Talk Like A Pro: Rolex Gears, The Pink/Red Ones...

So, many of you Swiss Monsters can authenticate a Rolex movement from the late 60s and on. Perhaps some of the old Rebberg/Aegler  and Valjoux 72 movement would be confusing but in reality most modern (15XX Series) movements have a "look". There are a few reasons why Rolex movements have this "look". Some of these traits include finishing and engraving. However, I personally look for a pretty distinctive trait. This trait are the "Pinkish-Red" gears (After I find these, I snoop around and verify the movement number and engraving quality).

So here's a hint: The pink gears in a Rolex are Teflon coated. Please note like the name Plexi-Glass (Acrylic), Teflon is the brand name of PTFE. 

Teflon, which is PTFE or polytetrafluoroethylene was discovered on April 6, 1938 by Dr. Roy Plunkett at the DuPont research laboratories (Jackson Laboratory in New Jersey). Plunkett was working with gases related to Freon® refrigerants when upon checking a frozen, compressed sample of tetrafluoroethylene, he and his associates discovered that the sample had polymerized spontaneously into a white, waxy solid to form polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE.
PTFE was first marketed under the DuPont Teflon ® trademark in 1945. The molecular weight of Teflon can exceed 30,000,000, making it one of the largest molecules known. The surface is so slippery, virtually nothing sticks to it or is absorbed by it. No wonder Teflon was choosen to be used on non-stick cooking pans.

So, Now you can refer to these gears as The TEFLON "Ones". 

-JKS