Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
The name Rolex is recognized around the world. It has become an icon of beauty, quality, accuracy, style, and taste. While there are other fine manufacturers of timepieces, none has reached this pinnacle of public respect and acclaim. The watches produced by Rolex over the last 100 years are celebrated in this lavishly illustrated classic, now in a revised and expanded third edition. Over 30 newly discovered wristwatches are included in this volume, along with new information and a revised value guide. In addition there are detailed looks at some of Rolex's legendary movements. Dowling and Hess, both acknowledged Rolex authorities, have captured the watches' beauty in color photography and present the most thorough and extensive history written of the company. The watches and the extensive information this book offeres to collectors make it a truly useful volume, one that will be cherished by watch lovers around the world.

Rating : - Best Bang for Buck
This is an outstanding book for the novice or experienced collector. It's packed with facts, photos and fantastic details.

Each model is adequately covered and prices are cited as well. Especially, since this volume often is available in good or excellent condition from the used market, it gives those with small pocket books a classic entrance into the fascination with Rolex watches.

Rolex, with one of the first effective waterproofing movements, rose from a small operation to a name now recognized worldwide on a level with Coke, Levis, and other such products.

To collectors, Rolex is a good watch, but certainly not a great watch, compared to rare and exotic models especially made for the carriage trade.

Patek-Philippe, the standard to which many collectors measure as the "holy grail" of great watches, for example, produces far fewer pieces than do Rolex and Omega, and, of course, at supremely higher prices.

Rolex, on the other hand, is one of the more respected brands produced on an assembly line. Their sales remain high because Rolex approaches change cautiously. The line does NOT proliferate with new models and designs each year. Its quality control is fantastic for a production line watch, but none has super complications, either.

Rolexes are certified chronometers, meaning for mechanical watches, their accuracy is usually acceptable: + or -5 seconds daily for those formerly used to absolutely exact quartz, radio-receiving WWV watches, that sell in Wal-Mart for less than $100, keep perfect time, but look like they cost that, too.

Rolex recently gained the title of "manufacture" (not, manufacturer, although that's what it means) A "manufacture" is "watchspeak" that refers to a watch production house that builds its own movements. Rolex finally ditched the last of its outside movements with the popluar Cosmograph Daytona when it switched from Zenith movements to those made in-house by Rolex itself. That's a move that improves acceptance of Rolex by watchmakers and collectors. Rolex and Omega, both, stay at the top of the charts for high respect and strong popularity among myriad other mass-producers of upper-middle priced watches, some that market at more than Rolexes. Rolexes that grow in price toward 6-figures, usually either feature lots of diamonds, or they're old, rare examples, of collector pieces in superb condition.

Hand-produced watches that become 6 or even 7-figure watches as soon as they hit the market in tiny qualities are sought by very wealthy, world-class collectors, while Rolex on the other hand, has a name far more recognizable as a "good" watch than any one of more than 50 manufactures that sell for much higher prices. Those watches are far more exotic, and usually are mind-blogingly complex pieces, often with multi-axis tourbillon-assisted movements. (Tourbillon also is spelled correctly; NOT tourbillion, but a hard-to-make piece to fight gravity for accuracy.)

Exotics for the world-class Rolls-Royce and Ferrari crowds, simply are not available in the more practical application catalogs of GM, Chrysler or Ford autos, or those of Omega and Rolex watches.

This book does show some of the more valued, old watches, with some discussion, but its main focus is on the prospective wearer of Rolexes, also with tips and illustations that should help draw attention to the proliferation of counterfeits out there. A friend, who is a watchmaker in a city, says that he sees several fakes weekly that many sad buyers have paid dear money for on Internet auctions. There are, however, many honorable used Rolex sellers, and often on Ebay. Spot them by their high scores and the tremenduous volume of 99+percent approval rates.

If you see a Rolex that is just too cheap, or is "new," it most likely is either a fake, or it requires extensive, expensive repairs, or it's possibly stolen. Rolex has no authorized outlets allowed to sell new watches on Ebay, I'm told. This book helps you recognize each genuine Rolex model so that your next purchase will be a positive, pleasurable expierience.

There is NO Rolex owner or collector who would be anything other than very proud to own this book. Right now, it's THE standard out there! If you can afford only one Rolex book, this is it.

My ownly gripe is its weight. Because of that, it's hard to read in bed, for instance, and is best read seated upright at a table. If you're serious, you'll want to do that anyway so you can take notes on a pad beside it.