2005 to 2023…
I wonder what was behind the scenes, concerns and considerations, for taking this long to make another sapphire crystal caseback? ...
Possible...nothing to see here :))
However, I think this is a small effort to make a big leap.
My cynical take, to save money by reducing precious metal usage
My generous take, Rolex doesn't get much respect for their movement aesthetics and they want to demonstrate that they do put effort into this area. I lean more towards my cynical take because we also saw Tudor use exhibition case-backs on their 18K gold B...
Another possibility, weight reduction
Platinum watches can become a bit tiresome to wear all day long, so perhaps this is part of the reasoning as well.
A difference of 10grams?
Most of us can lift 5 kg easily... but you might be right, save $ and still appeal and make crowds go wild, win-win.
That could be it...function over looks...they might focus more on the practicality and not have to deal with water resistance concerns with sapphire case back...
Less problem for them, and why break it if everything works well?
