Help with identification of Submariner 5508

[eric198324]

Gentlemen, I need your help with the identification of the dial of a 5508. I have researched the reference to a substantial degree and a couple things worry me about this piece. First there is no Swiss script at the 6 o'clock position and second the 4 lines of text are all in gold print and not a combination of gold and silver. The owner had the dial refinished and I am not sure if the watch was altered but these two discrepancies have me concerned. The watch was authenticated by a local rolex dealer, but I am unsure of their knowledge of this particular model. Included are a couple photos I took of the watch.

[Tools]

Not sure what you are asking for.. Everything you show here says plainly that the dial is refinished, the owner stated that it was refinished, and the dial appears to clearly be refinished..

[eric198324]

I know it was refinished but why would the swiss be removed from the 6 o'clock position and why would the lettering be all gold instead of every other reference that has gold and silver lettering? Those are my questions?

[Dr.Smellody]

Refinished dial should not bear the "Swiss" markings. Those refinishing the dial did not have both gold and silver lettering or a crown stencil. This is a reality of many, many 50's subs.

[andromeda160]

Originally Posted by eric198324

I know it was refinished but why would the swiss be removed from the 6 o'clock position and why would the lettering be all gold instead of every other reference that has gold and silver lettering? Those are my questions?

because not all dial restorers are connoisseurs of rolex. or have the ability to do it to rolex quality.

[Kingface66]

I'm gonna go with, simply because it was refinished very poorly. The crown above "ROLEX" is also quite terrible.

[evilfij]

I would consider having it refinished to a high standard, but realize the value is largely gone. Assuming it is the original plate for the dial, I would not be offended by a properly refinished dial as a wearer.

[CrownMe]

It's missing swiss from the bottom because it was refinished as stated in the paperwork you posted.

You can't expect Rolex quality if Rolex didn't do the work.

[waspy1]

I think the op doesn't fully understand the term 'refinished'. This means that the dial plate was returned to bare metal and new print put on it, followed by lume. Hence the original text and graphics are all gone.


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[Mark020]

+1. Still a valuable watch though.

[Robbyvm]

a poor refinishing job
hands seem changed also

move on to a better example, they are out there (or this one must go realy cheap ?)

[andromeda160]

Originally Posted by Robbyvm

a poor refinishing job
hands seem changed also

move on to a better example, they are out there (or this one must go realy cheap ?)

about 1/2 the price of your 1680 lol probably around $6-7k not very cheap IMO

[linesiders]

That is the thing - at some point someone was working on this and the dial wars replaced either for radiation reasons or dial damage or both.

As the dial was basically stripped and redone/refinished/repainted, instead of REPLACED with a service dial, it looks like this and the price would reflect that - market price less the cost of a hard to get proper dial.

If you want something cherry be prepared to fork over the cash for a good used dial plus whatever else is needed to get it up to period correct condition - which is a little different than original condition.

[Dr.Smellody]

Agree 100%!

Originally Posted by linesiders

That is the thing - at some point someone was working on this and the dial wars replaced either for radiation reasons or dial damage or both.

As the dial was basically stripped and redone/refinished/repainted, instead of REPLACED with a service dial, it looks like this and the price would reflect that - market price less the cost of a hard to get proper dial.

If you want something cherry be prepared to fork over the cash for a good used dial plus whatever else is needed to get it up to period correct condition - which is a little different than original condition.

[dwheelie]

good watch..buy it

[watchcrank]

If cheap enough, nice project, have dial redone well if it bothers you while looking for an original. M

[Robbyvm]

Originally Posted by andromeda160

about 1/2 the price of your 1680 lol probably around $6-7k not very cheap IMO