Dream Watch Profile: The Rolex Air King

One of my friends has a high end stereo. He is willing to delay gratification until he can afford the finest components. Then, he plans to keep those components for the rest of his life. He's a regular middle class guy. He isn't rich. He doesn't buy things often, but when he does, he buys the best that he can. It's an approach that some watch collectors take. Instead of having a hodge-podge of 90 watches, they have a collection of just a few high end timepieces.  From time to time, I think it would be nice just to have a few high end Rolex watches.

Rolex Submariners - Photo by Eternalsleeper at en.wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Sometimes, this approach of saving for a long time and buying carefully can allow middle class people to own some of the finest products. But, when it comes to high end watch brands, many brands have priced their products well beyond the buying capacity of middle class people. I thought that was the case for Rolex. But, I was recently surprised to discover a Rolex model that a middle class person might aspire to own. It's the Rolex Air King.

Rolex Air King - Photo by thnchiba (http://photozou.com/photo/show/74528/1230796) [CC-BY-2.1-jp (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.1/jp/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

At nearly $5000 [nearly $10,000 in 2024], the Air King isn't cheap. The Rolex Air King also isn't engineered to meet some artificial price point in the marketplace. While the Air King is the entry level Rolex, it's not an afterthought derived in a marketing department. This is a watch that is an integral part of Rolex history. According to an article by Joseph Lavender on the blog Jake's Rolex World called “The Complete History of the RolexAir-King,” the Air King was first made in 1945 to honor the bravery of RAF pilots and airmen. Thus, the timepiece is connected to the long heritage of the Rolex brand.

While these watches aren't in my price range, they are within the range of my dreams.