Verifying a 6694....

[LightsOut]

Hello there,

First post - bought my first Rolex (finally), from watchfinder.co.uk - I thought I would negate the risk of anything suspicious by buying from a company with a decent enough reputation for validating all pre-owned watches they stocked.

I eventually plumped for a 6694 Precision with a serial number 3351 887 (dating it to 1971), as per

http://www.watchfinder.co.uk/Rolex/O...696/item/81584

(the actual watch i purchased)

I picked it up this week, and happy with it - showing the watch to a good watch collector friend of mine (whose knowledge is far deeper than mine) picked up on a few things. He felt the dial font / design didn't come from the 70s, which is what the serial number indicates. On first view, he assumed the watch came from the mid to late 90s, but when I told him it was from 1971, he was surprised, to say the least - and he was of the impression that the dial wasn't original to the actual piece, and could potentially be a redial.

He also pointed out that the Precisions he had seen had 'T Swiss Made T' on the dial, unlike the one I have just bought.

I spoke to watchfinder about it, and they maintained that they did nothing to the dial themselves, all they did was carry out a full service. As for its previous history, they bought it from the previous owner without box and papers, so they can't shed any further light.

I would have thought they would have carried out checks to verify the provenance of the dial, once they saw the serial number?

Can anyone here help allay my fears that I have bought not so much a dud, but something that should never have been retailed at the amount I bought it for?

Many thanks