Does pepsi look better in photos?

[travisb]

I've seen some great photos but in person it's pretty much perfect to me.

[Harry-57]

Originally Posted by Brian Page

Ever seen one under a tanning bed light? - The bezel is all one color, I'll you you guess which - Red or Blue

[joa]

Originally Posted by Harry-57

you might give Rolex product designers some ideas! that GMT would be the all time best seller :-)

[Driver8]

Originally Posted by Stan Cooper

To me the BLRO Cerachrom color variations are very distracting and purchasing without actually seeing the watch you're buying 'in the flesh' could be a disappointing crapshoot.

Heresy, but sad to say, some of the aftermarket ceramic inserts have much more consistent red and blue hues that look more like the vivid colors of the 5-digit anodized aluminum inserts.

Example:


Shaved O.D. (38mm to 37.7mm) to fit my 16710:

I have to say I completely agree. When manufacturers use a two part bezel insert they can get the individual BLRO colours just right. The “problem” with the Rolex BLRO is they insist on making it from one piece of ceramic and unfortunately overlaying blue over red has a tendency to produce more purple hues. Hence why I personally believe Rolex have experimented with different colour saturations over recent years to try to get the BLRO just right. I still don’t think they’re quite there personally.

[Harry-57]

[Amsterdam Local]

Originally Posted by Stan Cooper

To me the BLRO Cerachrom color variations are very distracting and purchasing without actually seeing the watch you're buying 'in the flesh' could be a disappointing crapshoot.

Heresy, but sad to say, some of the aftermarket ceramic inserts have much more consistent red and blue hues that look more like the vivid colors of the 5-digit anodized aluminum inserts.

How does a ceramic bezel get shaved without shattering?

[Topspin14m]

Originally Posted by jb335

As someone that just picked up his first modern BLRO, I think it looks better in person. Without strong lighting, it’s more navy than blue. In sunlight the blue comes out more. Nothing like the BLNR blue though. I think the red appears red in either lighting situation.

And as someone that handled early BLRO versions in 2018, I believe without a doubt the colors have gotten darker over the last four years. Initially they were much brighter and pastel.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Exactly. The blue on the Pepsi is way darker than on the BLNR. I love both but they are very different .




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[Mystro]

“Does the Pepsi look better in photos?”

Answer: Depends on who is taking the pics. The cool thing about the Pepsi/BLRO is it’s constant shifting in bezel hue. When photographing under different lighting it’s like trying to hit a moving target with the camera. It is absolutely true there is pastel colors going on but those pastels can quickly disappear in darker lighting.
It is very possible to love the look of this watch in one particular lighting and hate it in another.

[JDA0779]

Different in different lights and I would say looks better in high end camera photos and correct lighthing.
But in daily use have found it to shine most in malls with direct overhead light.
In sunlight the real colours come thru and its a nuances pleasure to enjoy all the different shades. Blessed :)

[JRell]

Originally Posted by Topspin14m

Exactly. The blue on the Pepsi is way darker than on the BLNR. I love both but they are very different .




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I think the reason for the difference is simple. If the blue on blnr was more navy like on the Pepsi, it would basically look all black, so the royal blue gives more contrast. I like the navy with the red on the Pepsi.

[Zerouali]

Was there any difference between the ceramic Pepsi bezel when first released in white gold v the stainless steel? Or is it just that Rolex have been tweeting the ceramic mix as mentioned above?

[Gab27]

FWIW, I think it looks better in-person, and if you see two side-by-side, sometimes the hue varies a bit.

The Meteorite BLRO, in particular, looks very different in-person. In photos, it looks good, but, in-person, it's next level IMO.

[Stan Cooper]

Originally Posted by Driver8

I have to say I completely agree. When manufacturers use a two part bezel insert they can get the individual BLRO colours just right. The “problem” with the Rolex BLRO is they insist on making it from one piece of ceramic and unfortunately overlaying blue over red has a tendency to produce more purple hues. Hence why I personally believe Rolex have experimented with different colour saturations over recent years to try to get the BLRO just right. I still don’t think they’re quite there personally.

It's hard for me to tell whether these aftermarket inserts are created from one or two parts, but they aren't exactly cheap (at $170) and because of the grinding I had to do to reduce the O.D. to fit the 16710 steel bezel, I can say with certainty that they are well made. The uneven debossed numerals border at the insert edge is likely due to an error by my machine shop in drilling the mandrel hole in my fixture slightly off dead center, so wasn't a problem with the insert. These photos of the top and bottom of the insert may help someone more informed than I about whether they're fused from two pieces or not.

[Stan Cooper]

Now that I look at the back, it reminds me of a scarf splice between the colors.

[bnsxn]

I think it looks better on your wrist. :)

[Stan Cooper]

Originally Posted by bnsxn

I think it looks better on your wrist. :)

My leathery, wrinkled 80 year old wrist isn't at all photogenic.

[rockysw]

Originally Posted by mg18

You have to be ok with the colour changing in different lights to a degree, but all the coloured ceramic bezels do that. The CHNR looks drastically different in direct sunlight vs dimmer light. Mostly it looks very elegant and classy, but rarer lighting situations can make the brown look too light and off-putting. Sub LVs are similar, they can be a deep rich green vs bright and pastel. Sometimes, An LV in dim lighting can look black, the BLNR can look mostly black, and a BLRO can look like a coke.

I luckily do not experience the "pink and purple" that many people have reported seeing, but I do see those much more commonly on earlier versions. However, I will say that not all lighting is perfect for the BLRO, as I feel is the case for the other ceramic bezels. In my experience, under 90% of lighting situations, the colours are fantastic on mine, but the blue can sometimes give off a slight purple hue in only the most direct and uncommon lighting. The red on the other hand, has always been red, no pink for me. I think that those who still say recent BLROs are pink and purple either have different colour perception than I do, or are simply picking on older examples or rarer lighting conditions to formulate an overall opinion.

I would also add that I believe that each coloured ceramic bezel, (BLRO, BLNR, SubLV, CHNR) has at least 1 type of photo or lighting situation that has made each watch circumstantially off-putting for me, but for 90% of the wearing experience (or more) the more pleasing hues on these watches are what you would expect to see. I wouldn't expect this to destroy the wearing experience for most people. The watches I mentioned are all fantastic in their own right.

good post. And I would argue this is true for most if not all watches. I recall I had a blue IWC pilot which I loved but didnt like the look in direct sun light. And similar experience with a lot of other watches too.

[rockysw]

Originally Posted by Mystro

“Does the Pepsi look better in photos?”

Answer: Depends on who is taking the pics. The cool thing about the Pepsi/BLRO is it’s constant shifting in bezel hue. When photographing under different lighting it’s like trying to hit a moving target with the camera. It is absolutely true there is pastel colors going on but those pastels can quickly disappear in darker lighting.
It is very possible to love the look of this watch in one particular lighting and hate it in another.

Agreed. This is the cool bit about pepsi (and most multi colour watches) that you get different shades in different lights. It keep things interesting for me.

[mykii]

Having owned a Pepsi, I found it was more photogenic than it was alluring IRL. It's sort of a boring watch TBH. A classic, but doesn't light your world up. The Hulk is the opposite - meh in photos, but unreal on the wrist. Anyway, the Pepsi's "purple" bothered me over time, especially after getting a BLNR which has true blue in it (spoiler: I kept the BLNR, parted ways with the BLRO).

[Stan Cooper]

Originally Posted by Amsterdam Local

How does a ceramic bezel get shaved without shattering?

Great question. The secret is to use a very fine grit industrial diamond file.

[S1mplee]

Pepsi looks best on your wrist imo.