Royal Oak bezel observation...

[fai9al]

Dears I love AP to death, it's one of my favorite brands and I have owned a total of 4 APs in the last 3 years with only one remain, the 15400 in silver which I bought brand new from an AD last August.

I had 15300s and a Diver before and I loved everything about them. My most favorite feature of any AP is the superb finishing done especially on the legendary bezel. However, I noticed that finishing on bezel can sometimes vary in terms of how "hard" it's vertically beveled, if that makes sense.

Meaning, I have handled many I-series 15400s just like mine and some had very "obvious" vertical finishing on the bezel while others seemed not so much beveled.

I think mine is a bit of the soft side vs the other one (image by watchcollectinglifestyle)

I am just wondering if anybody else noticed this? And if it's a QC issue...?

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

[GB-man]

Hmm I've seen this in the ceramics but haven't noticed in the steel models. Chalk it up to hand finished goods?

[masterserg]

I have seen some variation on bezels and cases indeed.

[jrs146]

Interesting. Mine appears to be not quite as soft as you can see the vertical lines.


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[Muzz]

I have seen used APs with a crispness loss due to polishing but not as much on new. Most of my APs have all been quite sharp.

[FlyinM3]

I know what you mean, and I have seen variations as well.

[benlee]

I noticed that too after owning a few APs. Personally, I loved the prominent brushed lines finishing, especially on ceramic.

[Speed]

I can definitely see the vertical grain on my 15300 if that's what you mean.

I recently sent it to Clearwater to address a quick set issue. Asking them to touch up the bezel and other spots.

Looking forward to getting it back - crispy! Hope I can keep it that way...for a while.

[subtona]

Hand finishing will find variation. Much like the pantograph cut dials, each are slightly different.

[AK797]

Originally Posted by subtona

Hand finishing will find variation. Much like the pantograph cut dials, each are slightly different.

Yup also see this on PPs, brush depth is not uniform.

[Speed]

That's as it should be right?

It's a human hand running a piece of metal / ceramic etc (granted held in place via some tool) across fine grit sandpaper.

[Lordofrolex]

Yes, you'll see the vertical grain on the bezel

[SMD]

Lighting also plays a big part. The angle and type of lighting will affect how prominent the brushing looks. At least it does on mine.

[VICI]

Here's my 15400's finishing (I series)




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[kilyung]

Maybe it was finished with an older belt? I don't know how often they replace the finishing belts but I imagine a new belt produces a 'sharper' finish.

[benlee]

love these lines....

[Hairdude1]

Love the finish on the bezels!

[Speed]

Originally Posted by VICI

Here's my 15400's finishing (I series)




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Tasty!!!

[Abdullasaif]

Really weird my 44mm FC bezel is actually worse than your bezel, but currently i dont have a complete answer for why it looks soft

[jrs146]

Did you buy BNIB? Was there any way it could have been polished?

[fai9al]

Thanks guys for all the responses.

Yes, I bought it BNIB from an AD.

I used to be picky when buying Rolex looking at the date magnification and all that, now need to pay attention to bezels when buying APs :-))

[masterserg]

Dreaded words: "it is within spec" ...

[improviz]

One thing to note is that in photos, the grain of the bezel appears far more pronounced if the angle of the incident light is perpendicular to the grain. So if the light source is to the right or left (crown) side of the bezel, the grain is much sharper in the photos. Here are two examples, the first where the light was more parallel to the grain and the second where it was perfectly perpendicular to it:

[gbany]

Originally Posted by fai9al

Dears I love AP to death, it's one of my favorite brands and I have owned a total of 4 APs in the last 3 years with only one remain, the 15400 in silver which I bought brand new from an AD last August.

I had 15300s and a Diver before and I loved everything about them. My most favorite feature of any AP is the superb finishing done especially on the legendary bezel. However, I noticed that finishing on bezel can sometimes vary in terms of how "hard" it's vertically beveled, if that makes sense.

Meaning, I have handled many I-series 15400s just like mine and some had very "obvious" vertical finishing on the bezel while others seemed not so much beveled.

I think mine is a bit of the soft side vs the other one (image by watchcollectinglifestyle)

I am just wondering if anybody else noticed this? And if it's a QC issue...?

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

True. My experience with a ROC, I brought it in for service and since there was a big dent at 8 on the bezel, the AP tech suggested to polish just the bezel to minimize the dent. The end result is that the dent is less pronounced (still there though), but the vertical grain is much softer.

If I knew this beforehand, I would not have done it.

[jrs146]

Originally Posted by improviz

One thing to note is that in photos, the grain of the bezel appears far more pronounced if the angle of the incident light is perpendicular to the grain. So if the light source is to the right or left (crown) side of the bezel, the grain is much sharper in the photos. Here are two examples, the first where the light was more parallel to the grain and the second where it was perfectly perpendicular to it:

Interesting. The angle of the light does seem to make a difference.


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[PVR]

Nothing wrong with the finish on that bezel, it looks fine to me.

[Lemarp]

There's a huge amount of variation depending on the light/angle/over/under exposure which makes the difference in online photos appear much more than there is in real life. That said, there is a difference.