Rolex White Gold Versus Stainless Steel

[Chester01]

The largest advantage to me is the opening up of dial color choices. For a tool watch, the utility of white gold in comparison to SS is not a debate. For me personally, while many associate heft with luxury I don’t. As someone who uses these watches for basketball, hiking, mountain biking etc. more heft is not an advantage. For me personally, dress watches look fantastic in PM, but for a daily wear do anything watch, the heft is what turns me away.

[swish77]

Originally Posted by George58

pay the price for gold but it doesn't look like gold

Not sure I understand this post. White gold looks like, er, white gold, and that’s what you’re paying for. Do you mean it doesn’t look like yellow gold? Well, yes, and that’s part of the point and beauty of white gold. (For the record, white gold is more expensive than yellow gold.)

For guys who think WG looks too similar to SS, why do you think Tiffany’s, Cartier, H. Stern and the entire jewelry industry makes so many popular white gold products, such as wedding bands, bracelets, earrings, pendants, etc…. ? If WG was just like SS, why on earth does it have such a broad appeal as a luxury metal, even outside of the watch industry?

[Raj24v]

I love the idea of white gold but I would never pay 3x the price for the same watch in SS. They look far too similar IMO.
Only a true watch enthusiast would maybe tell the difference between them at a glance.

[Daytona88]

I like what I perceive to be more warmth and depth to white gold, versus the hard cold look of stainless (but most of what I own). I had a YG Day-Date and felt like I was screaming "rob me" in some parts of Miami.

[pavinc]

Side by side comparison of mine. Absolutely love both. The WG is not as much a hype piece as the SS but I absolutely take the WG every time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[2loaded]

WG over SS for models offered in both.
OP time settings between the two watches are spot on !

[Dougiebaby]

Originally Posted by joli160

Nice comparison

Guess you must see them in real to fully appreciate. I like everything about the hue of the WG and can spot them a mile away.

Other than that gold is by far the superior material to make a dive watch compared to SS. A PM watch will last forever in a marine environment.

It is the ultimate tool watch;

I don’t think this is accurate. A local jeweler has told me that white gold, in particular, is susceptible to corrosion over time in chorine and salt water. He said the “white” additives begin to break down and more of the base color of gold (yellow) comes out — turning that white metal into a more yellow-white.


This article also states salt water is more harmful to all gold, and less harmful to more pure metals like platinum. Of course, Rolex uses 18kt which will be a bit more resilient compared to 14kt and lower. But still, if I had a PM Rolex in the sea, I would recommend rinsing it off afterwards.

https://www.afashionblog.com/salt-wa...-your-jewelry/


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by Dougiebaby

I don’t think this is accurate. A local jeweler has told me that white gold, in particular, is susceptible to corrosion over time in chorine and salt water. He said the “white” additives begin to break down and more of the base color of gold (yellow) comes out — turning that white metal into a more yellow-white.


This article also states salt water is more harmful to all gold, and less harmful to more pure metals like platinum. Of course, Rolex uses 18kt which will be a bit more resilient compared to 14kt and lower. But still, if I had a PM Rolex in the sea, I would recommend rinsing it off afterwards.

https://www.afashionblog.com/salt-wa...-your-jewelry/


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I don’t believe an ounce of that. I’m sure Mel Fisher would absolutely disagree had he not passed away in 1998. If gold deteriorated that much under water, he wouldn’t have found centuries old jewelry, doubloons, bars and the like.


Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

[Shadow Play]

Originally Posted by swish77

Not sure I understand this post. White gold looks like, er, white gold, and that’s what you’re paying for. Do you mean it doesn’t look like yellow gold? Well, yes, and that’s part of the point and beauty of white gold. (For the record, white gold is more expensive than yellow gold.)

For guys who think WG looks too similar to SS, why do you think Tiffany’s, Cartier, H. Stern and the entire jewelry industry makes so many popular white gold products, such as wedding bands, bracelets, earrings, pendants, etc…. ? If WG was just like SS, why on earth does it have such a broad appeal as a luxury metal, even outside of the watch industry?

Very expensive and sustained marketing. It has shaped what we believe is acceptable. I have a white gold wedding band but I would not have wanted a ss wedding ring, regardless of whether they looked the same or not.

Similarly my wife has white gold and diamond ear rings and a white gold and diamond pendant. She has platinum and diamond rings. I’m fairly certain she would not wish ss as a replacement, even though the appearance can be broadly similar to the untrained eye.

No big deal if people think my wife and I are wearing ss jewellery, although I do sense in your replies you appear slightly frustrated that some people can’t tell the difference between white gold and ss.

[AD337]

One hell of a submariner combo there ! And I am with you 100% OP, they’re very different .. most people just aren’t very observant is all it is.. but to people like us, it’s super apparent

How often do you find yourself wearing the white gold one ??

[jed11]

Originally Posted by pavinc

Side by side comparison of mine. Absolutely love both. The WG is not as much a hype piece as the SS but I absolutely take the WG every time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hands down..WG over the SS. I go back and forth whether I like the ceramic dial or the all gold dial configuration in the Daytona (taking the bracelet differences out of the equation of course). But either way, that dial is still the best!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[swish77]

Originally Posted by Shadow Play

I do sense in your replies you appear slightly frustrated that some people can’t tell the difference between white gold and ss.

Ha! It's all good regardless. I'm more baffled than frustrated. Watch lovers are usually very observant and detail-oriented, so it's surprising when I see posts from guys saying, "They look very similar" or "I can't tell the difference!" I bet 99.9 percent of people who actually handle both WG and SS would recognize a big difference right away.

Originally Posted by AD337

One hell of a submariner combo there ! And I am with you 100% OP, they’re very different .. most people just aren’t very observant is all it is.. but to people like us, it’s super apparent

How often do you find yourself wearing the white gold one ??

Many thanks. I just gold the WG Sub and it hasn't been off my wrist. I love everything about it so far. Super special. The SS Submariner is great, but it's looking for a new home now.

[AD337]

Originally Posted by swish77

Ha! It's all good regardless. I'm more baffled than frustrated. Watch lovers are usually very observant and detail-oriented, so it's surprising when I see posts from guys saying, "They look very similar" or "I can't tell the difference!" I bet 99.9 percent of people who actually handle both WG and SS would recognize a big difference right away.




Many thanks. I just gold the WG Sub and it hasn't been off my wrist. I love everything about it so far. Super special. The SS Submariner is great, but it's looking for a new home now.

Lol at more baffled than frustrated!! Agree!! I say keep the SS one too, why not!? To be fair, I think that beautiful new WG sub would be stuck on my wrist just the same though !

[Bladeshot]

126710BLRO on left on 97200 bracelet.
116719 on right.

This is studio lighting with daylight bulbs and a gray card background. Long ago, this pic was intended to show the bezel color difference, during all those passionate debates about color variation.

The metal color difference is subtitle to most. I do love WG. Cheers.

[MWW70s]

Detailing shots, they look alike, to be honest.

[Golfbone]

Unless they are side by side it's very difficult to tell WG from SS. Even if they are side by side it's not easy. I would bet that over 60% of the folks here would not be able to tell by looking at someone else wearing a watch if it was WG or SS unless they had other cues like the numbers being Arabic or the face being specific to a WG piece. You don't wear WG because you want people to know what it is....you wear it because YOU know what it is, you like the way it feels, you like the look of the watch and you can afford it. If you need to or want to wear bling to show off and impress people WG is not the way to go. If you like the idea of restrained, covert luxury that makes you feel good without announcing it to the world WG is a great choice. I have a WG Daytona and I love it but to be honest SS makes a shitload more sense. This is not about sensible though.....this is about personal expression.

[Aplover5]

That white gold sub is beautiful.

[dkg1616]

A lot of differing opinions here, but I am sorry only the wearer (or legit WIS) will know the difference between WG and SS.

Remember all, outside of us, no one knows what you are actually wearing!!!

[donas]

Originally Posted by dkg1616

A lot of differing opinions here, but I am sorry only the wearer (or legit WIS) will know the difference between WG and SS.

Remember all, outside of us, no one knows what you are actually wearing!!!

I agree with this, but on the same note I really feel sorry for those who feel they have to buy a watch for someone other than themselves to appreciate. As long as I know and appreciate the difference and feel it is worth 3X the amount, then what else matters?

[Daveh777]

I respect but actually do not ‘get’ tool watches in PM - unless they are some kind of limited edition or festive/celebration type of piece: eg the Gold Omega Speedmasters to celebrate the moon landing.
PM cannot compare durability-wise to SS. But each to their own! That’s the bottom line.

[joli160]

Originally Posted by Daveh777

I respect but actually do not ‘get’ tool watches in PM - unless they are some kind of limited edition or festive/celebration type of piece: eg the Gold Omega Speedmasters to celebrate the moon landing.
PM cannot compare durability-wise to SS. But each to their own! That’s the bottom line.

Gold is chemically inert and can last a 1000 years unaffected at the bottom of the ocean. Try that with any kind of steel

[HogwldFLTR]

Coloration, grain size (and resultant finish), and weight are all significantly different between the two; even more so for platinum. As an owner of both Pt and SS I'm more than happy that my Pt doesn't call attention to itself like yellow gold does. The purpose of my watches is for self satisfaction as opposed to showing off for strangers. Some seem to believe the the latter is the only purpose for a PM watch. But ultimately if showing off is the purpose of owning a luxury watch then there is a point of diminishing returns in going beyond SS as owning a Rolex is more than enough to impress most.

[amanbra]

Thank you for this post OP, very interesting to see them side by side like that.

[watchwatcher]

Originally Posted by Bladeshot

126710BLRO on left on 97200 bracelet.
116719 on right.

This is studio lighting with daylight bulbs and a gray card background. Long ago, this pic was intended to show the bezel color difference, during all those passionate debates about color variation.

The metal color difference is subtitle to most. I do love WG. Cheers.

That is one of the better illustrations I've seen showing the differences between the two metals. Thank you for sharing, Grant.

[rambo99]

Originally Posted by Bladeshot

126710BLRO on left on 97200 bracelet.
116719 on right.

This is studio lighting with daylight bulbs and a gray card background. Long ago, this pic was intended to show the bezel color difference, during all those passionate debates about color variation.

The metal color difference is subtitle to most. I do love WG. Cheers.

the difference in bezel colour is very noticeable.

[swish77]

Originally Posted by Bladeshot

126710BLRO on left on 97200 bracelet.
116719 on right.

This is studio lighting with daylight bulbs and a gray card background.

As someone who works in photography, I can tell you that this muted studio lighting here is not a good way to show the difference between the tone of the metals, regardless of the bulbs that were used. Sure, there are lighting conditions that make them look similar, the same way there are lighting conditions that make blue look black. Natural lighting conditions that we encounter every day, unlike in a studio setting, is where the difference is more apparent.

Originally Posted by Chester01

For a tool watch, the utility of white gold in comparison to SS is not a debate.

The "tool watch" debate always makes me chuckle. Rolex stopped making true tool watches a long, long time ago, regardless of the metal. When was the last time anybody bought a personal $10,000 tool? Want a real tool watch? Buy a G-Shock. Rolexes are expensive luxury timepieces, not tool watches.

[Chester01]

Originally Posted by swish77

As someone who works in photography, I can tell you that this muted studio lighting here is not a good way to show the difference between the tone of the metals, regardless of the bulbs that were used. Sure, there are lighting conditions that make them look similar, the same way there are lighting conditions that make blue look black. Natural lighting conditions that we encounter every day, unlike in a studio setting, is where the difference is more apparent.



The "tool watch" debate always makes me chuckle. Rolex stopped making true tool watches a long, long time ago, regardless of the metal. When was the last time anybody bought a personal $10,000 tool? Want a real tool watch? Buy a G-Shock. Rolexes are expensive luxury timepieces, not tool watches.

The choice of the tool is up to the individual. As someone who used these every day as part of task for my job, as well as mountain biking, tennis, basketball etc. i need a do anything go anywhere watch that looks good on the beach or in the office. Sorry, gshock is not as versatile.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[amh]

So the WG is more "creamy and warm"? I don't think anyone except the wearer would know. Heavier yes and that also means something, certainly. I like a chunky watch.

The PCL also adds some bling. Some like it, some don't.

[thenewrick]

Some misconceptions in this thread.

First pure gold doesn’t tarnish or corrode.

All Rolex, and jewelry in general is a gold alloy. Rolex gold watches are not pure gold. All gold alloys will corrode. All steel will corrode.

Rolex uses platinum family metals in their gold alloy to achieve the white color and reduce corrosion. Their white gold is very corrosion resistant on par with their steel models.

White gold is more expensive than yellow gold because it includes more precious metal from the platinum family.

Rolex white gold is a premium product to their yellow gold.

All Rolex regardless of model will corrode and tarnish eventually. None need to be rinsed off after swimming.

White gold is more expensive to produce and has more expensive resources than platinum or yellow gold. Purely looking at metal for metal Rolex white gold is their best value. But the value of the materials in Rolex are virtually worthless. This has been discussed many times. Because they are all alloys and in much lesser amounts than people realize, and because separating those alloys back into precious metal is very expensive; it’s virtually worthless. The value is in the entire piece itself.

Best way to think of it is a $40k solid precious metal Rolex taken to a metallurgist to recover the precious metal will pay you about $1000 for it and recover about $3000 from it after a week of hard work.

I’m a yellow/white gold fan and platinum is nice too for the heft and purity of it.

My choice is 40mm white gold for anything other than a day date. 36mm yellow gold for day dates. No meteorite or Gem set. Pure class.

I do like rainbow Daytonas though. we can all be forgiven 1 tacky choice. :)

Also they do look different. Steel has a common.. steel look. With a hint of blue and hint of white and hint of grey and can be black polished.

Silver has slightly more luster but tarnishes quickly.

White gold has a yellow hue, white depth, and that warmth people mention. It looks less sharp and more.. organic.

Yellow gold is actually a white gold as well as pure gold is more yellow/orange. It’s toned down with silver and other metals to mellow it out some. But all the yellow gold jewelry and Rolex you see are already a “white” gold to some extent.

You can look at Rolex models over the years to see how their yellow gold formula has changed to be more white with more silver or more orange with more copper. Yellow gold can corrode just like any other alloy and can be polished/cleaned like other metals. If you polish yellow gold tiny pieces of it are removed to reveal fresh alloy underneath. The same with white gold. Platinum is softer and will after move with the polishing like a firm paste and you don’t remove as much metal.

[flyboyyy]

Op has two darned nice watches - no argument!

That said, the "confirmation bias bubble" is strong with this one...objectively speaking there is no reason to be "baffled". The objective (not biased subjective defensive) reality, is that they indeed are in fact quite similar in appearance.

Identical, no...but "massively and totally/utterly completely different" is a stretch at most.

Congrats on the beautiful watches. Enjoy them for you, don't enjoy them for us or the public - and surely don't expect the objective observer to tell the difference between it and SS, even at more than a normal glance...they won't and don't, very few will.