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  1. nitediver Jan 28, 2021

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    I have this Rolex 1601 with grey dial which i purchased many years ago from a seller in Germany. I consider to sell the watch. Upon close inspection, i had some doubts whether the dial is original or a refinish.

    the clues are the following:

    1) lume dots look different than on reference pictures. They are clear and dont have a typical patina of tritium lume. They however only glow briefly, which would be consistent with the age of the watch.

    2) the quality of the print seems inconsistent / not as good as i would expect

    Looking forward to your comments.

    thanks,

    Stefan
     
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    Edited Jan 28, 2021
  2. datocompax Jan 28, 2021

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    Unfortunately refinished dial

    On cal 1570 pie pan dials the lume is never stuck to the hour markers, they are placed away from them.
    Also the soleil looks redone with rough finish, text is off

    Best

    Ara M
     
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  3. offrdmania Jan 28, 2021

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    Looks aftermarket to me
     
  4. JwRosenthal Jan 28, 2021

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    If it bothers you, there are usually a pretty steady stream of original factory dials on eBay (a few up now) in various conditions. They aren’t cheap- but then your watch would be 100% factory.
     
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  5. Artx Jan 28, 2021

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    I have a boxed example 16030 with similar dial.
     
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  6. nitediver Jan 29, 2021

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    thanks for your feedback, that confirms my observations
     
  7. nitediver Jan 29, 2021

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    nice one! Here we can see that the lume dots are different than on my example.
     
  8. nitediver Jan 29, 2021

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    good point. It does bother me, so i will look into it. thanks.
     
  9. datocompax Jan 29, 2021

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    Aftermarket usually refers to all fake dial, the one in question is original (those are original Rolex indexes), only that those hour markers have been removed together with the crown, repainted and then reinstalled . That is redone/repainted dial

    best

    Ara M
     
  10. datocompax Jan 29, 2021

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    This dial s a nice 16030 with 3035 movement, hence dial is flat and not pie-pan like the one in question

    best

    Ara M
     
  11. offrdmania Jan 29, 2021

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    I dont like the printing or the font. IMO, I still think its an aftermarket (fake) dial. There are tons of them out there with the exact same hour markers. You state that you had doubts about the dial and when I agreed you attacked my post stating that its real.
     
  12. datocompax Jan 29, 2021

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    I am saying the dial plate and hourmarkers might be real , we cant be sure before seeing back of the dail ..
    There is a possibility that the dial was faded/paint peeled off /damaged and it was re-painted and re-printed and then the hour markers were re-mounted , in this case the dial ,IMHO, is a redone/repainted dial ,(hence the sloppy text print and miss-placement of the lume) and not aftermarket (since aftermarket we assume is 100%fake ,even the dial brass plate)
    I dont attack any posts and certainly it is not my hobby.
    Best

    Ara M
     
  13. offrdmania Jan 29, 2021

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    To remove the hour markers and remount them is an enormous job and highly unlikely. They are not glued on, they are brazed on and the heat would do more damage than its worth.
     
  14. datocompax Jan 29, 2021

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    the indexes each have two feet which are pressed into the dial plate in the corresponding holes by the original dial maker of Rolex .When refinishing, those feet are pressed from the backside and the indexes are removed..then after applying the desired colour And text on the dial , indexes are pushed back to their place along with the crown. All this does not make the dial original , it merely is refinished/redone dial .

    pic burrowed from the internet

    best

    Ara M
     
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