What is a gilt dial?

A gilt dial is made in reverse. The dial plate is brass, plated gold, and the lettering, minute track and coronet are masked off before the black lacquer goes on. When the mask comes away the gold shows through as slightly recessed text, sitting below the surface rather than on it. That is the opposite of every later Rolex dial, where white paint is printed on top of a matte ground.

The result is a deep, glossy black with warm gold detail that shifts in the light. Rolex used the technique on the Submariner, GMT-Master, Explorer and Datejust through the 1950s and into the mid-1960s, then replaced it with matte dials and printed white text. Nobody has matched the look since, which is a large part of the appeal.

Under a loupe, original gilt text is recessed and the edges of each letter are clean where the lacquer stopped. A refinished dial is usually printed on top, so the gold sits proud of the surface and the letters have a faint raised edge or a softness to the corners. Tilt the dial and watch the light: the gold on an original catches it from within the black; paint reflects from above.

Look at the surface too. Original gilt lacquer has a glassy depth and often a fine crazing or spidering after sixty years. A perfectly smooth, perfectly black gilt dial on a watch from 1962 deserves suspicion. Ask for macro photographs of the text at 6 o'clock and the minute track before you buy.

• Recessed gold text with crisp edges: original.
• Raised or slightly fuzzy gold text: printed later.
• Hairline crazing in the lacquer: normal for the age.
• Lume plots and hands that match each other in color: a good sign nothing has been swapped.

The sport models are the famous ones: the Submariner 5512, 5513 and 6538, the GMT-Master 1675 in its early pointed-crown-guard form, the Explorer 1016 before its matte dial, and the Daytona 6239. Datejusts of the same period, particularly the 1600, 1601 and 1603, were also made with gilt dials, and these are the ones we see most often because far more Datejusts were sold. Tudor Submariners of the early 1960s used gilt dials as well.

The changeover to matte dials was gradual and varied by model, so a 1966 or 1967 watch might carry either. Check the serial against the dial rather than assuming.

Yes, in almost every case, and the gap is widest on the sport models. A gilt 5513 sells for a multiple of a matte 5513 in equal condition. On Datejusts the premium is smaller in absolute terms but still real, and it grows sharply when the gilt dial has also gone tropical, as on the 1600 we have in stock. The condition of the lacquer matters most: a clean, glossy gilt dial with even color is the one collectors chase.

As always, the premium depends on the rest of the watch. Gilt dials on polished cases with replaced hands do not command what a complete, untouched example does.

The lacquer is the weak point. It can craze, flake at the edges, or lift around the lume plots if the watch has seen moisture. Because the gold is under the lacquer, any damage exposes bare brass, which tarnishes. Gilt dials were also frequently replaced at service by Rolex with matte service dials, which is why so few survive on sport models. Treat a gilt dial like a painting: keep it dry, keep it out of strong sun, and never let anyone clean it.