that would imply they know how to tell the difference

Mostly kidding of course but when it comes to the 60s, there was a lot of variation in prints and fonts and defects that slid through the cracks.

 

Yea but this watch is not an example of that.

 

Oh I don’t disagree there. I think the dial is likely a fake. Plenty of examples out there for comparison.

 

Janice and Fred, you have come a long way...... Hope, you can settle in for a while. Still going back to the Philippines to the Family? New President from a corrupt Family on the Helm now? Will be interesting to follow the developments . Quite easy to tell about the dial. A few signs; the obvious be the spacing of the word certified. Anyway, for that price paid , selling for parts will give you the funds for the next one...... I wish you the very best ! Kind regards from Australia to both of you. Achim

 

Well then that sounds like fun. When will you be taking it apart and doing an inventory on what you want to do to it? I've always like the two tone GMTs with black dials, the gold nipple markers, and the black and gold bezel insert. Your pictures of your progress are eagerly awaited.

 

Heck, if the price is right and the watch is overall genuine you have set yourself up for a bit of fun! Replacing the dial, hands and insert is no big deal and whether your source original period correct parts or fit genuine service replacements it is all under your control. At the end of the day does it matter. Enjoy, have fun and keep us posted on the progress and finished article!!

 

Thanks fellas and for sure will post some updates as the project progresses. I'm heading back north for some business next week and plan to hit NYC and see what my pals there have for spare parts for this and some other projects we're working on. As Dan mentioned, I think the most economical way to get this 1675 tolerable will be with some genuine service parts, and that stuff is plentiful in NYC. The movement is reasonably clean and I'll ask my pal George at Tempvs Fvgit on 25th to have his man Julio service it up. Since I'm into it so cheap I may send the case off to Rolliworks and have it gone over as it's been polished to hell over the years. It came on a genuine oyster screw link bracelet in decent shape and a good soaking in cleaner will make it usable.

Well...that's the plan I'm thinking so far

 

Roliworks has moved to Florida {Miami} as well!

 

Thanks for putting up the bat signal @Larry S . People have gotten the main points - dial refinished, hands fake, insert fake. Also concerned that the case is fake, the engravings look wrong to me. The typeface looks most similar to Type C (which wasn’t introduced until 1970 and wouldn’t be correct for a gilt dial anyway), but also isn’t completely correct. Here’s a comparison of the OPs engraving (bottom) and a correct Type C (top). Most obvious differences are in the 6s and Es.



Best
Andrew

 

I think the OP noted that the case has a 3.3M serial, it's not from the gilt era. In my experience, the pantograph engravings can be pretty variable, so I would want to compare with a handful of cases from the correct period, to get a sense of the range of expectations.

 

Re:serial - okay thanks.

Re:imprecision - possibly, the picture the OP posted of the engraving is terrible. The E middle bars look the same length as the top/bottom, and shouldn’t be. If that’s just the picture, might be fine. But if the same length, that doesn’t change despite shaky pantographs, and would be wrong.

 

I would agree with you that from the poor photo the relative depth and thickness of the engravings seems off. I wouldn't bet money on it though.

 

Hello Janice&Fred. What is happening with the watch. I like how you approached this...making lemonade from lemons...a good philosophy for life. But back to the watch...anything new to report?

 

Hi John sorry I forgot about this thread. I saw your mention of this watch yesterday on another thread and it reminded me to check back in on my own thread. I'll get back to ya in a few minutes below after I respond to a couple other "experts" re-the bizarre notion that the case is fake.

Best remember I didn't just start doing this last week. I don't as a rule indulge myself into the sport models, specifically their dial nuances, hence the purpose of this thread. However I've handled enough Rolexes over the years to know if it's Kosher just by quickly examining the case, the engravings, and manipulating the winding crown. That's about all the time one has when there are multiple people waiting to examine and possibly buy the same watch. I bought this watch in the space of about two minutes while the vendor was still pulling stuff out of his boxes to display. There were multiple people around waiting to also examine it and other watches while the display of watches and jewelry was being set up. I paid for it in cash and it included a Seamaster Deville that was also not running and missing it's crystal. I knew they were both genuine.

John, thanks for asking about my progress with the project and the watch is still in Manhattan as I'm debating whether to send the case out for refinishing or run it as-is. The movement is now running and was gummed up along with a loose rotor pivot that distributed debris through the workings. My pals in NYC rounded up a great looking used service dial for $700 so I'm basically dragging my feet whether to have the thing slapped back together now or send the case out. I have too many (watch) irons in the fire so I better get this and some other projects wrapped up to make room for more. Anyways I doubt I'll wear this thing as we have some Rolex sport models already that we gathered over the years in the Philippines and I don't wear them either. I'm more of a vintage Airking and Datejust guy. However it will make for great trading fodder down the road.

 

If the dial is refinished, the hands are fake, and the bezel insert is incorrect, how is thinking the case might be wrong is a "bizarre notion." Also, I said that I was "concerned" about the engravings, noting that the pictures we had to go on were terrible and pointed to the specifics about the font that don't match the pantograph fonts used on 1675s, while leaving room to be persuaded otherwise with better pictures.

Also, out of curiosity, as I wrote the website that most collectors use to get information on this model, if you don't consider me at least somewhat knowledgeable about them, who is?

Best
Andrew

 

i think any doubt about authenticity of the watch was dispelled in my earlier posts when I reported that the movement was reasonably clean, yet there are still some who must keep droning on about engravings. If I have opened the watch and seen the movement, I think all doubts could be dispelled. I didn't bother with interior or movement shots as this discussion was about the dial.

 

The watch has a refinished or fake dial, fake hands, incorrect bezel, so why is having an original movement among incorrect parts reassuring?Looking at the prior posts, I see little to no doubt being dispelled other than yours. I am happy to readdress the midcase authenticity if you post better pictures of the engravings.

Love the use of microaggressions such as "some who must keep droning on" and "'experts'" after asking for people's opinion on a watch and not liking what they say. Ad hominem comments don't help move the conversation about the watch forward.

 

There is absolutely nothing necessary to "move the conversation of the watch forward." Your initial assertions that you are still suspicious after I previously posted that I have seen the movement is ridiculous. I posted that the watch case is genuine. If you have doubts then they are your own only. Do you think I was lying? Don't you think an expert like our pal Achim (watchyouwant), who posted earlier in this thread would have spoken up if there was authenticity issues with the case? He has forgotten more about vintage Omegas and Rolexes than most of us will ever know.

Yes my photo skills are crappy but along with pictures you have my typed words as part of the description. However here are some additional pictures I took that day for you to obsess over. As I mentioned earlier, there was no initial need for interior shots as that wasn't the subject of this thread. Here it is in all it's grungy glory. Still have doubts? Enough of this already.

 

We're taking about the midcase engravings; I don't see any pictures of those (apart from the initial ones discussed above). Several members had questions/comments similar to mine. It might be totally fine, it might not be, but yes, I still have doubts. I'm not sure why trying to discuss them is making you angry. I haven't said anything about you lying, or anything about Achim, who I respect. If you don't want to discuss the watch any more, that's okay too.

 

What you fail to grasp is the watch mid case is in fact genuine. Do you think I'm lying about the authenticity? You don't seem to trust my assertions and that is going to be your problem. Enough people have now handled the watch in person besides myself so I would know if I was mistaken. What angers me is your stubborn obsession with the engravings and demands for proof. I'm not trying to sell you or anyone here the watch. Let it go.