100 Iconic Rolex

100 Iconic Rolex celebrates the watches that define the world’s most famous luxury brand. Following the success of The Watch Book Rolex and 100 Iconic Watches, renowned watch expert Gisbert L. Brunner presents his curated selection of 100 Rolex references that made headlines, broke auction records, or gained mythical status. 

From Paul Newman’s legendary Daytona to James Bond’s Submariner and Pablo Picasso’s GMT-Master, each chapter reveals the stories, technical breakthroughs, and cultural moments that made these timepieces true icons. Vintage rarities, cutting-edge innovations, and the most sought-after pieces—worn by celebrities, explorers, and collectors—are brought to life through stunning photography and insightful commentary.

For connoisseurs, collectors, and anyone curious about what makes a watch become a legend, this visually arresting book unlocks the secrets and enduring fascination of the world’s most coveted watches.

Born in 1947, Gisbert L. Brunner has pursued his interest in wristwatches, pendulum clocks and other precision timepieces since 1964. During the 1970s quartz crisis, his love of mechanical watches, an ostensibly endangered species, grew. In the early 1980s his passion for collecting watches led him to pen his first articles. More than 30 books on the art of watchmaking were to follow. Among those are “The Watch Book I” (2015) and “The Watch Book II” (2016), “100 Iconic Watches” (2024) as well as the first “The Watch Book Rolex” from 2017. Brunner writes for publications such as “Chronos Japan”, “Prestige”, “Materialist”, “GZ” and “ZEIT Magazin”. In 2018, together with his partner Wolfgang Winter, Brunner launched the popular internet platform www.uhrenkosmos.com.

Oliver Knop (PHD) was born and raised in Hamburg. After university, he pursued an international management career that took him to New York, Geneva and Paris. As a student, he paid his first Rolex with money that he earned as a temp after school. His love for vintage models only developed later, when he browsed the shops on 47th St. during his years in New York. It was there too, during an event at the Plaza, that he met Gisbert Brunner, who later portrayed his Vintage Rolex collection for the Robb Report. Meanwhile he finds the time himself to share his passion in publications and advise others with their collections.