Actor Benedict Cumberbatch spotted wearing a Rotary

When the BBC relaunched Sherlock Holmes for the 21st century in 2010, the costume and props team made a telling choice for Benedict Cumberbatch's wrist: not a Swiss luxury piece, not a military-heritage icon, but a clean, no-nonsense Rotary on a black leather strap. The GS02424/21 appeared consistently throughout the series' run from 2010 to 2017, becoming one of the more quietly recognisable prop watches in recent television history.

The Rotary GS02424/21 is a stainless-steel gents' watch powered by a quartz movement — reliable, low-maintenance, and accurate, much like the fictional detective himself. The case presents a slim profile with a classic round form, the dial restrained and legible. Rotary's Geneva Series, from which this reference originates, draws on the brand's Swiss heritage while hitting an accessible retail price point, currently around $150. It is built to look more expensive than it costs, which is precisely what a period-informed props buyer needs.

Rotary itself deserves context. Established in 1895 by Moise Dreyfuss in Switzerland, the company built its reputation supplying the British market and earned Royal Warrant status. It occupies a respectable position at the entry level of the Swiss-heritage segment — not a collector's grail, but a brand with genuine provenance and consistent quality control at its price tier. The GS02424/21 sits comfortably within that tradition.

For collectors and fans, the Sherlock association gives this otherwise modest reference a cultural value that vastly exceeds its movement specification. Screen-worn or screen-matched watches from landmark television productions attract serious attention, and Cumberbatch's Holmes — cerebral, intense, anachronistically formal — gave the Rotary GS02424/21 an on-screen presence few watches at this price point ever achieve.

On the grey market and secondary platforms, examples of the GS02424/21 trade close to or slightly below retail, typically in the $100–$150 range. Demand ticks up predictably whenever Sherlock resurfaces in the cultural conversation. For the price of a dinner out, this is one of television's more accessible horological footnotes.