Dear OF members, As some of you already know, I've been offered recently a 1665 Double Red for trade. It's described as a MK3 dial, and comes full set (box + papers + Rolex service card). Apparently the case was recut and the insert is a service one (80's period). I have sollicitated several experts (that I'm CLEARLY not as a complete newbie in Rolex watches). By the way, I really want to highlight the experts kindly answered my questions, thank you so much guys ! Nevertheless, the opinions diverge. Two said the watch is fine (some chips on the dial) and one said the dial is fake ! As a result, I post here for more advices about this particular watch as this watch would make me trade half of my Speedy collection , so I need to be sure... Thank you all for your precious help . Here are the pictures I have.
I don't own a 1665 but have a couple vintage subs, my 2 cents: - If you want advice on the authenticity of the dial you need high-res macro shots of the dial facing straight at the camera and with the hands the out of the way (if the seller is uncooperative that would be a red flag...) - The insert seems to have a thinner flat 4 serif font which would indicate late '70s early '80s and be consistent with the 9350 bracelet - Personally I would be ready to forgo the complete set for a nicer case (it seems to me that the crown guards are a bit soft and the chamfers have been widened on some lugs) Otherwise that tritium looks damn good!
Honestly, the crop photos of the lume plots aren't good enough to make a judgement by texture or other factors. Also the UV shot really needs to be directly shone on the dial. All the 3 million sports dials i've seen have a significant number of small particles that reflect UV with high intensity in a background of dull material. They show up as shining little dots within the lume plot which of course can be recreated by reclaiming the material from one dial and using it on another. That said when it's clean and even with the right texture and the right UV reactivity, I tend to like it as a package. However, I haven't seen a ton of DRSD in hand - but I've never seen (even in photos) a straight ft dial (mk 1, 2, 3) with that much spacing between 2000 ft = 600 m That doesn't mean the dial is fake (though I think it might be), but it does not fit neatly into the dials that people use as references from drsd.com So while i am no expert and I've handled a total of 3 drsd (two mk 3 and one mk 4) ... please take my thoughts with a large grain of salt
Check out drsd.com if you have not already. Hard to tell from the photos, do the lume plots have a waffle texture? Did the one that said it is fake say specifically why?
Thank you guys. I've just asked for a macro shot of the dial with the hands set at 15h45. Very prompt (and kind) answer from the owner (unfortunatly, he doesn't have a macro lense). Here it is
Here is a quick comparison of the DRSD.com picture (top) and the one of this actual 1665 (bottom : first without post-processing and second with the contrast increased).
Can’t tell for certain from the photos but the date wheel looks like a service part. It should be silver instead of white. Case looks ok at best, would like better pics of helium escape valve as it appears there is little depth there. Crown guard closeups would help. Assuming dial is correct, price is a big factor. @watchknut?
Some observations: The 2000 looks different in both font style in the 2 and spacing of the 0 and ft, in 2000 ft. The A in Submariner also looks different from the control version. Straight vs convex sides. The texture of the lume plots also look different. Waffle vs not.
crown guards look fine. Spring bar looks extremely close to popping/sticking out of the lug hole.... someone should jump in soon with better MK3 DSRD dial experience
There are a couple of other Mk3 DRSD dials on this thread that you could compare to on this thread. https://omegaforums.net/threads/drsd-a-20-year-wait.94427/#post-1229242
After a lot of comparisons of the line spacing in the 3 white lines of text (2 in 2000 over R in SUPERLATIVE; R in SUPERLATIVE over F in OFFICIALLY; etc. etc.) I'd say the dial is good. The crown guards are a little thin for my taste, though.
