Happy Holidays - New 1665 on the site

[marcello pisani]

Originally Posted by BermudaKRS

I was able to take the band off (I think I posted a bad photo of the serial earlier in the thread) and the serial is 4090001, which places it as a 1974. I am hoping that the service records of when the dial was replaced will be available and that should help clear up why the replaced dial is the way it it. I guess if the service was completed in the 90's or 2000's, they may have used the latest dial produced for a SD with 2000ft markings.

has been produced around the end of 1975.
and btw you are right about service time : the dial on your watch is a service dial made not before the beginning of the 90s : in other words this would be a
replacement dial not only for 1665 " in the double red case range " ( so roughly under 5.300.000 ) but also for " white 1665 " ( produced up to the early 80s ).
due low quality and definition pics I can't say if the dial still has tritium indexes ( so made in the early 90s ) or the " toothpaste " ones ( late 90s/early 2000s ).

[Jason71]

Originally Posted by mdw3

I typically value a double-red watch with replaced dial a bit lower than a perfectly original White sea dweller. To find the dial will be a challenge, and when you do, the cost will probably equate to the difference in value between the two watches in any event. Also, many buyers are not interested in a watch with a replaced dial, at any price.

So, in conclusion, I think at $7,500 you made a very fair deal for yourself, and you are probably best served to use the watch as it is until you tire of it. I doubt there is much money to lose at that figure.

Michael

Michael is right. Do some looking around and you won't find a 1665 for $7,500 anywhere and you got this one as a one-owner watch. Who cares that it has a service dial.........The watch looks great and you got it for a fantastic price IMHO.

Wear it and enjoy it.

[StaceeJaxx]

Great, now I am looking for a 1665

[stmoore]

Originally Posted by StaceeJaxx

Great, now I am looking for a 1665

Oh man, I knew a guy from your area that gave me a helluva price on this gem. I should see if he has another for sale:

[BermudaKRS]

stmoore, that is a great looking piece you have, fully original?

marcello pisani, thank you you for the confirmation but not great to hear. That's pretty much like saying that any 1665 can get this dial from Rolex on a whim, so much for exclusivity. I tried to get a few better photos of the face in hopes someone can determine whether it's the 'good' replacement or the toothpaste dial.

[marcello pisani]

like this one ( 1st picture ) .
they have been nicknamed by me " toothpaste " : indexes seem to be made by a spatula , as they look uniform and not porous.
the shade is a clear yellow ( a sort of " tritium imitation " ) by the way quite different from the " milky " white luminova.
in any case they are 100 % originals ( Rolex made ) altough quite later for a 1665 ( produced from the very late 90s on ).
I have seen this kind of yellowish indexes also in 1655 ( " freccione " ) in 1680 and in Comex replacement dials for 1665 ( pictures 2 and 3 )
indexes are " tritium look like " : for what I know these dials are still in production today ; the real material used for the indexes is at the moment is unknown ( not tritium for sure by the way ).
on the contrary luminova replacement dials ( white colour and dial signed only " SWISS " at 6 as you can see in 4th picture ) are similar to " toothpaste " but indexes are less domed and also their surface thickness is different
(being more porous than " toothpaste " ones ).

[southtexas]

Great info, thanks for sharing^^^


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BermudaKRS]

Marcello, great run down, thank you. Can't say I LIKE your toothpaste moniker but have to agree with it. Makes you wonder why an apparently inferior replacement dial was sanctioned in the first place?

[CrownMe]

Originally Posted by BermudaKRS

Marcello, great run down, thank you. Can't say I LIKE your toothpaste moniker but have to agree with it. Makes you wonder why an apparently inferior replacement dial was sanctioned in the first place?

its not inferior, they just needed to find something to mimic the look of tritium.

All that matters is Rolex made all the parts of your watch and you got a good deal

[marcello pisani]

" inferior replacement " ?? .. all replacement dials have the very same dignity !
it's simply a matter of " consistance " to pristine conditions ...so for every watch there is just " the pristine dial " and all later dials are simply replacements no matter if made 5 or 50 years after...
in other words it's just a matter of understanding what you have in your hands..

[Beaumont Miller II]

I suspect they were going for the aged patina look without the luminescence. To the naked eye, I think it came off pretty well. It's very unlikely that the dial maker envisioned anyone enlarging the hour markers with macro pics. It does kind of look like hardened tooth paste though.

[BermudaKRS]

I guess you would hope that if a replacement was needed, and it being a luxury purchase, the manufacterer would attempt to replicate the original as best they could. Is there a reason tritium was no longer used? Interesting info for a novice collector btw, thanks again.

[dy4]

Still a lot more to learn, but places like here are a source of knowledge!
Tx!

[swish77]

Not to further complicate this thread, but the additional close-up photos of the OPs Sea-Dweller seem to show that the hands and date wheel were swapped too. And the hands might have been replaced at a different time because he patina doesn't match to the dial's hour markers. The original date wheel, I believe, would have been silver/brushed metal. None of that necessarily matters, though, unless you were misled by the seller. You got a fair price on a nice vintage Rolex.

[BermudaKRS]

I was thinking the same thing swish, far too clean to be original. The guy who does the servicing said he would be available I meet and give me all servicing records next week and hopefully I'll know a bit more. It's safe to say that I still like the watch for what it is, perfect size for me and I'm much more knowledgeable for future purchases thanks to you guys.

Still holding my fingers crossed that by some miracle of God, he has some of the original parts.

[southtexas]

Originally Posted by BermudaKRS

I was thinking the same thing swish, far too clean to be original. The guy who does the servicing said he would be available I meet and give me all servicing records next week and hopefully I'll know a bit more. It's safe to say that I still like the watch for what it is, perfect size for me and I'm much more knowledgeable for future purchases thanks to you guys.

Still holding my fingers crossed that by some miracle of God, he has some of the original parts.

Now that would be awesome. Some of these old guys are hoarders, so you never know. Have a safe and happy new year celebration to all!

[strafer_kid]

Looks like a very nice watch - personally I would keep it as it is - maybe an RSC service and clean up, and you are good to go! Enjoy!