Advices on a 6610

[DSplash]

Hi all!

I’m looking for a 6610 and this example caught my eye. The photos are far from exceptional but from what I see, it seems like a nice original 56’ piece.
I’ve exchanged with the seller who doesn’t seem very knowledgeable about its details but says it hasn’t been touched for 30 years (his father’s watch who was indeed a collector)
So no uv or Geiger counter pics...

As there are no dedicated website to this reference, tracking all its details is not as « easy » as with subs or gmts, so I’d very much appreciate any input one might have

Thanks!




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[SeeDweller]

Darn it! Now you got me all hot about getting a "birth year" watch, again! (Yes, it's 1956, of course)
Making me want a 6610!! (and I have the excuse that I don't have any Explorer, yet!).

[DSplash]

This really seemed like a nice one...But I missed it :/

But now I desperately need one of those!


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[DSplash]

Any other opinions on this watch? Did I miss something? It went for 18k$ which seemed rather low from my perspective but maybe I missed something...

Thanks!


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[martin.skeet]

It looks good to me. A bargain.

[DSplash]

Staying on the 6610 subject...How does this one look? The dial looks great and the patina uniform but the jour hand seems way longer than on most examples I can find. How come? Is it a replacement one from an other model? Or just a service hand?
Thanks!

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F273956159532


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[77T]

The hour hand on original 6610’s are long. In fact, your first post had an incorrect, shorter hour hand on it.

But the minute hand on the latest one you posted is shorter than it should by a mm or two.

The s/n looks odd to me. Without documentation you’re in a shadowy place with this one. It may be authentic but not 100% original.




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[DSplash]

Thanks! I also saw that early ones had an long neck hour hand...

What seems odd to you about the serial? The range or the typo?




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[frackas]

“It may be authentic but not 100% original” I agree with this. It’s a possible relume, although a high quality one. Very few 6610’s are this smooth looking if you study them up close. The 6610 dial actually has cut out markers for the lume to be filled in, and usually this is visible. See example below, also from first quarter 1956.

Here you can also see how the hands have aged compared to the one you posted. There will usually be significant radium burn on a authentic 6610 dial, leaving the dial matte instead of glossy, but I have seen anomalies where the dial is fairly intact. There’s also the issue with the short minute hand. I would personally pass on this and wait for a more realistic looking one from a reputable dealer.

[DSplash]

Yes, I think I will pass too...
The weirdest thing is that the minute hand, although not original to the watch, matches perfectly with the other hands and indexes!

I’m really upset about having missed the first one I posted though...It seemed very nice and went for half of what dealers ask for them nowadays...


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[DSplash]

The seller of this 2nd one did provide a radioactivity picture on a previous auction for this watch...This value would be cohérent with radium original lime, wouldn’t it?




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[frackas]

Radium is widely used in high end relume jobs. Radium is easily obtained from the lume of other less expensive watches from the same era. I’m not saying this one is definitely relumed, just that the prevalence of radium does not prove that it’s original.

[DSplash]

Wow! Good to know, thanks, I thought it was a pretty good sign!
I’m surprised it sold below 8k€ though


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[tenerific]

Originally Posted by DSplash

Wow! Good to know, thanks, I thought it was a pretty good sign!
I’m surprised it sold below 8k€ though


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PS avoid deal_aussie on Ebay. Well known scammer.


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[DSplash]

Originally Posted by tenerific

PS avoid deal_aussie on Ebay. Well known scammer.


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Thanks for the info, I’ll keep that in mind!

Any thoughts on the last watch I showed?


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[waspy1]

The hands in the eBay watch are not Rolex, hence the low selling price. Hands and dials for these are unobtainium so there’s no way to make it correct.


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[DSplash]

I found a very untouched looking one that has indeed a radium damaged dial. At this point in my search, a glossy dial on a 6610 would seem highly suspicious...

What do you think?



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[waspy1]

Originally Posted by DSplash

I found a very untouched looking one that has indeed a radium damaged dial. At this point in my search, a glossy dial on a 6610 would seem highly suspicious...

What do you think?



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This looks perfect. I wouldn’t trust an original dial which doesn’t have some radium burn. This one seems very normal and excellent matching hands. In my experience it should glow faintly if you take it into a completely dark room and allow your eyes to adjust. They don’t react to light exposure.


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[Mark020]

Look at the numbers..... They scream: 'we are RELUMED'

[DSplash]

Better pics of the dial :



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[waspy1]

Looks great. Caseback date matches and brevet crown? If so then it’s 100%


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[DSplash]

« + » crown and caseback from 1.1958.
Serial in 359xxx
It all seems to match!
Only the bracelet is an American C&I while I would have preferred a Swiss 7206 but that’s not that bad I think...




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[waspy1]

Originally Posted by DSplash

« + » crown and caseback from 1.1958.
Serial in 359xxx
It all seems to match!
Only the bracelet is an American C&I while I would have preferred a Swiss 7206 but that’s not that bad I think...




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Seems perfect. I love the 6610, here’s one of mine:



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[DSplash]

Originally Posted by waspy1

Seems perfect. I love the 6610, here’s one of mine:



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Nice one! Congrats!

So you think you’d go for this one if you were looking for one?


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[waspy1]

Originally Posted by DSplash

Nice one! Congrats!

So you think you’d go for this one if you were looking for one?


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For sure - I’d say that’s as good as you’ll get personally. Some polywatch on the crystal will do a good job on it. Or rock it with the scratches - it looks pretty cool like that to me.


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[iliketime]

looks better than the funky dial one on ebay atm

[DSplash]

Thanks for the comment, that’s reassuring!

I like that it doesn’t seem to have been tampered with by xx dealers during its course.

I also find the dial very attractive but I’m having trouble assessing it objectively. Usually, with gmt or sub gilt dials, the cleaner and glossier, the better...But with these, they have to be damaged to some point by the radium and these damage apparently can look very different, I could not find a « gold standard perfect 6610 dial » to compare with...


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[Futuristic]

Looks great... Congrats!!

[waspy1]

I would be very suspicious of a ‘more perfect’ dial. All the correct ones I’ve seen have lost the perfect gloss which you still
Find on later tritium dials from the early 60s. There’s all sorts of hanky panky going on to relacquer or touch up with an oil to give it a ‘wet look’. Also these dials can look gloss jet black depending on the lighting and photo tweaking / filters.

Better to have a piece like yours which is unarguably correct than to have some hand waving story about how a dial
Could survive unscathed from 65 years of radium exposure. Congrats!


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[frackas]

This one looks great! Did you buy it?