Hi friends,

I’d like to know your opinion on this Polerouter Jet ref 20355/3 circa 1950 which is proposed to me to 1500$.
It seems great and the price is ok what do you think ?

Thanks a lot

 

I'd say it is very likely a refinished dial. The cross hairs are too thick, and slightly crooked, and there are other problems. As for the design of the dial (the markers, etc.), it is either rare, or some kind of fake, created dial. I would proceed with caution on this watch. Something is not right here. Are you able to examine it in person with a loupe? That would be the best way to see if the dial is refinished or not.

 

looks fine to me but @CafeRacer would know better......

https://universalgenevepolerouter.com/photo-galleries/referencegallery/

(scroll down to the jets section)

I'm not sure on valuation for jets, but $1500 maybe a bit high?

 

Another example here: https://omegaforums.net/threads/polerouter-jet-marble-dial.34621/

 

Agree. $1500 seems exceedingly steep.

 

Looks legit and the case is great, but it's not the most desirable Polerouter reference, and not one that particularly speaks to me. Especially at that price.

 

I am fairly sure it is legit. I believe the reason the cross hair appears slightly thick is because it is not just printed on the dial, there is a recess/groove in the dial. The crown appears to be original and the case, apart from the scratches on the case back, in good condition.

There seem to be two versions of the 20355 Polerouter Jet references - a version with gold dial furniture and a version with silver dial furniture. This is quite unusual for Polerouters, where a case reference usually denotes a unique combination of case/dial/hands etc. The silver versions are less common in my experience but more attractive. I attach below, pictures of the two variations of the 20355/4.

As for price, it comes down to how much you like the watch. Personally, I think the price is fair. I've not seen another.

 

Well, I see that this very watch is shown in the new Polerouter reference gallery, ref. 203553 (https://universalgenevepolerouter.com/photo-galleries/referencegallery/), so I have changed my mind, it appears to be an original dial! I am not very familiar with these Jets, but happy to learn more.

 

As much as I admire and value the work done by @CafeRacer on his polerouter reference website, I think it is important to remember that the information is often only opinion based on experience because the records needed to support the information are not typically available.

It is expert opinion based on considerable experience and therefore it is the best resource available to us but it should not be treated as gospel or remove the responsibility to do our own research.

 

I'll echo the above words by Mazoue.

The site is just meant to be another tool for collectors to do their own research.
Hopefully it is becoming more valuable as I add more content.
However, Ive been wrong about polerouter details before, i'll no doubt be wrong again, and there are likely some mistakes still published that will eventually be ironed out with some more discoveries. The site is constantly growing, and we are inching closer to polerouter truth .

In regards to the OP question, my opinion is that the dial is very likely legitimate, and the silver version of the one shown in the gallery.
We have unearthed silver and gold dial versions of some of the steel cased jets with the same reference, but we still don't know if it is for all of them, or just some... new jet references are still being discovered (e.g. the 40355/8 and 20355/6 dials, last week).

My advice with polerouter dial evaluations in cases like this, is to evaluate the entire watch, not just the dial.
Pay attention to the dial details, think about the difficulty it would take to change them, and whether it would be worth it on such a relatively low value and lesser known piece. Just because it is not in the Gallery, does not mean it doesn't exist...

This piece has all (maybe not plexi) correct parts, including the Jet crown, has a sharp case, the movement looks to have all the correct parts and is the correct one for a polerouter jet (215-9), and all components are in matching condition.
If you're still not convinced, ask the seller for more pictures (even on a modern mobile phone, the detail can be very good in the right light), go google image searching for the same dials, in both 18k gold, gold capped and steel versions - they usually had some crossovers.