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  1. dantheman3u4i Nov 8, 2021

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    Hi all, picture is not the best, but what are peoples thoughts on this dial? Supposed to fit a quick set. I have never see this blue before.
     
  2. dantheman3u4i Nov 8, 2021

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  3. Canuck Nov 8, 2021

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    Please show the back side of the dial.
     
  4. dantheman3u4i Nov 8, 2021

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  5. dantheman3u4i Nov 8, 2021

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    Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!
     
  6. Scarecrow Boat Burt Macklin, FBI Nov 8, 2021

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    I don’t like this dial. The typeface is sloppy and inconsistent and also is inconsistent size throughout. For example, an obvious discrepancy is the first “t” in t swiss made t is much bigger than the other.
    58C3BE8D-0947-4C14-8306-3E60A01E05E8.jpeg 8901B4A5-6EF2-4A67-9080-A62FE65215C9.jpeg
     
    Edited Nov 8, 2021
  7. Canuck Nov 8, 2021

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    My 40-year old Rolex catalog lists four colours of blue dials for the Day-Date models. Sky Blue, Roman Blue, Lapis Lazuli (which the subject dial definitely isn’t), and Jubilee Blue. Specifically, for the Rolex Day-Date (mistakenly often called President), they list “Blue” (which blue I don’t know), Sky Blue, and Jubilee Blue. Rolex did offer a Diamond set dial in blue, but which blue, I don’t know. The catalog does not list a Diamond set Lapis dial for a Day-Date. This was (after all), 40 years ago, and things change. So the Day-Date was offered with three painted blue dials, and Lapis (the genuine stone), dials. The back side view of the dial shows the chatons that hold the stones to be glued in, not riveted as is most often done on Rolex dials. So I would suggest you need to find out if the stones are diamond, or something else. Since you don’t say the dial was removed from a Day-Date, the first priority should be to find out if it is a genuine Rolex dial! Have someone check the stones to find out what they are. That determination cannot be made from that blurry, out of focus picture.
     
  8. dantheman3u4i Nov 8, 2021

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    Thanks for the write up! Saw it at a store in NYC. The seller says it’s an original, but the color through me off. With the close up from the writing I think I’m just going to stay away from the dial and the store…

    I recently got a 18038 with an amazing dial already, but was thinking about buying something to change it up in the future.

    Is there anything online with the different Day-Date dial variations Rolex came out with in the 70/80s? I’ve been looking but haven’t found anything.

    984E0E63-7031-42BD-A28E-4CBFF441FD0E.jpeg
     
    nitediver likes this.
  9. Canuck Nov 8, 2021

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    My Rolex catalog from 1984, shows a few “vanilla” dial variations (gilt, silver, grey, black, etc), as well as the genuine stone varieties (lapis, malachite, tiger eye, etc) for the Day-Date models, but there is not a complete photo spread of all the dial colour varieties. As I pointed out, the Day-Date dial is listed in three colours of blue, and also lapis lazuli (genuine lapis). The lapis dial is shown, but no pictures showing the three shades of blue are shown. You really need to have those stones checked over to see if they are the real thing. If they are not, then the colour of the dial is only academic as (with fake stones), it is not a Rolex dial.
     
  10. vibe Nov 9, 2021

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    That blue dial looks rather beat up anyway.
     
  11. Donn Chambers Nov 9, 2021

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    Aftermarket Rolex dials with diamond indices have been popular for decades, so I’d suspect it was not original based on this alone. Because Rolex charged a premium for those types of dials, many people bought the standard watch, then put in an aftermarket dial. Many ADs back in the day used to offer this “service” to customers.
     
  12. dantheman3u4i Nov 9, 2021

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    Thanks for all the responses. Looks like I’ll just hold off on a new dial.
     
  13. Canuck Nov 9, 2021

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    I have a NOS Day-Date dial which is available. Which movement is in the Day-Date that you have? The dial feet on the dial you showed are at 4:30 and at 10:30. The dial feet on any dial you might buy must be in the correct position to fit the watch you have. The part number on this dial is 18038, the 18 specifying Jubilee Champagne. The arrows on the back side of the dial indicate location of the dial feet. They are in the same location as the feet on the subject blue dial.

    This dial might be for calibre 1556. This calibre was replaced by calibers 3055 and 3155 circa the late 1980s or early 1990s. If yours is a later calibre, the two dials shown in this thread likely won’t fit.

    8DB2D83D-9B43-4AAC-A6DD-8837D56F5730.jpeg 1DD95280-6389-4259-9501-644E70F15AE4.jpeg 4599A57C-328A-4F1E-A30C-23921E5B1FD6.jpeg
     
    Edited Nov 9, 2021
    Duracuir1 and cvalue13 like this.
  14. dantheman3u4i Nov 13, 2021

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    Thank you for posting. But I am looking to add some color if I am going to change my dial. My dial is actually pretty much mint as it is. I am starting to even lean away from touching it.