Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo is thrilled to welcome you to The Hong Kong Sessions, Fall 2025, and IWC: Back to the 80s online auctions, running from 12:00 PM HKT, Wednesday, 17 September, to 2:00 PM HKT, Wednesday, 24 September. The sales feature nearly 150 different high-end luxury wristwatches, covering everything from A. Lange & Söhne and F.P. Journe to Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe, including the Rolex Land-Dweller highlighted below.
– By Logan Baker
The most talked-about release at Watches and Wonders 2025 was the Rolex Land-Dweller, a brand-new collection that appears familiar at first glance but feels distinctly different on the wrist. The reason is simple. Rolex put a true high-frequency calibre into serial production and built a watch around it that you can wear every day. That’s a big shift.
Right out of the gate, the Land-Dweller arrived as a full-fledged collection in 36mm and 40mm sizes, offered in White Rolesor, Everose gold, and platinum, with a few jeweled versions in the mix. It’s a modern, seamless design with subtle callbacks to the Oysterquartz era. Rolex hasn’t emphasized sharp case bevels like this in ages, and it adds character without being flashy.
At 9.7mm tall in both sizes, it is the slimmest “Oyster Perpetual” in the catalogue, with a screw-down crown and 100 meters of water resistance. The fluted bezel is a Rolex signature, but the proportion is new. Wider flutes, sixty of them on the 40mm rather than the Day-Date’s seventy-two, create a tighter rhythm and a sharper play of light.
Rolex cut a honeycomb pattern in relief on the dial with a femtolaser, then etched hairline borders between the cells. The alternating brushed cells and etched partitions create a surface that shifts from matte to bright as you move. The hour markers are open-ended frames that hold solid blocks of luminous ceramic-resin, machined to exact shape, so the lume runs the full length of each index and stays crisp. The applied six- and nine-index nod to the Explorer and Air-King, reinterpreted with open centers. Instead of the typical engraved rehaut, a printed inner flange frames the dial with a half-second track that matches the high-beat movement.
Rolex built an entirely new bracelet for the Land-Dweller. The so-called "Flat Jubilee" retains the classic five-link cadence, but the mid-links are flattened and very slightly raised, while the outer links carry a satin finish that blends with the case. The concealed Crownclasp keeps the silhouette clean around the wrist.
Where the bracelet attaches, you really feel Rolex’s engineering. Because the span between the integrated lugs is narrow, Rolex overbuilt the interface to ensure stability. The spring-bar sockets are lined with tungsten carbide. The first link pivots on ceramic elements for durability, and a lateral screw inside the case locks the bar in place. The result is a junction that feels secure and still articulates cleanly. You’ll notice it most when the case lies flat and the bracelet flows straight out with no gap.
Inside, the calibre 7135 is the real headline. Rolex spent more than seven years developing a 5Hz automatic movement with a brand-new escapement, and they’ve scaled it for regular production. The seconds hand glides across the dial, and the rate holds steady across positions and shocks. The escapement, christened Dynapulse, uses twin silicon escape wheels that deliver tangential, indirect impulse through a silicon lever. Energy transfers through rolling contact rather than sliding friction, which raises efficiency by about 30 percent compared to a traditional Swiss lever. That gain supports the higher frequency without sacrificing the 66-hour power reserve.
It features a Syloxi silicon hairspring on a free-sprung balance crafted from a specialized brass alloy that resists magnetism. The ceramic balance staff is shaped by lasers and mirror-finished for precision and runs on upgraded Paraflex shock absorbers that keep it centered after impacts. Rolex rates the complete watch to its Superlative Chronometer standard of −2/+2 seconds per day.
There are 16 patents on the movement and 32 on the complete watch. The sheer scale here is just as important as the overall innovation. While other brands experiment with limited-run exotic escapements, Rolex is introducing a next-generation system on a global scale, backed by worldwide service support.
Turn the watch over, and you see something else unusual for an Oyster case design. Every Land-Dweller has a sapphire crystal exhibition caseback. The finishing is crisp and functional, a step up from the 32xx family. You’ll find visible Rolex-style Côtes de Genève with polished edges, bright bevels on the bridges, and gold-ringed jewel settings.
On the wrist, both sizes wear flatter and smaller on the wrist than the numbers suggest. The 40mm feels like 38mm because the case flares gently, and the first link drops right from the case. The 36mm size gives you classic proportions with the same slim profile. The fluted bezel and honeycomb dial add depth and texture, while the Flat Jubilee keeps it refined rather than flashy. Price and presence-wise, the Land-Dweller sits between the Datejust and Day-Date, which makes sense given the engineering, new movement, and finishing.
The example offered at the Phillips Hong Kong Sessions, Fall 2025, Online Auction is among the first Land-Dwellers to reach auction. The 36mm white-gold Rolesor example is presented in excellent condition with its full set. Here, you secure the debut of an integrated design with a distinct dial and the first in-house 5Hz movement from Rolex produced at scale. Under close inspection, the dial’s laser work is precise, and the luminous markers are flawless. The bracelet articulation is tight and clean at the case. On a timegrapher, you’ll see strong amplitude and consistent performance at five hertz. Having the complete set and papers ties everything together.
Rolex usually moves in small steps. The Land-Dweller, however, is a leap. It introduces a new visual and mechanical direction without straying from the brand’s roots.
If you want a modern Rolex that signals where the brand is headed, the Land-Dweller is the way to go.
You can view the complete Phillips Hong Kong Sessions, Fall 2025, Online Auction catalogue here.