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Old 25 November 2021, 05:23 AM   #1
thenewrick
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Vintage gold Rolex and foundry/alloy timeline

I was interested in the Tridor Daydate and Serti Sub. I read the Tridor DD ran from the late 80s to early 2000s. And I read that Rolex started creating its own golds in the early 2000s. Would some of these later Tridors have the new Rolex gold and not the previous out side gold?

One reason why I ask is I know Rolex white gold isn’t rhodium plated now and is solid white. I’m concerned the Tridors would be an older style gold with plating and perhaps lower quality than when they created the metal themselves.

Was there a distinct timeline of first model to use their new gold formula? Is there a way to tell if a watch has the new gold formula?

Any other thoughts on Tridors or Serti Subs that I should consider?

Thanks
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Old 25 November 2021, 06:06 AM   #2
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Has nothing to do with quality, Rolex gold just has other alloys in it to lessen tarnishing or lessen allergic reaction, or to give a certain color hues that Rolex is looking for, etc
In all honesty, I think its nothing more than a marketing ploy.
Rolex doesnt release exact dates for anything so knowing cutoffs of when things are offered or transitioned is near impossible to know.
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Old 25 November 2021, 06:42 AM   #3
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Well I wouldn’t want the old rhodium plated white gold. I’d want the new Rolex proprietary white gold with the palladium.
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Old 25 November 2021, 07:31 AM   #4
miamiclay
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I know Rolex white gold isn’t rhodium plated now and is solid white. I’m concerned the Tridors would be an older style gold with plating and perhaps lower quality than when they created the metal themselves.
I believe Rolex white gold has not been rhodium plated since long before the Tridors were released. The earlier Tridors may not be from a then-Rolex-owned foundry, but most likely they brought the foundry in-house by buying their existing supplier - That has been their pattern with most (all?) of their vertical supply integration. If so the foundry itself did not change, only its ownership.

Someone will certainly correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m confident that none of the Tridors (nor any Rolex white gold) has been rhodium plated since well before 1980.

Good luck with the hunt! AFAIK, you need not worry about rhodium plating.
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Old 25 November 2021, 02:12 PM   #5
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That’s what I figured. But I know that there’s probably a Tridor expert out there just ready to fill my brain with knowledge haha. I do quite like the Tridors with the 3155. They are priced pretty reasonably compared to newer daydates too.

Anyone have any insight on these references or have one themself?
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Old 26 November 2021, 02:48 AM   #6
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Im pretty sure the 3155 came out just prior to 1990 so you would need to look for Tridors in the 90s. Same movement used in all day dates until just a few years ago.
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Old 26 November 2021, 03:35 AM   #7
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Im pretty sure the 3155 came out just prior to 1990
Yup, I think the 3155 came out with the 182xx references in 1988, so any Tridor 18239B will have it. Idk what Tridor info you’d like; At MSRP, they carried about a 15-20% premium over a standard YG or WG DD.
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Old 26 November 2021, 05:54 AM   #8
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Well I wouldn’t want the old rhodium plated white gold. I’d want the new Rolex proprietary white gold with the palladium.
It is neither new or Rolex specific. White gold has always come in different qualities or whiteness grades. As far as i know, Rolex has never rhodium plated their white gold. They probably have more platinum and palladium in it now, because it looks whiter nowadays.
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Old 26 November 2021, 12:40 PM   #9
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They just seem unique and interesting. I like the Serti Subs too. It seems like a fair price compared to many a Rolex today.

I wonder if they will bring back Tridor for the new DD40. It’s a very unique look.

As an aside, I noticed there’s 1 vendor with most of the Tridors for same on c24. Seems like they bought up the stock in the USA so they could be a sole supplier. Just interesting.
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Old 26 November 2021, 02:30 PM   #10
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Very unlikely that Tridor would have been rhodium plated since that process is “all or none”. The YG & RG would acquire as much rhodium as the WG and dull its own appearance.


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