So yesterday at 1500 UTC+1 I found myself in the car park of a motorway service station with an envelope of cash in the glove box and a plan to meet a man who had emailed me some photos of a watch he had to sell. Fortunately I wasn't mugged and came away with a one owner 165.014-64 with a very attractive patina to the dial and hands. A nice companion to my only other straight lug 300, a 2913-1. I am minded not to 'Aldo' the bezel as it retains some of the original insert. The question is should I fill in the missing black enamel or leave it as is? A new crystal and a clean up of the case should transform it.
What a meeting... please send the pics once you have done the clean up ! I would say it depends on the state of the dial... if it looks brand new when you have changed crystal you could wonder what to do with the bezel, otherwise keep it like this !
Sweet SM300! Like the watch. I would exactly do, what your are planning to do. New crystal, cleaning with D-check. And go!
Love the dial as well. Very nice coloring of the lume. Dail also looks very good. Crsytal has to be repalced of course, hopefully with a genuine part. Now would be the hard part for me as for you, what to do with the bezel. Totally up to what you can accept. Definitely a beautiful original piece though. A fine addition.
Looks great! Lovely colour patina for a 165.014, this reference normally tends to a more grey colour. I would personally re-do the bezel. I find it unattractive it such a state with almost no numbers visible and 35% of the black gone.
Gorgeous piece. What are your plans for a strap? I am sure it would look great with anything, but my vote would be for vintage mesh. As for the bezel, I would leave it like it is. It is only that way once. I like it. Adds character. Can't believe no one has said it yet, but I surely will. DIBS!
Oh, I'll take second Dibs! No matter how good the dial looks (and I bet it will look great), I like the bezel, too. It shows the watch has had a good life, and looks cool to me... Congrats! ADD: I love the 'transaction' story, too. Glad you didn't have to re-enact a car chase seen 'a la' Steve McQueen in 'French Connection'!
Many thanks for all the comments and advice. It's interesting to see the different points of view on the bezel. I think I'll leave the bezel as is for now and just renew the crystal and clean it up. Cheers A
Congrats on a very nice pickup! I would Aldo the bezel, definitely. Once you clean up the watch and change the crystal, the rest of the watch will look so good so it will be such a contrast to the badly damaged bezel. OK, it's the original, but so badly damage, that it's just ugly IMO. And who knows how long it'll be possible to Aldo the bezel? He's pretty good by now in re-making those bezels!
