The green-tinted sapphire crystal fitted to the reference 116400GV Milgauss has quickly become one of the defining characteristics of Rolex’s anti-magnetic line of watches. The Rolex Milgauss was first introduced in 1956; however, it was not until 2007 that it received its now-signature, green sapphire crystal – an exclusive feature that was originally introduced as a way for Rolex to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their Milgauss line.No other watch in Rolex’s current catalog is fitted with a green-tinted (or any other color) sapphire crystal. However, at the present time, all Milgauss watches that are currently in production leave the factory with green sapphire crystals. Rather than simply being a layer or coating, the light green tint is present throughout the entire material of the crystal, and will not fade or discolor after prolonged wear and use.Rolex claims that it took them many years of research and development to master and perfect the secret procedure of manufacturing their green-tinted sapphire crystals and that the actual process of producing the crystals takes multiple weeks. What is most interesting is that despite a usual eagerness to patent their various in-house technologies, Rolex claims that the green sapphire crystal in the Milgauss is “not patented, as it is so difficult to make that no one else would even venture to try.”Rolex will never reveal their exact formulas and secrets about how they manufacture the green-tinted sapphire crystals fitted to the Milgauss; however, we do know some general information about green-colored synthetic sapphire and the production of sapphire watch crystals as a whole.There are a number of different ways to produce synthetic sapphire, all of which fall into the following general methods of production: melt growth, solution growth, and high-temperature/high-pressure growth. It is hypothesized that Rolex uses a hydrothermal method of production for its synthetic sapphire crystals, which is slow, expensive, and uses heat and pressure to imitate the conditions present deep inside the earth that is responsible for the production of naturally-occurring crystalline gemstones.
While bidirectional rotating bezels may be quicker for wearers to turn to the appropriate spot, as a dive bezel it’s not the best option. If the bezel gets accidentally knocked, this could cause divers to miscalculate how long they have been underwater. Therefore, a unidirectional bezel is more prudent because accidental knocks to the bezel can only result in overestimating immersion time – it’s far preferable to start ascending to the surface earlier or spend longer than necessary at a decompression stop.Rolex began equipping the Submariner with unidirectional bezels starting with the Submariner Date ref. 16800, which was introduced around 1979. The no-date Submariner model received a unidirectional bezel with the introduction of the Submariner ref. 14060 in 1990.Like the previous generation, the new unidirectional bezels included aluminum bezel inserts. In 1983, Rolex introduced the first two-tone Submariner model in the form of the Submariner Date ref. 16803, which sported a yellow gold knurled bezel with a black or blue aluminum insert. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Submariner in 2003, Rolex introduced the stainless steel Submariner Date ref. 16610LV with a green bezel insert.In 2008, Rolex introduced the first Submariner models equipped with unidirectional bezels featuring Cerachrom inserts. Cerachrom is Rolex’s proprietary ceramic alloy that is not only resistant to scratching but also to fading. The 60-minute graduations are cut into the bezel and then the ceramic bezel insert is fully coated with either yellow gold (for yellow gold and two-tone models) or platinum (for white gold or steel models). The gold/platinum is then polished away from the ceramic surface until only the recessed numerals and markings are left with the metal filling.By 2012, Rolex had rolled out the Cerachrom bezels across all Submariner models and color options include black, blue, and green. A quick way to know the color of the bezel is to look at the letters in the reference number: LB (blue bezel), LN (black bezel), and LV (green bezel).
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