The Yacht-Master II is the only watch Rolex makes with a purpose-built sailing function, and the 116681 is the version that wears it in rose gold. Oystersteel case, 18k Everose on the bezel, crown, pushers and centre links, a bright blue Cerachrom Ring Command bezel, and a white lacquer dial designed to be read at a glance from across a cockpit.
It's also, at 44mm and roughly 14mm thick, the largest watch in the Rolex catalogue — a size it shares only with the Deepsea. Which is exactly why the strap question matters more here than on almost anything else Rolex makes.
Strap size and fit for the Yacht-Master II 116681
The 116681 is a 44mm case with a 21mm lug width.
Twenty-one is an unusual number and it's the one people get wrong, because 20mm and 22mm are far more common. At Helvetus there's no size to select — everything in the Yacht-Master II collection is cut at 21mm for this case:
→ All rubber straps for the Rolex Yacht-Master II
One important scope note. These straps are made for the 116xxx generation — the 116680 in steel, the 116681 in Everose Rolesor, the 116688 in yellow gold and the 116689 in white gold, all of which share the 44mm case and the 21mm width. Rolex's newest Yacht-Master II generation, introduced in 2026, moved to a wider lug width. If you own one of those, don't order from this guide — message support and we'll tell you straight where things stand.
On buckles: the deployant version is built to work with your original Rolex deployant clasp, so the watch closes on its own Oysterlock exactly as it does now. The pin buckle version includes its own steel buckle.
What the 116681 is
Rolex introduced it in 2011 as the Everose Rolesor version of the Yacht-Master II.
The regatta chronograph is the whole point. It's a programmable countdown, settable from one to ten minutes, with mechanical memory and on-the-fly synchronisation — so when the committee boat's gun goes off early or late, you resync the countdown without stopping it. The bezel isn't decoration: the bidirectional Ring Command bezel is physically part of the movement, and rotating it is how you program the timer.
Inside is the calibre 4161, developed specifically for this function, with roughly 72 hours of reserve. The case is 44mm with a 50mm lug-to-lug and around 14mm of thickness. Sapphire, 100 m, Chromalight, Everose Triplock crown and Everose pushers.
The dial is white with Everose-rimmed markers and hands and a red regatta hand. Worth knowing: earlier examples used square lume-filled hour markers, and after a dial redesign in 2017 an inverted triangle appeared at 12 and a rectangle at 6.
Why this is the single best rubber-strap candidate in the Rolex catalogue
Start with the mass. This is the biggest watch Rolex builds, in two metals, on a solid link bracelet. Nothing else in the range gains as much from a strap, because nothing else starts this heavy. Take the Oyster off and the 116681 stops behaving like an object you're conscious of and starts behaving like a watch. On a 44mm case, rubber also grips rather than slides, which matters — a heavy watch on a slightly loose bracelet rotates on the wrist all day.
Then the obvious one. It's a regatta timer. Sailing means spray, salt, wet gloves, sunscreen and a boat covered in hard surfaces. A steel-and-Everose bracelet is precisely the wrong equipment for that, and it's the reason most Yacht-Master IIs have never timed a start. Rubber is what people actually wear on the water, and it's the difference between owning the complication and using it.
And the Everose stays. The bezel, crown, pushers and hands are all gold and none of them go anywhere. What leaves is the polished gold centre links — the softest, most scratch-prone surface on the watch, and the one part that's genuinely hard to look after.
Four straps for the 116681
This watch has one colour, and it's blue. Almost every good answer here is a version of that, and the fourth is black.
1. Navy — the one to start with
Navy is the deep, serious version of the bezel colour. Against Everose it does something specific: the rose gold reads warmer and pinker next to a cool dark blue than it does next to anything else, and the blue Cerachrom stops being the only blue on the watch and becomes the bright end of a gradient.
It's also the most wearable option on a 44mm watch. Big watches look better in dark straps, and navy keeps it from reading as loud as it could.
→ Navy blue rubber strap for the Yacht-Master II
2. Black with a blue LuxLine® — the bezel as an accent
A black base with a single blue line running down the centre. The black grounds a large two-tone watch, and the blue line answers the Cerachrom insert directly without repeating it at full volume.
This is the most considered-looking option in the range, and on a watch with this much going on, restraint is the harder trick.
→ Black with blue LuxLine® for the Yacht-Master II
3. Black — the size-management choice
Plain black does one job better than anything else: it makes the watch look smaller. A dark strap shortens the visual run of the case on your wrist, and it throws every Everose element — bezel, pushers, crown, markers — into hard relief against the white dial.
If you find the 116681 slightly much on the bracelet, this is the fix.
→ Black rubber strap for the Yacht-Master II — deployant · pin buckle version
4. Light blue — the summer and sailing option
The literal one, and it works because the dial is white. Light blue against a white dial and a blue bezel gives you the full nautical palette without a single dark element, and the Everose keeps it from looking cold.
Wear this one between May and September and on anything involving water.
→ Light blue rubber strap for the Yacht-Master II
Also worth a look: the white with blue LuxLine®, which is the best seller across the whole Yacht-Master II range, plus black with a white line and more in the collection.
Same case, same 21mm fit
- 116680 — the steel Yacht-Master II.
- 116688 — 18k yellow gold.
- 116689 — 18k white gold.
- 2026-generation Yacht-Master II — wider lugs. Not this guide.
- Yacht-Master 40 and 42 — different model entirely, different widths.
Quick answers
What lug width is the Rolex Yacht-Master II 116681? 21mm, on a 44mm case.
Do I need to select a size? No. Yacht-Master II straps are made at 21mm for this case.
Will the strap work with my Oysterlock clasp? Yes — the deployant version is designed for the original Rolex deployant clasp. The pin buckle version comes with its own if you'd rather not use the gold clasp.
Does a strap make a 44mm watch wear smaller? It genuinely helps. You lose the bracelet's weight, and a dark strap visually shortens the case on the wrist. It's the cheapest fix there is for a watch that feels like a lot on the bracelet.
Before you order
The Yacht-Master II is the most specialised watch Rolex sells and one of the least-used, and the bracelet is a large part of why. A strap makes it lighter, more secure on the wrist, and finally appropriate for the thing it was designed to do.
Helvetus straps for the Yacht-Master II are cut for the 44mm case at 21mm, come with a lifetime warranty on rubber, ship free worldwide with no import costs, and are worn by 50,000+ customers. Take the Oyster off once and see how different this watch feels.
