Meteorite Dials????

[kelsod333]

Just wondering if anyone has info regarding where Rolex sources their meteroite(s) for the use of their Meteorite dials? I'm not an expert by any means with meteroites but I can tell that only "iron" meteroites share the characteristics of these unique dials and such, they must come from an "iron meteroite" (as opposed to a "stoney" meteroite). I could be wrong, but just speculating.
The dials seem to be fairly consistant in nature from one to the next from the various pictures of these watches that I have seen, save for slight variations in the amount of striations and patterns in each dial.
Are all of these various dials cut from the same meteroite? If so, it must have been a fairly substantial stone. Most if not all large meteorites have been recorded and named and their histories are quite well documented.
I love the look of these dials and would like to own one someday!!! Meteroites in and of themselves are quite collectable and in many cases very valuable in their own right. I'd love to know more about the background of where these stones were found and how they made their way into being part of these beautiful watches.

[HDHNTER]

I may be wrong on this but I don't believe the meteorite dial is actually made from a meteorite.


Edit: Interesting, a quick Google search pulled up the following: http://www.wwrforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=340


Who Loves Rolex's Meteorite Dial [Facts /pics]
by worktolivelife on Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:27 am

Believe it, the actual meteorite Rolex dials are made from the" Gibeon Meteorite"


Although no one knows for sure when the Gibeon meteorite fell to earth, everyone agrees it was in prehistoric times; some speculate it was about 12,000 years ago. The strewn field it fell in is among the largest on earth, 70 miles wide by 230 miles long.

Locality:
Nambia. While the locals had always collected pieces of the meteorite - to use for making tools - it was only relatively recently that they became available to the North American market. This was thanks to an enterprising meteorite collector named Robert Haag, who marched into the principal's office of a Nambian school and offered to pay children to bring him meteorites. When the children's families saw how easy it was to make money, everyone got into the act.

The Slices:
Most meteorites with a high iron content - such as the Gibeon Meteorite - were formed in the cores of asteroids at temperatures up to and over 2,500EF and were originally completely molten.
Very gradually - at a rate of perhaps 18-180EF per million years - the liquid metal cooled and began to crystallize. In cases where the percentage of nickel to iron in the cooling mixture was "just right," two alloys, Taenite and Kamacite, would form slightly different crystal structures which grew into and over each other.
The resulting intricate designs created by this intergrowth are called "Widmanstatten Figures" and are characteristic of many iron meteorites. Radiometric dating indicates the crystallization of Taenite and Kamacite in the Gibeon Meteorite took place more than 4 billion years ago.
http://www.namibweb.com/gibeon.htm

[kelsod333]

Hunter,

Very good find with that article! If true, that is the info I was looking for. I'm surprised it hasn't come up on this forum before (unless I missed it).
I would think that Rolex would market the fact that their Meteorite dials came from that particular meteorite. It really adds to the uniqueness of these watches to have a story associated with them, IMO.

Can anyone corroborate?

[HDHNTER]

Originally Posted by kelsod333

Hunter,

Very good find with that article! If true, that is the info I was looking for. I'm surprised it hasn't come up on this forum before (unless I missed it).
I would think that Rolex would market the fact that their Meteorite dials came from that particular meteorite. It really adds to the uniqueness of these watches to have a story associated with them, IMO.

Can anyone corroborate?

You would think they would incorporate that bit of info into the marketing somehow if it's true. I love the dial but it never occurred to me that it might actually be made from an actual meteorite. Hopefully one of the experts here will chime in and corroborate. My curiosity is definitely peaked as well.

Edit: you might find this thread interesting: http://www.rolexforums.com/showthrea...ight=meteorite

[Markg]

Originally Posted by kelsod333

The dials seem to be fairly consistant in nature from one to the next from the various pictures of these watches that I have seen, save for slight variations in the amount of striations and patterns in each dial.

all the dials i have seen lately are very consistent as you noted. there are three meteorite daytonas that have been recently posted on this site that look like they were cut from the same crystal.

i have seen some level of variation with the 'darkness' of the striations, and in some cases, the darkness of the entire face. in other words, some are much darker than others, and i have seen a couple recently that were so light i wasnt sure they were even meteorite until i looked at them up close.

that said, the older meteorite dials i have seen where much less consistent. while the latest ones seem VERY flat/polished, the earlier ones had more of a 3d effect; almost like rolex didnt know exactly how to get them perfectly smooth so they had many imperfections from a flatness standpoint. not sure why this is, but you dont see that type any more (at least i havent, and i have looked at probably 50 meteorite dials over the last few years).

example of what i will call the later version vs. the earlier version below.

recent/smooth




older/3d; note the little highlights are actually higher than the surrounding crystal, and there is an 'imperfection' around where the 3/4 markers would normally be. in other words, the crystal is not smooth like the one above.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

"Entropydave" (Dave) sure is an expert in stones.

[artbypaul]

Interesting topic, indeed... And Mark, I want that Day-Date, it's AWESOME!!

Paul

[Markg]

Originally Posted by artbypaul

Interesting topic, indeed... And Mark, I want that Day-Date, it's AWESOME!!

Paul

thanks! it actually looks better in person...

[bewithabob]

Wonderful information. I will now be thinking about "Widmanstatten Figures"