Yacht-Master II

The Yacht-Master II is Rolex's most mechanically unusual sport watch, built around a single, very specific purpose: countdown timing for the start of regatta sailing races. Introduced in 2007, it features a programmable countdown chronograph, the Ring Command bezel sets a countdown duration from 1 to 10 minutes, and a mechanical memory function lets the watch synchronize with a race committee's start sequence even if the timing needs adjusting mid-countdown. It's one of the most complex movements Rolex has ever put into production.

That complexity comes with size and presence. The Yacht-Master II is larger and visually bolder than the standard Yacht-Master, with a distinctive bidirectional rotatable bezel marked for countdown rather than elapsed time, and the case shape and pushers give it a more aggressive profile than most of Rolex's sport catalog.

Because the regatta countdown function is genuinely niche, useful to sailing racers specifically rather than general sport watch buyers, the Yacht-Master II has a smaller collector base than the Daytona or GMT-Master II, and that's reflected in steadier, less hype-driven secondary market behavior. On WatchQuant, it's one of the lower-volume references in terms of active listings, which means market mid prices here should be read with that smaller sample size in mind.