Rolex · Family: Yacht-Master
The Rolex Yacht-Master 42 226658 is the 18k yellow gold execution of the brand's luxury nautical watch, introduced in 2022 to mark the Yacht-Master collection's 30th anniversary. It houses the in-house Calibre 3235 with roughly 70 hours of power reserve, in a 42mm case rated to 100m. Cazador has no verified price observations yet. Its standout detail: solid yellow gold paired with the black rubber Oysterflex bracelet, a combination previously reserved for other metals within the family.
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The Yacht-Master debuted in 1992 as a departure within the Rolex catalog: a sporty-looking watch built for luxury nautical living rather than professional diving, with reduced water resistance compared with the Submariner and none of the latter's tool-watch pedigree. It has since gone through several generations of size and material, settling today into three diameters — 37, 40 and 42mm.
Reference 226658 arrived in 2022, timed to the collection's 30th anniversary, as the first solid yellow gold execution of the 42mm case, a size previously offered only in white gold (ref. 226659). The case is machined from a solid block of 18k yellow gold, with a polished mid-case and a screwed, finely fluted caseback that only Rolex watchmakers can open.
The bidirectional bezel carries a matte black Cerachrom ceramic insert with raised, mirror-polished graduations and numerals, while the black lacquered dial pairs applied yellow gold hour markers — triangular, round and rectangular — with the signature Mercedes hand, all treated with Rolex's own blue-toned Chromalight luminescent compound.
Inside sits the Calibre 3235, the in-house date movement introduced in 2015 to replace the Calibre 3135, protected by fourteen patents, with the Chronergy escapement as its headline innovation: machined from anti-magnetic nickel-phosphorus, it accounts for a large share of the movement's roughly 70-hour power reserve. A Parachrom hairspring mounted on Paraflex shock absorbers rounds out a movement certified as a Superlative Chronometer, with a tolerance of -2/+2 seconds a day.
The Oysterflex bracelet, with its internal structure of flexible, curved metal blades coated in black elastomer, pairs here with a yellow gold Oysterlock clasp and a Glidelock extension system allowing tool-free adjustments of up to 15mm. The 226658 shares its specifications with the white gold 226659, differing only in case metal.
Because it's rated to 100m versus the Submariner's 300m, and its bidirectional bezel lacks a diving-instrument locking system. Rolex designed it as a luxury nautical watch rather than a professional tool.
In 2022, to mark the Yacht-Master collection's 30th anniversary, as the first solid yellow gold execution of the 42mm case.
They share the same specifications and design; the only documented difference is case metal — yellow gold on the 226658, white gold on the 226659.
Cazador has no verified price observations for this reference yet. We avoid publishing estimates without our own sourced market data.
Roughly 70 hours, largely thanks to the Chronergy escapement, machined from anti-magnetic nickel-phosphorus.
No. Internally it has a structure of flexible, curved metal blades coated in a high-resistance black elastomer, combining rubber comfort with metal-bracelet robustness.
Yes, the sapphire crystal carries Rolex's signature Cyclops lens over the date window at 3 o'clock.