If She Wants Something as Unique as a Snowflake
The Rolex Lady President ref. 79089
As luxurious and aspirational as Rolex is, the brand still qualifies as a mass-producer of watches. Rumor has it they make somewhere in the region of 1,000,000 pieces a year, which goes no way towards explaining why they are so difficult to get hold of at Authorized Dealers.
But what do you do if you want something a little more exclusive from the crown, something you can be sure you won’t see on anyone else’s wrist? Well, in that case, you are going to want a dial which is, by definition, unique.
Rolex has been using natural materials in their dial making for decades; everything from simple woods such as walnut or mahogany, through to semi-precious stone like lapis lazuli, malachite and onyx. They have even employed genuine slices of meteorite extensively across a number of collections.
However, possibly their most widely-used exotic dial material remains mother-of pearl. Taken from the inner shell of mollusks such as oysters and mussels, the substance more correctly known as nacre has an iridescent quality which lends itself beautifully to dials which are not only stunning to look at but which are all absolute one-offs.
You will find mother-of-pearl dials on everything from the Day-Date to the Yacht-Master, but it goes particularly well on the elegantly scaled-down façade of the Lady-Datejust.
The ref. 79089, released first in 1988, is one such watch. Measuring a minute 26mm and cast in white gold, it sounds as classically understated as they come. But, with the addition of the nacre dial, along with a bezel set with 32 brilliant-cut diamonds and four baguette sapphires, as well as a further 10 sapphires for hour markers, it becomes a true elite standout. Couple all that with a President bracelet in place of the standard Oyster or Jubilee (thus making it officially a Lady President) and you have an absolutely exceptional genus of Rolex’s all-time bestselling creation.
A very special gift for anyone this Christmas, the ref. 79089 will receive a blizzard of compliments.
Whatever you’re doing, and whoever you’re doing it with, everyone here at Beckertime wish you and yours the very happiest of holiday seasons.
