So I have to swim against the tide for once. It's perfectly clear – for people who are deeply into the watch game, the Land Dweller is disappointing in some respects.
The design is half-baked and somehow neither here nor there. But in my opinion, this is mainly due to the unsuccessful dial; the rest is debatable. Technically, however, the watch is top notch. And that's actually the point for me: Rolex has finally caught up technically and found a point that – besides marketing – justifies the prices. Until now, Rolex has managed, as if by magic, to market its mass-produced products as luxury items. Now they have at least a technical hook that justifies the prices.
For Rolex, this was a game changer in my opinion. I suspect that the new technologies will now be incorporated into the existing model series with each new edition.
And as for the Land Dweller... just think of the Daytona, the Royal Oak and the Nautilus. These were also ridiculed by the ‘community’ when they first came out. And even the now-acclaimed Code 11.59 was quite ugly in its original version. If Rolex gives the LD new dials and a slight facelift over the next few years, the model will surely have a permanent place in the lineup.
