Rolex Air-King 116900 review

And we’d like to kick 2021 off with this absolute screamer, which is the Rolex Air King that holds a reference code M116900. Now, before we get into this watch, I think that it’s only right that we delve a little bit into its back story so that we can better understand why this watch looks and performs the way that it does. Rolex originally released The Air King in 1945 as a part of a larger collection of air models that were created as a tribute to honour the work of the British RAF for their service during the 1930s and 40s, thus making this watch an aviation inspired piece. The Air King then went on to become a solid piece in Rolexes offering and we saw multiple variations of the watch go on sale. However, as of 2014 the Air Kings reign came to a sudden end when Rolex decided to discontinue production. And instead decided to replace it with a new entry level piece, the Oyster Perpetual. Very sad times for the Air King, but never fear this is only a temporary hiatus as Rolex decided to re-introduce a brand new, completely revamped variation of the Air King in 2016 and that is now the watch that we see before us today. Now, it’s important to note that during his time of hiatus, Rolex did partner with the Bloodhound SSC and agreed to develop and design the instrument dashboard for the car. But why is this relevant, I hear you ask? Well, the design inspiration for the new Air King was actually taken from the instrument panel that Rolex designed for the Bloodhound car. But doesn’t that make the Air King more of an automobile inspired watch rather than sticking to its aviation routes? Well yes and no seen as the Bloodhound is an F1 car slash jet plane hybrid capable of supersonic speed and the fact that Rolex did design the bloodhounds panel based on the traditional navigation panels found on aircrafts. So with this in mind, it’s clear to see that Rolex were definitely out there to give the Air King a completely new twist, but also managed to keep some of those traditional features present. So with that history lesson over, let’s get right to it and see what we get in the box with this watch.

So as we can see here, there’s nothing too special going on in terms of the packaging. We just get that standard small size cream cardboard box with a green crown box encased in there. And as luxurious as you’d like, the green box is fabric lined and adorned with that ever famous Rolex logo. And of course, inside the box we’ve got the watch sat there on a lovely fabric cream cushion with its bezel protector on which, when removed, reveals the watch in all of its glory. As for the paperwork sort of things, we’ve got the instruction manual, guarantee booklet, international warranty card and accompanying swing tags.

Now moving onto the specs. Like all Rolexes, this one is indeed an automatic piece with a bi directional self-winding rotor. It features the Calibre 3131 movement which was developed and manufactured by Rolex themselves, the watch is officially certified as a superlative Chronometer, which guarantees both accuracy and reliability. Impressively, Rolex have guaranteed the watch to be precise up to + -2 seconds per day. And that’s not all. The watch has a 48 hour power reserve. And not to forget, it’s impressive anti magnetic properties. As for the dimensions of the watch, it has a 40 millimetre diameter with a 13.2 millimetre thickness and a 20 millimetre lug width. And as you can see here the watch does look very good on the wrist it’s got nice formal appearance to it and sits extremely well it’s definitely one of the more comfortable watches that I’ve ever worn.

Looking more closely now at the dial you can see that the true character of this watch really does come out to play. I’ve heard this watch be referred to as the Marmite watch amongst the community and in all honesty I don’t understand why because I personally think that this watch is a 10 out of 10. Looking at it in person at first glance it does hold a sort of simplistic and stripped down clarity that I really like, but then when we look more deeply we can see how much work has actually gone into this dial and how many elements there. admittedly the colour palette is a bit out there, but for me this is what gives a watch its own unique character and makes it more fun, particularly with regards to the brand. And I know a lot of people are put off by that green and yellow, this only makes to watch more iconic. This is the most common variant of the Rolex branding that we see plastered all over the place. It also helps to make the dial pop and stand out more. The same goes for the Air King writing on the bottom of the dial. I know that some people are not so keen on the font choice for italicise style, but it’s been deliberately styled this way to keep homage to the original Air King pieces. It almost acts as its own standard feature on the dial. The Tri Arabic numerals are all set in white gold and have an absolutely beautiful shine to them which contrast so well with the rest of the dial. The effect really makes a 369 configuration its own focal point, the white gold also helps to protect against oxidisation and tarnishing, and as you can see that indices are applied and slightly raised off the dial just to give them a more 3D effect. As for the other white numerals, they go up in 5 minute increments. The size and colour then makes them so extremely legible against the black dial and the style of them combined with stick markers definitely helps to give the watch and gives a more pilot-y/aviation feel. In regards to the edition of the inverted triangle, this is something new that Rolex have done to revamp this watch and it’s something that we haven’t really seen on the previous Air Kings. Personally, I think that it looks very smart and gives a watch another focal element. It also helps to portray the aviation theme a tad more as these triangles are features that are usually present on aviation pieces. And of course we have the Rolex serial number engraved. Moving onto the hands, we have a set of white gold hands, the hour being Mercedes style and the minute being a sword style. As for the second hand, we’ve got a stand out green lollipop style, which again I think ties in very nicely with the whole colour scheme of the dial and brings everything together as a whole. And it’s no surprise that this collection of hands is treated with Rolexes Chroma light to glow in the dark. Although I do think that Rolex have been a tad stingy with the lume on this watch and could have used more on the numerals.

Moving on now to the case and bezel, we can see that we have a combination of brushed and polished finishes. The case is an oyster case comprised enough 904 L steel which is highly anti corrosive to the point where Rolex claim you don’t even need to rinse a watch off after contact with salt water. The shape of the case has a compound curvature to it that offers a very good amount of fluidity and the well tapered lugs are not dramatically squared off at the ends. As you can see here the size of the case of very highly polished, pretty much to a mirrored finished. You can even see our camera handler giving us a little wave there in the reflection. As for the crown side, we again see repeat just with the addition of that beautiful twin lock screw down crown with the inclusion of the signature coronet.

As for the bezel, again it’s very highly polished and has a somewhat conical shape to it, which again adds to and ties in nicely with the overall fluidity of the case design. And of course, we have the lovely sapphire crystal just poking out over the top there.

Moving on now to the bracelet, We have a satin oyster bracelet, which again is made of the same 904 steel as the case. And I can honestly say that this is one of the most comfortable braces I’ve actually worn. It rests so nicely against the skin and you can really tell that it’s a different grade of steel. As for the clasp, we have an Oyster folding clasp which is as silent as you’d like. Very easy to open and silky smooth. And not to forget the sides of the clasp of and bracelet have a polished finish, which gives a bracelet a whole new dimension.

Finally we have the case back which is completely blank and for those of you that aren’t familiar with rolex, they do keep their case backs plain and instead the serial number can be found either engraved. And there we have it guys, that’s our review of the Rolex air king.