While watchmaking is Rolex’s expertise, they also take gem-setting seriously. The brand has its own in-house gemmologists and gem-setters.

The gemmologists excruciatingly source, examine and select the most striking gemstones, while the gem-setters place and fix each stone to reveal its beauty, and complement the watch.

When buying a gem-set Rolex, it is important to know whether the watch is set with a Rolex factory diamond or if it’s a Rolex watch customized with aftermarket diamonds. A watch with an original Rolex factory diamond has much more demand and fetches more value than an aftermarket one.

Let’s explore the different Serti dials of the Submariner, GMT-Master and Yacht-Master.

Vintage Rolex Submariner Serti dials are very popular in the pre-owned market. They are most often found in Rolesor or two-tone steel and gold models, but there are also vintage yellow gold Submariner watches.

Rolex Submariner Serti dials are paired with blue or black bezels, and champagne or slate dials.

Below are references of Rolex Submariner Serti dials:

Two-tone
16803 (diamond and sapphire)
16613 (diamond and sapphire)
16713 (diamond and ruby)

Yellow Gold
16618 (diamond and sapphire)

For all three watch families, diamonds are used for eight hour markers, while sapphires or rubies are used for the 6, 9, and 12 o’clock hour markers. The 3 o’clock marker is left for the date window.

Rolex GMT-Master Serti watches follow the same arrangement for the gems as the Submariner, the only difference is that the GMT-Master is fitted with rubies only instead of sapphires.

Moreover, GMT-Master Serti dials are paired with either black bezels or bronze ‘Rootbeer’ bezels and slate or champagne dials.