Getting educated - different faces on SD43?

[atn_uk]

Wow, only been here a few hours and I am learning a lot. Should have sought this place out earlier.

I have just come across the fact, via a few other threads, that the SD43 has two versions of the face, one with a Rolex crown at 6 o'clock, one without.

My very new, just a few weeks, SD43 has what I now know is the original face now referred to as the Mk1, which is to say it does not have the crown at 6 o'clock, it has 'Swiss I Made'

Now, I don't care which face I have, but I am a bit surprised that as they are seemingly so rare that I got one with an older face. Surely the pipeline being so stretched would mean any new ones hitting the dealers now should come with the newer face, which seems to have been around for some time.

Makes me wonder whether mine was a return or something. Also makes me wonder whether I now have an even more limited availability watch than I thought, assuming they stick with the crown version from now on.

[omx5o]

Who knows. The current image on the Rolex website is without the crown. Perhaps the crown version was a mistake.

[JacksonStone]

The Mk1 dial isn't all that rare yet. The SD43 debuted less than two years ago, and has been available to purchase for less time than that. The Mk2 dial didn't start showing up at ADs until about the middle of 2018, so at this point it should be theoretically less common than the Mk1. This presumably will change as more time passes, and all Mk1 versions are sold. As for why there are still Mk1 dials available at ADs, that's hard to say; the distribution patterns are a bit mysterious in the current market. Technically, if your watch was a return, it would not be able to be re-sold as new, as the warranty card would have already been registered in another owner's name. So unless you suspect your AD is defrauding you, I would put that concern to rest. If you're really bothered, call your AD and ask.

As for the crown dial being a mistake, not likely. Rolex introduced the crown in 2018 as a way of distinguishing watches that contain the 32xx movement base. The SD43 is one such watch. However, it debuted in 2017, a year before Rolex started using the crown, so newer versions have it, whereas older ones do not. Because of the timing, the Mk1 dial is considered to be roughly indicative of the first year of production, which was the 50th anniversary of the SD. Therefore, some people consider the Mk1 version to be the "true" anniversary model. Whether this will affect collectibility in the future is anyone's guess.

[mbrown55]

One good thing as a MK II owner, as far as I can tell, none of the Chinese clones have the new dial.

[Zakalwe]

Originally Posted by atn_uk

Wow, only been here a few hours and I am learning a lot. Should have sought this place out earlier.

I have just come across the fact, via a few other threads, that the SD43 has two versions of the face, one with a Rolex crown at 6 o'clock, one without.

My very new, just a few weeks, SD43 has what I now know is the original face now referred to as the Mk1, which is to say it does not have the crown at 6 o'clock, it has 'Swiss I Made'

Now, I don't care which face I have, but I am a bit surprised that as they are seemingly so rare that I got one with an older face. Surely the pipeline being so stretched would mean any new ones hitting the dealers now should come with the newer face, which seems to have been around for some time.

Makes me wonder whether mine was a return or something. Also makes me wonder whether I now have an even more limited availability watch than I thought, assuming they stick with the crown version from now on.

I got mine a month ago, fresh out of the coffin in front of my eyes with all the stickers and bezel protector in place. It’s a Mk I dial and as stated above these are still trickling out despite apparently being replaced, so you don’t need to worry about the provenance of your watch.

[mbdurham]

Mine is a MKII and I got it new from an AD a week ago. Strange how some picking up this month are MKI


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[atn_uk]

Hi all, thanks for the comments and insights.

To be clear, I was absolutely not worried about provenance, as I bought it from one of the most prominent London ADs.

Great point about it not being a return, as my name is quite definitely on the warranty card, and I saw the whole unpacking, destickering right in front of me. The dealer even gave me the coffin (assuming that is the right name for the plastic box it came in?).

What it shows is the complexity and odd nature of the Rolex distribution process, I guess.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by mbdurham

Mine is a MKII and I got it new from an AD a week ago. Strange how some picking up this month are MKI


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that assumes the supply chain is linear which it probably isn't. IE... direct from production to AD to you without it getting mixed in with anything else that is already complete.

For example my tudor harrods edition (which is numbered) has a much lower number than one i saw on a video review from 3 months ago. I picked mine up the day they got it, this week. So the number has gone down over time which clearly isn't the case.

I assume things like getting caught in QC and going through the process again after a flaw is detected is one reason that things dont ship in the order they are made.