16800 Check - 8,752,xxx Serial

[dhknola]

I have been offered this lovely 16800 sub, seller indicates that everything is original to the watch.
I understand that the earliest white gold surrounds are from the 8.3m range, so this could be a very early, correct dial, with white gold surrounds (which I think are nice).
Bezel and date wheel look right to me, but I am looking for anything that I maybe missing.
Seller is asking 11k usd.

[dhknola]

Any help on this one?


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[alwayshere]

nothing looks off to me. I have seen 16800 with WG dial in that serial range and earlier so I think thats okay.

I can't comment if $11K is reasonable or not but I do query if you are after a WG dial, why not just buy a 16610. I'm assuming you can buy them for less than $11K and they typically won't have the mismatching lume / patina - unless thats what you're after?

I thought many would want the 16800 with the matte dial...

[dhknola]

Thank you!
I actually have a 16610 and sort of enjoy that this is an early wg surround dial.
I wouldn’t hate a matte, I just tend to buy local when cool watches pop up. I don’t ‘need’ this one at all, just intrigued by it and wanted to get some group consensus before possibly jumping on it.


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[16610Swiss]

11k? No way in this condition. More like an 8k watch with no box and papers. Hands are not original, case is polished unprofessional, still strong and can be fixed to bring back its chamfers. INSERT is correct...Check to see if the end links are round 593 and not flat top. Also check if the clasp code matches the year of the watch, this one is a December 1984 clasp...

[swish77]

Hard to tell much from these bad photos, but the mismatch of the dial/hands patina would bug me, regardless if the hands are original or not.

Note that these early gloss dials have a tendency to get age spots or speckles across the surface. Make sure you see better photos in angled lighting. Sometimes the blemishes are tough to pick up in straight-on photos. In the close-up photo of the dial, it looks as if there might be some of those imperfections on the dial, but hard to tell for sure.

[dhknola]

Thanks 16610 Swiss, I had a gut feeling that hands were off, but sometimes they age a different hue from the lume. The case is certainly soft as well.
I am just going to pass on this one. Too many issues for the price, it is just getting quite uncommon to see anything 'pop up' these days and this one has a nice patina on the dial, but mismatched hands would make me crazy.
Thanks all for chiming in and pointing me away from this one.

[dhknola]

Originally Posted by swish77

Hard to tell much from these bad photos, but the mismatch of the dial/hands patina would bug me, regardless if the hands are original or not.

Note that these early gloss dials have a tendency to get age spots or speckles across the surface. Make sure you see better photos in angled lighting. Sometimes the blemishes are tough to pick up in straight-on photos. In the close-up photo of the dial, it looks as if there might be some of those imperfections on the dial, but hard to tell for sure.

Thanks for the input Swish and the bad photos are my fault as a result of was in a rush, I am not a great photog to begin with and I still have a button on my iphone.

I did not give the dial a super inspection, but I think at the price this watch is being offered, I am going to pass on it.

Thank you so much for those that chimed in!