Red sub

[Rickster]

I'm new to RF but am enjoying reading all your posts especially on Red Subs. Just bought my first one last week and I'm very happy with it. Reading a great post on Red subs with a pie chart on the different dials. It got thinking. How many were actually made? Is it as easy as going by the serial numbers? (If so sorry... I'm a pretty green newbie)
Cheers!!

[Clay]

That's a question that only Rolex knows and they aren't telling......Congratulations on the new watch....Cheers

[HL65]

Congrats and welcome to TRF. Post some pictures for us with some background info!!

[Rickster]

Well been looking and saving for a while, doing some homework and reading a bunch online. I found that buying online was kinda scary since I'm such a newbie. I finally found one within a couple hours drive. Just wanted to go have a look at it but I just had to take it home. I negotiated a half decent price and have been very happy with my decision. Here are some pics!

Any comments on getting an authenticity from Rolex?

Cheers!

[Frogman4me]

I think the dial may have been swapped or the hands have been. The patina on the hands do match the plots. What serial number is it? The pics are a little small for me to see on my iPhone.

[qtaro]

You mind sharing the price you bought it for (or just the range?) and is it face to face?

[HL65]

As David stated above--the dial is a bit far away or pics too small to comment on it.

[Frogman4me]

I meant to say that the patina on the hands do not match the plots, darn iPhone keyboard. Post some larger pictures and I'm sure we can make a good judgement on whether you got a "decent" price or not. Did you get a return policy? If a seller is confident in it's originality he/she should offer you window of opportunity to have the watch inspected before finalizing the deal.

[Rickster]

Yes there is definitely a difference in the patina. I didn’t think that was an issue until after I bought it and did some more reading on it. I was told that the dial and hands are original. That was important to me. I paid $8800cnd for it so I'm hoping I didn’t get mislead. The serial is 3mil. He is a jeweler but not a Rolex dealer and did say I could have a week to have it inspected.
Cheers

[kyle L]

Originally Posted by Frogman4me

I think the dial may have been swapped or the hands have been. The patina on the hands do match the plots. What serial number is it? The pics are a little small for me to see on my iPhone.

Sometimes the hands may age faster than the dial or vice versa.

[Rickster]

Originally Posted by kyle L

Sometimes the hands may age faster than the dial or vice versa.

Thank goodness! I was really worried I got jipped.

[Rickster]

Originally Posted by Frogman4me

I think the dial may have been swapped or the hands have been. The patina on the hands do match the plots. What serial number is it? The pics are a little small for me to see on my iPhone.

So how can you tell if the hands are origional to the watch? Other than the patina. Are they stamped with a number?

Thanks in advance for your help

[eparisini]

same patitna as the markers

[Racer X]

Originally Posted by Rickster

So how can you tell if the hands are original to the watch? Other than the patina. Are they stamped with a number?

Thanks in advance for your help

The patina might be the same if everything is original but then again it might be different. The truth is that there is no way of determining this with any certainty. The good news is that it doesn't really matter. Things like the crystal, hands, bracelet, crown, internal gears, etc. are often replaced on older watches, and it for the most part doesn't negatively affect the value of the watch. The key determinants of a watch's value are the dial and the case. The condition of both are critical and it is also important that everything matches in terms of time period (e.g., correct dial for the case S/N, correct caseback year stamp for case S/N, etc.). Most prefer that the tritium on the hands matches the plots on the dial, but it's not like it destroys the value of the watch if they are not a perfect match.