The Watch That Wimbledon Built

How a collector nickname, a legendary tennis partnership, and one unforgettable courtside moment turned the Rolex Datejust into the most culturally loaded dial in modern watchmaking.

By the Watch Experts at Le Watch Buyers  |  Reading Time: ~10 min  |  Focus: Rolex Wimbledon · Rolex Datejust · Roger Federer

There’s a photograph that watch collectors reference constantly, even if they can’t always articulate exactly why it hit so hard. It’s summer 2022. Roger Federer isn’t playing Wimbledon that year — a knee surgery has kept him off the grass. But he’s there, sitting courtside, dressed in a dark suit, watching the players he shaped an era alongside. And on his wrist, quiet and unhurried as everything he’s ever done, is a grey-dial Datejust with green Roman numerals.

No press release accompanied it. No campaign brief. Rolex didn’t send an email to watch media with a product code attached. It was just Roger, at Wimbledon, wearing a watch that collectors had already started calling “the Wimbledon” — and in that moment, the name stopped being a nickname and became something closer to fact.

This is the story of that watch. Where it came from, what it actually is, why it means what it means, and what it’s worth today to the people who understand it.

1978: The Partnership Nobody Saw Coming

In 1978, Rolex became the official timekeeper of The Championships, Wimbledon. That sentence is easy to read past without registering how unusual it was at the time. Rolex wasn’t a sports brand in any conventional sense. They were the watch you wore when you summited Everest, or dove to the ocean floor, or sat in the cockpit of a transatlantic flight. Tennis — even Wimbledon — was an entirely different world.

But both institutions shared something that turned out to be more important than any surface-level sport-versus-brand fit. Both were obsessive about time. Not in the marketing-copy sense — in the actual, operational sense. Wimbledon runs on exact timing from the first warm-up to the final point. Matches that have defined careers hang on seconds. The serve clock, the rest intervals, the rhythm of play between sets — all of it governed by precision that most people in the stands never consciously notice but would absolutely feel if it disappeared.

Rolex understood that assignment immediately. They didn’t just slap a logo on the scoreboard and call it sponsorship. They installed timing systems. They put their clocks on the umpire’s chair, on Centre Court’s famous analog scoreboards, throughout the All England Club grounds. Their presence at Wimbledon was functional before it was decorative — which is, not coincidentally, how every meaningful Rolex in history has worked too.

Over the following decades, the partnership expanded. Rolex became the official timekeeper at all four Grand Slams — the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open — and later at the ATP and WTA Finals, the Davis Cup, and the Laver Cup. But Wimbledon was always where it started, and Wimbledon remains the relationship that carries the most weight. It’s where the heritage is deepest. It’s where the grass is greenest. And it’s where, eventually, the watch came from.

2009: Where the Wimbledon Dial Actually Came From

Here’s what most articles get slightly wrong: the Wimbledon dial didn’t arrive as a tribute or a commemorative edition. Rolex never announced it as such. There was no press conference, no special packaging, no official tie-in with the tournament. What happened in 2009 was something more organic and, in retrospect, more interesting.

Rolex introduced the Datejust II that year — a larger, bolder take on the classic Datejust, running at 41mm when the original had always been 36mm. The case was thicker, the lugs were more pronounced, and the overall presence was distinctly more assertive. Within the new collection sat a reference — the two-tone yellow Rolesor model 116333 — with a dial configuration unlike anything in the existing Datejust lineup.

The dial was slate grey. Not silver, not white, not the warm champagne tones that had defined many classic Datejust variants. A cool, almost architectural slate grey with a sunburst finish that caught light differently depending on angle and conditions. And the hour markers — Roman numerals, in the tradition of the most formal Datejust dials — were outlined in green. Not a subtle green. A rich, deep, grassy green. The kind of green that, if you spent any time thinking about it, looked exactly like the lawns of the All England Club in July.

Rolex didn’t name it. But collectors, who are very good at this kind of thing, named it themselves — almost immediately. The “Wimbledon dial.” The slate grey of Centre Court’s structural elements and London’s overcast summer skies. The green of the grass those players have bled for since 1877. The name clicked and stayed.

“Wimbledon is not an official designation from Rolex. You won’t find it printed in any catalogue or on any warranty card. It is an unofficial yet undisputed nickname, born from the passion of the collector community.”

That last part matters more than it might seem. When collectors give a Rolex a nickname, it’s a form of cultural canonization. The Hulk. The Pepsi. The Batman. The Root Beer. None of these are Rolex’s words — they’re ours. And once a Rolex earns one, the value almost always follows the name upward over time. The Wimbledon dial joined that club in 2009 and has never left it.

Why Collectors Named It — And Why That Matters

It’s worth pausing on the nickname phenomenon, because it explains something important about how watch value actually forms in the secondary market.

Most industries operate on official branding. The manufacturer names the product, controls the narrative, and the market follows along. Rolex is different — or more precisely, the Rolex collector community is different. These are people who study references obsessively, who know that a 5513 and a 5512 aren’t interchangeable, who can identify a transitional dial from across a room. When that community organically decides that a watch deserves a name beyond its reference number, something real has happened. The watch has crossed from product into culture.

The Wimbledon dial crossed that line fast. Part of it was the visual — that grey-and-green combination was genuinely distinctive within a collection that had mostly operated in silver, white, champagne, and blue. Part of it was the timing. 2009 was also the year Federer broke Pete Sampras’s all-time Grand Slam record at Wimbledon, winning his 15th title in a five-set final against Andy Roddick. He was on his way to becoming the most decorated male player in the sport’s history. And he was wearing Rolex.

The watch and the man and the place were already deeply intertwined before the dial had been on the market twelve months. The nickname was just the collectors catching up to what was already obvious.

Roger Federer and the Watch He Made Famous

Roger Federer became a Rolex Testimonee in 2001 — or possibly 2006, depending on which source you trust and whether you’re counting his early promotional relationship or his formal commercial contract. What’s not disputed is that from around 2006 onward, there were essentially no publicly documented moments of Federer wearing another brand’s watch. Not once. In an era when athletes cycle through endorsements with the frequency of season changes, that kind of loyalty is remarkable enough to be its own story.

Over the years, Federer accumulated what became one of the most tracked celebrity watch collections in history. More than 30 distinct Rolex models photographed publicly on his wrist, from a humble steel Datejust at the 2006 US Open to a $325,000 off-catalog Daytona with an orange sapphire bezel at Wimbledon 2022. He wore a yellow gold GMT-Master II after winning his 15th Grand Slam. He wore a blue-dial Sky-Dweller when he took his 18th title at the Australian Open. He wore an Everose Day-Date at Wimbledon 2018, the green dial looking so deliberately right against the grass behind him that it almost seemed choreographed — except Federer was never that calculated about watches. He just wore what he liked.

But the Datejust Wimbledon dial is the one that defines the relationship between the man and the watch. He wore it at Wimbledon 2017 — the year he won his 8th title, becoming statistically the greatest Wimbledon champion in the men’s game’s history. That moment, with the trophy in one hand and the grey-and-green dial on his wrist, was seen by hundreds of millions of people. For collectors who were paying attention, it felt like the watch had been waiting for that moment since 2009.

Then came 2022. Federer’s knee had ended his playing career in practice if not yet officially. He returned to Wimbledon for the centenary ceremony — a celebration of the All England Club and the legends who’d made it legendary. He sat courtside in a dark suit. And there, on his left wrist, was the Wimbledon dial again. Same configuration. Different context. He wasn’t a champion anymore, or at least not in any active sense. He was something more permanent: the person who defined an era. And the watch felt exactly right for that.

There’s a telling detail in a Rolex video from around this period, where Federer explains his Datejust — the one he wore when he held his 15th Grand Slam trophy at Wimbledon in 2009. He says it’s one of his favourite watches. Not because of the design or the mechanics. Because of what it reminds him of. There aren’t many watches in the world where the sentimental story of the man who wore it has been told in his own words on the manufacturer’s own platform. That’s not sponsorship territory anymore. That’s something more durable.

What the Rolex Wimbledon Actually Is: A Full Breakdown

Let’s be precise about what we’re talking about, because “Rolex Wimbledon” means different things to different people in different contexts — and when you’re buying or selling, precision matters.

The Wimbledon is not a model. It is a dial configuration within the Datejust family. Rolex has never officially produced a watch called the Wimbledon, and you won’t find the word anywhere on the watch, the box, the papers, or the warranty card. What you’ll find is a Datejust — either the 36mm or 41mm version — with a specific dial: slate grey sunburst, black Roman numerals outlined in green, applied and polished so they catch the light with a slight shimmer, and a stick marker at 9 o’clock in place of the Roman numeral that would otherwise be there.

That marker at 9 o’clock is one of the details that serious collectors use to quickly confirm they’re looking at the genuine Wimbledon configuration rather than an aftermarket or re-dialed piece. It’s subtle, it’s consistent, and it’s been part of the dial design since 2009.

The Calibre 3235 deserves a mention beyond the spec table. It’s one of Rolex’s most accomplished movements — a complete in-house redesign that brought a 70-hour power reserve (meaning the watch will keep running for nearly three days without winding), a new Chronergy escapement that improves energy efficiency by 15% over the previous generation, and a Parachrom hairspring that resists the kind of shock and temperature variation that would throw a lesser movement off. This is not a dress watch movement that got lucky — it’s a serious piece of engineering wearing a very elegant suit.

Navigating the References: 36mm vs. 41mm, Steel vs. Rolesor

If you’re researching the Wimbledon dial to buy or sell, the reference number tells you everything. Here’s how to read the key variants quickly:

The 41mm Datejust (Datejust 41 — 126xxx series)

This is the watch most people picture when they say “Rolex Wimbledon” — the size Federer wore in 2017. The 41mm Datejust launched in 2016 when Rolex discontinued the Datejust II, and it carried the Wimbledon dial forward in a more refined package. The case is slimmer than the Datejust II despite the same diameter, the lugs are more tapered, and the overall silhouette is more elegant for the size. The 126300 is the steel reference; the 126333 is the yellow Rolesor (steel with yellow gold bezel and clasp).

The 36mm Datejust (Datejust 36 — 126xxx series)

The original Datejust size, and the one that has staged a significant collector comeback over the past several years. There’s a pronounced trend back toward more restrained proportions in serious watch collecting, and the 36mm Wimbledon — understated, perfectly proportioned, genuinely wearable across a wide range of contexts — has benefited from that shift. The 126234 is the steel reference with the white gold fluted bezel; the 126200 wears a smooth steel bezel.

The Datejust II (116xxx series — discontinued)

Where the Wimbledon dial started, and worth knowing about if you encounter one. The Datejust II ran from 2009 to 2016 at 41mm but with a thicker, more substantial case than the current Datejust 41. The 116333 was the yellow Rolesor that introduced the dial; the 116300 was the steel version. These are discontinued references, which means no new production — a detail that historically works in favour of secondary market values on desirable configurations.

What It’s Worth — And Why It Holds Value

The Wimbledon dial occupies an interesting position in the secondary market. It’s not the explosive speculative asset that a steel Daytona or a Pepsi GMT can become — where prices double and then retreat and then climb again based on availability cycles. It’s steadier than that. Which, depending on what you’re looking for in a watch, is either less exciting or more reassuring.

Retail pricing on a steel Datejust 41 with the Wimbledon dial starts at roughly $7,100 for the 36mm and moves upward through the Rolesor configurations toward $23,000 and beyond. On the pre-owned market, the better-condition examples — full set, box and papers, minimal wear on case and bracelet — have consistently traded at or above retail. That’s not universal for Datejust variants, many of which depreciate normally from retail. The Wimbledon configuration is one of a small number of Datejust dials that the market consistently treats as premium.

Why? Several converging factors:

• The cultural association is locked in. Federer, Wimbledon, the greatest grass court player in history — that story isn’t going anywhere. It will be told and retold for decades. Watches that have genuine cultural stories attached to them hold value better than watches that are merely attractive.
• The visual is genuinely distinctive. You can identify a Wimbledon dial from twenty feet away. That kind of instant recognition is rarer than it sounds within the Datejust family, which has hundreds of dial variants.
• The discontinued Datejust II references create a floor. The 116333 and 116300 are no longer in production, which means the supply is fixed and declining. Well-preserved examples with full documentation tend to appreciate slowly and quietly over time.
• The Datejust 41 in steel is undervalued relative to its mechanics. Many collectors who’ve lived through the speculative peaks of sport watch pricing have come back to the Datejust as a more rational expression of what Rolex does best. The Wimbledon dial specifically attracts that buyer.

What the Wimbledon dial is not: a guaranteed appreciating asset in the way that certain sport references can be. If you’re buying it purely as an investment vehicle expecting significant short-term gain, the Submariner or GMT-Master II story is more relevant to that goal. What the Wimbledon offers instead is stability, genuine cultural resonance, and the kind of slow, confident value retention that mirrors — fittingly — the player it’s most associated with.

Selling Your Rolex Datejust Wimbledon Dial

If you own a Wimbledon dial Datejust and are thinking about selling, a few things are worth knowing before you begin.

The reference number matters significantly. There’s a meaningful price difference between a discontinued 116333 Datejust II and a current 126333 Datejust 41 — not always in the direction you might expect. Pre-owned Datejust II examples in excellent condition with full documentation can trade competitively with newer references because of the discontinued status. Know your reference before you accept any offer.

Box and papers move the number noticeably. The Wimbledon dial is popular enough that watch-only examples sell readily — it’s a liquid reference, which means you’ll find buyers without documentation. But full-set examples, especially with original hang tags and green seal intact, consistently achieve better outcomes. If you have the papers, present them prominently.

Bracelet condition is closely scrutinised. Jubilee bracelets stretch with wear, and a stretched Jubilee on an otherwise clean watch is one of the most common value reducers we see. Oyster bracelets are more forgiving. Either way, have an honest look at your bracelet before you submit photos.

Do not polish the case before selling. This almost always reduces value on collector-grade pieces by removing the original finishing and rounding case edges. A watch with honest wear and unpolished original surfaces will typically achieve a better offer from a knowledgeable buyer than a polished piece that looks newer but has lost its character.

The Wimbledon dial’s sustained demand means this is not a watch you need to rush through an auction or sell under pressure. Buyers for this reference exist consistently, across price brackets and configurations. Take the time to present it correctly and get it in front of an appraiser who understands what they’re looking at.

The Watch That Earned Its Name

Most watches that get collector nicknames earn them quickly and forget them just as fast. Trends move on. The secondary market shifts. Yesterday’s Hulk is today’s overlooked green watch and tomorrow’s Hulk again. The cycle is real and it’s relentless.

The Wimbledon dial is different. Its nickname is tied to an institution that has been running since 1877, to a partnership that just crossed its 45th year, and to a player whose legacy was being discussed as permanent before his retirement was even announced. These things don’t fade. They settle into the culture and stay there.

You can buy a grey-dial Datejust with green Roman numerals and know that you’re wearing something with a story attached — a real one, not a marketing one. That it timed the 2022 centenary ceremony. That it was on Federer’s wrist when he held his eighth Wimbledon trophy. That it got its name from a place that has been playing the most civilised game in the world for going on 150 years.

For a watch that was never officially named, that’s quite a legacy to have quietly assembled.

Le Watch Buyers · Watch Education & Blog Series · lewatchbuyers.com · Market values referenced are directional and subject to change. Always verify current pricing with a professional appraisal. “Wimbledon” is a collector nickname and not an official Rolex designation.