A Beautiful Bunch of Rolex Floral Dials
Along with mastering watch case construction, manufacturing in-house movements, and developing iconic watches, Rolex is also known for creating fantastic watch dial designs. From understated monochromatic dials to dazzling diamond-set dials to vibrant lacquer finished dials, Rolex watches come with many different faces. As one of the most vertically integrated watch companies in today’s industry, it comes as no surprise that Rolex makes all of its dials in-house, largely by hand. In fact, the company has a dedicated dial making department at Chêne-Bourg, which is one of its four sites around Switzerland. Flower dials are one Rolex’s specialties, found within many of Rolex’s ladies’ watch colleciton. If you’re looking for a luxury watch with a touch of whimsy, join us as we take a look at some beautiful examples of Rolex floral dials.
Rolex Datejust 36 Floral Dials
At Baselworld 2009, Rolex unveiled a brand new Datejust 36 collection (with reference numbers 11624x), complete with diamond-set bezels and intricate dial designs. While the Oyster cases of the then-new Datejust watches kept the familiar 36mm size, they featured for the first time, bezels set with 52 brilliant-cut diamonds.
Out of the eight new models presented that year, four of them included floral dials in an array of colors including pink, green, silver, and bronze. All of the Rolex floral dials included hand-applied 18k gold Arabic numerals at 6 and 9 o’clock, accompanying the obligatory Rolex crown at 12 o’clock and the signature date window at 3 o’clock.
The Rolex Datejust ref. 116244 features a stainless steel case, stainless steel bracelet, and an 18k white gold bezel set with diamonds. This particular reference is available with either a five-link Jubilee bracelet or a three-link Oyster bracelet.
On the other hand, the Rolex Datejust ref. 116243 is a two-tone version, featuring a stainless steel case with a yellow gold bezel set with diamonds and a yellow gold winding crown. What’s more, the bracelet, whether Jubilee or Oyster, includes yellow gold center links flanked by stainless steel outer links. To match the yellow gold on the case and bracelet, the face of the watch includes yellow gold numerals, yellow center hands, and yellow gold floral details on the silver dial.
Rolex Datejust 31
The following year in 2010, a new batch of Rolex floral dials made their debut at Baselworld. This time, Rolex selected the Oyster Perpetual Datejust Lady 31 collection to showcase the new flower focused dials.
A closer look at this type of Rolex floral dial reveals that the flowers protrude above the dial, lending appealing dimension and depth to the dial. The applied flowers are produced using an electroforming technique, which essentially deposits material to reproduce a pre-selected shape with unparalleled precision. Rolex offered these beautifully crafted floral dials in dark rhodium, pink, and champagne colorways.
The Rolex Datejust ref. 178344 features a stainless steel 31mm Oyster case topped with an 18k white gold bezel set with diamonds. The dark rhodium dial is home to electroformed white rhodium tone-on-tone floral motifs, in addition to a white gold numeral at 6 o’clock and date window at 3 o’clock. Finishing off the look of the watch is a three-link Oyster bracelet in stainless steel.
Whether the decorative flower details are etched into the dial or protrude above it, Rolex floral dials add a dash of fun to a classic luxury watch style.
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