My question is how much does a poor (i.e. over polished) case impact on value (of say an Ed White) as compared to an average dial or relumed hands? I have observed over the past couple of years that collectors seem to place greater emphasis on the case condition than anything else. Is this true? Many thanks for all input!
Not sure I would agree with you completely. Now for something as popular as an Ed White, nothing seems to matter too much right now, but for other vintage pieces the dial is kind of the heart of the watch. I would rather have a pristine dial and make do with an over polished case myself. The hands really don't matter too much to me as long as they are the correct hands for the reference, of course original is always preferred.
9 times out of 10 you cannot salvage dial issues or damage whereas 9 times out of 10 you can salvage a case. A case should have issues whereas a dial, protected by the case, should not. LAWW are magicians and took my awful, overpolished 105.012 case, one that members thought belonged in a scrap heap, back to life and looking amazing. Dial for me.
Depends who does the casework. There are people out there that can bring a tatty case back to almost as it left the factory. Then again, a new looking case doesn't really sit well with a patinated dial.
If you get it done by someone who knows what they are doing it can look pretty damn good! This dial was covered in luminova when I got the watch. Obviously I know it has been redone....and if honest it should always be made clear. When a good 105003 dial is now north of £3000 alone im happy to stick with this..and put that £3k into another watch. I doubt i'd have much trouble selling this (which i'm not) even with the dial work declared.
Dial but most of the time with legit original watches dial and case condition go hand in hand. Typical exception is when dial is damaged by moisture and/or cigarette smoke.
I put a huge emphasis on the dial, but also the case. I really struggle to live with over polished cases, it's almost a deal breaker. I think several places, such as STS can do great work on a standard pro case. However, I've yet to see a straight lug or CB case brought back to life. All the straight lug cases that I've seen repolished seem to emulate the FOIS case, leaving the lug facets too large compared to original cases.
Prequel..noobi warning... Ok i hear you lound and clear. Ok let put one thing out there. Of course I'd want a watch in an 'as good as' condition. So I'd say dial all the way. IMHO wabi to the case is acceptable. Correction of wabi less so (polished). Cheers Pat Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk
Thanks smitty, clearly a very high standard of rework there. I mean to my eyes I'd have no idea it had been retouched if you hadn't said!
I'm allergic to polished cases. Or laser redone cases for that matter. I'd rather take an ugly dial in a great case than a pristine dial in a polished/ redone case But I seems to be in the minority here
Thanks for all the input everyone! Really interesting responses. Anecdotally I have seen much more importance placed on an unpolished case rather than a fantastic dial, but the replies on this thread doesn't seem to bear this out.
I agree with you...but I know that it is much easier to find a great midcase than it is to find a great dial!
for me it depends on the model. The dial is the most important thing as it's the hardest to replace. for a 105 or 145 if the case back is not dead you can replace the case by a service one keeping the caseback and the crystal.