Yesterday, a watch friend mailed me some pictures of Rolex watches with brown dials. Appearantly, these dials faded from black to brown during the years. He will provide me some photos that I can use for this blog later this week.
Rolex Forum owner Kamal over at BJSOnline wrote:
“It seems that all Rolex black dials have a percentage of brown pigment in the black varnish. The gloss dials would have a thin film of transparent varnish applied to give it that shiny look. Certain dials apparently had (maybe by error) had a higher prcentage of brown pigment in the black varnish and when exposed to natural Ultra Violet light like sunlight, the dial turns brown. This process can take between 35 to 50 years.
Lets take the DRSD as an example. How many people have noticed that the browning effect only seems to take place on the MK11 dial and not on the others. Same with the Red Subs, only take place with one type of dial.”
Personally, I really like this aging effect on vintage watches. I hope to get back on the subject with more pictures. Ofcourse, any other input (in text or pictures) on the subject is welcome.
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I have a friend with a Rolex no older than 8 years that has faded to brown, and it was originally blue like mine. Is Rolex addressing this failure?