1st Post! Question about dials and hands...

[pozer]

So I'm in the hunt for a 1016 and always ask if the dial and hands are original to the watch. My question is this: how can an expert tell the difference, and can a layman discern a service dial with a photo?

I can readily identify non-matching dial and hands regarding the aging but feel like I just need to take the dealer's word for it regarding originality.

Thanks!

[pozer]

And a follow up question to all the responses: I noticed a variety of hand lengths - some touching the minute indices, some short of it, some covering. What's up with this?

[77T]

My suggestion is to narrow your search to only trusted vintage sellers on TRF. You might reach out to them via PM to see what they might source for you with originality as your first priority.




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[05carbondrz]

If You have a vintage Dealer search out a Piece for You the outcome will be You overpaying.It’s better to take it slow and do research all the while looking at as many 1016’s as possible.In my opinion this is the fun part,YMMV.Some will counter with “why waste your Time” or “It’s too risky” but diving deep into a Reference is awesome when you finally land the right piece.

[waspy1]

You are quite right about hand lengths. Many of the service hands you’ll see are too short. The original minute hands should be significantly longer. I believe the shorter hands are Submariner hands which have been used since the supply of 1016 hands have pretty much dried up. Have a good look of dials on vintagerolexforum dial archive to determine what is correct for the given year. Good luck, good ones are getting very few and far between.


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[pozer]

Originally Posted by waspy1

You are quite right about hand lengths. Many of the service hands you’ll see are too short. The original minute hands should be significantly longer. I believe the shorter hands are Submariner hands which have been used since the supply of 1016 hands have pretty much dried up. Have a good look of dials on vintagerolexforum dial archive to determine what is correct for the given year. Good luck, good ones are getting very few and far between.


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Very interesting - that the short hands could be service hands. The watch I'm looking at is right on the edge of being too short, with the second hand nearly touching the minute index. The hands and dial look consistently aged to me and it's a very reputable dealer. If I could post a link, I would and will. Many thanks.

[waspy1]

Originally Posted by pozer

Very interesting - that the short hands could be service hands. The watch I'm looking at is right on the edge of being too short, with the second hand nearly touching the minute index. The hands and dial look consistently aged to me and it's a very reputable dealer. If I could post a link, I would and will. Many thanks.

I’d expect that both the minute and second hand should touch the minute markers around the edge of the dial. Depending on the angle which the pics have been taken can affect how this appears. Pics should be taken face on.


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[pozer]

Thanks - I've looked through as many 1969-1972 1016s and the hands length looks fine, but definitely shorter than earlier or later watches. With the stars being aligned, you'll see the new watch day post in Vintage later this week...