Are all Meteorite dials created equal?

[TomCarter]

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm debating pulling the trigger on a Meteorite GMT and was just wondering if all Rolex meteorite dials created equally? What I'm referring to is the "look" ie cut markings/patterns on the dial from factory. Is there anything that would be considered a "flaw" or undesirable? Doubt I'll be able to be very discerning anyways with the lack of availability currently with just about everything Rolex. At the end of the day if I find one that is aesthetically pleasing to me I'll be onboard just curious as to your experience/opinions on the matter.

[Split]

Before the crazy time, we were looking for a meteorite dial for the wife. Each dial had its own character. Some we like more then others, but would have taken any of them though.

[Benzsiam]

So far that I have seen meteorite dials from various timepieces, all of them look gorgeous in their own ways.

[cts]

Each is individually unique and spectacular. It’s all Gibeon, one of the most stable meteorites available.

[inadeje]

Each dial is unquestionably unique, that is a given. While I appreciate the look in photos, I think that I may have an issue with low contrast visuals in general, since I find the meteorite dials super confusing and difficult to discern the time. I know that this isn’t usually a deal breaker for many, but it is for me

[214270Explorer]

Every dial is going to be different, just as a fingerprint. Literally.

Rolex "should" use contrasting hands, however, with the Meteorite dials. Silver hands against a silver dial is a bad design choice. IMHO. YMMV.

I am totally with inadeje on this one.

[cts]

No problem telling time here. I prefer the dial and hands as they are. Don’t ever want to distract from the stunning Gibeon!!!

[joli160]

Each one is unique.
Legibility is not an issue for me, I don’t mind looking at a beautiful dial a fraction longer to discern the time

[Koolpep]

There are 30,000 known finds of meteorite and tons of meteorite available. Not all are the desirable kind though.

I bought a meteorite ring for my wife. Made by a Swiss watch manufacturer. They gave me pre-production model made of palladium - and of course the meteor ball. Wife loves it and the story it tells. I am appreciating meteor dials so much more now.

Ring:
Palladium cage with a exchangeable ball made of solid meteor. It’s older than the planet we live on. It travelled through space for millions of years. And it ended up on my wife’s hand. It’s just so amazing.

This is my und holding the ring. It’s from an iron based meteorite.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by TomCarter

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm debating pulling the trigger on a Meteorite GMT and was just wondering if all Rolex meteorite dials created equally? What I'm referring to is the "look" ie cut markings/patterns on the dial from factory. Is there anything that would be considered a "flaw" or undesirable? Doubt I'll be able to be very discerning anyways with the lack of availability currently with just about everything Rolex. At the end of the day if I find one that is aesthetically pleasing to me I'll be onboard just curious as to your experience/opinions on the matter.

One thing to watch out for with some meteorite dials is rust but all Rolex ones are 100% OK. Ni-Fe meteorites are almost pure iron and most will rust pretty easily if they're not treated/coated sealed . You can identify a meteorite by its Widmanstatten pattern, now Rolex uses for there dials meteorite made from the Gibeon meteorite, the Gibeon had a very high nickel content, so it's very stable and basically won't rust. And the main cost is not so much the material around $5-$6 a gram for best top quality slices or slabs. Its mainly the labour process costs to produce a near perfect dial every time, as they are all different and all one of a kind unique when finished.
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[Andad]

Great info as usual Pete.

Hope you are well and all the best to you for Xmas and I hope you have a healthy New Year.

E & J.