Rolex vs Patek Philippe is a battle of luxury watch royalty. No luxury watch brand carries the universal name recognition Rolex; among those who know, few watch brands can match cachet of Patek Philippe. Today, we compare the Rolex Yacht Master (116655) with Oysterflex strap/bracelet to a rare rose gold Patek Philippe Aquanaut in rose gold (5167R) to decide which watch should be the first resort. for luxury watch buyers and watch collectors!

The Rolex Yacht-Master 116655 features a 40mm 18k Everose gold case surrounding a black dial on a black Oysterflex bracelet with an 18k Everose gold deployant buckle. Rolex includes a bi directional bezel with a Cerachrom ceramic insert in black. The watch is a posh cousin to the more common Submariner dive watch, an that extends to the lines of the case; the Yacht Master is less severe of line than its 116610 stablemate.

Rolex's Oysterflex strap bowed with this Yacht Master model at Baselworld 2015, an it continues to be a marvel of mixed material design. The outer sheath is rubber; the inner band is an exotic alloy of nickel and titanium; the deployant clasp is crafted from 18 karat Rolex Everose, a rose gold alloy with a high proportion of copper for color and platinum for fade resistance.

Inside the Rolex Oyster case, an in house automatic caliber 3135 keeps the time. This Rolex movement is both a COSC certified Swiss chronometer and a Rolex attested "Superlative Chronometer" (i.e., -2/+2 seconds per 24 hours) as a fully cased watch. The Yacht Master is water resistant to 100 meters.

Functions include hours, minutes, seconds with hacking and date with quick set. The watch also measures 11.4mm in thickness and 48mm from lug-to-lug.

The Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5167R-001 is the richer cousin to the steel 5167A and the more casual brother of the Nautilus 5711. With a less elaborate case and a rubber strap ("composite strap" in Patek's lexicon), the Aquanaut "Jumbo" is a stripped down luxury sports watch by the patrician standards of Patek Philippe.

Patek Philippe matches each rose gold Aquanaut's brown rubber strap with a corresponding rose gold deployant clasp.

Each Aquanaut 5167R is water resistant to 120 meters an features a fully luminescent dial with a brown bronze or "black brown" base. The base of the dial features a "geosphere" pattern that emulates the overlapping rings of latitude and longitude that span the globe.

Patek Philippe's Aquanaut is powered by caliber 324 SC. This automatic in house caliber is equipped with a unidirectional winding rotor on ceramic bearings, a Gyromax free sprung balance with silicon Spiromax hairspring, and a power reserve of 35-45 hours. The current versions of this caliber bear the Patek Philippe seal, an attestation of adjustments in six positions, and a factory rating of-3/+2 seconds per day or better. The Aquanaut 5167R includes a sapphire display caseback.

The Patek Philippe Aquanaut Jumbo features a 40mm 18k rose gold case surrounding a brown embossed dial on a brown Tropical rubber strap with an 18k rose gold deployant buckle. Functions include hours, minutes, seconds and date. The watch also measures 8.3mm in thickness and 47mm from lug-to-lug.

For complete details, watch the full review!