Thanks for posting this - it presents a fun combination of obviousness and ambiguity that keeps us on our toes and is sure to stir some debate. In that spirit, here are some points for consideration/to get the discussion rolling:
- While not identified by the seller, I imagine this will be a 138 movement, based on the caseback logo and 19mm lug.
- The chapter ring is a little different, but i believe it is a real Polerouter chapter ring. One obsessive way to tell is to count the ridges: ridges between 12 and 1 or 11 and 12 will total 28, ridges between any other numbers will total 32. I beleive this is true for any chapter ring hour marker width, but have not tested this theory too much (just a little). By my count, despite the fuzzy photos, this chapter ring passes that visual test (not to mention that it actually looks real). The misalignment is not a deal breaker for me: the chapter ring just needs to be turned counterclockwise a little bit (it is not glued to the dial).
- Here is where the weirdness begins for me: the fonts look good, but the execution looks a little rough/overprinted/too thick, as if someone traced the original type to make it look darker/more pronounced. Same goes for the minute markers, particularly at the fives. In other words, looks to me to be touched-up rather than redone entirely.
- Not sure about the crown: looks to be the right shape, but is unsigned. I know some of the early ones were unsigned, but I don;t know enough about them to opine one way or another.
- Whatever you think about the above, the overall tarnish and over-polish would keep me away, even if everything else met my criteria for acceptability. The asking price is high enough that I would expect more in terms of condition.
What does everyone else think?
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