Offered in very good condition, the present Yacht-Master II is a rare opportunity to acquire one of the most complicated modern Rolex wristwatches, distinguished by its large and heavy white gold case of strong proportions and the solid platinum bezel, which acts as a key to program a countdown. It is directly connected to the mechanical movement, unlike the standard bezels that operate independently

Designed especially as a watch for timing boat races, it is equipped with a programmable flyback regatta timer. The countdown can be individually pre-programmed from one to 10 minutes. If the countdown is started too early or too late, the watch is additionally equipped with an "on the fly" synchronisation.

How to use it
By turning the bezel, called the Ring-Command bezel by the firm, a quarter turn to the left and locking the lower pusher, the watch is ready for programming. With the winding crown in the first position, the countdown hand with the red triangle can be set to a maximum of 10 minutes. If the crown is turned further, the fly-back mechanism brings the hand back to 1. Once the correct minute has been entered, the winding crown can be screwed back in and by turning the bezel to its original position, the lower pusher also jumps back to its original position.

A regatta is prepared for the main start by several time-delayed acoustic signals. At the first signal the countdown on the watch can be triggered. If, however, the trigger is pressed too early or too late, the countdown can be synchronized with the reset button at the next signal. The second hand will jump back to the zero mark to start the countdown again immediately, the countdown hand will also fly back to the previous minute. However, if the second hand is above the 30 mark before the synchronization is triggered, the second hand and countdown hand will jump forward to the next minute.