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Unfortunately I need to replace/refinish the dial on my 105.003 64 Speedmaster… recommendations?

M
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Hi guys- Sorry about the crummy photos. The markers and writing on the dial of my ‘64 Speedmaster 105.003 seem a bit on the light side, so I’m guessing it was an earlier refinish job… they also swapped out the DON bezel with a service one… and to add to the pain they repainted the hands
The watch was bought at a very reasonable price as part of a much larger watch lot, so I’m not whining too much… but the incorrect parts are starting to annoy me whenever I wear it! As much as I’d love to buy a great original dial, bezel and band set I’m not ready to spend the $10k + that sellers are asking for these parts… so I’ve resigned myself to having the dial and hands refinished along with a repro bezel. I’m having a hard time finding any well done replacement dials or a really good refinisher, so I figured I would turn to the forum guys. I plan on having the watch serviced at the same time, so I’d really appreciate some educated opinions on the matter!
 
Dan S
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IMO, you are not going to find anyone that can do a good job on the dial. So I'd suggest not wasting money on that. Just save your pennies and wait until a dial or parts watch shows up. If it bugs you to wear it, just put it in a drawer and don't wear it.

And personally, I'd be happier with the service bezel than a fake bezel.
 
Davidt
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Agree, there’s no point getting it repainted. If you don’t like what’s on there now just get a modern service dial and bezel. If you wanted it to look more appropriate you could have the service dial relumed.
 
M
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Dan S Dan S
IMO, you are not going to find anyone that can do a good job on the dial. So I'd suggest not wasting money on that. Just save your pennies and wait until a dial or parts watch shows up. If it bugs you to wear it, just put it in a drawer and don't wear it.

And personally, I'd be happier with the service bezel than a fake bezel.
I’ve been keeping an eye out on eBay, but it’s tough to find a halfway decent dial for a reasonable cost… but I guess I’ll just keep looking…
 
Dan S
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M Maddiecaddy
I’ve been keeping an eye out on eBay, but it’s tough to find a halfway decent dial for a reasonable cost… but I guess I’ll just keep looking…
What's reasonable? It's often said that half the value of the watch is in the dial, so it's not surprising that people holding good dials for a valuable watch would want to get good money for them. The dial and bezel combined are definitely more than half the watch, TBH.

If I didn't want to put the money into restoring that watch, I would probably just sell it and put the proceeds towards something else.
 
M
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I definitely understand that logic, but it’s hard to justify $6000+++ for a nice original dial… plus the bezel, hands, etc.
I guess I could sell the watch as-is and buy a much nicer one for $12-15k…
 
Larry S
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Dan S Dan S
IMO, you are not going to find anyone that can do a good job on the dial. So I'd suggest not wasting money on that. Just save your pennies and wait until a dial or parts watch shows up. If it bugs you to wear it, just put it in a drawer and don't wear it.

And personally, I'd be happier with the service bezel than a fake bezel.
+1 and I don’t think this dial is that bad. Personally I’d see about cleaning up the Crystal
 
M
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Larry S Larry S
+1 and I don’t think this dial is that bad. Personally I’d see about cleaning up the Crystal
Good point, I haven’t really done anything to it since I got it…
 
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