18238 Myriad Dial grey sunburst question

[foxytimes]

I came across an actually well known myriad dial, a sunburst grey one with Roman numerals, when one specific detail caught my eye. Normally the day- and date window are the same color like the chapter ring. Here instead the golden chapter ring is discontinued by silvery windows for day and date.



In this special configuration with the sunburst grey center this might be an arty variation by Rolex. But is this legit?



Is this configuration familiar to you? With the myriad of dial variations of 5-digit day-dates one can get confused easily

[miamiclay]

My gray myriad has yellow gold window frames, but it’s an Arabic dial, not Roman.

Very odd - Have you checked others’ images online?
.

[foxytimes]

Thanks for chiming in, Clay. It's odd indeed. I have done some research online but couldn't talk to my source of information with direct contacts to Rolex.

First of all: Your myriad dial is splendid. It has a wonderful serif font. I guess with "swiss made" at the bottom and a closed 9 it should be an early 18238 but maybe I'm wrong.

But there the problems start with the watch I presented at the beginning. In early 18238 (1989-1991) it is possible to see a "swiss only" myriad dial. These dials have a different font. It's easy to spot: The O from Oyster is round and not oval as we see it regularly. That's kind of similar to 16710-dials from 2000-2002, but these say "swiss made" - but enough, let's stick to the 18238.

I found several "swiss only" myriad dials for sale from the mentioned time frame, Roman and Arabic but always golden center, the window frames always golden. I found one gray sunburst "swiss only" with terrible pictures from Japan, with golden window frames too. But no silvery window frames like above.

In the mean time I could talk to the seller of the 18238 in question. He showed me evidence that the watch has been serviced by Rolex less than a year ago. But that doesn't prove that the watch was serviced with the actual dial.

If this was legit, I would call it kind of a unicorn. But I'm highly incredulous until I see this in an old dial catalogue or someone proves me wrong...

[miamiclay]

First, I want to say - Very nice catch spotting this!

I’ve seen a few all white gold myriad dials where of course the frames were white, but (iirc) none of those had the gray center, only WG sunburst. Your example does appear to have yellow gold markers and coronet, but the coronet could be white - Is it?

I wonder if that dial could be legitimate and intentional, and originally only installed in (or intended for) a Tridor? It seems improbable because, if Tridor-specific myriad dials existed, a) I’d expect to see all three tones of gold on them, not just two, and b) I’d expect other examples to be known.

Off the top of my neck, I only see three possibilities -
1) legitimate, intentionally two-tone Tridor dial,
2) factory error dial, or
3) altered/not legitimate

As strange as it sounds, to me the unicorn error dial actually seems the MOST likely of those three!

Certainly more egregious dial errors can and do get by Rolex’s QC (e.g., I loved the DD with the upside-down Jubilee dial), and a subtle dial error like this might escape notice at an RSC service. I hope someone (perhaps David/crowncollection or CTech) will chime in with a definitive answer, because now my curiosity is piqued!

[miamiclay]

BTW, aside from the WG frames, I notice that the seller’s description of the dial center is “blue/purple,” and the photos do convey some of that.

I know there are WG myriad dials with a dark/royal blue center, but is the color just the way this gray one aged, or was it a different color … ?

I’ll try to attach another photo of the OP’s (error?) dial -
.

[foxytimes]

Yes, it is this exact seller you mention, Clay. That's the confusion: a YG dial with WG elements. Roman numerals and chapter ring and the window frames follow the general color normally. Or bicolor myriad diamond dials exist but no one has seen them