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Home » Watch Reviews » Rolex Air-King 114200 White Roman Numeral Dial Review

Rolex Air-King 114200 White Roman Numeral Dial Review

March 6, 2017 by Matthew Catellier 9 Comments — Updated on January 22, 2024

Rolex Air-King 114200 White Roman Numeral Dial Review

As we all know, Rolex is the number one, most influential luxury watch brand in the world. The brand itself has a huge history that started in London, dating back to 1905. They eventually moved their headquarters over to Geneva, Switzerland. Each one of their models has a story to tell, and a real  purpose behind it’s engineering and design.

Today, here at The Watch Review Blog, I’m creating a review on my personal watch that I’ve been wearing for the past 4 months, the Rolex Air-King 114200, with a white roman numeral dial. This specific watch was released in 2015, which is the last year Rolex produced the Air-King with a 34mm case, before discontinuing this style, and introducing a new style with a 40mm case size.

I truly love this watch, so let’s dive in to the full review and see why!

Up Close & Personal

114200 Style and Build

In a few words, the style of the Air-King 114200 is understated, classy, and versatile. Your average person will not look at this watch on your wrist and say “nice Rolex”, chances are they are not suspecting it’s a Rolex at all. This is the kind of watch that flies under the radar, but also emits an unbelievable aura of class.

You can wear the Rolex Air-King 114200 with virtually any outfit, from super casual sports wear, to a full formal suit. This watch will complete the outfit, with no doubts in mind.

Air-King 114200 Fashion Photo

There are a couple of stand-out reasons as to why this watch is so visually powerful, without actually screaming for attention:

  • The case is small at 34mm
  • The bracelet is small, matching the lugs
  • It’s constructed entirely of high-grade stainless steel
  • The dial is basic, with no date feature
  • The sapphire crystal is flat
  • The dial has timeless roman numerals
  • The overall appearance is simple and not busy
  • The Rolex detailing, and final touches on this watch are exquisite

Bracelet and Rolex engraving

Bracelet

The bracelet on the watch is made from 904L steel, and closes with a folding oyster clasp, and the links are lightly brushed on the top and high-polished on the sides, making for a gorgeous combination. This oyster bracelet is also less flashy than its counterpart “jubilee” style. When fastening it to your wrist, you will hear a very comforting “pop” sound coming from the clasp, which is distinct to this type of bracelet, and truly signifies luxury.

Case

The case is also lightly brushed on the top, and highly-polished on the sides, giving it a very subtle but distinct look. This “Oyster” cases design process is patented by Rolex. They carve the case from a solid piece of metal, rather than soldering multiple pieces together. This insures it’s robust strength, and helps with its water resistant capabilities.

Dial

The dial on the 114200 is simple, yet refined. It’s a white dial with black roman numerals, and the Rolex crown at the 12’oclock position. There are white gold indices acting as hour markers, and are lined up with roman numerals for easy legibility. The black mini indices act as minute markers. The Rolex logo is also inscribed on the dial as usual, with “Oyster Perpetual” and “Air-King” also being inscribed under it. The term “superlative chronometer officially certified” is also inscribed on the dial above the 6’oclock position.

Hands

The hands are one of my favourite part of the Air-King 114200. First off, they are very visible against the white background. The hour hand is thick and stout, while the minute hand is a little longer and thinner, and the second hand is a brilliantly long thin needle style hand, that sweeps gracefully around the face. The second hand is a deal sealer, it’s elegance is breathtaking when viewed up close. The second hand starts off thick, and then gradually fades into a pointy needle, unlike the Bremont ALT1-C which is hair-thin the entire way through.

Dial Close Up

Comfort

This is quite possibly the most comfortable watch I’ve ever worn, This is my personal experience, although it may not be the same for you. Therefore I always recommend you try a luxury watch on before you buy it.

Being an average sized guy, I have smaller wrists, no surprise there! I usually mention this in my reviews. Part of the reason why the Air-King 114200 is the watch you most often see on my wrist, is because of its 34mm case size. It sits perfectly centered on my wrist, it’s not too heavy, and the design is relatively slim as well.

In Action Photo

Movement

The 114200 is powered by Rolex’s 3130 self-winding mechanical movement, which builds up a reserve of around 48 hours. This is also the same movement used in the Explorer models (they are also “no date”) from the same year of production. The movement is of course highly precise and reliable, making it COSC certified.

For the first 2 months, I was little surprised, as I noticed that the watch was running a little faster than I expected, around +7 seconds per day. I did a little research, and noticed that there is a way to self calibrate this movement (slow it down), by simply laying the Air-King crown up at night. This small little tweak brought the watch down to an almost perfect +2 seconds per day! If you notice yours running a little fast, try this before bringing it in for inspection.

Conclusion

This is hands down my favorite watch to wear, whether I’m going to work, relaxing at home, or out on the weekend, my Rolex Air-King 114200 is on my left wrist. There are many things about this watch that just work for me. The size, the low profile, and it’s classy style!

This is also an investment piece, one that will not drop too much in value after you purchase it. Chances are, it may even appreciate in its later years, as a sought after collectors timepiece.

Filed Under: Luxury, Men's, Watch Reviews Tagged With: Automatic Watches, Chronographs, Pilot Watches

About Matthew Catellier

Matthew Catellier has been a professional watch journalist for over a decade. He is the founder of The Watch Review Blog and actively contributes to Forbes and other online publications. Matt is an expert on mechanical watches, and is widely considered a specialist in vintage and modern Rolex. Follow him on Instagram @watchreviewblog.

Comments

  1. Cavin says

    April 19, 2017 at 11:02 pm

    Nice Air King. I have a 1971 5700 Air King Date and swim/snorkel with it. As long as the gaskets are good the watch will be fine. Your Air King is 100m water resistant by the way.

    Reply
  2. Louis says

    April 5, 2019 at 11:40 pm

    Just bought one. Not sure about the size. Did not realize the oyster 39mm just came out in white. Great right up but your video is terrible. Sorry… 🙁

    Reply
  3. Alain Meyer says

    April 15, 2019 at 9:45 am

    As the 34 mm “Air-King” (AK) has grown to 40 mm, so the 34 mm AK has been replaced by the 114200, a simple Oyster Perpetual 34 mm. The AK-Logo has vanished. But the MOSTLY interesting point: the hands have grown. Longer and thicker. In my collection I have this latest version (white dial, arabic 3, 6, 9). Regards from Geneva.

    Reply
    • Matt says

      April 15, 2019 at 10:43 am

      Hey Alain, yes the new AK is very different but quite nice in its own right. I haven’t had the chance to try it on my small wrist to see how it fits. The OP 34mm have kept the classic look and come in new dial colours, but like you have mentioned are missing the AK logo. I’m very happy I bought this now somewhat vintage and discontinued model of AK while I had the chance. The 3, 6, 9 version is stunning congrats on your purchase, and enjoy beautiful Geneva!

      Reply
  4. Gerry says

    June 12, 2019 at 1:27 pm

    Beautiful watch indeed I’m looking forward to purchasing one for daily wear. Thanks for the tip on turning watch over crown up if watch is running fast.

    Reply
  5. Mario says

    July 25, 2020 at 12:19 am

    Nice review. This is the watch my dad gave me when I graduated from colleague. I am now a Rolex collector and this remains one of my favorites for all the reason you described, modern solid movement/case with a Vintage charm. The size may sound small but after wearing it for a while you get use to it (and then feel the Subs/GMT 40mm are too big!)

    Reply
  6. Erwin says

    February 20, 2025 at 6:40 am

    Has anyone tried to fit a (19-mm lug width) leather strap on this watch, successfully?

    From my own experience, the spring bar holes are too close to the watch head as such the lug ends of the strap will rub against the watch head (at 6 & 12 o’clock), even with thinner straps.

    Reply
    • Tom says

      February 23, 2025 at 7:04 pm

      If you check out Garactacle on Instagram, he shows a lot of examples of this but advises using curved spring bars. You’ll need to scroll back on his feed to around 2020.

      Reply
      • Erwin says

        March 3, 2025 at 3:13 pm

        Thanks! I’ll give the curved spring bars a try.

        Reply

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