Every type of stone used for a Rolex dial

[powerfunk]

Here I'll attempt to list every type of rare stone Rolex dial. Feel free to let me know if I've gotten anything wrong or forgotten anything. I find a lot of these stone dials are mislabeled, even by pretty reputable sellers, so I hope I've got things mostly straightened out.

The pink dials were the hardest to straighten out, for instance...I hope I've got these 3 kinds of pink correct. Rolex seemed to offer the most stone dials for the 26mm ladies' Datejusts, perhaps because making stone dials is harder the larger it is? Just a theory. Click here for the imgur album or scroll for pics (from around the web):

Agate 18079:


Ammonite 18208:


Aventurine 18238:


Azurite 5184/8:


Bloodstone 18038:


Cacholong 69178:


Carnelian (a.k.a. "chalcedony," which isn't very precise because it's just one of many types of chalcedony) 16018:


Chrysoprase 116519:


Blue coral 79173:


Orangeish-pink coral 18038:


Pink coral 79173:


Yellowish-green coral 69178:


Ferrite 18248:


Fossil (a.k.a. "Jurassic" or "Jurassic Park") 18038 and 18048 models:


Grossular (a.k.a. "grossularite," or sometimes "garnet" which isn't wrong because it's a type of garnet) 116519 and 18239:


Howlite (a.k.a. "marble") 18038:


Green jade 118348:


Lavender jade 118348:


Green jadeite (jadeite is a type of jade, but Rolex does not use the terms interchangeably. "Jade" and "jadeite" dials are both listed separately in the 2008 price list) 69173:


Blue jadeite 69173:


Green jasper 18038:


Rose jasper 79173:


Malachite 278248:


Meteorite 116509:


Nacre (a.k.a. "mother of pearl," a mixture of aragonite and calcite) comes in 4 main colors (I'm not entirely sure yellow and champagne are really different things):


Obsidian 16008:


Onyx 116233 BKADO:


Black opal (a.k.a. "turquoise opal" or "stardust") 18038:


Pink opal 79173 OPG:


Rubellite 18038:


Sugilite (only made for Japanese market) 69178:


Lapis Lazuli 18238 2BR:


Sodalite 16234:


Tiger's Eye 18038:


Bull's Eye 118348 (Bull's Eye is just relatively reddish tiger's eye so calling this "tiger's eye" is also not wrong):


Turquoise 18078:

[05carbondrz]

Wow! Thanks for spending the Time to make this great Post.

[H-Watches]

This might be my favorite post thank you!


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[mmmmp]

Originally Posted by H-Watches

This might be my favorite post thank you!


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Same here! Geez, you nailed and gave proper names to dials I've rarely seen and identified a lot of the dials I've only heard of: mythical until now. The sumptuous pictures are simply too good to be true! Thank you for your dedication and effort.

Let's buy this guy a steak dinner and a case of champagne.

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[Brew]

I had no idea! Thank you!!

[c41006]

Thanks for the info!

[entropydave]

absolutely fantastic. Thank you for your effort. I can see a new hobby/project coming on...

[henrylee]

Amazing effort

[NLYogi]

Learned so much! Never knew about coral dials, they are beautiful! Thanks for posting!

[brandrea]

That’s pretty incredible stuff Rob

I was familiar with some of the mother of pearl and of course the meteorite dial, but some of those others ... Thanks for shraing

[powerfunk]

Glad you guys enjoyed it, it was my pleasure. People have been discussing things like the nuances of font changes on Subs, GMT's and Daytonas for decades yet I still feel like there's a whole world of interesting stuff Rolex has done throughout history that gets no attention at all.

[Gaijin]

Outstanding! I did not see my favorite the Black Onyx. That is a stone right?

[powerfunk]

Originally Posted by Gaijin

Outstanding! I did not see my favorite the Black Onyx. That is a stone right?

Yep! I do have one onyx example in there (116233 BKADO) but the onyx Day-Date is indeed sexy as well

[Snow-Dweller]

Excellent work. Well done. I had no idea there were so many.

[JoseR]

Originally Posted by Snow-Dweller

Excellent work. Well done. I had no idea there were so many.

Agree...never would have thought that these watches existed. Nice work and nice pictures..thanks.

[77T]

Very nice post

And if anyone finds a missing stone maybe contribute an image...


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[Swearengen]

Apologies for the slight high-jack of this thread, Omega also use Aventurine and their's seems more sparkly

[Nycturbovr6]

Great post!

[Deanwillie]

These are absolutely gorgeous!

[SearChart]

Awesome thread! Great work

My favourites are: Lapis lazuli, Onyx, green Jasper.

[TheRolexKingofLV]

Very cool thread! Thanks for posting!

[crowncollection]

[QUOTE=powerfunk;8718890]Here I'll attempt to list every type of rare stone Rolex dial. Feel free to let me know if I've gotten anything wrong or forgotten anything. I find a lot of these stone dials are mislabeled, even by pretty reputable sellers, so I hope I've got things mostly straightened out.

far left Pietersite dial


The two photos right and below, nickname confetti dial unsure of what stone it is

[powerfunk]

Originally Posted by crowncollection

The two photos right and below, nickname confetti dial unsure of what stone it is

Thanks David! Those confetti dials are beautiful. I wouldn't have known what some of these (like "cacholong") stones are if it weren't for your posts

Are you sure the pietersite dials are original Rolex dials btw? That dial seems to have somewhat odd numerals, thick day/date window outlines, and a small "T SWISS T" that appear identical to these custom refinish jobs:

[GLADIATOR]

AWESOME work (bow)

[teqp]

Very interesting, thanks for taking the time!

[droptopman]

Wow, awesome work here.

[BNA/LION]

Great Work! Many thanks for the thread!

[Navarino]

Awesome work. Thanks for putting this together.

Really loving those green jasper and Onyx Day-Dates.

[joli160]

Great thread, thanks

[Pw92676]

Fantastic post, thank you for sharing.