Meteorite Dials

[Cc1966]

I like the look of these dials and am getting ready to pull the trigger on a new dress watch. What are these dials made of and what varieties exist? Thanks in advance

[brettpaul]

They are made from sliced pieces of meteorite.....actual meteorite. The experts will be able to tell you the name I'm sure - variations are as unique as snowflakes.

[mjclark32]

I believe they're made from a meteorite and each is different due to how they slice up the meteorite.

[SWISSAHOLICS]

Yes I have heard that no two dials are ever alike.

[Alcan]

From a 2007 post by Supra2nv:


SLICES FROM THE "GIBEON METEORITE" ARE USED IN ALL ROLEX DIALS

here's a google extract

The Fall:
Although no one knows for sure when the Gibeon meteorite fell to earth, everyone agrees it was in prehistoric times; some speculate it was about 12,000 years ago. The strewn field it fell in is among the largest on earth, 70 miles wide by 230 miles long



The Slices
Most meteorites with a high iron content - such as the Gibeon Meteorite - were formed in the cores of asteroids at temperatures up to and over 2,500EF and were originally completely molten.
Very gradually - at a rate of perhaps 18-180EF per million years - the liquid metal cooled and began to crystallize. In cases where the percentage of nickel to iron in the cooling mixture was "just right," two alloys, Taenite and Kamacite, would form slightly different crystal structures which grew into and over each other.
The resulting intricate designs created by this intergrowth are called "Widmanstatten Figures" and are characteristic of many iron meteorites. Radiometric dating indicates the crystallization of Taenite and Kamacite in the Gibeon Meteorite took place more than 4 billion years ago.


Gibeon Meteorite Facts, Information and Description

Since it was first discovered in 1836 in Great Namaqualand, Namibia, Africa, more than 25 tons of Gibeon meteorites have been recovered and although export and sale was banned by the Namibian government, it is still one of the most commonly available meteorites on the market today. The Gibeon meteorites come from broken asteroid fragments or an exploded star and radiometric dating places the age at around 4 billion years old.

Gibeon meteorites are composed of iron, nickel and small amounts of cobalt and classified as a fine octahedrite iron meteorite. Some other minerals that may be found in the meteorite are chromite, deabreelite, enstatite, kamacite, taenite, troilite or tridymite.


Lines and patterns are the result of cooling in outer space over billions of years and etching slices with dilute nitric acid allow these patterns known as "Widmanstatten lines" to be more visible.

Until recent years, most Gibeon meteorites that were recovered weighed between 200 and 1100 pounds. One of the largest masses ever found weighed over 1400 pounds. Probably due to better metal detection equipment, many smaller specimens have been recovered recently.

When a meteorite enters the Earth's atmosphere, friction raises the surface temperature above its melting point. As the meteorite descends, it slows down, and the heat from friction decreases resulting in a thin layer of dark glass. The surface on some meteorite's may develop shallow pits during the entry process and these pits resemble thumb prints and are known as regmaglypts. Imagine bread dough that has been kneaded which leaves finger imprints in the dough ball.
steve

[77T]

IIRC, the class of meteorite would be in the Iron Carbides.

From some science site...

Cohenite--(Fe,Ni,Co)3C--is iron carbonate it is closely related to cementite (Fe3C), a mineral described in steel. It is brilliant silver. The crystal form is orthorhombic. Cohenite is extremely hard and will quickly dull saw blades.

[dysondiver]

thanks for the info , interesting read.

[superdog]

makes me want a meteorite dial.

[cop414]

Schooled once again, thank you Al.

[Cc1966]

Cool to have part of your watch with an E.T. Origin!

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Cc1966

I like the look of these dials and am getting ready to pull the trigger on a new dress watch. What are these dials made of and what varieties exist? Thanks in advance

One thing to watch out for with some meteorite dials, is rust. Ni-Fe meteorites are almost pure iron and most will rust pretty easily if they're not treated/coated sealed . You can identify a meteorite by its Widmanstatten pattern.Rolex uses for there dials meteorite made from the Gibeon meteorite,the Gibeon had a very high nickel content, so it's very stable and basically won't rust.And the main cost is not so much the material around $5-$6 a gram for top quality slices, its the labour process costs to produce a and polish a almost perfect dial.

[Billywiz]

Originally Posted by padi56

One thing to watch out for with some meteorite dials, is rust. Ni-Fe meteorites are almost pure iron and most will rust pretty easily if they're not treated/coated sealed . You can identify a meteorite by its Widmanstatten pattern.Rolex uses for there dials meteorite made from the Gibeon meteorite,the Gibeon had a very high nickel content, so it's very stable and basically won't rust.And the main cost is not so much the material around $5-$6 a gram for top quality slices, its the labour process costs to produce a and polish a almost perfect dial.

So Padi...it definitely won't rust or it just might?

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Billywiz

So Padi...it definitely won't rust or it just might?

Like stated in my post Rolex uses Gibeon meteorite and that will not rust.

[Vincent65]

They should use them on Space-Dwellers...

[TonyD]

Go for it! I love mine.

[eric23]

Great info! Thanks all!

[Daytona-Dan]

The WG Meteorite Daytona was top on my wish list up until about 3 weeks before I pulled the trigger on my YG Daytona with the Tahitian MOP diamond dial with gold crystal subdials (which look like little gold meteorites btw). It's back up there again as the next watch I plan to get right after getting my wife a DD

I just hope it's the watch and dial itself I love and not the idea of it being from space. Hopefully a bit of both but only a few months with it on the wrist will tell me for sure!

[sond86]

I wish they offered it for DD 2.

In always torn between wanting to trade up from 36 but don't want to give up meteorite!

[Angrypuppy]

I saw my first meteorite dial in person today. It is very cool.

[FeelingTheBlues]

Originally Posted by sond86

I wish they offered it for DD 2.

In always torn between wanting to trade up from 36 but don't want to give up meteorite!

Attachment 415783

I personally prefer the 36mm model myself and this dial is clearly a good excuse to keep it!

I love meteorite dials, there's something mesmerizing about them...

[TimeOnMyHands]

Not sure what the draw is to have that face / dial...who's idea was this in the first place? Somewhat like mother of pearl....? Both really boring and work against legibility...imho. Neither would ever be of interest. Different strokes I suppose....

[ecsub44]

Originally Posted by Cc1966

Attachment 415584

Cool to have part of your watch with an E.T. Origin!

It's all relative. The Earth is also "in outer space".

[Boopie]

I love it. It would be cool if Rolex made the Yachtmaster with a platinum bezel, meteorite dial, in white gold.

[thewatchguy93]

I like it..

[BOA]

Originally Posted by TimeOnMyHands

Not sure what the draw is to have that face / dial...who's idea was this in the first place? Somewhat like mother of pearl....? Both really boring and work against legibility...imho. Neither would ever be of interest. Different strokes I suppose....

No problem that it might not be your cup of tea, but photos don't do justice to the reflective qualities of the Widmanstatten pattern. As you tilt the dial, darker areas become light, and light areas become dark. It's quite a beautiful thing to see, and until you've had one in hand, I don't think you can really appreciate it.

Also, Rolex has done a masterful job of making it extremely legible. The gold hands on mine often look black against the shimmering dial, and if I've ever looked at the dial for more than a few seconds, it wasn't because it was hard to see the time but rather that I had to take a moment to admire the dial again. My cup of tea obviously. YMMV.

[skprd13]

Meteorite dials are cool!

[Chris B]

Great pics

[swatty]

Originally Posted by TonyD

Go for it! I love mine.

That's my favourite Daytona

[Rock]

I always think the meteorite dial looks very tasteful and adds some more interest to the model.
Personally, I'm intrigued by the idea of something that came from space and crashed into the Earth ending up on a watch.

[Daytona-Dan]

Originally Posted by BOA

No problem that it might not be your cup of tea, but photos don't do justice to the reflective qualities of the Widmanstatten pattern. As you tilt the dial, darker areas become light, and light areas become dark. It's quite a beautiful thing to see, and until you've had one in hand, I don't think you can really appreciate it.

Also, Rolex has done a masterful job of making it extremely legible. The gold hands on mine often look black against the shimmering dial, and if I've ever looked at the dial for more than a few seconds, it wasn't because it was hard to see the time but rather that I had to take a moment to admire the dial again. My cup of tea obviously. YMMV.

I agree, you really need to see it in person to truly appreciate it. I had the same problem trying to describe the cold crystal subdials on mine (see avatar). The way the light hits it is simply amazing! I thought the one I chose would scratch the itch, but I was wrong and the meteorite is back on my wish list again after only 3 months...

I did manage to hold them side-by-side at the time of purchase but the lure of YG and the combination of chocolate MOP with those gold crystals won in the end, it was also £26,350 vs £28,000 for the meteorite (it costs more because of the white gold), not much in it I know, but when you like the cheaper one better to start with, the meteorite was a hard sell.

My dream watch would be a YG Daytona with meteorite dial and gold crystal subdials with diamond markers. The contrast would be amazing!