A watch that is hot like lava!

Or more specifically the dial is smoking. We are happy to present you this extremely rare stone dial, or actually "glass dial". That's right; Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass, formed when lava -extruded from a volcano- cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. Since it is glass, some parts are translucent to transparent. The yellowish segments you see is basically just the color of the base dial where the slab of Obsidian is mounted on, giving it real depth to the dial. Furthermore inclusions of magnitite and iron oxide aren't uncommon in this igneous rock type.

Ever since we got our hands on a vintage Rolex dial code chart, we are aware of the existence of obsidian. Sparsely one turned up on auction, sometimes it was "Tiger Iron" instead, but due to the obscurity, mistakes have been made when properly identifying the stone. In the last decade only a handful have been sold in either the Datejust. or Day-Date. Additionally Rolex used Obsidian once or twice in the Cellini ref. 5071.

However, we are not entirely certain these dials are actually Obsidian. They just might be discoloured instead, caused by a chemical reaction of the base dial, perhaps in combination with the glue used to mount this slab. But there is no doubt this dial is rare, but one made for a white metal Datejust is simply a superlative. It has a silver print, white gold hands, coronet and date aperture. These crafty dials were only available for precious metal models, so it is housed in a 1601/9 which is rare in and of itself. This white gold case dates back to 1977 and has a Jubilee bracelet -in matching metal- mounted on it.

As far as we know this is one of only 2 existing white gold Datejusts with Obsidian dial. A work of art: made by nature, framed by Rolex. If just rare isn't enough...