Black Edition

We’re all familiar with the fashion crowd’s fixation with black, but if you’re also obsessed with watches, check out Black Limited Edition, a series of vintage stainless steel Rolexes turned into “Tron”-like collector’s items. Alejandro Alcocer, a watch fanatic and design entrepreneur who has previously delved into skateboarding, catering and handbag design, followed the legend of a black watch supposedly released by Rolex in the late 1960s for the Royal British Army soldiers stationed in South Africa. It was thought that only 500 were made, but Rolex never confirmed their distribution and they became the holy grail of watch collecting. So Alcocer decided to make his own, with the help of a Pennsylvania-based company that had previously done contract work for the U.S. Army but had fallen on tough times. Aside from the dial and crystal, which remain in vintage original condition, the watches were transformed into matte black beauties using highly specialized chemical applications. Black is the new black, and I’m feeling for the Rolex redux.

NY Times