Rhodium to Slate just name change?

[padi56]

All this fuss for what in the real world just shades of grey paint on brass dials,which are now made in 3 different factories now all owned by Rolex end of story.

[77T]

Originally Posted by padi56

All this fuss for what in the real world just shades of grey paint on brass dials,which are now made in 3 different factories now all owned by Rolex end of story.

Glad you’re not closing the thread Peter. It’s a barometer of where the minutiae have gone...

Let’s mark it for resurrection in 2 years and see if 50 shades of gray has changed much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[slillestrand]

Originally Posted by powerfunk

I agree. If it's still dial number #0001, then it hasn't changed.



They have before. "Glacier blue" became "ice blue." And some are lighter than others; there's natural variation. So people argued if "glacier" or "ice" was darker when in reality there's variation on both and it was just a name change.

I pulled the paperwork on my wifes new July 2020 purchase.

It is listed as follows:

M268622-0002

The "0002" is different?....I would like to see a pic of the tag on a Dark Rhodium version and verify that it reads "0001".....anyone have one of these tags to share?

[slillestrand]

Originally Posted by padi56

All this fuss for what in the real world just shades of grey paint on brass dials,which are now made in 3 different factories now all owned by Rolex end of story.

I am enjoying the mystery and thankful that we have a public forum where there are other nuts like me who don't mind taking a deep dive to basically nowhere.....

Best,
Scott

[powerfunk]

Originally Posted by slillestrand

M268622-0002

The "0002" is different?

No, different model. 0002 is the dial specification (dark rhodium/slate) for the 37mm model. To me it seems the dial hasn't changed, and it was called Dark Rhodium in 2016 and it was always 0002.

The dark rhodium/slate dial on the YM40 has always been 0001, even when it was called rhodium earlier this year.

[slillestrand]

Originally Posted by powerfunk

No, different model. 0002 is the dial specification (dark rhodium/slate) for the 37mm model. To me it seems the dial hasn't changed, and it was called Dark Rhodium in 2016 and it was always 0002.

The dark rhodium/slate dial on the YM40 has always been 0001, even when it was called rhodium earlier this year.

Thanks for the information. I too in my search found the "0002" listed with Dark Rhodium.

Hence, we have a name change with same numbers on tags.....and the question of dial color being changed to go along with name change still to be determined.

The mystery will have to continue..........

[Goose 104]

Yup my hang tag is M126622-0001 for rhodium

[JSol1]

As the OP of this thread, I am grateful that others are interested in this. The shade is very important to me in terms of wanting this piece. Thanks to Lee’s great shots of his, I became interested in this as my next after initially having no interest in the YM line.
Since I can’t open mine for a couple of more weeks, this thread is keeping me excited as to what to expect!

[what.watch]

Im very interested in this subject as well. Been following this keenly, as I’m on the list for one of these watches, and the face is the bit that has sold me the hardest on it. I find all the sniping about painted dials not particularly helpful.

[MRPWRPATX21]

I've also been after a Rhodium YM 40, so have been keenly interested in this new development. I know for a fact that until recently (I'm assuming just a few weeks, at most) this was labeled as Dark Rhodium on the website, so not only is this a 2020 change, but it's a recent 2020 change. Quite a curious one, as well...

[RJRJRJ]

Don't Rolex themselves say that they constantly change the shade of the colors, even keeping the same name? I want to say I read that directly from some material of theirs, but I don't remember where. You may never get to the bottom of this.

[Low-Key]

Originally Posted by powerfunk

I agree. If it's still dial number #0001, then it hasn't changed.



They have before. "Glacier blue" became "ice blue." And some are lighter than others; there's natural variation. So people argued if "glacier" or "ice" was darker when in reality there's variation on both and it was just a name change.

Good point. And, no matter the name, I wish I could track one down for my 118206.

[CAN_VAN7]

I just posted a similar question, but it was about many dial colors. The Rolex site shows many new colors - Blue became Bright Blue, Black became intense black, White became brilliant White, etc.. Rhodium to slat grey is the most extreme change, but is sure seems like a big naming shift more than color difference. AD said that they would have usually received some notice of an actual color change....

[omx5o]

Slate gray sounds a bit dull to be honest. What's next, Mud Brown?

[Goose 104]

I just had a call from my AD and I asked the question about the change from rhodium to slate. She said she thought it was a simply a name change to unify the range since some dials (like the Wimbledon) were previously called slate. She didn't sound 100% though as she did point out that the various slate dials are slightly different in hue and contain different mixes of metals.

[CAN_VAN7]

I just bought 126622 and told same colour. I actually called around to different ADs I know and one had asked the Rolex rep and they told him all part of big set of name changes- is exactly the same colour. Is a beauty!

[CAN_VAN7]

Lots of dial name changes this year, so makes sense

[JSol1]

Originally Posted by CAN_VAN7

I just bought 126622 and told same colour. I actually called around to different ADs I know and one had asked the Rolex rep and they told him all part of big set of name changes- is exactly the same colour. Is a beauty!

This is great news! I have another week until I can look at mine...dying to find out what the tag says. I know I could text my AD and ask, but that would spoil the surprise...

[CAN_VAN7]

Tag doesn't seem to give name - just the number 1226622-00001 (same as before).

[alphadweller]

This whole story makes me wonder how Rolex could get away with calling them rhodium dials for several years when in fact they're painted brass dials. Isn't that misrepresentation? Maybe they were legally forced to stop calling them rhodium dials, just like they can't call their champagne dials gold dials as it would misrepresent them?

It reminds me of the reason why they came up with fancy names like Rolesor and Rolesium for their bimetal watches, namely because when they tried to call them Gold or Platinum watches, it was denied on the grounds only small elements of the watch relatively speaking are precious metal, most of the watch being steel.

[JSol1]

Well I finally got to open my Christmas gift and the YM is as stunning as I hoped! The dial looks to my eye as I had envisioned the ‘Rhodium’ to look in terms of the sunburst effect and change of shade in different lighting. However my AD has the warranty card and I won’t be able talk with him about the Rhodium/Slate thing until I get it sized on Monday. I’m fairly certain at this point that it’s just a name change... I will post better pictures when I get a chance...Merry Christmas!

[Robf52]

Originally Posted by alphadweller

This whole story makes me wonder how Rolex could get away with calling them rhodium dials for several years when in fact they're painted brass dials. Isn't that misrepresentation? Maybe they were legally forced to stop calling them rhodium dials, just like they can't call their champagne dials gold dials as it would misrepresent them?

It reminds me of the reason why they came up with fancy names like Rolesor and Rolesium for their bimetal watches, namely because when they tried to call them Gold or Platinum watches, it was denied on the grounds only small elements of the watch relatively speaking are precious metal, most of the watch being steel.

The name change does have the smell of legalese...going away from a specific metal name to a more generic name.

[Goose 104]

Originally Posted by JSol1

Well I finally got to open my Christmas gift and the YM is as stunning as I hoped! The dial looks to my eye as I had envisioned the ‘Rhodium’ to look in terms of the sunburst effect and change of shade in different lighting. However my AD has the warranty card and I won’t be able talk with him about the Rhodium/Slate thing until I get it sized on Monday. I’m fairly certain at this point that it’s just a name change... I will post better pictures when I get a chance...Merry Christmas!

Congratulations man - enjoy it!

[JSol1]

Originally Posted by Goose 104

Congratulations man - enjoy it!

Thank you sir!

[Oystersteel]

Originally Posted by JSol1

Well I finally got to open my Christmas gift and the YM is as stunning as I hoped! The dial looks to my eye as I had envisioned the ‘Rhodium’ to look in terms of the sunburst effect and change of shade in different lighting. However my AD has the warranty card and I won’t be able talk with him about the Rhodium/Slate thing until I get it sized on Monday. I’m fairly certain at this point that it’s just a name change... I will post better pictures when I get a chance...Merry Christmas!

Here's an example of how dark the dial can get

[JSol1]

Originally Posted by Oystersteel

Here's an example of how dark the dial can get

Lovely shot! Do you have any pictures showing how light it can look? I’m curious as to whether it looks like my picture above?

[Oystersteel]

Originally Posted by JSol1

Lovely shot! Do you have any pictures showing how light it can look? I’m curious as to whether it looks like my picture above?

Thanks! Here's an example of how light it can look.

[Max 66]

Originally Posted by JSol1

Well I finally got to open my Christmas gift and the YM is as stunning as I hoped! The dial looks to my eye as I had envisioned the ‘Rhodium’ to look in terms of the sunburst effect and change of shade in different lighting. However my AD has the warranty card and I won’t be able talk with him about the Rhodium/Slate thing until I get it sized on Monday. I’m fairly certain at this point that it’s just a name change... I will post better pictures when I get a chance...Merry Christmas!

Congratulation, very nice watch.
I would say that is impossible to make a statement from a photo for this particular color of dial; to me they can call Rhodium or they can call Slate, anyway it remain one of the Rolex top dials.

[Jimmy66]

^^^^^

Lovely pics of this piece

[Oystersteel]

So it's pretty clear that Rolex changed the name from rhodium to slate but did not actually change the color of the dial.