 214270 MK1. It made perfect sense. The Explorer is a tool where to buy replica watches, and as such, it needs numerals that you can read in low-light scenarios. That also goes for the Air-King, of course. It is a pilot’s watch, after all. But, strangely enough, the 2016 Air-King came with the glossy 3, 6, and 9 numerals that were dismissed from the Explorer dial. It was strange, illogical, and very disappointing.
Second, the added “0” in front of the “5” finally brings balance to the minute indicators. The updated design would make zero difference on a speedometer, but it makes all the difference on a watch dial. What also helps to create a dial with better balance and subtlety is that the minute numerals are slightly slimmer. The bezel is actually slimmer as well, which leads to a 0.8mm larger dial diameter than the 116900 Air-King. The devil is indeed in the details.
A nice evolution is also the switch from a rounded case with a polished side to a way more chiseled one. It still has a 40mm diameter and a lug-to-lug length of 49mm, but the height dropped from 13.1mm for the 116900 to 11.59mm for the 126900.
Before I answer that question, I have to mention an article I wrote in March of this year. In The Circle Of Watch Life, I wrote that nothing lasts forever, not even replica rolex watches, and that the Air-King could well be heading for the scrapyard. Well, it was and it wasn’t. The Air-King reference 116900 that debuted in 2016 was indeed laid off. Rolex, however, didn’t terminate the model completely but replaced it with the reference 126900. I predicted it wrong and right at the same time. But what I could never have predicted was that I would see myself lusting after a modern-day Air-King, a watch that is more or less the same as its predecessor. More or less, indeed. But the devil is in the details, as they say. And the details have turned everything around for me.
Yes, the newest Air-King is still a polarizing watch that mixes and matches a 1940s military style with the large Arabic numerals of the Explorer. And yes, the watch is nothing like the original reference 5500 from 1957. The understated, simple, no-nonsense beauty with a functional background is nowhere to be seen in the 2022 watch. Rolex has steered clear of a watch that has a longstanding history of being the entry-level Oyster Perpetual for service members and aviators. The original Air-King, with its 34mm case (that was positively oversized back in the 1940s) and non-chronometer “Precision” movement, will forever be a thing of the past. The last “real” Air-King debuted in 2007. The reference 1142XX series received some serious upgrades and reworkings, but it still remained true to the original model. The series was axed in 2014, but two years later, a completely revised Air-King appeared.
New, but not improved
“New and improved.” You’ve read it on a box of cereal. Well, it could also have been on the box of the reference 116900 Air-King that appeared at Baselworld 2016. But that’s only because the then-new Air-King was, for the first time in its career, a Superlative Chronometer. That was thanks to the caliber 3131 inside the massive 40mm case. From 34 to 40mm is a giant step in the replica watches paypal world. It’s not very evolutionary and, therefore, not very Rolex-like. And apart from the shocking new size, the dial proved to be even more of a shock. The looks of the Air-King reference 116900 are the result of a collaboration between Rolex and the Bloodhound land-speed record attempt. Rolex helped construct the supersonic car’s dial cluster, and many of the design cues made their way to the dial of the Air-King.