Rolex Yacht-Master 42 in RLX Titanium, Reference 226627: Hands-On
Last updated: July 2026
Watch the full unboxing
The Rolex Yacht-Master 42 in RLX titanium, Reference 226627, is a 42mm Rolex sports watch, and the first thing you notice is the weight, or the lack of it. On the scale in the hands-on video, the head and bracelet together read 106.2 grams. Pick it up after a steel Yacht-Master and the difference lands the moment it leaves the box. Here is what stood out to us going through it.
Table of Contents
The Yacht-Master 42 in RLX titanium, Reference 226627.
RLX Titanium and the Weight
Rolex calls its grade 5 titanium alloy RLX titanium, and it makes up the whole watch here: case, bracelet, and bezel body. The finish is fully satin brushed, with no polished center links and no polished bezel flanks. It reads as a tool watch first. On the scale in the video, the head and bracelet together came to 106.2 grams, which is genuinely light for a case this size, and still under a quarter of a pound.
On the scale in the video, the titanium Yacht-Master 42 read 106.2 grams, head and bracelet together.
The case measures 42mm across, and going by the numbers in the video it runs about 11.7mm thick with a lug-to-lug around 49.6mm. Either way, the contoured lugs and the slim profile are why it wears smaller than the 42mm figure suggests. Water resistance is 100 meters, which covers everyday wear and swimming without turning it into a saturation diver.
Case profile: brushed titanium, the coined bezel edge, and the screw-down crown.
Dial, Bezel, and Movement
The dial is a deep matte black with round hour markers, a triangle at 12, and the date at 3 under a cyclops. The text reads Oyster Perpetual Date up top, with Yacht-Master and the Superlative Chronometer line below. The bezel is the Yacht-Master signature: a bidirectional 60-minute bezel with a matte black Cerachrom ceramic insert and raised, polished numerals. Against the brushed titanium, those polished numbers are about the only shine on the watch.
The matte black Cerachrom bezel with raised polished numerals against the satin titanium.
Inside is Rolex's caliber 3235, the in-house automatic that runs across much of the current sports lineup, with a roughly 70-hour power reserve. It is a chronometer-certified movement, so timekeeping is not something you think about with this watch.
The matte black dial: round markers, Mercedes hands, and the date at 3 under the cyclops.
Bracelet and Wearability
It comes on a titanium Oyster bracelet, also fully brushed, with a folding Oysterlock clasp and the Easylink extension. Easylink gives you about 5mm of on-the-fly adjustment without tools, which matters more than it sounds if your wrist swells in heat or through the day. The clasp is engraved Rolex Geneva and clicks shut with the security flip you expect at this level.
The titanium Oyster bracelet, fully brushed to match the case.
The folding Oysterlock clasp, engraved Rolex Geneva.
On the wrist the light weight is the whole story. It has the presence of a 42mm sports Rolex, but it sits flat and you forget it is there. That is the trade titanium makes over steel or gold here, and for a daily watch we think it is the right one.
On the wrist, the 42mm case wears flat and light.
Availability and Pricing
The titanium Yacht-Master 42 is a current Rolex, but the titanium version is hard to get through an authorized dealer. What we see is most of them reaching us through the pre-owned and grey market rather than a boutique. As of July 2026 we have this Reference 226627 priced at $32,500 in our current inventory, and it comes with the green Rolex box you see here. We are a grey-market dealer with no authorized-dealer relationship, so that number reflects what the watch is doing in the market, not a Rolex list price we do not set.
The Reference 226627 in its green Rolex box: 42mm, titanium, a 70-hour power reserve, and 100m of water resistance.
FAQ
What is RLX titanium?
RLX titanium is Rolex's name for the grade 5 titanium alloy it uses. On the Yacht-Master 42 it makes up the full case, bracelet, and bezel body, all satin brushed. It is lighter than steel, which is why this 42mm watch weighs only about 106 grams. Grade 5 titanium is also a hard, scratch-resistant alloy, though how it stacks up against steel depends on the grade and the finish.
How much does the titanium Yacht-Master 42 weigh?
On the scale in the video the Reference 226627 read 106.2 grams with the head and bracelet together. That is under a quarter of a pound, and noticeably lighter than the steel or gold Yacht-Masters at the same case size.
What movement is in the Reference 226627?
It runs Rolex's in-house caliber 3235, an automatic movement with a power reserve of roughly 70 hours. It is chronometer certified and shared across much of Rolex's current sports lineup, so it is a known, reliable movement.
Does the titanium Yacht-Master 42 wear like a 42mm watch?
The case is 42mm across, and in the video it measures about 11.7mm thick with a lug-to-lug around 49.6mm. The contoured lugs and the light titanium keep it flat on the wrist, so in our experience handling it, it wears closer to a 40mm sports watch than the 42mm number implies.