Rolex Daytona Zenith 16520 Dial Swap at RSC

[Qwerty01]

Hi Everyone,

I have a zenith daytona black dial which I bought awhile ago. However, recently I took it to RSC (Hong Kong) for service quotation and found out this watch was actually a white dial when it came out of the factory.

They also suggested me to change the dial and hands because of aging. Then I requested if they can change it back to a white dial because on their system it shows white dial is original to this watch.

To my surprise they told me they could only give me a black dial because its a black dial when I sent it in.

I understand this new policy that they can't change dials (colour) anymore but I only requested them to restore it to factory spec (which is a white dial). I requested several times but the answer is still NO.

I want to ask fellow members if they have experienced this or if other countries are less strict about changing dials.

Thank you in advance!

[Cheutc]

RSC have a habit of changing everything and making your watch look spanking new which is what most collectors don't want. Tell them you don't want anything to be changed at all.

[spoilsofwar01]

don't do anything until you've attached photos of the watch in question to your post, other's will advise you as to the road to be taking,

only go forwards if you can go back!

[Divingdeep87]

Let us see the dial first.. :)

[Qwerty01]

The current dial on my Zenith is just a Black luminova dial. So now RSC confirmed it should be white leaving the factory therefore I wanted them to restore it to white but they say I can not.

Watch is currently at RSC and so I can't take pictures.

Anyone else has more advice? Any RSC I can go to where they allow me to change it back to white dial? I mean I am just asking to restore it back to original dial colour which I think its fair.

I know I can go down the road of sourcing a white dial and let an independent watch maker do the work but before I do that, I want to make sure there is really no chance at any of the RSCs.

Thanks for the replies guys!

[cpefy3]

If you are going to go through all the effort to go back to a white dial, why not try and source a period correct one? Just a thought. Good luck!!

[Qwerty01]

Originally Posted by cpefy3

If you are going to go through all the effort to go back to a white dial, why not try and source a period correct one? Just a thought. Good luck!!

Thanks cpefy3!

I have thought about that. However, papers are dated 1999 and a late U serial means it can either be luminova or tritium with the latter being most likely but not guaranteed.

Also nowadays sourcing a matching tritium white dial with matching hands is really really difficult.

Therefore I want to restore it to serviced white dial and hands and just enjoy wearing it without worrying about being a collectors item.