Uneven lug polishing on 168.005

Hi there,

I’ve just become the proud owner of a 168.005 with a crosshair in wonderful condition, and which I’ve been looking for for a while. Naturally upon receiving it I’ve spent time wearing it, and couldn’t help but notice a small difference in the polishing on the top left and right lugs; the bevel on the left one seems to be closer to the body of the watch than the right. It’s not massive, but it’s an interesting difference, and it lends the question; how were these cases made originally? This is an SGR case. I had thought they were cast, but perhaps they had some hand finishing? Have you seen this before? Two photos, one with superimposed ruler and one without.

And before you say ‘I’ll happily take it off you’ - I’m very happy with it 😉 and part of the joy of these watches is the age and stories they tell.

Sorry, I dont follow you. What exactly is the issue?

Ha - it’s very slight. I only noticed it when I received it for the first time and was looking it over. The bevel on the left lug (on the top of the lug) seems to have been polished closer to the body of the watch than the one on the right. The pic with the ruler shows a small gap (it’s not symmetrical).

That’s why I was asking about how the cases were made - interesting to know if they were cast or were essentially handmade/hand finished.

Absolutely. At the end of the day the most important thing is that the facets are clearly defined; and that, they certainly are.

Beautiful watch, I recently discovered some acrylic crystals have a skew, I align the high part to the top of the watch and think of it as a special viewing angle

In your case maybe a similar thinking approach can ease your mind, when you look at a watch on your wrist, it's quite an asymmetrical event, the shorter lug is closer to your eyesight, the longer lug is farther away, so in that viewing angle, they might look symmetrical, so the farther lug being longer could be a nice detail to have

This 'glass half full' point of view is definitely the one to have when collecting vintage watches. 👍

Yup. My 14900 has a slightly more faint ‘officially certified’ script, as if it was added slightly later (as it’s from the transition from two to three lines of text). I just view it as a quirk!