So why am I so excited by this? Well, for the longest time, PVD-style coatings have been limited to just a few dark colors – which are mostly black and gray. If you wanted a metal watch coated with another color, it would often need to be anodized aluminum, which is a rather soft metal and not as durable as steel.

Of course, there are ceramic watches which are coming in an increasing variety of colors, but for the most part, entire ceramic cases are still mostly available in only black or white. While more interesting colors of ceramic including blue, brown, red, and orange are slowly becoming available, these are mostly limited to bezels and the colors are very difficult to get right.

Thus, being able to offer a durable, high-quality case coloring process should be very useful to some people. The desire to customize watches is increasing, and I am happy to see that the colors available for metal case coating are increasing. Right now, Rau-Tech isn’t able to offer all the colors of the rainbow, but much more than just black is available.

Specifically, Rau-Tech coats are available in the following colors: black, blue, green, aubergine (eggplant purple), steel (color), bronze (color), and gold (color). According to Rau-Tech, they are working on additional colors, but this is a pretty good start. With these colors, the savvy customizer now has an entire new world of options to make Rolex and other high-end watches look interesting or completely weird.

What is the Rau-Tech coating process? Well, the coatings are a form of PVD (physical vapor deposition) and are blasted to the surface of watches in a special chamber. They have to literally take apart the watches and coat each component individually – another element which adds considerably to the cost. Duramantan coated surfaces are said be about 2000 – 4000 vickers (HV) in hardness, which is much higher than steel. Thus, durability should be rather impressive, which means the color-coating is difficult to wear off.

Each of these watches by Rau-Tech can be purchased but is also an example of what they can do. Some of these designs are beautiful and some are rather ugly. The idea is to show off what Rau-Tech can do, and for the right customers, a custom Rolex is an awesome thing.

So how much does a custom Rolex or other watch from Rau-Tech cost? Each watch has a different price because the end cost is a result of the base watch plus the specific customization process. I can say that custom Rolex Submariner watches from Rau-Tech start at about 13,000 Euros and can go up to 20,000 Euros. Custom Rolex Daytona and GMT Master II models in gold cases cost about 33,000 – 36,000 Euros. Higher-end Rolex models in gold with diamonds, such as the Rolex Pearlmaster with Rau-Tech customization cost around 45,500 Euros. Each project is unique, which is exactly what Rau-Tech hopes to accomplish with the service. That is, to combine the appeal of popular watches such as Rolex, but to add an exclusive design element that the brand itself does not offer. rau-tech.com