Is my DON bezel fat?

Your 65–75 shot is a good example: in the sharp part the print is clean and thin, and the 80 at the edge only looks heavy because it’s out of focus. The marks between 70 and 75 are scuffs in the aluminium, not print spread.

Thanks for posting the close-ups. They’re much more useful than the wrist shot. Going through your list:

Fat 9 in 90: In your 85–100 macro, the 9 in 90 looks the same weight as the 8 in 85. On the wrist shot that part of the bezel sits on the curve, out of focus and catching glare, which thickens anything printed there.

Loss of definition: I don’t see it. The edges are crisp, the holes in the 0s, 6s, 8s and 9s are open, and the gaps between digits are clean. With fat print those holes fill in and the digits start to touch.

Serifs: Present all the way round. Every 1 from 100 to 190 has its flag at the top and foot at the bottom. That alone argues against fat.

Uneven shine or texture: Under bright light, the raised pad-print ink on a curved anodised insert will always catch light unevenly. It’s normal and doesn’t tell you anything about the print weight.

Dots not round: In the straight-on shots they look round and even from 110 to 200. Seen at an angle, a round dot photographs as an oval.

Left side heavier: That’s the camera, not uneven pad pressure. Your 65–75 shot shows it: the sharp part is clean and thin, while the 80 at the edge is soft only because it’s out of focus. The marks between 70 and 75 are scuffs in the aluminium, not print spread.

Also worth noting: the dot sits over the 90 and diagonally below-right of the 70, and TACHYMÈTRE is sharp with the accent cleanly separated.

On your scale I’d call it thin to normal, around 2–3/10, not 7. To grade inserts fairly, shoot each section straight on with the macro focused on the print itself and diffused light rather than a point source. Nice insert. This data comes our watchbreaker Dastabase

WatchBreaker

• The dot sits diagonally below-right of the 70. As far as I know, that’s the layout people expect on a DON insert, alongside the dot over 90, so the pattern fits.
• 65, 70 and 75 are sharp, with clean edges, open 0s and 5s, and round dots.
• There’s wear between 70 and 75: whitish scuffs and a tick that’s partly worn away. That’s real damage to the aluminium, not a print fault, and the poster shouldn’t count it as “fat.”
• This photo proves the camera point. The 80 at the bottom is soft and smeared purely because it’s out of focus. That’s exactly what made the left side look “fatter” in the wrist shot.

So across four close-ups, I’d still put it at about 2–3 out of 10, with some wear near 70–75. Whether the insert is original to the watch still can’t be settled from photos.

If you want one more line for the reply:


Here’s one combined reply that answers each of their points. It’s ready to paste:

bsowers34

My question is why is the omega symbol sideways on the crystal?

bsowers34

That would drive me nuts, even though I can't even see it on my own watches.

bsowers34

My question is why is the omega symbol sideways on the crystal?

pitbos

This topic of differences in DON bezel fonts has been raised a couple of times.

https://omegaforums.net/threads/need-an-eye-to-spot-speedy-don-bezel-subtle-font-differences.81447/

Thread 'Need an eye to spot Speedy DON bezel subtle font differences' ·

I’ve got two DON bezels, one from a 105.012 and the other from a 145.022. Side by side I’ve noticed that my 105 bezel’s font is slightly thicker and not as crisp. Has anyone else noticed...

sog00d · Aug 29, 2018

https://omegaforums.net/threads/do90-bezel-comparison-on-2998s.25770/

Thread 'DO90 Bezel Comparison on 2998's' ·

I was looking over the herd, and noticed this substantial difference in appearance in two DO90 bezels.

On the left, it has a thincker, les well defined font. It looks like a repro, or poorly...

Spacefruit · May 30, 2015

Yes there are differences. Yes fonts can be thin or thicker. Compare your bezel to the ones in these threads and you can judge for yourself where yours lies. You can also look through the many photos users have posted of their watches over the years and get a very good sense of the range of what exists. That’s how I educated myself when I first got interested.

I always thought this watch had one of the nicest fonts I’ve seen on the thicker side:

https://omegaforums.net/threads/thoughts-on-105-003-65-ed-white-speedmaster.116887/

Thread 'Thoughts on 105.003-65 Ed White Speedmaster' ·

Hi all,

I just got my hands on a new Ed White Speedmaster which certainly is the nicest example I ever had the chance to hold in my hands. It was brought by and old man, the original owner to a...

321Only · Jul 18, 2020

M'Bob

Here’s what I’ve found:

General fat characteristics:

1) Loss of definition in the abdominal region
2) Small gaps between shirt bottom and belt
3) Slight smudged appearance of chocolate around mouth
4) No genitalia visible
5) Belly is smooth but side view distorts light