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Old 18 August 2019, 03:42 AM   #1
Justingtr
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Swirls on dial / sapphire crystal in bright sun light

Hey all

This is my new to me 114060 and in bright sunlight I can see swirl marks like you'd see on a car that's been thru the car wash.

I'm fairly sure it's the dial that has these swirl marks but does anyone else have this issue? I was finally able to photograph it today.

Justin

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Old 18 August 2019, 03:45 AM   #2
brandog
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Thats very odd. Have you tried properly cleaning it? Its probably through the sapphire somehow. Luckily its fairly inexpensive to replace the sapphire and would just for that.
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Old 18 August 2019, 03:55 AM   #3
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Thats very odd. Have you tried properly cleaning it? Its probably through the sapphire somehow. Luckily its fairly inexpensive to replace the sapphire and would just for that.
Yes I have cleaned it. I'll probably send it to RSC after my vacation and see what they say. Hopefully this is covered under warranty.

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Old 18 August 2019, 04:18 AM   #4
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As a general rule of thumb if you can’t clean it off the top of the sapphire then it’s probably on the bottom of the sapphire (or possibly dial I suppose too).
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Old 18 August 2019, 01:30 PM   #5
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Its the glossy dial. All black glossy dial Rolex has this. I made peace with it years ago haha.
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Old 18 August 2019, 01:38 PM   #6
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Its the glossy dial. All black glossy dial Rolex has this. I made peace with it years ago haha.
Reflection?
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Old 18 August 2019, 01:48 PM   #7
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Are you talking about the reflection from the outside ring on the hour markers?
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Old 18 August 2019, 02:52 PM   #8
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rsc.
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Old 18 August 2019, 05:03 PM   #9
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Odd. Are the marks you’re talking about those between the 9 and 10 hour markers? The directions seem to change between the second and third photo. What are you cleaning and drying with?
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Old 19 August 2019, 12:45 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by jbenjamin1 View Post
Its the glossy dial. All black glossy dial Rolex has this. I made peace with it years ago haha.
My first 114060 did not have this.

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Old 19 August 2019, 12:50 AM   #11
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Odd. Are the marks you’re talking about those between the 9 and 10 hour markers? The directions seem to change between the second and third photo. What are you cleaning and drying with?
Yeah the directions will change depending on where the glare is. I've used brushes and soap, micro fibers, just water and a normal towel, etc. I'm just gonna send to RSC as my first 114060 did not have these strange streaks.

I'm wondering if it is either on the sapphire on the inside or a bad polish job on the gloss dial itself. Rolex does have its issues with small details like this. My first had dust under the dial and another guy just had a hair on his date wheel on another thread.

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Old 19 August 2019, 12:53 AM   #12
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Reflection?
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Originally Posted by watchmework View Post
Are you talking about the reflection from the outside ring on the hour markers?
It's not the reflections from the rehaut or hour markers. In bright sunlight there is a swirl effect on the dial like a car gets when it goes thru on automatic car wash too many times.

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Old 19 August 2019, 12:53 AM   #13
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Yeah the directions will change depending on where the glare is. I've used brushes and soap, micro fibers, just water and a normal towel, etc. I'm just gonna send to RSC as my first 114060 did not have these strange streaks.

I'm wondering if it is either on the sapphire on the inside or a bad polish job on the gloss dial itself. Rolex does have its issues with small details like this. My first had dust under the dial and another guy just had a hair on his date wheel on another thread.

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It does look like it’s in the dial. Defo worth sending in I think. Even if they get a loupe on it and a bright light to determine exactly what’s causing it.
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Old 19 August 2019, 12:53 AM   #14
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Its new to you but whats the history of the watch ?
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Old 19 August 2019, 01:24 AM   #15
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Looks like these swirls are underneath the crystal imo. I’m having the same issue on my Omega PO after a hands replacement job. It’s been to the Swatch service center three times now. I told them to replace the dang crystal vs attempting to clean it this time.
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Old 19 August 2019, 02:48 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Justingtr View Post
Hey all

This is my new to me 114060 and in bright sunlight I can see swirl marks like you'd see on a car that's been thru the car wash.

I'm fairly sure it's the dial that has these swirl marks but does anyone else have this issue? I was finally able to photograph it today.

Justin

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Second vote for it being the dial. I can see it clearly in your third photo around the 10 and 11 markers.

My 16610 had it. As did my 16600. My thoughts are that they are fine polishing marks from when the dials are made.
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Old 19 August 2019, 02:57 AM   #17
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I recently got my sub and it has them too. Seems like light bouncing between dial and crystal and creating multiple reflections of the hour markers. I might be wrong too
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Old 19 August 2019, 03:01 AM   #18
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It looks like there are light swirl marks on the physical dial, I was able to finally see this in the pics. I don’t OP is talking about the triple reflections are the markers? When I had my Sub it did the same thing. To me it was bad dial flaw in the original design and something IMHO shouldn’t be producible on such an expensive watch.
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Old 20 August 2019, 06:42 AM   #19
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Second vote for it being the dial. I can see it clearly in your third photo around the 10 and 11 markers.

My 16610 had it. As did my 16600. My thoughts are that they are fine polishing marks from when the dials are made.
This.
Have seen this on many professional gloss dials and believe there are a couple of old threads on the topic as well. Result of the dial manufacturing process was the explanation I was given when speaking to RSC.
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Old 21 August 2019, 04:10 AM   #20
Justingtr
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Its new to you but whats the history of the watch ?
Warranty card dated Feb 2019. I bought it from OCRolexGuy. Solid seller.

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Old 21 August 2019, 04:32 AM   #21
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Originally Posted by JodyHighroller View Post
Looks like these swirls are underneath the crystal imo. I’m having the same issue on my Omega PO after a hands replacement job. It’s been to the Swatch service center three times now. I told them to replace the dang crystal vs attempting to clean it this time.
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Originally Posted by Devildog View Post
Second vote for it being the dial. I can see it clearly in your third photo around the 10 and 11 markers.

My 16610 had it. As did my 16600. My thoughts are that they are fine polishing marks from when the dials are made.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Laszlo View Post
It looks like there are light swirl marks on the physical dial, I was able to finally see this in the pics. I don’t OP is talking about the triple reflections are the markers? When I had my Sub it did the same thing. To me it was bad dial flaw in the original design and something IMHO shouldn’t be producible on such an expensive watch.
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This.
Have seen this on many professional gloss dials and believe there are a couple of old threads on the topic as well. Result of the dial manufacturing process was the explanation I was given when speaking to RSC.
Yeah I'm pretty sure it's a bad polish job on the dial itself.

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Old 21 August 2019, 04:33 AM   #22
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I recently got my sub and it has them too. Seems like light bouncing between dial and crystal and creating multiple reflections of the hour markers. I might be wrong too
Hey it's not the reflections of the hands or hour markers.

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Old 21 August 2019, 04:38 AM   #23
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Not to thread derail but I just noticed what look like very fine scratches on the crystal of my SD43. They radiate from horizontal from 8-4 on bottom portion of the crystal. Could it be from zipper and has any else had their crystal scratched similarly?
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Old 21 August 2019, 04:52 AM   #24
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Yeah I'm pretty sure it's a bad polish job on the dial itself.

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Not necessarily bad and definitely both common and normal on this type of dial, have seen it on both five and six figure references.
These dials are hand made and slight variation in finish is inevitable and part of the individual charm of each timepiece. At least in my opinion. :)
Enjoy your beautiful Submariner!
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Old 25 August 2019, 03:37 AM   #25
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Not to thread derail but I just noticed what look like very fine scratches on the crystal of my SD43. They radiate from horizontal from 8-4 on bottom portion of the crystal. Could it be from zipper and has any else had their crystal scratched similarly?
A zipper won't scratch a sapphire crystal. It takes quite a bit to even leave a mark on sapphire.

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Old 25 August 2019, 03:38 AM   #26
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Not necessarily bad and definitely both common and normal on this type of dial, have seen it on both five and six figure references.

These dials are hand made and slight variation in finish is inevitable and part of the individual charm of each timepiece. At least in my opinion. :)

Enjoy your beautiful Submariner!
That's definitely a different way to look at it. Thanks!

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Old 25 August 2019, 04:39 AM   #27
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Under certain light I can see it, but unfortunately with overcast today I dont. I wouldnt stress it.

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Old 25 August 2019, 06:59 AM   #28
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That's definitely a different way to look at it. Thanks!

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Old 25 August 2019, 09:32 PM   #29
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That's definitely a different way to look at it. Thanks!

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And to reiterate - this is not considered to be a defect, at least not according to RSC in London.
Gloss professional dials are polished as part of the manufacturing process and these swirl marks are the result of that. Only visible under strong, direct sunlight or LED/flash, in certain angles as people have witnessed in this thread. Of course with minor variation, as is the case with Rolex dial production in general (print etc).
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Old 26 August 2019, 03:25 AM   #30
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And to reiterate - this is not considered to be a defect, at least not according to RSC in London.
Gloss professional dials are polished as part of the manufacturing process and these swirl marks are the result of that. Only visible under strong, direct sunlight or LED/flash, in certain angles as people have witnessed in this thread. Of course with minor variation, as is the case with Rolex dial production in general (print etc).
I guess I'm just not used to it because my first Sub C didn't have this.

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