Poor quality fake dial, almost seems so bad I don’t know why I’m checking other opinions. Or waisting everyone’s time. This couldn’t be original can it?

 

It looks bad indeed. Bad printing, soft edges on the subdial, dial condition inconsistent with case condition...

 

What makes you say that the dial is fake? The single pusher suggests an early 13ZN. Hands look alright, just re-lumed hour/minute. Quite possibly an indelible dial by Stern. Maybe from a late 13.33Z. These can be cleaned and fitted to a 13ZN. Would need better images to confirm.

 

I think it seems print is not sharp on this porcelain dial like others I have seen. If it is ink on metal, definitely subdials numbers are thickly printed. Look at the curls on the 2

 

Neither dial shown above is indelible. Should be engraved silver with enamelled printing. The sub-dials do appear imprecise but I would want to see larger images.

 

What is an indelible dial. Indelible ink dial like Omega curvex ? Here is watch. http://www.chrono24.com/longines/vi...l-13zn-14k-yellow-gold-bj-1946--id6809161.htm

 

Already saw the watch on Chrono24. Indelible dials are not pad printed but rather engraved and then filled with enamelled ink. Most commonly found in vintage Pateks, Longines used them too in the 1920s and early 1930s. I have not seen many chronographs with them but this would not be the first.

 

I remember seeing engraved dials on Longines watches but these were pocket watches or some rectangular ones (duo dial). I do not think that they would have engraved sunken subdials (engraving the tiny prints in the sunken subdial would probably have been a headache). If the dial has sunken subdials, the engraving is usually done on the outside of the subdial. By the way, I love these dials.

 

So DirtyDozen your opinion is that it is possibly a correct dial based on available photos? Very interesting information about indelible dial construction. Thanks, will study more.

 

@dodo44 Yes, they are much more common on pocket watches and rectangular wristwatches. And you are right that the sub-dial engravings are typically external to the sunken center. However, I have seen high definition shots of an indelible dial from a 13.33Z and the sunken sub-dials had engraved scales within them.

@Seiji My opinion is that the dial is not obviously fake and not conclusively original. I would need better images to form a more definite one.

 

Found this

 

+1

 

What do you mean by “engraving on the outside of the subdial”?

 

All the lettering is engraved and filled with black ink. The dial is then silvered (check the video below).

These dials can be refinished like new without any loss of definition. I wish more dials had been made with this technique; they are very long lasting. It is quite common on Longines pocket watches but can also be found on wristwatches (I have in mind some rectangular ones but probably others as @DirtyDozen12 was suggesting).

Here is a picture of what I mean (it is zoomed from a picture published on instagram by VintageLongines; sorry for borrowing someone else's picture but I have not found a more illustrative example). It shows you what I mean. The track is outside of the subdial because it had to be engraved. The engraving should be filled with waxy ink and the dial should be finished in silver.