Rolex

Rolex

Bloodstone

18038

1979

5602XXX

Beautiful 36mm. 18ct gold case with original winder, case back correctly numbered 18000

Perfect bloodstone dial with original hands and all original gilt lettering – marked T SWISS T at the base denoting an early stone dial

Original Rolex 48-hour automatic caliber 3055 movement

Original gold bracelet with the correct markings

This is an immaculate Rolex reference 18038 with Bloodstone dial – if it was in any better condition, it would be new old stock. The case and bracelet have been very gently and very professionally polished – NOT over polished, the lugs are very thick and have perfect symmetry, the gold marks, serial number and reference numbers on the case are perfect. The dial is in 100% perfect original condition, there are no cracks or chips – which is why we removed the dial and took a separate photograph, to show that this is a perfect dial. The stone dial examples like this example which have no numerals are much rarer than those with applied indexes, diamonds or Roman numerals. This watch is being offered with the original punched papers – you may notice when searching for other examples of this reference that nearly all of them have no papers, for some reason the stone dial 18038 rarely comes with the original paperwork – this watch is an exception. Comparable prices Christies' Geneva 6th Nov 2023 lot 2082 sold a very similar example, also 1979 with no original paperwork for CHF69,300. In the same sale another identical bloodstone example originally sold to His Majesty King Hassan II, sold for CHF327,600 ROLEX STONE DIALS Watch manufacturers have been using beautiful decorative hardstone for dial making for over 60 years Rolex have used over 10 different varieties for their dials, but only ever in very limited numbers owing to the extreme difficulty in carving a perfect slice of stone for each dial In order of rarity (or as close as can be surmised) Rolex have used the following stone for their dials 1. Opal – thought to be the rarest 2. Fossil 3. Bloodstone 4. Ferrite 5. Howlite 6. Sodalite 7. Pyrite 8. Tigers eye 9. Malachite 10. Lapis Lazuli 11. Onyx – thought to be the most common Each stone dial is unique because each piece of stone from which the dials are harvested is natural and the mineral content will be entirely different. Thus, unlike all the other factory dials, with the possible exception of onyx, your hardstone Rolex dial will be unique to your watch, so your watch will be a ‘piece unique'. There is one thing that all hardstone dials have in common: they are all extremely challenging to produce. The dials need to be carved from a large stone of excellent quality, and each slice needs to be exceedingly thin to produce a usable dial. When executed successfully, these can result in truly exceptional timepieces – like this example. The body colour of the stone is a deep green with red / orange flecks which occur naturally in the stone caused by the presence of iron oxides. This striking combination of colours makes for a truly fantastic dial complimented by the yellow gold case. When it comes to purchasing a watch with a stone dial, always look for cracks in the material, once cracked these fractures can be stabilized but not fixed invisibly. This is an important point to make particularly because the dial of the present example is 100% perfect, with no cracks or chips – which is why we have taken great pains to photograph the dial separately.

Sold with the original punched papers dated 1979, together with the Rolex president box