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simonsays
·@Nathan1967, this thread is about as pure as a highway ditch in March—all mud, salt, oily soot and half-thawed road detritus is absolutely welcome. (Not to mention that your post was actually more on-topic than most of my own. 😁)
That’s a great point about the crystal height and it raises several questions (no pun intended): first of all, if replacement crystal heights vary in thickness and aren't necessarily 100% true to the original specs, then why the heck aren't collectors up in arms about this? Having put in some time as a Seiko freak I can attest to the fact that even a slight variance in a replacement part would be a non-starter for a lot of collectors, so I'm feeling a bit of culture shock here. Minor digression.
I've given the Fresh Gasket Theory some thought. I've only ever come across anecdotal accounts (i.e. from fellow enthusiasts) of genuine factory-fresh safe queens having crystals that sit "nearly flush" with the case. Granted, those original gaskets have been under compression for almost 50 years now, so it's entirely plausible that the crystal would have sunk a bit, are fresh gaskets thick enough to make a visible difference? This (from the Swiss seller I was negotiating with) is a great profile shot of a definitely unpolished MKII with a mostly disintegrated gasket. I'd call this "nearly flush":
Frustratingly, most archival photos from back then were shot head on, so it's nigh on impossible to gauge the original height of the crystal either way.
View attachment 877638
And finally, you're probably right about my nitpicking over that tiny left-of-centre crater in your initial photo. That was a reaction to others I've seen in which a mysteriously smooth pit shows up in an otherwise flawless brushed finish, but upon closer look that doesn't really look like it's the case here.
On the subject of crystals and how they sit, the 2 case types, 145.014 and 145.034(three if you count the rare telestop version) have different types of crystal so may look different in profile.
I think it is an easy watch to judge if it has been polished or refinished. Any watch with large areas of brushing like this is very hard to replicate without making it look brand new, if done properly, or a soft edges, or just imprecise radial graining if done by hand.
