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To be or not to be: Patina or Damage

Archer
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SkunkPrince SkunkPrince
Aging. Perfectly acceptable but you hadn’t yet read my long-winded opinion. 😀
SkunkPrince SkunkPrince
You DID see the big smiley emoticon, right?

Let me confirm that my eyes do actually work...

For good measure...

😀😉😁
 
airansun
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Hey! This thread was about safe queens. 😗

Scarecrow Boat Scarecrow Boat
I have edited the title of this thread as this has taken a fascinating turn 😀

But

eugeneandresson eugeneandresson
Patina has got nothing to do with safe queens.
📖

Therefore:

Another category of safe queens, beyond those that claim the title of mint, are those deemed too precious to wear.

89A11D2B-F03F-4368-8BD1-E752C3D231C2.jpeg ED733181-F69D-4ECE-B186-71127E053876.jpeg A0B8D823-D394-4EB7-BBD7-DC549D86514F.jpeg


Safe Queen 2998-6
 
M'Bob
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airansun airansun
Another category of safe queens, beyond those that claim the title of mint, are those deemed too precious to wear.

Except, it’s on your wrist...
 
gatorcpa
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Evitzee Evitzee
Fortunately the buyer got the original dial and the new one. VC overhauled and restored the movement (Philippe Dufour on the team), and did not polish the case.
Even more fortunately this is a Vacheron and not a Rolex. Rolex would have destroyed the old dial regardless of historical significance.

Vandals!
gatorcpa
 
SkunkPrince
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gatorcpa gatorcpa
Even more fortunately this is a Vacheron and not a Rolex. Rolex would have destroyed the old dial regardless of historical significance.

Vandals!
gatorcpa

After talking some with my Rolex-trained and officially-certified Rolex watchmaker, I tend to agree. It's like they don't want you to own their watches, they want you to lease them or something.
 
JwRosenthal
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SkunkPrince SkunkPrince
After talking some with my Rolex-trained and officially-certified Rolex watchmaker, I tend to agree. It's like they don't want you to own their watches, they want you to lease them or something.
There have been whole threads on that topic. As a Rolex owner I choose to be off the grid so they can’t tell me how to live my Rolex life.
The fact that VC not only created a new identical dail (and didn’t just refinish the old one) and returned the original indeed speaks volumes about the company.
 
Martin_J_N
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I don't and probably never will get the reasoning surrounding watches being left in a safe or similar secure location because they are too valuable/precious to wear.

In my mind I have this image of lots of people huddled round the open door of their safes in semi darkness with their watch carefully cradled in gloved hands, muttering Gollum like 'my precious, my precious'. 😉

For me, I like new watches, or watches that look new, I don't mind an older watch but it has to be in a condition that I would be happy to wear, not grubby, battered or scratched to hell, that is just not me.
 
Andy_timeman
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It all depends on the watch, its age, the rarity, what it means to you, the overall look and the character of the collector buying.. some see it as a one piece in a jigsaw puzzle that they have in their mind. I love and wear larger watches but still desperately seek out smaller models of the same time and in the same space despite the fact I won't wear them.. then you make an assessment on the rarity and the patina of the piece relative to the age of the watch and difficulty of finding. The cyma above is perfect but the old VC dial hard to love as a collector because the patina is not magical and to most collectors it has material damage to it that would cross it off the list...
 
STANDY
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Both are nice watches
One is more desirable than the other.
One would cost more than the other
Both would be enjoyed and worn

Guess which One the collector would buy........
5BD0DF34-8472-4DF7-A1D7-2B7AE30CC79B.jpeg 5225B7A2-0337-4771-AA67-FB4767B5693A.jpeg 82169B6C-B0B5-464E-8F40-E8162DC88AD6.jpeg
 
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