I know this forum avoids redials like the plague - but I'm curious - assuming everything else is original, how much of a discount would you need to buy a watch that you like with a redial? Perhaps a question that sounds the same, but isn't, what's a "fair discount" for a watch that's all original except for the dial?
I for one wouldn't need a discount because I would move on and look for a original dial. That's why it's a pain to see dealers pass off Redialed watches to noobs for the price of if not more than a original untouched watch. ( black dials are classic examples )
Nope, Some may if they need a case or movement for a nice dial they might have which would be understandable. ie: project watch in need of parts But not in this predicament often so no..
Vintage watches had a long life before coming to my eyes and some of them, somewhere in the past in that long life, have been redialed. In the past the worries with originality were, let's say, lighter. If the watch pleases me, everything else is original and the price gives me space to source an original dial, i go for it. If the watch as been redialed "yesterday" just to fool an unware buyer then yes, i avoid them like the plague.
You should also take into account that the community here is made up of "one percenters". Most "normal " people would struggle with the sorts of concerns "we" have about originality. In the past (30's and 40's) dials were replaced as a matter of course as part of a routine service. Nowadays not so much.
Just remember the dial affects the price of a watch more than any other part. So, with everything being original except the dial, I would say a minimum of 50% discount to someone who wouldn't be bothered by it.......I'm not one of those people. The problem is, the seller of a redialed watch probably isn't willing take take a 50-75% discount off of their asking price, because they know eventually they can dump it on an unsuspecting noob.
In my own limited experience, issues like a redial will slowly wear on me and eventually, I grow to dislike the watch. I've got a couple and they're relegated to the 'secondary' watch box now. YMMV, but that's been my experience.
This. What's the point of buying a redial? So you can come across an original dial months or even years later and be reminded that you have a second-rate watch? I suppose if it were an exceptionally rare reference, it would be discussable, but even under those circumstances, I find myself occasionally compromising for a damaged original dial but never for a redial.
Well in my case, it depends on what it is and how much over the gold, platinum or palladium content the watch is. I have 2 redial watches that I bought a while back, I knew they were that way but I purchased them at a satisfactory price above the gold content. I look at it as I have a watch that well is not as desirable as one with an original dial and I have precious metal content as well.
Although I prefer an original dial whenever possible, there are certain cases where a repainted dial is not a big deal. I am speaking primarily of certain American art deco-era watches (Hamilton in particular) with enamel track dials. In such cases, the enamel in inlaid into the surface of the dial, so that refinishing doesn't significantly devalue the watch (when done well -- I'm speaking in particular about International Dial, which still refinishes those dials with (when needed) the proper techniques for making the two-tone dials). Sometimes it's almost impossible to tell an original enamel track dial from one refinished decades ago. Here are a few examples from my collection of refinished enamel track dials, which look almost perfect (the Coronado has a tiny bit of wear to the inlaid enamel in the subsecond track, but it had been refinished before, and I had wanted to restore the proper finish. The Oval had been refinished in the radium era; the lume is ever so slightly imperfectly applied, but not bad at all to the naked eye. In this case, the dial has inlaid tracks, but not baked inlaid enamel, which is reapplied during refinishing).