The new Rolex Oyster Perpetual Air-King Replica Watch is fitted with a 904L stainless steel case measuring 40 mm in diameter and paired with the signature Rolex Oyster bracelet and a smooth polished bezel. The new Rolex Oyster Perpetual Air-King ref. 116900 features a black glossy dial with applied hour numerals at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. Along with the new Daytona with Cerachrom bezel ref. 116500LN we featured here, the new Rolex Air-King ref. 116900 was the other watch at the Rolex booth that took most of the attention from journalists, retailers and collectors.
Per Rolex, the new 904L Stainless Steel Rolex Oyster Perpetual Air-King Replica Watch epitomizes Rolex’s ties with the world of aviation during the 1930s. During this era, one of the pioneers of aviation, English aviator Charles Douglas Barnard, set a number of flight records and stated that his Rolex Oyster watch was perfectly suited for flying and that he would be using it on all of his long-distance flights. Therefore, in 1933, Rolex Oyster watches accompanied the Houston Expedition as it made the first-ever flight over Mount Everest at an altitude exceeding 10,000 meters.
The new Rolex Air-King Replica Watch was without a doubt, one of the most surprising releases by the ‘Green Giant’ during Baselworld 2016 earlier this year. The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Air-King ref. 116900 features a dial very similar to that on the Rolex Explorer I ref. 214270 we reviewed here; but this time, including a white minute scale with white numerals.
To complete the dial, the new Air-King features a white minute scale for ‘navigational time readings’ as referred to by Rolex, a striking green seconds hand, the Rolex logo in green with a yellow coronet and the ‘Air-King’ writing in the same font as the original model designed in the 1950s.
The watch is waterproof to 100 meters and its movement is properly protected by its Twinlock screw-down crown and its screwed-in solid case back. The Rolex Replica Watch is fitted with a sapphire crystal with Rolex’s etched coronet at 6 o’clock.