How much does a replacement bezel affect the value?

[Cheutc]

Hi everyone,

I am looking to purchase my first vintage and am currently looking to buy a 1680 white. It seems as if a lot of the available subs on the market have replacement bezels from rsc and I was just wondering how much does it affect the value of it compared to a white sub that is all original? And also do original bracelets affect the value much either?

Thanks!

[stevedssd]

Hi welcome to TRF.......the general rule is the more original a watch the more it will be of interest to vintage buyers. The most important parts that affect vintage value are the dial and hands, for example in the UK a White 1680 with service dial will be from around £7k up, whereas original dial £10k. An original bezel insert will add value over a service replacement, a service bracelet will be less desirable than one with a clasp code consistent with the watch serial number and original box, papers, service records hang tags etc all add value.

Its all a matter of personal choice over how much originality is important to you. I have a White with original dial and hands and a service insert and bracelet, I'm happy with that but others wouldn't be. At the end of the day the most important thing with vintage is that you get what you think you are getting and pay accordingly. So researching original v service dials, bracelet clasp codes, fonts of original v service inserts etc is all part of the fun of vintage.

Good luck in your hunt, especially here in the UK where White 1680's are not very plentiful.

[Cheutc]

Hi Steve, thanks for your reply, so an original dial with box and papers will be upwards of 10k?

[strafer_kid]

This can be a bit of a minefield, so don't feel the need to rush into anything. It might take a while to chase down the one you want and speaking from experience, it is very easy to get caught out. I was in the same position as you a few years back, and whilst I landed a fairly nice 1680, I ended up going higher than I should have largely down to lack of knowledge and inexperience at that time.....and this was probably quite obvious to the seller. Anyway, there are lots of great guys on this forum with great experience, who always appear willing to help. Good luck!

[stevedssd]

Originally Posted by Cheutc

Hi Steve, thanks for your reply, so an original dial with box and papers will be upwards of 10k?

A good way of gauging value is to do a search on Chrono 24, make sure you set your country to UK and currency to GBP so you get UK located 1680's first. There are usually only a few UK based White 1680's for sale at any time but over a period of time you will get a feel for prices. Very roughly a White 1680 with service dial and hands will be around £7k, one with original dial and hands around £10k, start adding original insert and it goes up more.......an absolute full set would be moving well up from £10k .........of course all depending on what a seller thinks they can ask and get for their watch. As Strafer said above it's a minefield that is best navigated by doing extensive research so you know the main points of what to look for and then post a possible purchase on here for views from some of the members far more knowledgeable than me. .........Just looked on Chrono, ignoring the 69 with White dial there are four, one for £7k with service dial and hands, two with original dial and hands no papers for £10k and one with original dial hands, box papers including original bill of sale for £13.5k. Good luck

[OliverD]

In my experience people are pretty savvy these days as to the value of parts. A nice mark 3 insert is worth maybe £1000 and a nice service replacement maybe £300-500 (both of those numbers are pretty rough). Take one away from the other and you have an idea of how much extra you should be paying for a correct insert. They're very easy to source so I wouldn't let it influence your decision too much. It's all about price.

There is a higher percentage than usual of service inserts on white 1680's and in my opinion I think that they're probably being taken by dealers to put on more valuable watches like reds or 5513's.