Cracked BLRO

[CrazyMD]

The quote is directly from Rolex Service Center, NOT an AD. The blue does not go all the way through. It is red underneath and seems to have the blue as an overlay or something.

[kilyung]

Originally Posted by Etschell

his 2nd picture (left piece) shows that it in fact does not go all the way through, it is an overlay blended.

Yes, Rolex has stated in the past that it's a surface treatment process to a red ceramic material (darkening/pigmenting it to appear a different color). I just want to know how deep the process goes.

Would be interesting to know how deep of a scratch you can get before seeing red through the blue.

[Etschell]

Originally Posted by kilyung

Yes, Rolex has stated in the past that it's a surface treatment process to a red ceramic material (darkening/pigmenting it to appear a different color). I just want to know how deep the process goes.

Would be interesting to know how deep of a scratch you can get before seeing red through the blue.

it appears that blue shows through on the outside. but yes agree.

[g-boac]

Originally Posted by CrazyMD

As the title says. RSC said 8-12 weeks to get a replacement and about $1200. Fun




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Glad to see Rolex is back to making "red back" non-service GMT inserts!! :)

[brucethemanlee]

yikes

[PaulChronometer]

Sorry to hear that.

I've seen more pics like this, I recall a Tudor chronograph made of ceramic, broken due to a similar accident (someone posted it here). My personal conclusion is that ceramic is not for watches, at least not for watches that one wants to wear anytime anywhere.

[g-boac]

Originally Posted by g-boac

Glad to see Rolex is back to making "red back" non-service GMT inserts!! :)

to be clear, in addition to my deadpan humor above, I also extend my sincere regrets to the OP that this incident happened. This shouldn't happen on a watch designed for toughness, and I would have preferred that Rolex extended replacement as a courtesy. I realize that it may not purely fall within scope of being a defect in materials or workmanship. But absent a habit of breaking watches, or a very very blatant sign of abuse (e.g., Mythbusters seeing what happens if you drive over your BLRO with a steamroller), I think a gesture of customer service to either replace the damaged bezel free of charge would buy more in terms of customer goodwill, new purchases, and new customers, than any advertisement could.

Finally, my compliments and admiration to the OP on his positive outlook and attitude toward all this.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by CrazyMD

Wearing this in the meantime. Not a Rolex... but definitely this bezel won't crack


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Glad to see you aren't struggling too much. The AP outta help you get by

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by Etschell

makes sense, they make limited production of this watch. a blrn insert is probably cheaper.

Yes quite likely.
Eventually it will become evident one way or another through the forum.

[Racerdj]

Very sorry to read about your cracked bezel.

[psv]

Wow, this is the first I've heard about the BLRO ceramic breaking, but now I also understand that there have been several other cases.

I am seriously considering buying one this week so this thread sends up a big flag, maybe time to go for a Day-Date instead?

Also, the BLRO clearly must be more brittle. I have had a ceramic Sub, DSSD and now a Sea-Dweller 4000 and I've been pretty tough on those watches - never had any issues with the ceramic inserts as well.

Oh well, I feel your pain but glad you are taking the situation in good spirit.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by tomchicago

Thank you for the post though. Rolex claims about the toughness of the ceramics are patent false advertising to generate more markup.

If it can be done successfully against VW with regard to Dieselgate.
Perhaps we could start a class action against Rolex and Omega

In the context of the use of Ceramics in this application, Rolex claims about toughness are largely correct and they are certainly "tougher" in every respect than an Aluminum insert.
Naturally Rolex will be inclined to talk up the attributes of any new material they introduce.
Regardless, it's not exactly a threat to life if the insert breaks on a GMT and only a threat to the bank balance.

Just like the glass on the windows and windscreens of a modern car, the Ceramic bezels are tougher in general terms than the older materials.
It should be noted that the Emergency services have to use a special pointed hammer to break the modern glass in cars in order to help effect rescues.
The principal is the same with the OP hitting the bezel against the pointed handle.
It would be interesting to get a sense of how many actual failures there have been thus far in order to put it the durability of the Ceramic inserts into perspective.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by Etschell

this is worse.

some guy here cracked his black shield tudor pretty bad.

OUCH

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by g-boac

to be clear, in addition to my deadpan humor above, I also extend my sincere regrets to the OP that this incident happened. This shouldn't happen on a watch designed for toughness, and I would have preferred that Rolex extended replacement as a courtesy. I realize that it may not purely fall within scope of being a defect in materials or workmanship. But absent a habit of breaking watches, or a very very blatant sign of abuse (e.g., Mythbusters seeing what happens if you drive over your BLRO with a steamroller), I think a gesture of customer service to either replace the damaged bezel free of charge would buy more in terms of customer goodwill, new purchases, and new customers, than any advertisement could.

Finally, my compliments and admiration to the OP on his positive outlook and attitude toward all this.

It could also give rise to a culture of people treating their watches with disrespect with the expectation that Rolex will fix it regardless.
Once you go down that road it's almost impossible to determine where to draw the line.

Your proposition sounds great on the surface and I'm with you any day
I'm not so sure that my future watch buying budget will be able to cover the price increases of servicing or purchases as a result of the Rolex future "Perpetual Replacement Policy" or PRP for short

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by psv

Wow, this is the first I've heard about the BLRO ceramic breaking, but now I also understand that there have been several other cases.

I am seriously considering buying one this week so this thread sends up a big flag, maybe time to go for a Day-Date instead?

Also, the BLRO clearly must be more brittle. I have had a ceramic Sub, DSSD and now a Sea-Dweller 4000 and I've been pretty tough on those watches - never had any issues with the ceramic inserts as well.

Oh well, I feel your pain but glad you are taking the situation in good spirit.

You could consider an Explorer II.
It's a dual time zone watch with a SS bezel that would just about be tougher than your wrist.

[kilyung]

Originally Posted by psv

Wow, this is the first I've heard about the BLRO ceramic breaking, but now I also understand that there have been several other cases.

I am seriously considering buying one this week so this thread sends up a big flag, maybe time to go for a Day-Date instead?

Also, the BLRO clearly must be more brittle. I have had a ceramic Sub, DSSD and now a Sea-Dweller 4000 and I've been pretty tough on those watches - never had any issues with the ceramic inserts as well.

I wouldn't let it dissuade you. I've had virtually every ceramic model (usually in gold). I can attest to the fact that ceramics are pretty durable for daily use. I could just as easily crash my sports car tomorrow. Can't live in fear of "what if".

[Roll the Lex]

Originally Posted by psv

Wow, this is the first I've heard about the BLRO ceramic breaking, but now I also understand that there have been several other cases.

I am seriously considering buying one this week so this thread sends up a big flag, maybe time to go for a Day-Date instead?

Also, the BLRO clearly must be more brittle. I have had a ceramic Sub, DSSD and now a Sea-Dweller 4000 and I've been pretty tough on those watches - never had any issues with the ceramic inserts as well.

Oh well, I feel your pain but glad you are taking the situation in good spirit.

The blro is fantastic- it is my only watch. Bumped the watch a few times. So far so good. I think this is the 2nd report of a blro bezel breaking here. A DD will be more durable as there are less parts to the bezel and it doesn't move.

Funny how the Bakelite bezels on the original were brittle and now people are questioning durability of the ceramic bezel now.






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[TickTockChuck]

Sorry to hear of your mishap and cracked bezel on your beautiful BLRO, especially after just 2 weeks of ownership. You seem to be taking it in stride and is a bit of a freak accident. Ceramic by nature is hard & abrasion resistant, but the trade-off is usually a loss in toughness & impact resistance. I certainly wouldn't get a watch with a ceramic case, ceramic bezel is fine provided you realize the limits. Any sharp areas at thickness transition points or engravings could be stress concentrations and potential break points.

Very interesting to see the flip side (dark side of the moon...ha!) of the famous BLRO bezel and how it is primarily red with a blue overlay, not what I thought at all. At least the damage is isolated to a single replaceable piece. $1200 hurts, but not surprising given the development costs and prominence in the design. Sounds like it's tricky to replace too. Hope you get it back before Christmas.

The BLRO is still one of my grail watches! Good luck and cheers!

[AK797]

Originally Posted by Roll the Lex

The blro is fantastic- it is my only watch. Bumped the watch a few times. So far so good. I think this is the 2nd report of a blro bezel breaking here. A DD will be more durable as there are less parts to the bezel and it doesn't move.

Funny how the Bakelite bezels on the original were brittle and now people are questioning durability of the ceramic bezel now.






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Yup only 2 I can recall, nothing to get too worked up about, still way under par for the course.

[mato123]

Originally Posted by CrazyMD

The quote is directly from Rolex Service Center, NOT an AD. The blue does not go all the way through. It is red underneath and seems to have the blue as an overlay or something.

a picture for illustration:

[Muzz]

Originally Posted by AK797

Yup only 2 I can recall, nothing to get too worked up about, still way under par for the course.

This would be #4 if I recall correctly Neil. It isn't the cost of the bezel that bothered those of us that went through this, it was the time it took to get RSC to order it and install it. This piece comes from Geneva and is not in stock.

Mine took 3 inserts and 6 months to fix. If I was a 1 trick pony it would have killed me. Thankfully I didn't notice it being out of action.

[tkerrmd]

Originally Posted by mato123

a picture for illustration:

cool pic!!

and anyone can break anything. no one has ever claimed a ceramic bezel is indistructable

[Lemonvr6]

I owned six full ceramic cased watches for the better part of a decade. No breaks or cracks. Not to say that things can't happen, but I'm not hesitant to wear by blnr anywhere.

[RRGHOST1]

You could stick it all back together with silicon sealer of course ! ha ha !

[The Libertine]

Originally Posted by Dirt

In the context of the use of Ceramics in this application, Rolex claims about toughness are largely correct and they are certainly "tougher" in every respect than an Aluminum insert.

Toughness is debatable; however, cost to replace is not as the ceramic is exponentially more expensive to replace than the aluminum bezel.

[samson66]

Originally Posted by CrazyMD

$1200 to replace insert. If I needed to change the bezel the cost would have been an additional $4,000 (half the cost of a submariner) lol

Holy Crap! I had no idea it was that expensive!

[Etschell]

people scoff that a insert on a 25k watch would be 5% of the price. its really not shocking.

[kilyung]

Originally Posted by Etschell

people scoff that a insert on a 25k watch would be 5% of the price. its really not shocking.

Agreed. It's not surprising at all. The tools for the case (regardless of metal) are already in use. The movement is shared across multiple models. The only thing with any unique development costs is the ceramic insert which involves a very different process than any other insert.

[cda555]

Originally Posted by CrazyMD

The quote is directly from Rolex Service Center, NOT an AD. The blue does not go all the way through. It is red underneath and seems to have the blue as an overlay or something.

I would image they lay the blue over the red so that their is more surface area for the blue to "grab" onto. It would be difficult to adhere to semi-circles together at just their ends.

[Etschell]

Originally Posted by kilyung

Agreed. It's not surprising at all. The tools for the case (regardless of metal) are already in use. The movement is shared across multiple models. The only thing with any unique development costs is the ceramic insert which involves a very different process than any other insert.

it would be shocking if the blnr insert was 1200 b/c that is 13-14% of the price.