1970 Rolex Datejust Onyx Dial Ref. 1600

The Mysterious ‘Onyx’ Dial

When it comes to Rolex stone dials we immediately think of a Rolex Day Date but it is to be noted that before any Day Date had a stone dial (starting from ca 1978) there were the Datejust 160x references which when in precious metals came with different stone dials such as Lapis, Onyx, Tiger Eye, Jasper, Malachite, and among some others there is also the probably most controversial dial that has been called the Obsidian and has not been seen in any official Rolex catalogues and only surfaced in recent 4-5 years.

Let’s first dive into what an Obsidian is. Strictly seen the Obsidian is not even a stone, it is a naturally occurring volcanic glass, that if sliced, has a translucent part inside. Each ‘Obsidian’ dial is unique, with subtle variations in texture and color, making every watch one of a kind. What most dials do have in common, is that they bear a warm golden or brown color that we usually see paired with a black portion of the dial. “If we usually see” means here if we come across one of the maybe 10 -15 dials that are known to have been seen in recent years with dealers and at auctions. A hand full of examples bear the Omani Khanjar and, not to forget, there are examples featuring white gold coronet, date aperture and silver print for white gold Datejust. The patterns range from flame or fireball looking dials to slightly more subtle examples. The dial here is one of the most fascinating examples because it looks like a map, plus it has some green portions on it.

Now to the controversy, we now know what an Obsidian is and that everyone was calling it Obsidian when referring to this type of dial, but are we sure this is an Obsidian dial? I don’t think we are so let’s go deeper.

As our good friend Erik from www.hairspring.com was so kind to feature this watch on his page, he dug a little deeper, as he usually does, (Erik, by the way we love your work) and got another opinion from expert and friend Eric Ku in who believes that this is an Onyx dial. Raw black Onyx in its natural form is usually not completely jet black. It can appear brown-greyish and sometimes dark green in color when found in its natural state. Onyx when usually used on dials or in Jewelry is dyed for the even stealth black we love. Now when we look at the dial we have here, that makes total sense as a precise description of raw Onyx already fully applies to the theme of this dial. On top of that there is an aging process and possible reactions with glue and other materials that can make it look like what we see.

Now everyone will have their opinion and believe what they prefer to and its ok. Fact is that this is still a Rolex dial, the print and applications are undisputably correct,  it is absolute exotic and rare.

The dial is housed in the probably best reference , the 1600 that features the smooth bezel so the major attention goes to the dial. We don't know what else to say, without being bias this is probably one of the best looking stone dial in yellow gold and we are happy to offer it here along with a very interesting story.