Hi there, I am a newbie here, so apologies for any faux pas in advance that I may make. Also, many thanks in advance for any small pieces of advice you can give me from your invaluable collective experience here. I'm based in London, UK, and am interested in the following watch. I know these are full of minefields but have always loved the Red Sub. One is coming up to auction soon and have been trying to figure out whether I should put a bid in on it. I can see that the hands are new, and the insert is new and I am sure other people here will comment on other things, which is why I am here. The auction house says it's a Mk VI and apparently 1973, so not sure if that matches with look and series numbers (given below)? Also, I was wondering if this particular model is supposed to have had sharp high crown guards or should have lower ones. From the research I've been doing on it it appears not, but was wondering if anyone can confirm it one way or the other, as I am learning. Trying to get more photos of it. In terms of provenance it has apparently come from a pawnbrokers. I realise that many of these watches will not be fully original, or rarely, but want to know if this is still an okay one, or a real dog, as they say. Also, is the body correct for the dial, I guess is my main question? The dial looks good to me when I looked at it in person, but as I am new to this, I would happily defer to the experts here for any comment at all, although you don't have all the photos. Any small help would be appreciated.. Here is a photo below and the information relating to it. Would greatly appreciate any help on whether I should put a bid in, or give it a wide birth, knowing that some of you here are super well versed in the Red Sub. Many thanks in advance. Regards, Chris Here's the general information that's been given.... ]Rolex, Oyster Perpetual Date Submariner, MK VI Single Red Dial, ref. 1680, a stainless steel wrist watch, [/B]no. 3427571, circa 1973, automatic movement, 26 jewels, cal. 1570, adjusted to 5 positions and temperature, black dial, dot and baton markers, luminous pointed baton minute and Mercedes hour hands, centre seconds hand, date aperture at 3 o'clock, rotating bezel with black insert, Arabic numeral 10 minute track, screw down crown, screw down case back, on a non original brown strap with stainless steel pin buckle, case back, dial, movement and crown signed, accompanied by a Rolex service pouch and service guarantee card dated 11th October 2012, diameter 39mm
I didnt even know there was a red sub, seen the new red sea dweller. Wow all I can say..this puppy is gonna be expensive
Case is very polished, looks like luminova sevice hands and service bezel. There are much better ones out there...
I bolded the “very” because it needs to have that point strongly made. Someone really went hard on the wheel...
Agreed, case very very polished and with service thin font bezel and mismatching color of the hands. I would kindly and humbly suggest that you wait for a better one. In the mean time you can save some extra for a nicer piece that will eventually pop out. Just my 2 cents P.s. here's a artist illustration how hard the polisher worked on that polish
Please don't bother wasting good money on this watch , someone has tried their hardest to make a sows ear out of a silk purse .
@mandancing When the auction takes place the winning bid amount should be commensurate with the condition of this particular watch...there are several red flags, many of which have already been pointed out. You also asked if the body [case] is correct for the dial. You would have to post good, clear pics of the Reference and Serial numbers for us to examine.
I'm making no comment on the price of this one but this is what a good one looks like: https://www.acollectedman.com/collections/all/products/submariner-1680-steel
Don't like the cyclops on this Red Submariner, but there're even six different versions of the dial Mark0 (pre-production) to Mark 6 ...
Thank you SO much for ALL your valuable contributions. Greatly greatly appreciated. The auction house have sent me some more pics, but I bow to your wise comments. I realise you have to spend quite a bit to get a lovely Red Sub. They are estimating it for 7-9 thousand pounds, and they usually start low. So will look at something else I have my eye on in the auction. By the way, LOL, I love Arnie's hard polishing. Boy did they polish it hard then!. That made me laugh. And not sure what Low Bottom Decile example means? That's a new phrase for me, Darlinboy. If you can clarify that for me that would be great...thanks. Here are the additional photos, so any further comments are welcome. Hope these help. Cheers, Chris
I would pass even at the estimate. Lots of chipping on the minute marks and strange gloss on the lume. Almost like they tried to stabilize it.
It might be pics but those Lug engravings don’t look right. Neither does case nor Caseback. Edit to add: I just looked again, engravings not good.
Thanks guys. A super thank you. It's amazing what you know. It makes me realise how little I know, so am even more grateful you've stopped me from making a big mistake. I still love looking at them thought, and I think that will all I shall be doing in future...unless I get a large windfall in.;-) Enjoy your weekend. You've made mine! Regards, Chris
Something is wrong with the lume...looks like it is shiny. As others have said, that case saw the wheel of death. Not worth the trouble IMO. While mine isn’t the prettiest, here is what a better example looks like.
While there are many things to avoid with this watch take a look at the engravings. If it's not been re engraved it could be a fake case as well.
Thanks again everyone for all your comments including the more recent ones. I do appreciate all your valued advice, and posts of various Red Subs. As I said, I shall stay clear of them for the moment. ;-) Cheers, Chris