Rolesor is Rolex's own word for the combination of Oystersteel and gold in a single watch, trademarked in 1933 and used on more Rolexes than any other configuration. It has been unfashionable and then extremely fashionable within the last decade. We hold 426 yellow Rolesor watches, 413 in white and 181 in Everose.
What Rolesor actually is
A Rolesor watch has an Oystersteel case and bracelet outers with 18ct gold on the bezel, the crown, the winding tube and the centre links of the bracelet. It is not plating and it is not gold-filled: the gold components are solid gold, mechanically fitted to steel.
That construction is why a genuine two-tone Rolex does not wear through to base metal the way plated watches do. Fifty-year-old Rolesor Datejusts still show gold on the bezel.
The three Rolesors
Yellow Rolesor — steel and 18ct yellow gold — is the original and the most numerous. White Rolesor — steel with an 18ct white-gold bezel only, no gold in the bracelet — is the subtlest, and is what gives a "steel" Datejust its fluted bezel. Everose Rolesor — steel and Rolex's own rose-gold alloy — arrived in 2005 and is now the fashionable one.
White Rolesor confuses more buyers than anything else in the catalogue, because the watch looks entirely like steel. If a Datejust has a fluted bezel, that bezel is gold.
How to tell them apart
The reference number tells you. The final digit of a modern Rolex reference encodes the case metal: 0 is steel, 1 is steel and Everose, 3 is steel and yellow gold, 4 is steel and white gold, 5 is solid Everose, 8 is solid yellow gold, 9 is solid white gold, 6 is platinum.
So a 126233 is steel and yellow gold; a 126234 is steel with a white-gold bezel; a 126200 is all steel. This is the single most useful fact in Rolex buying, and it is how we validate every listing in our catalogue.
Which references to look at
The Datejust 126233 and 116233 in yellow Rolesor are the archetype. The Submariner 126613LN and 116613LB — "Bluesy" for the blue-dialled version — are the sports-watch entry. The GMT-Master II 126711CHNR "Root Beer" in Everose Rolesor is the most-wanted two-tone Rolex of the last decade. The Yacht-Master 268621 and 126621 in Everose Rolesor pair gold with a matt bezel to unusual effect.
The value argument
Two-tone has historically traded at a discount to full steel in sports models and a premium in dress models. That gap has narrowed sharply since 2020 as two-tone came back into fashion, and the Root Beer in particular now sits well above where anyone expected.
For a buyer today, two-tone is often the best value in the catalogue: you get solid gold content for less than a solid gold watch and, frequently, less than the steel equivalent of the same sports reference.
Living with it
Gold is softer than steel and the gold centre links will pick up hairlines faster than the steel outers. This is normal and it polishes out. Do not let anyone aggressively refinish a two-tone bracelet — the gold is thin where it matters.
Browse the collection
Filter the full collection by case material to see every Rolesor watch we hold — 426 in yellow gold, 181 in Everose.
Frequently Asked Questions
It was, roughly between 2005 and 2015. It is not now.
Yes. 18ct solid gold components, not plating.
Yes, and it has outperformed full steel in several references since 2020.
