Cracked BLRO

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by DeeTee

I wouldn't go that far. Cosmetically it makes it look a lot nicer and more modern. Sometimes you have to pay to play.

The Luddites will always be critical of anything regarding new technology.

On many occasions I have barked my Ceramic bezel on the DSSD up against and along things that would've very seriously damaged any Aluminum bezel possibly triggering a replacement.
I can state categorically that there is absolutely no visible damage to the Ceramic insert itself
In contrast the SS bezel is certainly showing a few minor battle scars as a result

As with everything there are advantages and disadvantages.
For now, on balance I'll personally take a Ceramic bezel over an Aluminum one based on my experience.

[Bruins7]

Originally Posted by CrazyMD

Wearing this in the meantime. Not a Rolex... but definitely this bezel won't crack


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Nice rimowa luggage in the back, I have the same one

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by CrazyMD

I think there is a premium to the Pepsi bezel. If a $9k watch has a $750 bezel cost. It's a deal when a $37k watch has a $1200 bezel cost.

Thanks everyone for their comments. It just sucks because the watch is only 2 weeks old and now it's gone for months. It is what it is, things can always be worse.


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I had a similar experience with my first Rolex watch.
After purchasing it second hand I immediately sent it in for a full service and as expected it came back like a new watch.
Not long afterward I dropped it onto the concrete workshop floor causing a lot of damage and heartache.

Thanks for taking the time to show us the result of the accident
I assume there is another piece missing from the pics which is still firmly attached to the bezel?
It's also notable the strength of the individual broken pieces

[BawlaDK]

Ouch ouch ouch... I feel so bad for you. This has got to suck....

But this is the main reason I wont touch the ceramic Rolexes at all.... To me the ceramic unfortunately aint no improvement at all

[padi56]

Originally Posted by CrazyMD

I hit my hand into a door handle pretty hard and it cracked and just spilled on the ground. It must have caught it just right. RSC inspected the bezel to see if that was damaged as they said if it is the ceramic insert will not fit back in right. Luckily the bezel was fine. The impact was strictly on the ceramic. The crystal was fine.

$1200 to replace insert. If I needed to change the bezel the cost would have been an additional $4,000 (half the cost of a submariner) lol

What kills me is the time. Bezel has to come from Geneva. They get their shipments once per month. So they will place the order and hope it comes in beginning of November. The gal told me it likely won't and the last Pepsi bezel that broke took them 3 months to get.

Oh ya, watch is 2 weeks old. What can you do but just chuckle.


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Very sorry this has happened to your new watch,but like most things hit it hard enough it will break.IMHO the $1200 cost just to replace the insert is a crazy price. And IMHO there should be some sort of warning in the Rolex literature about how ceramic can shatter.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Dirt

The Luddites will always be critical of anything regarding new technology.

On many occasions I have barked my Ceramic bezel on the DSSD up against and along things that would've very seriously damaged any Aluminum bezel possibly triggering a replacement.
I can state categorically that there is absolutely no visible damage to the Ceramic insert itself
In contrast the SS bezel is certai ceramic in watchesnly showing a few minor battle scars as a result

As with everything there are advantages and disadvantages.
For now, on balance I'll personally take a Ceramic bezel over an Aluminum one based on my experience.

First its not new technology ceramic in watches have been around since the 1960s. And yes the aluminum ones can scratch so can the ceramic, but from experience and using my own 1990s SD for many years as a working tool .Yet only one replacement insert cost then just £27 and a DIY fit even then it was not really badly scratched.

[Onikage]

.... ....I'll stick with my 16710. A lifetime supply of shiny new inserts would cost less.

[Amiricanmade]

Originally Posted by CrazyMD

I think there is a premium to the Pepsi bezel. If a $9k watch has a $750 bezel cost. It's a deal when a $37k watch has a $1200 bezel cost.

Thanks everyone for their comments. It just sucks because the watch is only 2 weeks old and now it's gone for months. It is what it is, things can always be worse.


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Things CAN always be worse man.

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by ttnpb

For that price I would seriously consider aftermarket insert replacement.

LOL. On a white gold GMT for close to 40K retail?
SURE.

[crowncollection]

Unlucky but worse things can happen, nice ap


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[Evad3]

Ouch sorry to see this, hope it doesn't take too long for the replacement to be produced.

Don't see many of these threads too often either and by the sounds of it the bezel took a pretty intense direct hit, if it wasn't the bezel it could have been the crystal.

[heisse]

Sorry to hear that
The cost don't surprise me, the BLRO insert is a technical feat and has cost expensive in R&D (not to mention production losses).
That said, for a watch at +/- 40k$ retail ... old weeks ... charge 1200$ for an insert ... just lol this is not correct and commercial
just my 2 cents
delays seem ok

[Brunik]

sorry to hear that...

[fskywalker]

Originally Posted by CrazyMD

I hit my hand into a door handle pretty hard and it cracked and just spilled on the ground. It must have caught it just right. RSC inspected the bezel to see if that was damaged as they said if it is the ceramic insert will not fit back in right. Luckily the bezel was fine. The impact was strictly on the ceramic. The crystal was fine.

$1200 to replace insert. If I needed to change the bezel the cost would have been an additional $4,000 (half the cost of a submariner) lol

What kills me is the time. Bezel has to come from Geneva. They get their shipments once per month. So they will place the order and hope it comes in beginning of November. The gal told me it likely won't and the last Pepsi bezel that broke took them 3 months to get.

Oh ya, watch is 2 weeks old. What can you do but just chuckle.


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[fishingbear]

Originally Posted by GradyPhilpott

Sorry to hear of your misfortune, but I think your attitude toward the mishap is quite healthy.

Good luck on the replacement.

X2.

[Roll the Lex]

Uh-oh... blro is my daily watch. Wonder if it is the blue/red insert itself. Or if it is just ceramic. Or something else.


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[AK797]

It was $375 for an SS insert so $1200 still seems high, even tho it is in proportion to the watch prices.

Originally Posted by Muzz

It is a lot more brittle John!! I cracked mine on a seat belt I believe (can't say for certain). Never had an issue with any other ceramic insert before.

There has been an alarming amount of BLRO bezel inserts breaking!!

I think the RSC is being very optimistic on the time frame. They had mine for at least 5 months and broke 2 insert trying to repair it. The third insert worked.

Steve, was the price of your PepC insert similar?

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by padi56

First its not new technology ceramic in watches have been around since the 1960s. And yes the aluminum ones can scratch so can the ceramic, but from experience and using my own 1990s SD for many years as a working tool .Yet only one replacement insert cost then just £27 and a DIY fit even then it was not really badly scratched.

Certainly true enough.

If I recall correctly the last Aluminum bezel I replaced cost about $35.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by Roll the Lex

Uh-oh... blro is my daily watch. Wonder if it is the blue/red insert itself. Or if it is just ceramic. Or something else.


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It's just the nature of this type of Ceramic.
Of course it doesn't help if you get unlucky as well

[WAK4]

Originally Posted by Dirt

Given the replacement Ceramic bezels have previously been reportedly as priced at about the $750 mark, I wonder if the $1200 costing is to also allow for potential breakages in the replacement process

I'd bet it does. It also seems...if what I read around the internet is true...the insert was expensive to develop to begin with due to challenges with the red. Further, if only a smaller % make it onto a watch than the standard ceramics, I'd think any smart business would factor the lost insert costs into the ones that sell.

But all we can do is speculate.

[Flstfirider]

Was that price quote from RUSA directly or through an AD working with RUSA? I sometimes wounded if AD's take advantage of customers and inflate service cost.

[Colina19]

I would not have expected to break by just hitting the door, I hit my watches all the time so I'm paranoid of getting the BLRO now (just kidding).

[Danny83]

5 months is a while ....

[tomchicago]

Thank you for the post though. Rolex claims about the toughness of the ceramics are patent false advertising to generate more markup.

[Juantxo]

Originally Posted by padi56

Very sorry this has happened to your new watch,but like most things hit it hard enough it will break.IMHO the $1200 cost just to replace the insert is a crazy price. And IMHO there should be some sort of warning in the Rolex literature about how ceramic can shatter.

The voice of reason.

[Jim Smyth]

Wearing the AP should take the sting out of it..........

[Etschell]

makes sense, they make limited production of this watch. a blrn insert is probably cheaper.

[Etschell]

this is worse.

some guy here cracked his black shield tudor pretty bad.

[kilyung]

Originally Posted by CrazyMD

Out of curiosity, how deep is the "blue" pigmentation? It doesn't appear to be all the way through the material. Can you take a close up of the broken edge of the blue part?

[Etschell]

Originally Posted by kilyung

Out of curiosity, how deep is the "blue" pigmentation? It doesn't appear to be all the way through the material. Can you take a close up of the broken edge of the blue part?

his 2nd picture (left piece) shows that it in fact does not go all the way through, it is an overlay blended.