How to use Rolex Sky Dweller

It may be the most complicated Rolex ever, but you don’t need to have a Phd to use the Rolex Sky Dweller to its fullest and enjoy its very useful features.

Rolex Sky Dweller Design

First introduced in 2012, the Sky-Dweller took the watch world by storm with its unprecedented design and functions. Rolex does not release a completely new watch very often, and this one was very well received by the watch loving community because of its refreshingly simple implementation of complications that are often cumbersome to use: the dual time zone and the annual calendar, together with a bold, contemporary design that is uniquely Rolex. At first glance the watch appears to be a traditional Rolex, but upon closer inspection we see that there

Rolex Sky Dweller Features and Functions

The most notable feature is the center 24 hour dual timezone ring in the center of the dial. Almost hidden around the outer edge of the dial is a month indicator. The current month is indicated by the red square. At the one o’clock position it indicates January, at two o’clock it indicates February and so on. The watch knows which months have 30 days and which have 31 days minimizing the times you need to manually set the date (February is the only exception).

Frequent travelers can agree that a dual time zone is a useful feature, but many watches do not have an intuitive way to set or display this information. Most watches rely on a multi-step crown or hidden pushers that require special tools to change these settings, resulting in the inconvenience of having to try several times to make sure local and home time, date and day/night indication are set correctly. With the Sky Dweller, all complications are set by rotating the bezel to one of its 4 positions. Rolex calls this unique setting bezel the Ring Command bezel.

In this Rolex Sky Dweller video review we provide you with easy to follow instructions for how to set your Rolex Skydweller watch and how to use it:

Rolex Sky Dweller Tutorial - How to Set and How to Use the Rolex Skydweller

The screw down crown works the same as with other Rolex watches: unscrew the crown toward you until the crown pops free of the threads. The crown is now in winding position to manually wind the watch. Now pull the crown out to its second and last stop.

First we are going to set the time in the reference (or home time). To do this rotate the bezel all the way counter clock wise (3 clicks). We are going to call this position 3. Now when we turn the crown we are setting the reference or “home” time. This is displayed by the disc marked with 24 hours. By using military time, we are able to quickly see if it is a.m. or p.m. at our home location. You’ll also notice that when setting the time in this position, the second hand is stopped, allowing us to set the time to the precise second.

Turn the Ring Command bezel one click clockwise and we are now in position 2. This position is used to set the local time, which is shown by the standard center hour hand. The date under the magnifier will change when the local time reaches midnight.

Now turn the bezel one more click clockwise, and we are in position 1. This allows the setting of the date forwards or backwards. Setting the date before the 1st or beyond the 31st will change the month correspondingly.

Lastly, we turn the bezel clockwise to the final position: Position 0. In this position all settings are locked and turning the crown does not change any of the settings. This is the Ring Command’s neutral position.

The integration of the Ring Command into the bezel together with the screw-down crown makes not only a very robust annual calendar, but one that is intuitive to use and easy to live with. This is one of the rare watches that doesn’t require one to consult the owner’s manual every time one attempts to use its complications.