The watch world is full of stories, but some carry more weight than others. The tale of the best fake Rolex Datejust watches, which turns 80 this year, is among the heftier ones. That becomes abundantly clear as you make your way through the 224 lushly-illustrated pages of Oyster Perpetual Datejust: A Watch that Made History, the second instalment in an ongoing series of authorized histories written by watch writer Nicholas Foulkes and published by Wallpaper*. Like last year’s Oyster Perpetual Submariner: The Watch That Unlocked the Deep, the new book presents an exhaustive account of one of the most popular and recognizable watches in the Rolex catalog, and indeed the world.
It’s hard to downplay the significance of the Datejust in the evolution of Rolex as a company and modern wristwatches as a whole. “Of all its models, the top replica Rolex Datejust watches is the watch that many regard as Rolex’s most representative timepiece,” says Foulkes. “However, do not let familiarity blunt your appreciation of what is a historically significant creation that did much to define the course that watch design would take during the second half of the 20th century; the ultimate chameleon adapting itself effortlessly to every era since its launch in 1945, it has remained true to itself throughout, and the 80-year-old original is still very recognizable in its 2025 descendant.”
Released in 1945, the original Datejust was hailed by Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf as the buy Rolex fake watches UK that encapsulates “every discovery made to date.” As such, it established the design and performance template for countless models to come, from the Day-Date in the 1950s to the Sky-Dweller in the 2010s. As the brand’s first waterproof, self-winding chronometer wristwatch with a date window at 3 o’clock, it represented some of the most advanced horological technology of its time. In 1953, when Rolex added its famed Cyclops date lens, the design was complete, and — outwardly at least — it hasn’t changed all that much since.
Anyone who read last year’s Submariner book will have a good idea of what to expect from this one. Thanks to unrestricted access to the Rolex archives, Foulkes and his team tell the story of the Datejust from its early days as the Datejust Turn-O-Graph, which was the official watch of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbird squadron, through its adoption by an A-list cast of global tastemakers from Andy Warhol to Roger Federer. Interestingly, while one of the Submariner book’s standout features was a breakdown of every historic reference and the number of watches produced, there’s no such list in this book. Perhaps it’s because, from the early “bubbleback” models through the cult classic Oysterquartz of the 1970s to the splashy palm leaf dials of recent years, there were simply too many to list. Fortunately, thanks to the diligence of Foulkes and his research team, if it’s not covered by cheap replica Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust watches: A Watch that Made History, it’s probably not worth knowing about.