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Old 26 May 2012, 08:46 PM   #1
ct11127
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Painted Tritium vs White Gold Surrounds

I was just wondering why Rolex switched from painted tritium lume plots to lume plots with white gold surrounds on their sports watches. Was this strictly an aesthetic matter, or is there a non-aesthetic purpose to the white gold surrounds?

Also, what about the switch from tritium to luminova? Is one better than the other? What would be the pros and cons of each?

Many thanks to the forum in advance.

Cheers,

Chris
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Old 26 May 2012, 08:56 PM   #2
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This may help explain part of your question.

Quote:
Originally Posted by padi56 View Post
Well the older dials pre 1997/8 had Tritium lume that had a half live of just over 12 years.Now Rolex uses luminover and a form of superluminover now this luminescence should last the life time of the watch.But Rolex watches in general are not noted for there lume.The lume surface area on most Rolex watches are quite small compared to many others.The more surface area of lume the brighter the glow.
Not an expert on the gold surrounds, but I would think it was done in great part so Rolex could say they use gold surrounds. Seems to me this would sound better to some people when advertised if nothing else.
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Old 26 May 2012, 09:07 PM   #3
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Certainly has marketing value, but IMO was primarily intended as an enhancement and evolutionary step up to the finishing.

Personally, I'm a fan of the gold surrounds.
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Old 26 May 2012, 09:49 PM   #4
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Although I have no proof, I suspect the gold surrounds were introduced because gold will remain bright 'n' shiny. Plus, it's good marketing.
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Old 26 May 2012, 11:59 PM   #5
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Gold surround markers are easy to install on the dial.

And some people think the gold surrounds look better.
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Old 27 May 2012, 12:05 AM   #6
Beelzy
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Simple, you can't raise the price of a Rolex by many hundred of dollars every year without giving people something.
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Old 27 May 2012, 12:07 AM   #7
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Quote:
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Simple, you can't raise the price of a Rolex by many hundred of dollars every year without giving people something.
Sure you can. And they sure HAVE!
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Old 27 May 2012, 01:55 AM   #8
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On some older tritium dials without the gold surrounding the lume looks quite uneven, but maybe that is just because of old age.
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