Proprietary Rolex Materials: What Do They All Mean?
As with many brands, Rolex has its own distinct nomenclature for near every material they produce and use in the manufacture of their watches. Where this practice originates from would require deeper digging, but from a marketing standpoint the practice makes sense.
When a brand modifies an alloy or other material to suit their specific stringent performance demands, should it not fly under a different banner than the standard off-the-shelf stainless steel, ceramic, etc.? The challenge is, these words are things many of us hear far too frequently, but few actually know what makes these materials different. That’s why we’re here, and that’s the point of today’s little tale–a basic lesson that answers the question: What materials are Rolex watches made from?
Oystersteel
Starting with the simplest item, what makes Oystersteel different than regular stainless steel? The key differentiation is the fact that Rolex uses 904L steel instead of the more commonly seen 316L. On one hand the material is harder than its counterpart, but primarily the decision was made for another reason. Corrosion is the biggest enemy of steel, especially when exposed to the elements, and given the arduous task of a dive watch (when used for its intended purpose), the risks of corrosion damage will increase. Imagine if all of a sudden the crown of your watch started rusting and binding itself to the crown tube? Now, obviously this doesn’t happen without an epic level of abuse (countless other brands still use 316L steel without any sort of issue), but in Rolex’s quest to overengineer, this change in materials makes sense. They started with the Sea Dweller back in 1985, and from there, slowly transitioned to Oystersteel throughout the model range.
Everose Gold
A recent addition to the Rolex materials catalog (having arrived in 2005), Everose became Rolex’s answer to the then booming rose gold/pink gold craze. Every brand out there has their own proprietary twist on rose gold these days, so what makes Everose different from other rose gold? A few things, actually. First and foremost is the fact that Rolex blends a small amount of platinum into its alloy, alongside the copper that provides the requisite coloration. Rolex states that this, alongside other proprietary measures related to the alloy, not only improves its sheen,
but also protects the metal from fading over time. After this long we can finally begin to say that the practice seems to be working, as early Everose models shine just as bright as they did walking out of Rolex ADs nearly 15 years ago.
Cerachrom
This one is a big one–the production change that led to a massive boom in demand for a good number of Rolex models, including of course the Cosmograph Daytona and the GMT-Master II. Rolex’s proprietary ceramic allows for the flawless execution of bi-color bezels, reduces the potential for color fading over time to basically zip, and is extremely durable and scratch resistant.
Further to this, the brand’s process for adding numerals to its bezels is equally impressive. After the grooves are made in the ceramic for its indices, a thin layer of either gold or platinum is applied over the bezel, which is then diamond polished, leaving an extremely glossy finish to the Cerachrom and highly legible indices to boot.
Chromalight
Chromalight first arrived on the Rolex Sea-Dweller in 2008, and is the brand’s response to the use of SuperLuminova and other luminous compounds by other brands. Especially when it comes to dive watches, having long-lasting luminous indices is crucial, and thus Rolex went out of their way to destroy the competition here. Chromalight has a crisp blue glow–why it’s blue other than for the sake of being different, we don’t know–and one that lasts up to 8 hours when fully “charged” from UV exposure. Though not always as bright, its longevity is significantly superior to that of its counterparts.
Rolesor
Of the many proprietary materials, Rolesor is both one of the simplest, as well as one of the oldest in Rolex’s bag of tricks. Rolesor is simply the brand’s terminology for their two-tone watches, no matter the combination. It can be Oystersteel and 18ct. yellow gold, Oystersteel and Everose gold, or even Oystersteel and white gold–the end result is still dubbed Rolesor. With colored gold models, the bezel, crown, and center links are all of a contrasting color of gold, whereas white gold Rolesor watches only use white gold for their bezels. As a fun trivia fact to stump your fellow watch enthusiasts, ask if any of them know in what year Rolex actually patented the term Rolesor (1933, believe it or not).
