BUILT FOR YACHTING COMPETITION and performance, the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master II regatta chronograph now comes with a unique horological complication.
Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master II
BUILT FOR YACHTING COMPETITION and performance, the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master II regatta chronograph now comes with a unique horological complication: a programmable countdown with a mechanical memory and on-the-fly sychronisation designed specifically for start sequence of regattas.
Similar to a traditional chronograph, the Yacht-Master II displays elapsed seconds via a second hand. The minutes of the countdown are indicated by a red-triangle-tipped hand on a scale graduated from 10 to 0, with markers for the half minutes: for easy legibility, this display spans three-quarters of the dial’s circumference with an enlarged font. Furthermore, the settings can be programmed into the watch so the hand returns to the same duration for the next countdown.
The challenge in such a complication, however, is to create a movement that would allow the skipper to synchronise the watch to the official countdown on-the-fly while the countdown is still running. The solution was to incorporate a fly-back reset function: the hand “flies back” instantly to its starting point with the 4 o’clock pusher and starts running once the pusher is released. The countdown minutes hand automatically aligns to the nearest minute to compensate for the chronograph having been launched too late or too soon.
A small seconds counter at 6 o’clock completes the showpiece.
Easy readability is only best complemented with simple operation, as exemplified by the watch’s traditional chronograph model: pushers at 2 and 4 o’clock are designed to, respectively, start and stop the countdown and reset the time on the chronograph. The programming function, meanwhile, is controlled by a Ring Command bezel, which, at 90-degrees, turns on the countdown duration set via the winding crown.
Ensuring precision to the tee is the perpetual calibre 4161, a brainchild of 35,000 hours by Rolex engineers. Designed based on the chronograph calibre 4130, which was developed in 2000 for the Cosmograph Daytona, the additions on the 4161 allows for the countdown to be reprogrammed with a choice of duration from 10 minutes to one minute.
