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Old 13 February 2019, 04:25 AM   #1
Seibei
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Will Rolex make titanium watches?

Titanium is an excellent material for watch making, it is light, strong and it can be made extremely scratch resistant. Is there any chance that Rolex will use this material to make watches?

I know that many Rolex enthusiasts are of the opinion that the heavier the watch is, the better, but there must on the other hand be many who would prefer a light watch.
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Old 13 February 2019, 04:30 AM   #2
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They already do, but they sell it by the name of Tudor. You won't see a Rolex with a titanium watch unless they manage to mix 904L into it and figure out how to put the words oyster and titanium together to sound good for marketing.
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Old 13 February 2019, 04:40 AM   #3
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They already do, but they sell it by the name of Tudor. You won't see a Rolex with a titanium watch unless they manage to mix 904L into it and figure out how to put the words oyster and titanium together to sound good for marketing.
"Oystertitanium allows us to make our watches extremely light and durable. Titanium is a material used in aircrafts and submarines due to its strength and corrosion resistance."
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Old 13 February 2019, 06:06 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Rashid.bk View Post
They already do, but they sell it by the name of Tudor. You won't see a Rolex with a titanium watch unless they manage to mix 904L into it and figure out how to put the words oyster and titanium together to sound good for marketing.
Oystanium? Sounds better than Role(eye)sor.
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Old 13 February 2019, 06:09 AM   #5
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Rolanium - Rolex's combination of 904L and Titanium CP1 Grade 4. For the ultimate Corrosion resistance.

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Oystanium? Sounds better than Role(eye)sor.


Love all these..
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Old 13 February 2019, 07:50 AM   #6
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They already do, but they sell it by the name of Tudor. You won't see a Rolex with a titanium watch unless they manage to mix 904L into it and figure out how to put the words oyster and titanium together to sound good for marketing.
Oystanium? :)
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Old 13 February 2019, 12:20 PM   #7
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They already do, but they sell it by the name of Tudor. You won't see a Rolex with a titanium watch unless they manage to mix 904L into it and figure out how to put the words oyster and titanium together to sound good for marketing.
The two metals will not alloy.
At least not with today's technology.

But Rolex could possibly do what GS is doing with Titanium, only Rolex would be able to call it Unobtainium
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Old 13 February 2019, 04:34 AM   #8
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They already do but sell it under their other brand name, and let me tell you it is a great watch! Pelagos
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Old 13 February 2019, 04:42 AM   #9
Seibei
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Thanks for the info regarding Tudor.
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Old 13 February 2019, 04:44 AM   #10
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Simply put, maybe.
No one can predict the future.
IMHO, probably not.
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Old 13 February 2019, 04:56 AM   #11
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Icon15

ROLEX = Heft

Titanium = No Heft
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Old 13 February 2019, 05:07 AM   #12
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No chance. Rolex do not refurbish titanium so no $$$ to be made from servicing.
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Old 13 February 2019, 05:21 AM   #13
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My DSSD’s caseback and ring lock system are made of titanium




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Old 13 February 2019, 05:27 AM   #14
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My DSSD’s caseback and ring lock system are made of titanium
Indeed. And they don't touch them at servicing.
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Old 13 February 2019, 06:07 AM   #15
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My DSSD’s caseback and ring lock system are made of titanium




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It's possible on a bulky 44mm like this but otherwise no real benefit to going lightweight TI. AP make very good use of it on their 44 models.
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Old 13 February 2019, 12:41 PM   #16
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My DSSD’s caseback and ring lock system are made of titanium




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The Ringlock system is not made of Titanium.
The Caseback is just the one and only component of the Ringlock system.
I think you will find the critical component of the system is the Nitrogen alloyed internal ring with the text on it located directly under the Saphire crystal.
I think the ring itself may be 904L.
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Old 13 February 2019, 05:25 AM   #17
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Doubt it.
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Old 13 February 2019, 05:31 AM   #18
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Rolanium - Rolex's combination of 904L and Titanium CP1 Grade 4. For the ultimate Corrosion resistance.
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Old 13 February 2019, 07:36 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by Rashid.bk View Post
They already do, but they sell it by the name of Tudor. You won't see a Rolex with a titanium watch unless they manage to mix 904L into it and figure out how to put the words oyster and titanium together to sound good for marketing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by georgekart View Post
"Oystertitanium allows us to make our watches extremely light and durable. Titanium is a material used in aircrafts and submarines due to its strength and corrosion resistance."
Quote:
Originally Posted by SN13 View Post
Rolanium - Rolex's combination of 904L and Titanium CP1 Grade 4. For the ultimate Corrosion resistance.
Oyster titanium.. Oystertit? j/k
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Old 13 February 2019, 06:11 AM   #20
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If they never do, I think they're missing an opportunity. I had a PAM 177. Great watch.
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Old 13 February 2019, 06:37 AM   #21
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If they never do, I think they're missing an opportunity. I had a PAM 177. Great watch.
In that line of reasoning Rolex missed a lot of opportunities. And that obviously does it well for the brand! I hope they will keep on missing such opportunities.
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Old 13 February 2019, 06:26 AM   #22
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Probably not, they own too much gold
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Old 13 February 2019, 07:27 AM   #23
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Originally Posted by Seibei View Post
Titanium is an excellent material for watch making, it is light, strong and it can be made extremely scratch resistant. Is there any chance that Rolex will use this material to make watches?

I know that many Rolex enthusiasts are of the opinion that the heavier the watch is, the better, but there must on the other hand be many who would prefer a light watch.
I bought one of these titanium Seamaster Pro back in 2008, new.



Lovely watch I thought, light, strong etc and with a lovely lume and hand clarity etc.

BUT.......and I found its a big but, titanium has such a light mass that its has bugger all shock absorbing qualities, and I wore the SMP as my daily, and didn't do anything outlandishly dramatic with it, but within a year it had to go back to Omega for fixing of the movement. That was a 6 week wait, and once back, within another 6 months same movement fault, and back to Omega under warranty for fixing. Another 8 week wait this time. By the time it came back I had found on the web that the titSMP was prone to this, unlike the identical steel version, so decided that it wasn't a good daily, and by that time Rolex had just announced the new SubC, so I went out and found one of the last 16610 Subs and bought that instead. Utterly reliable doing the exact same stuff that I used the titSMP. Part exchanged the titSMP a couple of years later for my YG Tutima 1941 Fliegerchrono.
Wouldn't ever have a titanium watch again.
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Old 13 February 2019, 12:33 PM   #24
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I bought one of these titanium Seamaster Pro back in 2008, new.



Lovely watch I thought, light, strong etc and with a lovely lume and hand clarity etc.

BUT.......and I found its a big but, titanium has such a light mass that its has bugger all shock absorbing qualities, and I wore the SMP as my daily, and didn't do anything outlandishly dramatic with it, but within a year it had to go back to Omega for fixing of the movement. That was a 6 week wait, and once back, within another 6 months same movement fault, and back to Omega under warranty for fixing. Another 8 week wait this time. By the time it came back I had found on the web that the titSMP was prone to this, unlike the identical steel version, so decided that it wasn't a good daily, and by that time Rolex had just announced the new SubC, so I went out and found one of the last 16610 Subs and bought that instead. Utterly reliable doing the exact same stuff that I used the titSMP. Part exchanged the titSMP a couple of years later for my YG Tutima 1941 Fliegerchrono.
Wouldn't ever have a titanium watch again.
Yes.
The rate of acceleration and deceleration of a Titanium watch would be greater than the equivalent watch made out of a heavier material.

I notice my DSSD sort of wobbles around in comparison to any lighter watch I own which move with more of a jiggling type of motion under the same circumstances.
I imagine a Titanium version would have even more of a jiggling motion whilst the internals would still be subject to the same effects of their inherent mass.
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Old 13 February 2019, 07:42 AM   #25
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They have Tudor for that.
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Old 13 February 2019, 07:43 AM   #26
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They have Tudor for that.
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