Rolex Yacht-Master Platinum Dial 16622 - Rolex Certified Pre-Owned Watch Review

Hi, this is Tim of the 1916 Company. Welcome and thanks for logging on. If you love this watch, email me. Tim also at the1916company.com for purchase pricing and availability questions concerning this watch. And this watch is a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Yachtmaster reference 16622. This is a reference that first debuted in 1999. Although the Yachtmaster wasn't new at the time, it had been on the market since about 1992. It was the combination of the platinum bezel and matching granular platinum dial that set this model apart both from the rest of the industry and everything made by Rolex at the time. It is a distinctive gray scale aesthetic with just a small pop of color to punctuate its steeliness throughout. It is 904L steel with a platinum bezel and a platinum dial. So the Yachtmaster here is a late example that was retailed in 2012. And these five digit Yachtmasters were real survivors among the very last Rolex watches to use the old style stamped clasp combined with solid central links and end links. They're a fascinating late transitional reference. If you can even call something from 2012 transitional, but in terms of size, it's 40 millimeters in diameter. You can see, as we roll it onto its side, it's only 11.8 millimeters thick. It's actually not that thick and it's nothing like a sub. It's about almost a millimeter thinner than a sub from lug to lug, just the case, 47.3 millimeters. But here's the thing about pretty much all Yachtmaster bracelets, whether it's Yachtmaster or Yachtmaster 2, the end link extension is huge. So end link to end link, it's actually 54.4 millimeters across the wrist with a 20 millimeter spacing between the lugs. We'll throw this on my wrist now. I'll take my glove off momentarily so you can see my wrist. It's not always intuitive to see a watch on a glove. Now you can see that lug to lug, it is really quite compact, but those end links are broad and it is a thin watch too, easily slipping underneath the cuff. It is a bit more genteel upscale and refined than the Submariner. I remember I read speculation to the effect that the original Yachtmaster in the early nineties was actually an aborted upscale Submariner design. They realized they didn't want to do that to the Sub and make it over refined. So they kept the Sub the way it was and they launched the Yachtmaster as a more blue blooded version of a Rolex rotating bezel sports watch. That may or may not be true, but you can definitely see the lineage here. This is an upscale machine and it is very flat. Because of the end links, I'm going to advise if you wear the watch on the bracelet, which 99.99% of you will, consider this for a 15 centimeter circumference wrist and up. This actually would not work on a very small wrist. Okay. Glove back on. Now let's take a look at this bracelet. As I mentioned, we've got solid end links. We've got solid center links, but we've still got a very traditional stamped clasp. This is scrambled series, serial number Rolex. This is quite late to have a clasp like this. It's like a piece of living history and you can see it's in very good shape. Taking a quick look at the internals, you can see that all the marks remain quite clear. Taking a look at the external shell, you can see that all of the marks remain quite deep and distinct. Rolling around the case, you can really see that the Yacht-Master has always had a case form that probably has more in common with the Daytona than with any of the other rotating bezel Rolex sports watches. Take a look at a Submariner here and you can really see those are incredibly sheer case flanks and squared off lugs. This is a bit more elegant, maybe not a bit, quite considerably. Now the bezel is made of platinum. It's a yachting bezel, which means it's not lifesaving. It can extend or it can shorten your timing interval. But then again, the start of a regatta and the countdown to a race within a sailboat competition is not a of life and death. There isn't indexing to the bezel, so you actually do feel like a 120 click type of indexing action. It's subtle, but it's there and it prevents the bezel from feeling like a sort of untethered, freewheeling, gliding sort of Norglide tactile sensation. It does have a little bit of a stop to each increment, which gives it a sense of solidity. So you've got a and so is the dial. Now the dial is not PVD. It is actually a disc of platinum, which makes it quite distinguished. We have large white gold indices and hands. We'll take a quick look at the lume here. You could see this is a relatively late use of superluminova on a Rolex watch, but it was quite bright. And like the Submariners, it does have a luminescent seconds hand. So you do know it is running and we've got a caliber 3135 inside. So that's a Rolex manufacturer workhorse. It's underneath that solid case back, the case water resistant to a hundred meters, though it does have a trip lock crown, not the traditional twin lock that you normally see on the hundred meter watches. This is a Rolex certified pre-owned piece featuring hacking seconds. Caliber 3135 also includes a quick set date mechanism, 31 jewels, four Hertz beat rate, bi-directional winding with a rotor on a super smooth and silent jeweled staff, 48 hour power reserve, five position adjusted. The movement is a COSC certified Swiss chronometer for durability against shock. It's got a full balance bridge and a free sprung balance, and it has a Breguet overcoil hairspring shaped by hand. So pretty much no matter what position it is in on your wrist or on your dresser, it will be isochronous, agnostic to gravity, keeping very consistent time. This is a lovable throwback and highly sought. Reach out to Team at the1916company.com for purchase and pricing. Rolex certified pre-owned watches are backed and authenticated by Rolex. Should any reconditioning be necessary, it will be to a Rolex certified standard and any parts invested Rolex factory original. Should the initial retail box paper and accessory set still accompany the watch, it will be included with the sale. But no matter what, a certified pre-owned box and paper set starts with an outer box, a leatherette travel pouch with suede lining, a warranty card that embodies the two-year globally valid Rolex backed warranty. Note, this is not a retail warranty, but backed by Rolex and actionable at any of its authorized points of sales and service. A leatherette wallet includes the warranty terms and conditions manual. A holographic hang tag marks this as a certified pre-owned Rolex watch and a manual details Rolex's values as a company. The certified pre-owned program, care, feeding, service and use of your Rolex, locations of points of sales and service and details of Rolex.com. Rolex certified pre-owned watches are backed only by Rolex.