NOS 1601 Datejust Ridiculousness?

[roh123]

Originally Posted by MILGAUSS88

Here is a link to an image of what I would consider a legit tropical Datejust dial.
It is a completely different hue.

https://sg.carousell.com/p/vintage-r...ial-168178871/

(I can't seem to download photos on this website, or tapatalk anymore. Maybe someone else can post this photo.)

I was thinking about it, and I do not think I have seen a tropical Rolex dial that was not a gilt dial as well. Which the subject watch is not.

The dial in your link seems to be water damaged rather than tropical imho. Of course up to everyone to decide what is what but to me a tropical gilt dial should be undamaged except from the color change.

And the last I knew a gilt dial only refered to the color of the print, not the material of the dial. This print is white, not gold or "gilt".

Gilt is usually refered to the production technique when it comes to watch dials. Glossy lacqured dials where the brass plate shine through as text.

Regarding the print which seem more white it is not uncommon for gilt dials. Check my tropical GMT on Instagram. Especially in sunlight the print becomes very pale and white. Even black gilt dials can have gilt print that goes from being very orange to almost white depending on the example. They aren’t all the same.

[TurboWatch]

Originally Posted by roh123

Galvanized brass plate that shows through underneath the black glossy lacquer. In this case a beautiful black dial that turned brown.

This


My non-tropical 1601 glossy black gilt, with a smooth bezel




Notice the gilt font...it's beneath the black paint and it's not gold/yellow paint

[MILGAUSS88]

Originally Posted by roh123

The dial in your link seems to be water damaged. Regarding the print which seem more white it is not uncommon for gilt dials. Check my tropical GMT on Instagram. Especially in sunlight the print becomes very pale and white. Even black gilt dials can have gilt print that goes from being very orange to almost white. They aren’t all the same.

That appears to be to have the silver colored print from the photos. (Difficult to tell with the lighting,) Which I believe is referred to as gilt, as well.
There is no denying that dial has the tropical patina.

But, my opinion on the Datejust , is that it is still a brown dial, not tropical.
I can see lines in the dial finish similar to their silver colored dials. I have never seen that on Rolex's black dials. I do not think the dial was ever black.

The dials on your tropical watches appear to have a grainy texture, which is what I would expect. That is not what the Datejust has.

[Andad]

Seller is ‘avin a laff’.

[roh123]

Originally Posted by MILGAUSS88

That appears to be to have the silver colored print from the photos. (Difficult to tell with the lighting,) Which I believe is referred to as gilt, as well.
There is no denying that dial has the tropical patina.

But, my opinion on the Datejust , is that it is still a brown dial, not tropical.
I can see lines in the dial finish similar to their silver colored dials. I have never seen that on Rolex's black dials. I do not think the dial was ever black.

The dials on your tropical watches appear to have a grainy texture, which is what I would expect. That is not what the Datejust has.

Mine are mirrorlike and perfect.

Here is a similar Datejust dial which you can see turned brown somewhat similar but not yet full like this example.

Photo credit @donny_bay: https://www.instagram.com/p/BHU8icxBqGi/

[roh123]

Originally Posted by TurboWatch

This


My non-tropical 1600 glossy black gilt




Notice the gilt font...it's beneath the black paint and it's not gold/yellow paint

Very, very nice!

[tenerific]

Just wanted to say I really appreciate everyone who has chimed in - this has been very educational!

[mobster600]

To the poor sap who pays $20k......may God bless his/her soul.

[vtsnowplow]

why do people get so mad when a buyer asks a high price? If you don't like the price, buy another watch.

[waspy1]

Each to their own but to me, this is worth every penny if it’s a genuine gilt tropical dial. I doubt the nay sayers have seen a genuine perfect gilt dial. If you’ve seen one, you’d appreciate why there is a huge price differential. If this piece was close to me, I’d go visit and if it was correct, it would come home with me. Buy every perfect gilt dial Rolex you can find.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Wahlberg]

Originally Posted by roh123

Then don’t buy it. I think it will sell. It’s hard to find a more beautiful watch for less than that imho.

Do you own one as well? Or what's the deal why it doesn't have a cyclops? Earlier models didn't have one?

[mountainjogger]

Originally Posted by directioneng

Seller is ‘avin a laff’.

Yes. And no doubt has a bridge to sell you too.

[Robtayham]

Originally Posted by tenerific

Stumbled across this the other day.

1601 with a nice dial? Check
Seemingly unpolished and NOS? Check
Worth the $20k asking? I'm thinking no (right??)

The seller said they were "firm" at 20k, which I found a little ridiculous, maybe even threw up in my mouth a bit when I heard that, lol. I've never head of a datejust being so expensive ...

I don’t know enough to agree with your ‘checks’.

If it was me, for that amount of money for a DJ, you need to have it authenticated, and appraised.

[springer]

Here is a tropical gilt Datejust of mine, model 1603, that I owned a few years ago. Its serial number is 1.6XXXXX and it had a glossy gilt black dial that turned a brownish color as evidenced by the photos here. The right side of the dial was more brown in color than the left side and when viewed, the dial appeared to have a gradient color change from right to left - going from light to medium brown, then to a darker brown then to almost a black or very dark brown.

[swish77]

They're beautiful dials when they turn brown/tropical naturally, but for $20K there would be many other watches, vintage and/or new, that would be on my list before that DJ.