Am I unreasonable - swapping dials/papers

[Horationelson]

Walking through a well-known jewellery district in London at lunch time, I noticed a few interesting watches in the window, including a YM, Datejust and polar Explorer II 16570 (early 90s). I popped in to take a look. I tried on the YM and DJ first, which were nice but not quite what I was after.

When I asked if I could try on the Explorer II from the window, they said white or black? (I hadn’t seen the black one). They went on to say that the white one had no box and papers, but the black one did. I said that my preference was the white. They then said that they could swap the dials for me, so that I’d have a watch with box and papers (!!!???)

For me, saying something like that means there is simply no way I could buy from the place. If they’re offering to swap dials/paperwork within 5 mins of me entering the shop, it does make me question every single item of stock in there. Am I being unreasonable here, or is this reasonably common when buying “vintage” or second hand?

[Pureform]

Ive been to many places and 90 percent of them are willing to swap dials, hands, bezels and so forth with other watches... lets just say even well known dealers that people speak highly about on here do it also...

[MorningTundra]

I believe this to be a common practice. Especially with vintage. And not just dials.

The notion of “all original” is impossible to prove without Rolex involvement and even then there is room for doubt. At best you can hope for “all correct”.


Sent from my cracked, broken hand wound phone. IG @morning_tundra

[zapokee]

You might even be able to negotiate a discount for a swapped dial and still have a nice correct watch. Or just get one from a trusted dealer on the forums.

[TimeToGo]

Well the papers tells you the color of the dial on that period of production.
If it is the original box, it may also have that information..
One way to verify..

[MorningTundra]

Originally Posted by TimeToGo

Well the papers tells you the color of the dial on that period of production.
If it is the original box, it may also have that information..
One way to verify..

Where on the box is the dial color indicated?


Sent from my cracked, broken hand wound phone. IG @morning_tundra

[TimeToGo]

Originally Posted by MorningTundra

Where on the box is the dial color indicated?


Sent from my cracked, broken hand wound phone. IG @morning_tundra

Again, it may. Here are a couple of examples...
You may see a black dot or a description of the dial color back during that time period.
.

[MorningTundra]

Originally Posted by TimeToGo

Again, it may. Here are a couple of examples...
You may see a black dot or a description of the dial color back during that time period.
.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing...

[peterpl]

Heaps of places do this.

I've been offered dial swaps by many many dealers.

[gman5515]

Originally Posted by Horationelson

Walking through a well-known jewellery district in London at lunch time, I noticed a few interesting watches in the window, including a YM, Datejust and polar Explorer II 16570 (early 90s). I popped in to take a look. I tried on the YM and DJ first, which were nice but not quite what I was after.

When I asked if I could try on the Explorer II from the window, they said white or black? (I hadn’t seen the black one). They went on to say that the white one had no box and papers, but the black one did. I said that my preference was the white. They then said that they could swap the dials for me, so that I’d have a watch with box and papers (!!!???)

For me, saying something like that means there is simply no way I could buy from the place. If they’re offering to swap dials/paperwork within 5 mins of me entering the shop, it does make me question every single item of stock in there. Am I being unreasonable here, or is this reasonably common when buying “vintage” or second hand?

thanks for sharing your story. great that you have thought about this, and as a collector, it begs the question of what most collectors fear. However, like what other fellow forummers have mentioned, it is pretty common, sadly, but the best u can hope for is "period correctness".

I have had thoughts amongst some of my pieces, to have the bezel inserts swapped, but in the end, my conscious got the better of me, and i sold them "as found" condition. I may have missed out on a better insert, but at least I sold it guilt-free on my end.