The 5 Best Rolex Watches Released in 2026

Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41 ‘100 Years’Rolex.It makes sense to start with the birthday watch. Rolex is celebrating 100 years of the Oyster with a special Rolesor Oyster Perpetual 41, combining an Oystersteel case and bracelet with a yellow-gold bezel and crown.The slate-gray sunray dial gets green Rolex branding and green hour plots, while gold-colored hands and markers tie everything together. The really nerdy detail, though, is at six o’clock, where the usual wording has been replaced by a “100 years” inscription.Inside is Rolex’s automatic calibre 3230, offering around 70 hours of power reserve, while the case remains water-resistant to 100 meters. It’s still unmistakably an Oyster Perpetual, just one with a very good excuse to dress up.Rolex Yacht-Master IIRolex.The Yacht-Master II is back—and Rolex hasn’t simply dug the old one out of storage.The 44mm regatta chronograph has been substantially redesigned, with a cleaner case and a new white dial paired with the familiar blue Cerachrom bezel. The biggest visual change is the removal of the huge “YACHT-MASTER II” lettering from the bezel (phew), which makes the whole thing look considerably less shouty.More importantly, there’s an entirely new movement inside. Caliber 4162 operates the watch’s programmable regatta countdown, displayed around the edge of the dial, while a small-seconds counter now sits at six o’clock.Available in Oystersteel or yellow gold, it remains the most advanced, and one of the most interesting, watches that Rolex makes.We're glad to have the old girl back.Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowRolex Cosmograph Daytona RolesiumRolex.Rolex has given the Daytona something it has never had before: Rolesium.That means Oystersteel paired with platinum, in this case a steel middle case with platinum elements including the caseback surround. The white enamel dial is matched with an anthracite Cerachrom bezel, giving it an unusually "metal on metal" appearance.There’s also a nice historical touch. The tachymeter numerals now sit horizontally around the bezel, echoing the layout seen on some of the very earliest Cosmograph Daytonas.Flip the watch around and Calibre 4131 is visible through a sapphire crystal caseback.In summary, then: a classic Daytona, nicely updated with some very modern details.Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36 Jubilee DialRolex.Rolex isn’t exactly known for its psychedelic dial designs. And yet ... we give you the Oyster Perpetual 36.Its multicolored lacquer dial revives the Jubilee motif introduced at the end of the 1970s, but this time the repeated "Rolex" lettering appears in 10 eye-popping colors. Each has to be applied separately, making the dial far more complicated to produce than its playful appearance first suggests.Otherwise, this remains the familiar 36mm Oyster Perpetual we know and love: Oystersteel case and bracelet, 100 meters of water resistance, and Rolex’s automatic Calibre 3230 inside packing some 70 hours of power reserve.It's possibly the most fun Rolex of 2026. Not a sentence we expected to write about an OP.Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowRolex Datejust 41 Green OmbréRolex.Sometimes a new dial is all that you need.For 2026, Rolex brought its green ombré treatment to the Datejust 41, creating a dial that moves from bright green at the center to almost black around the edge. The effect was previously more closely associated with precious-metal Day-Dates, which makes seeing it on a "basic" steel Datejust particularly appealing.The dial is fully lacquered, with the gradient created by spraying black lacquer concentrically over the green base. You can have it in Oystersteel with a smooth bezel or in white Rolesor with Rolex’s fluted white-gold bezel.Underneath all that color it remains one of Rolex’s most dependable formulas: 41mm case, 100 meters of water resistance, and automatic Calibre 3235 with that previously mentioned 70 hours of power reserve.Here, then, is Rolex doing what Rolex does best: making a familiar watch feel brand spanking new without actually changing very much at all.