2005 saw the release of the first ceramic cerachrom bezel insert from rolex introduced in the gmt master ii ref 116718.
Making the ceramic bezel.
The ceramic bezel replaced the aluminum insert which was previously used by rolex and had been for many decades.
This is two color pigments by the name of zro2 and al2o3.
It was also the first time people had a choice of color either black or white ceramic.
Today it is a standard feature in almost all rolex watches featuring a rotating bezel.
In recent years rolex has made a big switch on its sports watches from traditional stainless steel bezels to those made of ceramic.
Rolex is very secretive about most of the manufacturing of its watches but the company has shared some images of the ceramic bezel from scratch to finished product which gives us an insight into how the company makes it.
Amazon in 1986 iwc proved that ceramic could be used in luxury watchmaking with the release of the iwc da vinci ref.
Binding agents are then added and it is then.
The ceramic bezel starts out with a powdered ceramic mixture.
Maybe because of the expense in making it omega have not continued making an orange ceramic bezel insert and instead use an orange rubber segment as part of a larger bezel insert.
Rolex submariner 116610ln review 904l stainless steel black with ceramic bezel duration.
The gmt master ii was the first watch to receive the ceramic bezel followed by the submariner type watches and the deepsea sea dweller.
Many people were shocked by the switch and there are plenty of proponents for both types of bezels.