Sometimes, I feel for Roger Federer : He’s one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen, and yet the dude can’t just show up, post-retirement, to spectate at a tennis match in a pair of jeans and a polo shirt. Nope – this guy has to dress like an MI6 agent on assignment no matter where he goes, right down to the wristwatch . As such, we can always count on Fed for excellent watch spotting , and Wimbledon 2024 has been no different.
Paired to his beautiful grey suit was a Rolex Datejust 36 with – appropriately enough – a “Wimbledon” dial. Launched in 2009, such Datejusts come in various bezel, metal, and bracelet combinations, but their dials are all of a kind: after receiving a sunray finish using a bruising technique, a dark grey rhodium colour is applied via PVD or electroplating, followed by a coat of varnish. Black Roman numeral indices with green Chromalight edges are then applied, in addition to a Rolex coronet at 12 o’clock and a white rectangular index at 9 o’clock.
At the outer edge of the dial is a minute track in white with 5-minute demarcations, plus the Datejust’s signature date window at 3 o’clock. Why is this configuration referred to as a “Wimbledon” dial? It’s thought that the green within the numerals is a nod to Wimbledon’s green pitches, where Rolex has served as an Official Timekeeper since 1978. (And where the grass must measure precisely 8mm tall, or else a small English child must be sacrificed to calm John McEnroe.
