Emerald bezel for an LV Sub

[B17NNS]

Appreciate it's not to the taste of many but whilst idly browsing e-bay looking at Pepsi GMTs I noticed one with the bezel done in rubys and sapphires which I thought looked quite funky.

Anyway, got me thinking. What would my LV look like with emeralds.





I like it. I don't like myself for liking it. But I like it.

So who makes them? Where can these be bought and how much do they cost?

http://www.chrono24.com/en/rolex/submariner-16610-...

[PJ S]

I'd be surprised if it wasn't available from Rolex themselves, since they do offer a lot of blinged up variants of most of their range, many of questionable taste – but then I'm not the one having to wear it (nor pay for it!).

[B17NNS]

Aftermarket £2,250. Bit rich for my blood.

http://www.luxurywatchesdialsandbezels.co.uk/rolex...

[yeti]

PJ S said:

I'd be surprised if it wasn't available from Rolex themselves

I'd be surprised; emeralds are beryllium silicates and are actually quite soft, they'd damage very quickly in a watch bezel.

Sapphires (rubies are a particular shade of red sapphire) are aluminium oxide and much harder; harder than steel in fact. Hence suitable for a watch bezel, along with diamonds (harder still).

[PJ S]

yeti said:

PJ S said:

I'd be surprised if it wasn't available from Rolex themselves

I'd be surprised; emeralds are beryllium silicates and are actually quite soft, they'd damage very quickly in a watch bezel.

Sapphires (rubies are a particular shade of red sapphire) are aluminium oxide and much harder; harder than steel in fact. Hence suitable for a watch bezel, along with diamonds (harder still).

Do you honestly think someone buying a blinged up Rolex, cares one iota about the respective Vickers number of the materials that make it appealing to them?
Even if they did for some reason, that particular watch may only be worn on special occasions or when it's unlikely to be subject to knocks and general carelessness.

[ecain63]

^

Harsh response?

Yeti makes a good point. Emeralds are not ideal for this sort of thing. If one is broken and another needs setting to replace it I cannot see ot being something that's easy to do. Setting emeralds in soft metals like gold and platinum is hard enough due to their softness. Setting in a steel bezel with other stones already in situe is something else entirely. I'd suggest it'd probably just be replaced as a whole bezel and that aint gonna be cheap.

[yeti]

PJ S said:

Do you honestly think someone buying a blinged up Rolex, cares one iota about the respective Vickers number of the materials that make it appealing to them?

Not Vickers, Moh's scale

And no, the buyer wouldn't care but the manufacturer would, which was my point that Rolex probably don't offer emeralds.

A bezel would be constantly damaged and very poor for customer relations as the watch was constantly being repaired/replaced.

Edited by yeti on Wednesday 15th January 09:20

[Miguel Alvarez]

B17NNS said:

Appreciate it's not to the taste of many but whilst idly browsing e-bay looking at Pepsi GMTs I noticed one with the bezel done in rubys and sapphires which I thought looked quite funky.

Anyway, got me thinking. What would my LV look like with emeralds.





I like it. I don't like myself for liking it. But I like it.

So who makes them? Where can these be bought and how much do they cost?

http://www.chrono24.com/en/rolex/submariner-16610-...

The GMT with stones is on my lottery win wish list. This one is ok but it's not giving me the wow factor though.

[B17NNS]

Miguel Alvarez said:

The GMT with stones is on my lottery win wish list. This one is ok but it's not giving me the wow factor though.

I like the GMT too so long as the stones are reserved for just the bezel.



I've seen some where the case is bejewelled and personally I think that looks tacky and cheap.

I think the green is a fun little twist and quite subtle. Anyone who knows what the watch is will understand the choice of stone colour.

is there a better suited green stone in terms of durability? The bezels I've seen appear to be white gold.

[PJ S]

ecain63 said:

Harsh response?

Not at all

yeti said:

Not Vickers, Moh's scale

And no, the buyer wouldn't care but the manufacturer would, which was my point that Rolex probably don't offer emeralds.

A bezel would be constantly damaged and very poor for customer relations as the watch was constantly being repaired/replaced.

MoH's, Vickers, Brunell, Rockwell, Shore hardness scales aside, https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=28904... – post number two.

'Twould seem I'm not far off the mark, then, presuming they still offer the service/option.

Interestingly, this is the C24 page where the OP's pictures originate – https://www.chrono24.com/en/rolex/submariner-16610... – the description makes no reference to the bezel being an aftermarket one.

[PJ S]

<cough>

http://dubai.dubizzle.com/classified/jewelry-watch...

I believe I've proven myself correct, so I'll leave it at that.

[B17NNS]

PJ S said:

http://dubai.dubizzle.com/classified/jewelry-watch...

Don't like that. All that stuff on the case and bracelet.

Just like the bezel done.

Seems there was/is a model called the Submariner Emerald.

http://www.collectingwatches.com/en/mondani-blog/9...

Edited by B17NNS on Wednesday 15th January 15:22

[yeti]

PJ S said:

<cough>

http://dubai.dubizzle.com/classified/jewelry-watch...

I believe I've proven myself correct, so I'll leave it at that.

Getting quite het up there chap? Over, err, nothing.

I said I'd be surprised if Rolex used emeralds, turns out that very rarely they do, ergo I am surprised. Bear in mind they will do anything requested, it's the buyers money and no doubt they are informed of the risks of having a softer more easily damaged gemstone in their watch bezel. There is a reason this isn't a common option though... and that is on the mineral scale of hardness (which is the Moh's scale), emeralds are not very high

B17NNS said:

is there a better suited green stone in terms of durability? The bezels I've seen appear to be white gold.

They will be white gold yes, easy to set gemstones into due to the ductility.

Corundum can run to green if contaminated with iron and without titanium - so a green sapphire; it is considered to be the least valuable colour of sapphire though.

[B17NNS]

yeti said:

They will be white gold yes, easy to set gemstones into due to the ductility.

Corundum can run to green if contaminated with iron and without titanium - so a green sapphire; it is considered to be the least valuable colour of sapphire though.

Every day's a school day. Thanks yeti.

[PJ S]

yeti said:

Getting quite het up there chap? Over, err, nothing.

I said I'd be surprised if Rolex used emeralds, turns out that very rarely they do, ergo I am surprised. Bear in mind they will do anything requested, it's the buyers money and no doubt they are informed of the risks of having a softer more easily damaged gemstone in their watch bezel. There is a reason this isn't a common option though... and that is on the mineral scale of hardness (which is the Moh's scale), emeralds are not very high

Not at all, and not about nothing, chap #2.

The conversation was about who did it, not a technical lecture on the suitability of the materials possibly used.
I proffered it was likely to be Rolex themselves, but you poured scorn on that idea due to the relatively softer nature of emeralds.
I did a bit of research, and validated my previous presumption.

Rolex buyers of this type of 'upgrade' to the basic version, are not the sort of people who worry about materials' properties, and if in the future the watch looks a bit tatty, they'll simply trade/replace or have it restored to as new, without concern to the price involved.

[Miguel Alvarez]

B17NNS said:

I like the GMT too so long as the stones are reserved for just the bezel.



I've seen some where the case is bejewelled and personally I think that looks tacky and cheap.

Haha I'm opposite. I want the version with stones on the case. If you're going to throw stones on that bh do it proper lol.

I draw the line at that Hublot someone posted a few months back.