Rolex Cellini Prince 5442/5

Rolex Cellini Prince 5442/5. Hand-wound mechanical movement. 27mm x 44mm, 18ct Rose Gold rectangular Prince case. Black dial with Rose Gold subdials. The upper sub-dial carries the hour markers and Arabic numerals, Rolex motif and ‘Prince’ printed in white at the 12 o’clock position. The small seconds sub-dial is positioned at 6 o’clock. Sapphire display case back. On a Rolex Crocodile skin leather bracelet with folding clasp. Box and papers December 2011.

The Rolex Cellini Prince ref. 5442/5 is an unusual chapter in Rolex history, largely because Rolex allowed the movement to become part of the watch’s visual appeal. Its distinctive rectangular case is paired with a sapphire display caseback, revealing the manually wound movement beneath, something quite different from the solid casebacks associated with most Rolex watches. The Prince was inspired by the Art Deco-era Rolex Prince watches of the 1920s and 1930s, yet the 5442/5 combines that historic shape with contemporary Rolex craftsmanship. In rose gold, particularly with one of the more elaborate decorative dials, the result is a watch that feels less like a conventional Rolex and more like a piece of 20th-century horological design revived for the modern era.