Butchered 'T

[J.S.]

On 26 July 2016 at 2:21 AM, freddy333 said:

Bumped for new members.

Great bump! 

Didn't know Perspex until know. But ain't perspex and bakelite two different things? Perspex for crystal and bakelite for ring?

[freddy333]

1 minute ago, J.S. said:

Didn't know Perspex until know. But ain't perspex and bakelite two different things? Perspex for crystal and bakelite for ring?

The only case that I am aware of where Rolex used Perspex was for the 6542's insert. Again, it was likely chosen because of its familiarity within the aircraft industry (the original GMT having been made for Pan Am). The xtal was acrylic plastic. To the best of my knowledge, Bakelite is an opaque material, so it would not be useful for components that require transparency.

[J.S.]

7 minutes ago, freddy333 said:

The only case that I am aware of where Rolex used Perspex was for the 6542's insert. Again, it was likely chosen because of its familiarity within the aircraft industry (the original GMT having been made for Pan Am). The xtal was acrylic plastic. To the best of my knowledge, Bakelite is an opaque material, so it would not be useful for components that require transparency.

Um.. yeah. Perspex comes in many colours and also in clear form. Bakelite is not only the brown stuff it's also in clear form too.

Don't make my head spin 

[freddy333]

7 minutes ago, J.S. said:

Bakelite is not only the brown stuff it's also in clear form too.

I think you are correct & I was wrong. Your comment reminded me of some Bakelite earrings I saw a few years ago that were translucent (red).

[J.S.]

9 minutes ago, freddy333 said:

I think you are correct & I was wrong. Your comment reminded me of some Bakelite earrings I saw a few years ago that were translucent (red).

From interweb:

What is Bakelite?

Bakelite is a castable, fire resistant plastic that was invented by Leo Baekeland in 1909. It was originally used for industrial purposes, until jewelry makers found that its light weight made Bakelite a perfect choice for designing and manufacturing inexpensive bracelets, rings, pins and other jewelry.

Bakelite jewelry became especially popular in the 1930's and 1940's, after a wider assortment of colors was introduced. The new batch of Bakelite colors captured the imagination of more and more jewelry companies. Coco Chanel was one famous designer who offered Bakelite jewelry and accessories.

Clear one

Yellowish

[Stephane]

My God.
And here they are again 

[freddy333]

Bumped (again) for new members.

For those who were not regulars in its heyday, RWG contains a staggering amount of watch-related research & technical articles that I believe appear nowhere else but here. It is a shame that watch forums have lost the majority of those members who regularly pushed the boundaries, leaving a treasure trove of important, 1-of-a-kind knowledge behind.