The “Who Cares I’m Already Late” Rolex: What’s the Deal?

Modified Rolexes tend to be highly polarizing, and the custom “Who Cares Edition” watches are no exception. If you’ve seen a Rolex with “Who cares I’m already late” on the dial, and you’re wondering what the deal is, we’ll explain.

MAD Paris x Colette: The Original “Who Cares I’m Already Late” Rolex

In 2016, a well-known Paris-based “concept boutique” called Colette collaborated with watch modifier MAD Paris to make a series of Rolex Milgauss watches with custom artsy dials. It was marketed as a “limited edition” with only five examples made, each individually numbered and priced at $18,200. Blue cursive text reads “Who cares I’m already late” on a plain white background with no minute or hour markers. The numbers 1-12 are jumbled across the bottom half of the dial. Also note that the lightning hand has been painted blue, as has the lume on the hour and minute hands.

The original “Who Cares Edition” Rolex Milgauss watches didn’t get much hype when they were released. After all, anyone can customize a watch and call it a “limited edition,” so it’s hard for watch customizers to stand out from the crowd. In any case, Colette went out of business permanently in 2017. MAD Paris is still doing their thing, customizing high-end watches much like Artisans de Genève and Blaken do.

Did Rolex Authorize These?

No, Rolex did not authorize the “Who cares I’m already late” watches, or any other customized versions of their watches. Customizing watches is perfectly legal, although there are some issues with reapplying trademarks as clarified in the Rolex v. Beckertime lawsuit.

Copies of the “Who Cares I’m Already Late” Rolex

Google Trends doesn’t show any significant search volume for the “Who cares I’m already late Rolex” until 2023. That means it probably wasn’t the original watches that went viral, but rather a batch of custom dials that were copying (I mean “inspired by”) the Colette x MAD Paris design. Although the originals were all Milgauss watches, most often you’ll see the newer custom “Who cares” dials on 41mm Datejust models.

If you look closely at the writing, you can see that these later versions are not exact copies of the Colette dial–that would raise some legal issues. But recreating a (very) similar design is more of a grey area. If you focus on the “d” in “already” in particular, you can see some variance between dial manufacturers. There’s definitely more than one factory making these “Who cares I’m already late” Rolex dials now.

Pricing & Availability

Now that these dials have become a bit of a trend, the original five MAD Paris x Colette Milgauss watches would likely sell for more than their original MSRP of $18,200. But you can find a steel Datejust II or Datejust 41 with a modern custom “Who cares” dial for around $10,000 pretty easily.

And if you think these are fun watches but you wouldn’t spend Rolex-type money on one, you can find decent modified Seikos with “Who cares” dials on ebay for $200. And the $275 “Berry Late” watches from Mr. Jones, which debuted in 2023, feature a dial displaying a similar sentiment: “Fuck it! Time is just a social construct.”

Other variations on this theme continue to pop up. It’s interesting that five watches sold by an oddball French boutique have apparently kickstarted an entire artistic aesthetic. To be clear, a lot of people hate the “Who cares I’m already late” Rolex watches, but for people willing to drop thousands of dollars on one, I imagine that’s part of the fun.

More on Rolex:
Rolex Milgauss Collector’s Guide
Rolex is Not Putting Microchips in Watches–But They Have a Patent to Track Service History
Guide To Rolex Wimbledon Watches
The Rolex Rainbow Daytona is Back for 2024: First Thoughts on the 126595 RBOW
Omega vs. Rolex: Who Makes Better Watches?