It is. "We are not in the watch business. We are in the luxury business" - former Rolex CEO.[1] Rolex was originally a maker of working watches for rugged environments. Pilots and divers might wear one.

Today, the watch of choice for people who need accurate time is the cheap Casio G-Shock. For about US$100, you can get solar power, WWV corrections, good waterproofing, and resistance to being banged on. It doesn't need any attention. It just works. Popular with military types.

[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/why-are-rolex-watches-so-exp...

I'd personally love to have a Rolex just because of its craftsmanship. Because of this, I'm only drawn to the more subdued variants (all steel, plain bezel, plain dial in blue or black).

However, I have a couple of nice automatics, and don't want to expand my collection any further.

That's what seems newsworthy about this new movement, generally I would have said Rolex was just conspicuous consumption, you could get mechanically better / more interesting (and certainly more interesting-looking) watches for less, but that isn't their target market. So it's sort of heartwarming to see them making improvements that most of their customers won't notice.