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Any thoughts or advice on this Datejust?

Engee
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Hello all,
This watch is a possible contender for the birth year Rolex I’m seeking. It’s clearly not in museum condition but for a watch approaching 60 years old looks clean to me although the serration on the bezel doesn’t look too sharp. My preference would be for a WG bezel, so one question I have is, should I wait for what might be a long time to find the exact model, or (horror!) get a piece with a stainless steel bezel and replace it with a WG one at some point?

The asking price is currently just under £2k. I have no idea as to whether that’s a fair price for a piece in this condition without an original bracelet. It’s at the lower end of prices I’ve seen for similar watches, but it’s hard to compare, particularly when the specific age of the watch is a primary factor.


So, my questions are:
1) Should I hang on until I find the very watch I want or am I likely to be waiting forever (I’m not a very patient person)?
2) Is this watch good for the price? If it is, one option might be to buy this and flip it when I find the right piece, but I’m not knowledgeable enough to get into flipping so I’d be reluctant.
3) What’s that red line across the back?

Thank you
Edited:
 
0C9035A6-CD95-4541-BC6B-0A3AF2BFDB5B.jpeg F6D1239C-137F-4837-AC2C-8E93A109A176.jpeg 29299F69-C114-4872-83E2-D511D5CF4621.jpeg
Gui13250
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I’m not a specialist, but I can see « t Swiss t » but no thritium on hands neither on dial, I guess it is not good
 
Gui13250
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Red line should be a plastic protection stick on the back to avoid scratch
 
janice&fred
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that watch does already have a white gold bezel. Regardless of any dial swapping it may have undergone, the price is high considering no bracelet.
 
Engee
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janice&fred janice&fred
that watch does already have a white gold bezel. Regardless of any dial swapping it may have undergone, the price is high considering no bracelet.


Thank you. I did think the lack of bracelet might be why it had been around for a while.

Dial swapping? It’s advertised as SS. Are you saying it may have had a replacement dial but the body and WG bezel are authentic?

is there a way to distinguish wg from ss in photos or is a question of knowledge and experience?
 
Gui13250
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As long as the dial is saying t for thritium, and you don’t have thritium neither on dial or hands, it seems that the dial the not the good one
 
janice&fred
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Engee Engee
is there a way to distinguish wg from ss in photos or is a question of knowledge and experience?

the stainless bezels have a machined look to them vs the sharp saw-tooth serrated white or yellow gold bezels. Here's one of ours with the stainless bezel.
IMG_1616.jpg
 
Engee
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janice&fred janice&fred
the stainless bezels have a machined look to them vs the sharp saw-tooth serrated white or yellow gold bezels. Here's one of ours with the stainless bezel.
IMG_1616.jpg
Thank you, that’s very useful to know.
 
Engee
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Gui13250 Gui13250
As long as the dial is saying t for thritium, and you don’t have thritium neither on dial or hands, it seems that the dial the not the good one
Right, so I understand if the hands are replacement, but does this mean that someone has taken a dial that originally had lume (as indicated by the "T"), and removed it in order to match it to hands without lume? That seems very odd.
 
Gui13250
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Engee Engee
Right, so I understand if the hands are replacement, but does this mean that someone has taken a dial that originally had lume (as indicated by the "T"), and removed it in order to match it to hands without lume? That seems very odd.
That’s weird indeed... once again I’m not a Rolex specialist, but it would be weird that originally only hands have lume... is it possible that the dial has been redial?
 
Engee
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Gui13250 Gui13250
That’s weird indeed... once again I’m not a Rolex specialist, but it would be weird that originally only hands have lume... is it possible that the dial has been redial?
What doesn't make sense is a "T" dial without any trace of lume. If it's a redial, why the "T"? If it's not, where's the lume? Re-luming is a pretty simple job, I thought. Refurbishing a previously lumed dial without replacing the lume is perverse.
 
Dan S
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As mentioned above, fluted bezels are gold, engine-turned bezels are steel. The dial is probably ok, but most likely a later service part. If you google no-lume dials, you will find that T SWISS T dials without lume are a known variation, and the hands can have lume or not. The hands and dial set are likely service replacements, since they look like a newer style compared to the serial number (from 1963/4), but I think they are legit parts. Looks like quite a nice example and the price is fair.

Here is an example: https://www.hqmilton.com/timepieces...silver-non-lume-dial-with-box-and-papers-9158
Edited:
 
Engee
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Dan S Dan S
As mentioned above, fluted bezels are gold, engine-turned bezels are steel. The dial is probably ok, but most likely a later service part. If you google no-lume dials, you will find that T SWISS T dials without lume are a known variation, and the hands can have lume or not. The hands and dial set are likely service replacements, since they look like a newer style compared to the serial number (from 1963/4), but I think they are legit parts. Looks like quite a nice example and the price is fair.

Here is an example: https://www.hqmilton.com/timepieces...silver-non-lume-dial-with-box-and-papers-9158
Thank you, Dan. Is it realistic to think that I might come across correct hands at some point? I’m trying to weigh up the likelihood of finding another 1963 example against replacing wrong parts and bracelet.
 
stevec14
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janice&fred janice&fred
that watch does already have a white gold bezel. Regardless of any dial swapping it may have undergone, the price is high considering no bracelet.
The price isn’t that high. You would do well to find any Rolex in the U.K. for under £2k. With a bracelet you’d do well to get it for less than 3. Assuming it’s legit, then it’s well priced
 
janice&fred
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stevec14 stevec14
The price isn’t that high. You would do well to find any Rolex in the U.K. for under £2k. With a bracelet you’d do well to get it for less than 3. Assuming it’s legit, then it’s well priced

oh man I guess the UK is much different than what i'm used to here in the tri-state area. I would be more than happy to get $2700 for the DJ I pictured and it's all original including the bracelet.
 
Dan S
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Engee Engee
Thank you, Dan. Is it realistic to think that I might come across correct hands at some point? I’m trying to weigh up the likelihood of finding another 1963 example against replacing wrong parts and bracelet.

What kind of hands would you like to find exactly?
 
kip595
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janice&fred janice&fred
oh man I guess the UK is much different than what i'm used to here in the tri-state area. I would be more than happy to get $2700 for the DJ I pictured and it's all original including the bracelet.

Agreed, I finally passed on a similar one in SS w/bracelet for $2500 that appeared all original with a badly scratched backside to the case and thought I'd been wise.
 
southtexas
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Gui13250 Gui13250
As long as the dial is saying t for thritium, and you don’t have thritium neither on dial or hands, it seems that the dial the not the good one

Not correct. Rolex does have some “no lume” dials that are still marked T designated.
 
Gui13250
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southtexas southtexas
Not correct. Rolex does have some “no lume” dials that are still marked T designated.
My mistake and apologies... that is so weird 😀
 
Engee
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Dan S Dan S
What kind of hands would you like to find exactly?
Hands that would have been made for a 1963 DJ. My understanding is that the ones on the watch I’ve been looking at are later.
Edited:
 
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