Today was press day for Basel and we hand lots of great pics and info come in all over the internet. I wish I could be there but sadly I am not. Back in January I made some Basel Predictions. Let’s see how they fared.

Prediciton 1.

I asked a Rolex executive if we would see the ceramic bezel and wider lugs from the redesigned GMT-Master II on the Submariner. He replied, “We don’t have any plans for that yet.” To which I said, “Until Basel in April ;)” His reply, “We usually let Basel break the news.” I predict we will see the Submariner with a ceramic bezel, it’s an obvious extension.

Well, we see that they released two white gold versions of the Submariner with ceramic bezels, one in black and one in blue.

Prediction 2.

I expect we will see another really large watch. The new Yachtmaster II measures 43mm which is much bigger than Rolex has gone before. This year I think we’ll see the Sea-Dweller in an oversized case with a rubber strap. After all they missed the 50th Anniversary of the Deep Sea Special in 2003, why not release a 55th Anniversary edition?

Well, opinions vary as to how large it is but Rolex launched a new watch called the Sea-Dweller Deep Sea with a depth rating of 3900 meters. It’s not on a rubber strap, but it could be 🙂 Some people say it is 42mm others 43.5mm, either way it is bigger than the old Sea Dweller, but not a monster, however it is supposedly 16mm thick. You can find a great post about it on The Men’s Watch Review

Predicition 3.

I’d like to see the Daytona Cosmograph redone, possibly in a large 43mm case but I expect that will wait for the 2011 50th Anniversary of the Cosmograph.

No redo of the Daytona, but we do see a rose gold version, which I really like. If they have it on a strap it will be on my very long wish list.

So my predictions weren’t perfect but they weren’t far off either. I was hoping for something complicated for the 100th Anniversary but it looks like we won’t get that but there are more new models.

The Rolex Day-Date II was announced as a larger version of their flagship Day Date model. How big, well I’ve heard 41mm but it isn’t confirmed. Of course it is available in white gold, yellow gold, rose gold and platinum. Here are a few to look at:

Notice the Luminous on this one:And my favorite, a Plantinum Day Date II with ice blue dial and blue hands and markers. Oh what a beauty!

Not sure if these are Air Kings or Oyster Perpetuals since they don’t say a whole lot on the dial. I’m not sure what the difference is between those two models anyway since they are both COSC watches now. But here are some new hip dials:

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