Discontinued Rolex Watches For 2022
*Update* 2022 Rolex watches have been announced. View the 2022 Rolex releases.
Every year in early February, right before when Rolex releases their new watches, the watch community stirs up with the speculation of which watches Rolex will discontinue. As of right now it is all speculative but educated assumptions can be made.
We have come to these conclusions based on what we view Rolex strategizing for, which is improved levels of production. The past couple years we’ve seen them make strategic moves to streamline production. These include adopted movements throughout collections, adjusted case sizes, reduction in dial options, and more options for bracelet types.
Obviously Rolex is expected to introduce new watches at Watches & Wonders 2022 so naturally a number of watches will be discontinued. Below we’ve compiled a list of Rolex watches we expect discontinued in 2022.
Why We Anticipate These Watches Will Be Discontinued
Rolex will need to make room for new models coming in and optimize current production. It only makes sense to choose references that will either be replaced by new watches or move off certain collections to provide more opportunity to manufacture other more popular references.
Let’s start with the Milgauss and Air King collections. Both are considered to be overlaps or outdated models. The Air King is essentially an Oyster Perpetual with Arabic numerals on the dial. Would it make more sense to use that production time improving output for other models? We say Rolex thinks yes. When it comes to the Milgauss, well its purpose used to be special but not so much anymore. Anti-magnetic features on watches are almost standard these days and many outperform what the Milgauss can offer.
Even though this is all pure speculation, it’s fun to imagine. We see Rolex introducing a green two tone Submariner this year along with the reemergence of the GMT Master Coke. At the moment Rolex is capped in its manufacturing and isn’t investing in more capacities, which means that when new watches come in, others have to go. Although it will be sad to see these references leave, I’m sure it’ll make many current owners happy when they see the pre-owned values skyrocket.
Summary
When Rolex discontinues watches in 2022 we’ll keep you up to date but until then let us have fun imagining all the possibilities that Rolex has to offer. It seems like each year they do the unthinkable and go in a totally different route than what many thought. To be honest it’ll probably happen again this year.
Even if we got the references or collections wrong for discontinuation, what we will get right is that these choices are made strategically with either long term value or production in mind.
