THE ROLEX CYCLOPS LENS

March 5, 2021

WHAT IS ROLEX CYCLOPS?

Cyclops refers to an inset magnifying lens found on the crystal of watches.

In 1953, Rolex introduced an enhancement to the date window, called the Cyclops. Named after the one-eyed giant of Greek mythology, the Cyclops lens is placed outside of the watch crystal, on top of the date, in order to magnify the date. It was made for Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf’s wife, who couldn’t read the date easily.

By 1955, Rolex had already patented the specially shaped magnifying lens, and it was soon applied to Rolex watches that had a date display.

The first watch to use the cyclops was the Datejust. Following the Datejust, Rolex introduced the cyclops for all watches in the Oyster collection featuring a date function. The Day-Date featured the Cyclops when it was first launched in 1956, and the GMT-Master also had it at its launch in 1955.

The only two watches not to use the cyclops was the Deepsea and Sea-Dweller due to practical and technical reasons since the crystals are so thick. However, this would come to change further on – but more on this further on.

Rolex Cylops Sapphire Crystal

At the time of the launch of the cyclops, sapphire crystals were not really used in the watch industry, and therefore, the cyclops were made in acrylic glass.

Rolex started developing the cyclops in sapphire. Since acrylic scratches so easily, which affects the legibility of the date and the time. The issue with a cyclops made in acrylic is that if it is scratched, damaged, or changes shape, it will also affect the magnification. This is why, on many vintage Rolex watches featuring an acrylic cyclops, the magnification of the date is not very sharp. Instead, since the shape of the cyclops has changed over the years, the date can look quite odd.

This is why, Rolex started making the cyclops in sapphire. And to avoid glare, Rolex also started treating the cyclops with an anti-reflecting coating from 2005. Previously, Rolex had only applied anti-reflective coating on the upside of the cyclops, which meant it could glare and make it difficult to read in some lights.

On the Older Rolex watches with acrylic crystal, the cyclops lens is molded into one piece. Since this is not possible to do in a good way with sapphire due to its hardness, the Cyclops is actually a separate piece of sapphire glued to the crystal.

If unlucky, the cyclops can fall off the crystal on the new sapphire versions – especially after a hard hit.

Cyclops or No Cyclops

The Rolex cyclops is something that splits opinions. Some people love it, others hate it. However, it is there for a reason. It has also come to become an iconic element of Rolex watches, closely associated with the brand.

The cyclops is not developed for aesthetical reasons, but rather for practicality and function. At the same time, some people do enjoy the looks of the cyclops on Rolex watches. Today, it can be found on almost all Rolex watches in the brand’s collection, and with that said, Rolex clearly sees great value in its. The only Rolex with a date function to still not use the cyclops is therefore only the Deepsea Sea-Dweller.

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