Another Pepsi Production Rumor Thread

[russ86]

I never believed that they would take out Pepsi from production, too popular

[Benjack]

Originally Posted by ShamRockNRoll

I don't find the hand painting itself that hard to believe, but I was kind of shocked when he said they only have 2 people who can do it.

+1
Exactly!

[Vince_76]

Originally Posted by Henrimontgomery

A billion dollar company, worldwide presence with virtually unlimited R&D.

-> two people responsible for a key process.

I don’t believe it.

This. It’s just a color man and you think Rolex can’t produce it?

Crazy how gullible people are.

[Rolex.Journey]

I was told the same thing by my SA. One or two people were responsible for producing the bezel…. True or false idk


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[1st amg]

I just do not believe it all. Rolex most sought-after piece and they discontinue it? No way.

[espanol]

Originally Posted by Rolex.Journey

I was told the same thing by my SA. One or two people were responsible for producing the bezel…. True or false idk


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Rolex marketeers. That’s all.

If you simply break down the numbers, it makes the story sounds ridiculous.

Let’s say Rolex makes ~1.2 millions watches per year. Let’s also say 1 out of every 100 Rolex watch is a BLRO (either white gold or stainless). That means about 12,000 BLROs could be produced every year.

There’s approximately 240 working days per year. Rolex HQ is in Geneva, so I’m assuming their labor practices are more relaxed than US. Let’s also assume those two little elves need vacations. So can we safely assume the two little Rolex Picassos work 200 days per year?

We’re meant to believe two people crank out ~60 BLRO bezels per day, at an average of 3.75 per hour each (9-5 workday)?

Now imagine if 1 out of every 50 watches was a BLRO. Or 1 out of 80 even. It becomes even more difficult to comprehend.

Everything is machine-made nowadays, regardless of what watch salespeople want you to believe. If you want elvish hand finishings, or artisanal design, check out the Glashutte region.

[lab rat]

Originally Posted by espanol

Rolex marketeers. That’s all.

If you simply break down the numbers, it makes the story sounds ridiculous.

Let’s say Rolex makes ~1.2 millions watches per year. Let’s also say 1 out of every 100 Rolex watch is a BLRO (either white gold or stainless). That means about 12,000 BLROs could be produced every year.

There’s approximately 240 working days per year. Rolex HQ is in Geneva, so I’m assuming their labor practices are more relaxed than US. Let’s also assume those two little elves need vacations. So can we safely assume the two little Rolex Picassos work 200 days per year?

We’re meant to believe two people crank out ~60 BLRO bezels per day, at an average of 3.75 per hour each (9-5 workday)?

Now imagine if 1 out of every 50 watches was a BLRO. Or 1 out of 80 even. It becomes even more difficult to comprehend.

Everything is machine-made nowadays, regardless of what watch salespeople want you to believe. If you want elvish hand finishings, or artisanal design, check out the Glashutte region.

The whole idea of two Rolex elves was absurd to me until you broke down the numbers. Now I think there is a chance it is true.

Bezels are not hand painted. I have been told that the process of making any gmt ceramic bezel works like this: first the whole bezel is submerged in one color, then just the half of it is submerged in another. Pepsi combo was tough to get right from the beginning: sometimes the result had purple hue because blue reacted with red, and many times batches had to be discarded because the line separating the colors was not perfect. They managed to get better with the whole process, but it still is far from easy and 100% successful. Anyway, two guys actually might be enough to produce them because they don’t paint them one by one: they “just” submerge them in batches and wait for them to dry. That is the reason why all gmts except Pepsi obviously has one half black: it’s easy to cover the other color with black.

Milgauss (sorry, have to mention this also) was even harder to produce, due to green sapphire. In order to be perfect and green as it is, it had to be grown slowly, for weeks, under extreme pressure and temperature, while adding cobalt. I believe there were a lot of happy people in the factory when the management finally chose to stop producing it.

[dlddrrr]

I was also told by my AD to not expect a Pepsi anytime soon. Also, for those people who keep posting how hard can it be to paint a bezel, that paint comment just shows how ignorant you are and should do some research before commenting.

[Harry-57]

Originally Posted by lab rat

Milgauss (sorry, have to mention this also) was even harder to produce, due to green sapphire.

The elf who hand painted the green sapphire is being restrained to hand paint the ceramic BLRO bezel insert, but it takes time. Just watch the production of BLROs shoot up when elf #3 is on the production line.

[fly4food84]

To those saying they won’t discontinue because it’s so popular is amusing.

Let’s say each AD gets 10 Pepsi bezels per year and that’s being liberal because everything I’m told it’s more like 5 and for the past 12 months it’s been 0.

You believe a watch that scarce is also so popular it won’t be discontinued?

History tends to repeat itself and the Pepsi was discontinued in early 2000s before. Yes it was also just as “popular” before.

Discontinuing this watch will only insure it becomes as taught after as a SS Daytona further leveraging the brand hype.

I also doubt they’ll do a Coke and Pepsi at the same time as the Coke would be a viable replacement for a while.

Will they do this… they just might because we’re asking them to do it! If not this year then next year. Or maybe never, but I think a Coke replacement for a few years or a decade would be smart.


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[espanol]

Originally Posted by Harry-57

The elf who hand painted the green sapphire is being restrained to hand paint the ceramic BLRO bezel insert, but it takes time. Just watch the production of BLROs shoot up when elf #3 is on the production line.

I was told by a local AD that Rolex is having trouble recruiting the third elf, as the elves in the North Pole are enjoying some much needed downtime post-holidays. Recruiting season should open up in the spring, according to my AD.

[brandrea]

Some of you really need to look back and read the entire thread.

The bezels are not made by hand

[rolexandlange]

I heard it was two oompa loompas in Geneva making the BLRO bezels, a man and a woman. Turns out the woman is pregnant and the man is the baby daddy. To this point, the variations in bezel colors corresponded to the ups and downs of their discrete romance.

Given Rolex's generous leave for new parents, Pepsi will be discontinued until the oompa loompa yearling is at least a year old and childcare is arranged. Mr Wonka is not happy and the beatings of other oompa loompas will continue until morale improves. My AD said.

[thesharkfactor]

The bezel production QC fail rate may be too high. The more bezels they make and put on watches - the more bezels they need to produce and stockpile for servicing well into the future - the more bezels are wasted.
To be fair, these don’t look like they are dipped one half, it looks more like a chemical is applied to the top surface of one half to change the colour, and given it don’t penetrate all the way through to the other side, the chemical could well be brush applied to the top half (by machine, to many at one time).
There may just be a couple of (very skilled) guys operating specific machinery that does a particular related task?
Certainly more credible than elves.

Usually some truth in rumours; Take the rumour, dissect it, apply common sense, what you got..

[APPRF]

High Pepsi bezel fail rate then just make it 10% or 15% more expensive than a Blnr. Problem solved, no need to discontinue the model.

[APPRF]

People who say Pepsi was discontinued before when it was in demand too. Yes because Rolex substituted the aluminum bezel with ceramic. brought up the ceramic bezel and then the two tone Blnr then Pepsi again in gold when it solved the red and blue ceramic manufacturing problem. why would Rolex discontinue the most popular GMT bezel unless it will be replaced with a new material bezel or a better looking red and blue Mk4. Also it's convenient for some to not mention that Pepsi are starting to trickle again to ADs, I wonder why.

[ClintonM3]

If they discontinue the Pepsi, it will be purely a marketing decision not a production/logistic/supplier decision. A billion dollar company...on a product that's been around for nearly a decade...still can't figure out their production/resources?... come on. If it is indeed because of production... then Rolex's Product or Production managers credibility should be in question.

[Harry-57]

Originally Posted by brandrea

Some of you really need to look back and read the entire thread.

The bezels are not made by hand

That's true, but apparently they are finished off by hand, with a paint brush no less.

It's magic!

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Harry-57

That's true, but apparently they are finished off by hand, with a paint brush no less.

It's magic.

[VCoupe376ci]

I read this rumor on Reddit a couple weeks ago. I don't believe for a second there are only 2 people on the planet that make these bezels. Just a SA who has no clue perpetuating internet nonsense.

[Rolex1982]

It would really make them rare if only 2 people in the world can produce them. And they can demand very high raises from Rolex.

[Sg88]

Good morning sorry for my English. I heard a similar thing about this last week. a change in the place of manufacture of pepsi bezel which disrupts the manufacturing process.

[GrailTime]

I think the issue is the blue, not the red.

In other models, the black goes over the top of the top of the blue (batman), or green (sprite).

The blue probably isnt strong enough to mask the red, in all cases.

Im sorry if its been posted before, but rolex have a brochure on how the ceramic bezels are made...

https://newsroom-content.rolex.com/-...glish_2021.pdf

"THE CHALLENGE OF TWO-COLOUR CERACHROM BEZELS

The innovative process developed by Rolex to obtain the unique two-colour Cerachrom bezel inserts for the GMT-Master II consists in changing the colour of the ceramic on one half of the insert. On the blue and black bezel insert, the blue is changed to black, but on the red and blue version, half of the red bezel is transformed into blue. On the brown and black bezel insert, the brown turns black. The change of colour is achieved by impregnating half of the insert with an aqueous solution containing various chemical compounds. The solution is added before the sintering process. In the course of
sintering, the ceramic densifies and the added compounds react with the basic elements of the Cerachrom insert, which alters the initial colour on one half of the piece.

The two-colour Cerachrom bezel inserts obtained present a clear demarcation between the two coloured areas, and as they are manufactured in a single piece, they acquire mechanical resistance properties that meet Rolex’s exacting quality and reliability requirements."

[jfmiii]

Originally Posted by fly4food84

To those saying they won’t discontinue because it’s so popular is amusing.

Let’s say each AD gets 10 Pepsi bezels per year and that’s being liberal because everything I’m told it’s more like 5 and for the past 12 months it’s been 0.

You believe a watch that scarce is also so popular it won’t be discontinued?

History tends to repeat itself and the Pepsi was discontinued in early 2000s before. Yes it was also just as “popular” before.

Discontinuing this watch will only insure it becomes as taught after as a SS Daytona further leveraging the brand hype.

I also doubt they’ll do a Coke and Pepsi at the same time as the Coke would be a viable replacement for a while.

Will they do this… they just might because we’re asking them to do it! If not this year then next year. Or maybe never, but I think a Coke replacement for a few years or a decade would be smart.


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Exactly. Only way a Coke gets released is if Pepsi is discontinued to moved to PM only. The colors of the current Pepsi are too similar to a Coke in certain lighting. Making it WG and meteorite only makes some sense. Less bezels to produce for new watches and less bezels to produce for servicing an already brittle piece of ceramic.

[ScarletFire]

I came across a post that showed a patent that suggested that they may make a coke bezel this year. Didn’t find that patent but I did find this patent from November of last year that talks about the production issues and patents a solution. I didn’t read the whole thing but they may have found a fix for this - or this could be referring to one of the bezel updates maybe for the Mark III bezel.

https://patentimages.storage.googlea...20348505A1.pdf


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[omar-rye]

Originally Posted by ScarletFire

I came across a post that showed a patent that suggested that they may make a coke bezel this year. Didn’t find that patent but I did find this patent from November of last year that talks about the production issues and patents a solution. I didn’t read the whole thing but they may have found a fix for this - or this could be referring to one of the bezel updates maybe for the Mark III bezel.

https://patentimages.storage.googlea...20348505A1.pdf


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Don’t let Padi hear you talking about Mark bezels

[rianosha]

Do people think the values of the Pepsi will come down a little if its announced that they won't be discontinued and the rumours are ended?

[John Doyle]

I asked my AD to take my name out of the "list" for the pepsi, he said why it doesn't make sense - my take on it is that this mass produced watch will not be discontinued.

[Rayfish]

I think it’s pretty well established that the Pepsi bezels are an inconsistent purple pink and that can’t sit well with Rolex. My prediction (worth nothing) is it gets discontinued, along with the Batman. Coke and something else take their place.

[madmax21]

Originally Posted by derklink

Some speculative math just for fun. I know from the inner circles of my AD that they get 5-6 Pepsis per year. I have no reason to believe that this number is made up.

Multiply that with the circa 1,8xx Rolex AD’s worldwide (source: internet). That makes about 11,000 Pepsis per year, so each of the 2 elves mentioned above would make 5,500 bezels per year.

Divide that number by roughly 220 work days per year (probably less). Brings you to 25 bezels per day per elf. Based on an 8 hour work day, one elf would make a new Pepsi bezel about every 19 minutes.

Personally I think this is a spectacular marketing scheme by Rolex. Who are we kidding they can produce as many of these as they want but they come up with these variations that they're having problems here and they're having problems there. It just makes it really interesting for you and I and we desire these watches even more the customer is the love Rolex will never really change we'll keep waiting to get one and paying ridiculous prices for it.

With the technology we have currently today they can come up with many different ways to make red and blue without the problems they are claiming and like I've always said if not go aluminum the perfect bezels in my opinion