Seamaster Dial Mistery

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banshee

·Jan 27, 2022

Hi guys,

I bumped upon this Seamaster 2966 1SC, with cal.285. Would be a nice addition to my collection of 50s Omegas, BUT…

The movement and case look fine to me. The mystery is the dial. When I first saw it I thought it’s a redial, but upon close inspection I see the font is fine, there is Swiss Made at the bottom too. The lume plots are present in some of the indices too. The damage/aging on the dial is very weird. The movement is too clean and doesn’t match the dial condition.

my theory is that the dial was baken to enforce/imitate aging.

I would appreciate any comment and discussion.

 

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ConElPueblo

·Jan 27, 2022

When I saw the first photo I too thought it had to be a redial, but your close-ups tell a different story. Perhaps it has been in and out of humid/dry conditions a lot of times? 😕

Never seen aging like this either. Poor thing.

 

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michael e

·Jan 27, 2022

It looks like the lacquer top coat has aged and is flaking like many do, I don’t think it has been baked.
Nice photos

 

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banshee

·Jan 27, 2022

ConElPueblo

When I saw the first photo I too thought it had to be a redial, but your close-ups tell a different story. Perhaps it has been in and out of humid/dry conditions a lot of times? 😕

Never seen aging like this either. Poor thing.

Yeah, I normally think of humidity first, but wouldn’t we see traces of humidity on the movement too?

 

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tpatta

·Jan 27, 2022·Happily spending my daughter’s inheritance

Lacquer cracking and bubbling would not be uncommon on a dial that age if the watch was a daily wear. Exposure to excessive heat over a long period will do that. Could be the original owner was a working man. Outside in the sun. A lot.

 

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MtV

·Jan 27, 2022

How does the back of the dial look like, wouldn’t that also show if it actually got baked? It’s not too far off from examples we’ve seen with cracked lacquer, as mentioned above, I’d also vote for “natural” aging, albeit quite a handful of it.

 

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banshee

·Jan 27, 2022

P.S. couldn’t find examples of black dialed watches with this reference online. Anyone has one of those?

 

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PlainVanilla

·Jan 27, 2022

A black dial in the sun will bake just like the inside of a car, no need to put it in an oven I think.

 

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nkhandekar

·Jan 27, 2022

In my world the term we use for that fine craquelure and flaking is crizzling, usually applied to glass and varnish. On varnish it can occur when the varnish and paint respond differently to regular changes in temperature and humidity. That is just a guess with the pics that are posted.