Set In Stone

From the selection of the precious stones, to the casting of the gold alloys, Rolex spares no expenses to cater to the best of their capabilities. The legendary brand has mastered the art of gem-setting down to a T, offering the most stunning gem-set timepieces throughout its history

Quality gemstones are all the rage reserved for celebrating special moments in our lives. From engagement rings to everyday wearable pieces, we choose precious stones and jewellery to reflect our personality and mood for the day; or simply, to complement our outfits and the occasion. Timepieces are no different and often, we find that we are more particular with the timepieces we wear on our wrists. Sturdy, slim and well known for their stainless steel watches, Rolex are no stranger to incorporating luxury gemstones onto their iconic watches. The result—contrasting clean looks embellished in immaculate stones makes for a contrasting, dazzling, timeless piece that is precious yet robust. Here, we look at the two key steps taken by Rolex when setting stunning diamonds onto their timepieces.

STEP 1: THE SELECTION

In keeping with the brand’s extremely stringent quality control criteria, Rolex takes extreme measures to ensure that every gem stone selected to set onto their timepieces are of the utmost quality. In- House gemmologists are there to ensure that the precious stones used for each piece are carefully selected. For instance, only the top selection of colourless diamonds, those that fall under categories D through G, will be accepted for the next step of the progress. The 4Cs of diamond grading are Carat, Clarity, Colour, and Cut. There are Flawless diamonds, and then there are Internally Flawless diamonds, which are in an entire class of their own. And in order to make it through the next step, the diamonds have to be Internally Flawless. The discrepancy between the two types of diamonds might be miniscule in nature, but it shows a huge difference in the value of the diamonds.