Hi Gang! Now that we have settled in to our new locale in sunny St. Petersburg Fla. we are back-on-the-attack and scouring our immediate vicinity for watch treasure!

Picked up this sad sack of a non-runner GMT yesterday and though I would post some pics in case anyone here could help out identifying the dial. The watch is a 3.3 serial which should be well past the gilt era but is sporting this glossy dial with unusual silver-ish script. So, it's gotta be either a redial or a wrong dial for the watch. Has anyone ever seen a glossy dial with silver script and no white gold surrounds? I hesitate to call it gilt as I haven't taken the thing apart yet to verify if the script is actually below the dial finish surface. However when angling the watch and examining with a loop the script does not stand proud of the dial surface.

Anyways here are some crude snapshots of the poor GMT along with a shot of the wife's BMDubya posing in front of the coolest Art Deco building I have come across so far

 

GMTMASTER1675.com will tell you everything you need to know.

 

Maybe but then there wouldn't be much of a discussion, and what fun is that?

 

Where did you get it from???
Did you pick it up from behind Wilson's Lounge? Lol

 

You do indeed know your way around this town! Only thing I spotted behind that place was an empty beer bottle

 

unfortunately, fake dial and fake bezel insert.
finding correct ones for just the two would EASILY cost more than 3,000 bucks
furthermore, fake dial and bezel insert brings concern as to the authenticity of the rest of the watch as well...

 

That was my reaction.

 

Um...While I'm not big on the sport models I do know my way around Rolexes enough to tell if the rest of the watch is suspect. What exactly would you suspect is fake from the rather revealing pics I supplied so far? (Hint: ANY NYC watch hustler wouldn't need more pics, and certainly wouldn't need to open the watch)

 

Print quality and fonts … the website I referenced will drive that home. Also Rick Harrison from Pawn Stars has a great video on You Tube on spotting a fake Rolex.

 

No matter how perfect a watch is, the closer I look at it, the worse it looks. Dials will drive you crazy. Just when I thought I'd seen it all, something new shows up to rewrite the rule book. If a watch is repaired using aftermarket parts, is it now a fake? Or is it just a watch with some undesirable parts? Using the term "fake" implies an intent to defraud. The best advice is to avoid bargains...especially the ones too good to be true. If you have doubts about a watch, or a watch part...just walk away...there are a million more watches just down the road and around the corner. GMTs are hot right now...and I'd not be surprised to see a lot of them being thrown together using aftermarket parts, or poorly refinished parts. Just thoughts on the watch in question.

 

Nice wheels btw

 

Well yes and no John. While I indeed had my doubts about a couple watch parts (dial and insert), I wasn't about to walk away from this sad sack resto-project considering it cost me about what a beat up quartz Tag Heuer is going for. I can buy a whole lotta stuff to make this thing once again worthy of wearing and still be in it for about a third of their going rate.

 

Rick Harrison? That'll be the day I need his advice

Anyways there is absolutely nothing suspicious with this watch I posted aside from the dial, which was the purpose of this thread, and as John mentioned the word "fake" may not relate to the dial. As I mentioned in my initial post I suspect it may be refinished. A refinished genuine dial is not fake.

 

The hands seem fake to me, the seconds hand especially seems to have curved stamping deformations that are common on hands from China. Vintage hands are always quite sharp around the edges.

 

Its a good video, despite the skiivy source. Pretty much sums up what most of us have learned to do. Spot problems quickly before money is spent.

 

I also believe that hands/dial/insert are aftermarket, based on things I've seen in the past. I guess the dial could be repainted, but with other aftermarket parts, it just seems more likely to me that they all are. In any case, it doesn't matter much value-wise. A good approach might be a service by Rolex, which would include replacement by service parts. 1675s with service dial/hands/insert are surprisingly valuable these days.

 

I’d agree with the above, the hands look too new compared to the rest of the watch. If the dial is real, I’d imagine it’s been relumed. I can’t comment on the print quality of the dial because it’s pretty tough to tell from the photos.

 

Would Rolex service a watch with fake dial/hands/bezel?

 

Maybe. They would require replacement for sure.

 

i think it varies depending the service center. fake movements definitely are not taken in here in buenos aires regardless case and dial are original.