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Thoughts on Geneve Black Dial Originality?

sonicosa
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I recently picked up this 166.041 with black dial and orange second hand from Closer in Japan. It came on a 2030 / 041 bracelet combo that I had never seen before and is exceedingly comfortable.

I thought this dial looked original when I bought it. Now that I have it in hand, I’m still feeling pretty confident it’s not a redial, but I know these black dials can be tricky.

Here are my thoughts -

• The quality of the printing looks good to me. The only concern I have is that the spacing and alignment around the “A” in Omega seems to be slightly off.

• The lume on the hands and dial look to have aged consistently. The application of lume on the dial is well done with small consistently sized plots of the quality standard I would expect from Omega vs relumes which can be more a more uneven size and shape.

• I know dials are frequently redone in black in an attempt to increase a watch’s value, but the fact that this watch also has a black date wheel could be evidence this watch left the factory with a black dial.

I’m interested in hearing what others think as well, so on to the pics, and thanks in advance for any feedback provided.

7E1F5633-7DB2-4138-980A-A2CAE7FCBCEC.jpeg 15E08807-68F1-4971-BF02-AE71CC3122AD.jpeg 5A9F4E03-6BF0-45BC-BD73-C20277EE7093.jpeg
 
140dave
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I am not the best at this game but if a redial it’s a pretty good one. To my eye it looks good/original but I’ll bow to the experts if they see something differently.
 
Davidt
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Original. Some nice dial variations and colours on these Geneves.
 
sonicosa
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Awesome to hear, thanks for the input everyone, and great thread @flqt-9000 . I’ll add this one there this weekend.
 
SkunkPrince
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Depsite the maladjustment of those end links, I believe the bracelet might be the correct Omega reference. There were two or three for that case, one being the Fix-o-Flex.
 
MtV
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The black date disk is very cool, a small details that makes a huge difference. Awesome find!
 
connieseamaster
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I can't think of an instance when Closer didn't disclose something major like a case refinished or redial, and I've bought a couple of watches from them at this point.
 
Davidt
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Closer definitely don’t always disclose a redial, although this may well be because they aren’t able to identify the less obvious ones.
 
MtV
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Davidt Davidt
Closer definitely don’t always disclose a redial, although this may well be because they aren’t able to identify the less obvious ones.

Agreed. Not surprising, given the amount of watches they turn over, though.
 
Davidt
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MtV MtV
Agreed. Not surprising, given the amount of watches they turn over, though.

True.

I see them more of a wholesaler, selling as is direct to trade or public who accept they aren’t getting prepared watches. A few years ago I bought several great watches from them. Recently their prices have gone up and with import duty I can’t find value there any more.

In countries with less stringent import duty I imagine there’s still rich pickings
 
sonicosa
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Davidt Davidt
In countries with less stringent import duty I imagine there’s still rich pickings

I've purchased 3 watches from them in the last year. Two of the watches were under $1k and didn't have any import duty for me (US).

I agree it's difficult to find decently priced watches from them, many of their listings have condition issues paired with prices I would expect for a nearly flawless watch.

For this 166.041, I paid $635 including shipping and taxes, which I'm quite happy with. The other watches I bought from them were a Constellation C-case with linen dial and a 2254. They were both in excellent condition. I was able to pick up the 2254 when ebay was offering a coupon for 10% discount on watches over 2k, which was enough to offset the import duty and most of the taxes.

They certainly have a lot of listings to wade through in order to find the deals though, and in my experience, the well-priced watches don't last very long. Thankfully, their photography is very easy to spot, so when I see one of their watches pop up in my saved searches (even if it's relisted by another seller at a higher price and I need to find my way to Closer's listing) they stand out enough to catch my eye.
 
nitediver
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sonicosa sonicosa
I recently picked up this 166.041 with black dial and orange second hand from Closer in Japan. It came on a 2030 / 041 bracelet combo that I had never seen before and is exceedingly comfortable.

I thought this dial looked original when I bought it. Now that I have it in hand, I’m still feeling pretty confident it’s not a redial, but I know these black dials can be tricky.

Here are my thoughts -

• The quality of the printing looks good to me. The only concern I have is that the spacing and alignment around the “A” in Omega seems to be slightly off.

• The lume on the hands and dial look to have aged consistently. The application of lume on the dial is well done with small consistently sized plots of the quality standard I would expect from Omega vs relumes which can be more a more uneven size and shape.

• I know dials are frequently redone in black in an attempt to increase a watch’s value, but the fact that this watch also has a black date wheel could be evidence this watch left the factory with a black dial.

I’m interested in hearing what others think as well, so on to the pics, and thanks in advance for any feedback provided.

7E1F5633-7DB2-4138-980A-A2CAE7FCBCEC.jpeg 15E08807-68F1-4971-BF02-AE71CC3122AD.jpeg 5A9F4E03-6BF0-45BC-BD73-C20277EE7093.jpeg

I like the Dynamic's!..I think it is the first time i see a black dial.
Dial looks all good and lume dots seem to be perfect.

best,

Stefan
 
b-lilja
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By the way, @sonicosa, I really love your Geneve. It's super cool - did not know about this variant - just about close to ideal.
 
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