16610LV over polished?

[Oldfellow]

I would be very happy to own that watch.

[cmc_tht]

The watch had some professional minor touch-ups

[Goldilock]

It looks perfect.

[karleone]

Originally Posted by James69

What do you think?

Seeing the second and third set of pictures the watch might be unpolished. Very sharp case, nice V brushing on lugs (looks like Rolex factory finish), chamfers that are the right size, plenty of volume on the clasp crown. It’s in an amazing mint condition and I am pretty sure unpolished!

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by karleone

Seeing the second and third set of pictures the watch might be unpolished. Very sharp case, nice V brushing on lugs (looks like Rolex factory finish), chamfers that are the right size, plenty of volume on the clasp crown. It’s in an amazing mint condition and I am pretty sure unpolished!

Somehow I don't think so Tim.

But it is nice

[karleone]

Originally Posted by Dirt

Somehow I don't think so Tim.

But it is nice

Please share your thoughts

[James69]

Originally Posted by cmc_tht

The watch had some professional minor touch-ups

Please share your view

[James69]

Originally Posted by Dirt

Somehow I don't think so Tim.

But it is nice

I don’t know what an original V brash on the lugs should look like, seems they are different on the recent models, but when comparing the bracelet with a new explorer bought from AD last year , the brush is finer and more aligned, therefore I assume this 16610LV has been polished, does it sound reasonable?

[karleone]

Originally Posted by James69

I don’t know what an original V brash on the lugs should look like, seems they are different on the recent models, but when comparing the bracelet with a new explorer bought from AD last year , the brush is finer and more aligned, therefore I assume this 16610LV has been polished, does it sound reasonable?

You can't compre the oroginal factory brushing on lugs on a 16610 LV ( in a 45 degrees angle) to any in production models with brushed lugs that have vertical and straight brushing.
The brushing on lugs on this 16610LV looks completely identical to my 2009 16610LN that i bought brand new from AD and still unpolished

[EEpro]

I like it.

[illiguy]

Here are pics of my unpolished Z Serial 16610LV. I know this one to be unpolished because I was the one who unboxed and removed stickers.

Hope this helps, and would reiterate that OP’s looks ok to me.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[James69]

Great help! Thanks for posting the original for reference!

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by James69

I don’t know what an original V brash on the lugs should look like, seems they are different on the recent models, but when comparing the bracelet with a new explorer bought from AD last year , the brush is finer and more aligned, therefore I assume this 16610LV has been polished, does it sound reasonable?

That's a fair and reasonable assumption.
Assumptions aside, there is clear enough evidence to look at.
Namely the Clasp and the Chamfers are slightly more pronounced than a virginal case of that era and the brushing on the lugs is not quite factory for that era to my eye(but it's good), the polish on the flats shows that they aren't quite factory flat when looking at reflectivity(going by your pics) and the two little dings in the top of one of your lugs appear to have been brushed out as best they could without chasing them right out in order to preserve the overall appearance of the watch(very sympathetic approach).
With regard to the two dings, they have definately been attended to by my eye as they haven't any evidence of some displacement remaining, as the touch up of the brushing has removed any peaks from around the expected displacement leaving the edges of the dings extremely crisp. Otherwise i expect there would be some kind of evidence of displaced material around the edge of the dings if it wasn't attended to with a refurbish.

If I worked at RSC, I would have filled the dings with a spot of laser welding prior to refurbishing the case. But I expect the person doing the job may have opted not to expecting the dings to come out entirely or be barely perceptible to the naked eye after retouching the brushing. All fair and reasonable
Maybe they will disappear at the next polishing?
Or simply be less perceptible with the small one potentially disappearing altogether

So yes, the watch case and clasp has evidence of having a little work done.
Maybe one polishing, potentially two polishes assuming the watch was taken good care of. Probably not three but there is a chance if the watch was babied throughout it's life. IMO.

How is the bracelet stretch?
Did it come with box and papers?
If so there will be a date of sale so one can better gauge the extent of wear and tear in the bracelet(stretch).
After all, by the time it goes back in for service there is a good chance it won't look as nice as it does now

Either way, one shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and probably should appreciate how nice it is when it's on the wrist as it currently presents

How about a wrist shot or two to share with us?
Enjoy that beauty

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by James69

Great help! Thanks for posting the original for reference!

Agreed
I'm having flashbacks now. Lol.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by av1atic

Not by a long shot regardless of picture quality. Be careful with getting too critical of that kind of stuff by reading the forums. It’s not even close to over-polished.

This 100%.

[av1atic]

Originally Posted by Dirt

This 100%.

It’s become laughable how critical people are on here.

But if OP wanted another comparison of what one of these should look like unpolished and like new, Jacek/TropicalWatch just listed a sweet NOS one for sale. Illiguys above is beautiful too.

[James69]

Thank you Dirt for your in-depth analysis, it is eye opening and knowledgeable! I bought this watch full set with the original AD invoice. It is a M serie from 2008. I took it to RSC for service with instruction not to do any external work.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by James69

Thank you Dirt for your in-depth analysis, it is eye opening and knowledgeable! I bought this watch full set with the original AD invoice. It is a M serie from 2008. I took it to RSC for service with instruction not to do any external work.

Outstanding
You're on your way and discerning about how you approach the polishing issue.
Reasonable stretch on the bracelet too, so I think it has been well loved. Looks good on your wrist too.

[EEpro]

Congrats! Great color and sharp lines

[padi56]

Originally Posted by James69

Hello guys, I am an amateur in pre owned, can you help me to see if my watch is over polished, many thanks��

As soon as you post the word polish it's automatically been over polished today there is a antipolish-syndrome on forum.Watch is fine wear it in good health for decades to come that's far more important.

[James69]

Heaven for watch lovers

[123Blueface]

Amazing how those of us that have lived six or seven or more decades have always happily sent our Rolex for service and then enjoy a shiny new watch upon return.
Then this thing called the Internet came along, followed by a thing called a forum and suddenly, polishing a watch at service is a sin.
What I find comical is that no different than people saying how a watch does not properly fit a person based on lens distortion and a poor photo, folks here said this watch was over polished based on an initial poor photo.

[James69]

Didn’t mean to send the poor quality photos. It was my first post and had problem shirking the sizes to fit forum’s requirements! Sorry about that!

[karleone]

Originally Posted by 123Blueface

Amazing how those of us that have lived six or seven or more decades have always happily sent our Rolex for service and then enjoy a shiny new watch upon return.
Then this thing called the Internet came along, followed by a thing called a forum and suddenly, polishing a watch at service is a sin.
What I find comical is that no different than people saying how a watch does not properly fit a person based on lens distortion and a poor photo, folks here said this watch was over polished based on an initial poor photo.

I always ask my watch not to be polished during service and made it written. Why? Because my watches are either unpolished or repolished but very well done so I don’t want to take the risks Rolex messing up with polish. Whatever people who are fan of polishing says a repolished watch would never look as good as a factory unpolished Rolex. Especially on 4/5 digits Sub/SD/GMT/Explo 2 where the case have bevels/ chamfers most of watches after a repolish lose these bevels/ chamfers that were originally there when the watch left the factory. It’s very common to see as well rounded lugs, lug holes surface not sharp, rounded crown guards, lug holes too close from bevel/ chamfer if still there etc. An additional problem is lugs not being V brushed as it supposed to be on 4/5 digits or with a grain different from Rolex factory finish. People saying a Rolex will come back as new after RSC are just not enough knowledgeable. On a 4/5 digits best case your watch has been repolished by an expert like Rolliworks or LAWW or someone very qualified at RSC and it will look decent / great (but not 100% orignal factory finish). Worst case your watch has been polished not by an expert (and it happens a lot even by Rolex RSC) and your watch has no more scratches so form a non expert looks new but someone who know about polish / repolish will be able to say watch has been repolished and it won’t look as good / not as sharp as initially

[illiguy]

Originally Posted by karleone

I always ask my watch not to be polished during service and made it written. Why? Because my watches are either unpolished or repolished but very well done so I don’t want to take the risks Rolex messing up with polish. Whatever people who are fan of polishing says a repolished watch would never look as good as a factory unpolished Rolex. Especially on 4/5 digits Sub/SD/GMT/Explo 2 where the case have bevels/ chamfers most of watches after a repolish lose these bevels/ chamfers that were originally there when the watch left the factory. It’s very common to see as well rounded lugs, lug holes surface not sharp, rounded crown guards, lug holes too close from bevel/ chamfer if still there etc. An additional problem is lugs not being V brushed as it supposed to be on 4/5 digits or with a grain different from Rolex factory finish. People saying a Rolex will come back as new after RSC are just not enough knowledgeable. On a 4/5 digits best case your watch has been repolished by an expert like Rolliworks or LAWW or someone very qualified at RSC and it will look decent / great (but not 100% orignal factory finish). Worst case your watch has been polished not by an expert (and it happens a lot even by Rolex RSC) and your watch has no more scratches so form a non expert looks new but someone who know about polish / repolish will be able to say watch has been repolished and it won’t look as good / not as sharp as initially

100% agree with this; well said.

One other wrinkle to throw out there, and forgive the quick tangent, is you have to be careful as to what you’re buying and who you are buying from.

I appreciate those sellers who do not claim a watch to be unpolished with 100% certainty, even if it looks that way, unless it is fully stickered / NOS.

I saw a listing for an F serial 16610LV with papers and a non-original “Pointed 4” bezel. While the seller was transparent, he did note that one could pickup a “Flat 4” bezel for a few thousand dollars.

Especially with the 16610LV, whether it’s polished or unpolished, or just genuine originality, I’d consider paying a slight premium for NOS or original owner with important items such as the hang tag (which would have the barcode sticker that confirms “LV”), warranty papers, where certain (but not all) will have “V” or “LV” on them, and sales receipt.

Otherwise, you could be purchasing a Franken or one without factory brushing (if you care about such things).

[James69]

Originally Posted by illiguy

100% agree with this; well said.

One other wrinkle to throw out there, and forgive the quick tangent, is you have to be careful as to what you’re buying and who you are buying from.

I appreciate those sellers who do not claim a watch to be unpolished with 100% certainty, even if it looks that way, unless it is fully stickered / NOS.

I saw a listing for an F serial 16610LV with papers and a non-original “Pointed 4” bezel. While the seller was transparent, he did note that one could pickup a “Flat 4” bezel for a few thousand dollars.

Especially with the 16610LV, whether it’s polished or unpolished, or just genuine originality, I’d consider paying a slight premium for NOS or original owner with important items such as the hang tag (which would have the barcode sticker that confirms “LV”), warranty papers, where certain (but not all) will have “V” or “LV” on them, and sales receipt.

Otherwise, you could be purchasing a Franken or one without factory brushing (if you care about such things).

Agree! 16610LV is tricky, I wouldn't consider buying without the original warranty paper. One can easily buy a maxi dial, a green Bezel (pointed or flat 4) and put into a 16610 and sell as LV. In fact, there are a lot of these in the second hand market! Buyers beware!

[av1atic]

Originally Posted by Dirt

Outstanding
You're on your way and discerning about how you approach the polishing issue.
Reasonable stretch on the bracelet too, so I think it has been well loved. Looks good on your wrist too.

Reasonable stretch? Well loved?

Are we looking at the same thing? That bracelet is like new.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by karleone

I always ask my watch not to be polished during service and made it written. Why? Because my watches are either unpolished or repolished but very well done so I don’t want to take the risks Rolex messing up with polish. Whatever people who are fan of polishing says a repolished watch would never look as good as a factory unpolished Rolex. Especially on 4/5 digits Sub/SD/GMT/Explo 2 where the case have bevels/ chamfers most of watches after a repolish lose these bevels/ chamfers that were originally there when the watch left the factory. It’s very common to see as well rounded lugs, lug holes surface not sharp, rounded crown guards, lug holes too close from bevel/ chamfer if still there etc. An additional problem is lugs not being V brushed as it supposed to be on 4/5 digits or with a grain different from Rolex factory finish. People saying a Rolex will come back as new after RSC are just not enough knowledgeable. On a 4/5 digits best case your watch has been repolished by an expert like Rolliworks or LAWW or someone very qualified at RSC and it will look decent / great (but not 100% orignal factory finish). Worst case your watch has been polished not by an expert (and it happens a lot even by Rolex RSC) and your watch has no more scratches so form a non expert looks new but someone who know about polish / repolish will be able to say watch has been repolished and it won’t look as good / not as sharp as initially

Well myself been wearing Rolex for well over 50 years and would expect have had more watches serviced by various RSC world wide than many have today And can honestly say never had a bad polish,a few of my working tool watches one particular watch a 16600 SD had a very hard life with well over 600 hours underwater.And has been serviced and polished by now 4 different RSC now almost 25 years old still looks good today.

[karleone]

Originally Posted by padi56

Well myself been wearing Rolex for well over 50 years and would expect have had more watches serviced by various RSC world wide than many have today And can honestly say never had a bad polish,a few of my working tool watches one particular watch a 16600 SD had a very hard life with well over 600 hours underwater.And has been serviced and polished by now 4 different RSC now almost 25 years old still looks good today.

You always copy paste the same message. You have been very lucky with your polishing but I have had two very bad polishing from Rolex RSC and there are countless of posts where the watch came back with a horrible polishing job done from Rolex RSC. So I know you love your watches to be polished and you hate people that prefer their watches to be unpolished but you have to be open minded about that.

[karleone]

Originally Posted by illiguy

100% agree with this; well said.

One other wrinkle to throw out there, and forgive the quick tangent, is you have to be careful as to what you’re buying and who you are buying from.

I appreciate those sellers who do not claim a watch to be unpolished with 100% certainty, even if it looks that way, unless it is fully stickered / NOS.

I saw a listing for an F serial 16610LV with papers and a non-original “Pointed 4” bezel. While the seller was transparent, he did note that one could pickup a “Flat 4” bezel for a few thousand dollars.

Especially with the 16610LV, whether it’s polished or unpolished, or just genuine originality, I’d consider paying a slight premium for NOS or original owner with important items such as the hang tag (which would have the barcode sticker that confirms “LV”), warranty papers, where certain (but not all) will have “V” or “LV” on them, and sales receipt.

Otherwise, you could be purchasing a Franken or one without factory brushing (if you care about such things).

Thanks and I could not care less about papers (condition is everything) but I agree the 16610LV is the only watch I would never buy without papers