16700 insert color

[yangin]

Hi all,

Is there any way to verify the original bezel insert color of a 16700 without papers? Does the serial number give anything away?

I am buying the watch from a trusted source but you can never be too careful. I would hate to buy a pepsi at a premium to find it was originally a black bezel or coke.

Thanks in advance.

[Flyingpig698]

Hi the last time I was made aware only when I sent the watch into RSC for servicing and they tally the serial to the colour of bezel. They will replace the Pepsi bezel insert with a Coke bezel insert if it was originally a Coke. And they will keep the Pepsi insert.
Hope this helps.


Best Regards,
Danny

[yangin]

Originally Posted by Flyingpig698

Hi the last time I was made aware only when I sent the watch into RSC for servicing and they tally the serial to the colour of bezel. They will replace the Pepsi bezel insert with a Coke bezel insert if it was originally a Coke. And they will keep the Pepsi insert.
Hope this helps.


Best Regards,
Danny

Yeah this is the sort of thing I am looking to avoid...

RSC dont do serial number validations without a service from what I understand?

[HogwldFLTR]

Originally Posted by Flyingpig698

Hi the last time I was made aware only when I sent the watch into RSC for servicing and they tally the serial to the colour of bezel. They will replace the Pepsi bezel insert with a Coke bezel insert if it was originally a Coke. And they will keep the Pepsi insert.
Hope this helps.


Best Regards,
Danny

Originally Posted by yangin

Yeah this is the sort of thing I am looking to avoid...

RSC dont do serial number validations without a service from what I understand?

Totally unlikely that RSC would ever place a Coke bezel on a 16700; not a one in a million chance as there weren't any delivered with that bezel. 16700 came in Pepsi and black; I believe both can still be obtained from an AD for cheap. I owned all three on mine and liked the black the best. Nothing wrong with wearing what you like even if that is Coke.

[othertbone]

If it is a trusted source then what would you be worried about?

Sounds like it may not actually be a trusted source, so if not move on

[sillo]

Originally Posted by HogwldFLTR

Totally unlikely that RSC would ever place a Coke bezel on a 16700;

When I went to RSC NY last month with my 16700 I was given a choice of any one of the 3 colors even though the 16700 never shipped with the coke insert.

In the US the papers never indicated what the insert color was on the 16700 so you're never going to know if it was originally Pepsi Or Black unless you have the green hang tag. They were all labelled 16700A30 on the warranty paper no matter what insert was shipped.

And here's the watch with the new LN insert. I still have the pepsi too so I can swap whenever I want.

[HORNBLOWER]

Looks amazing with the black insert.

[rolexcris]

I had the black bezel fitted in 2005 to my to my 16700 from 1996
It had the pepsi bezel and i wanted the black they woud only fit what option colours the watch was sold with and that was a pepsi or all black.
So was lucky had theblack fitted and got my pepsi bezel back cost me £26.44 total.
Took it to RSC St James's Square took about 30 mins
pic of my 16700 with my 16610

[sillo]

Originally Posted by HORNBLOWER

Looks amazing with the black insert.

thanks. I'm actually surprised how much I like it. With everyone being obsessed with the pepsi insert lately I felt like changing it up a little, but I think I'll be keeping it this way for a while.

[HogwldFLTR]

Originally Posted by sillo38

When I went to RSC NY last month with my 16700 I was given a choice of any one of the 3 colors even though the 16700 never shipped with the coke insert.

In the US the papers never indicated what the insert color was on the 16700 so you're never going to know if it was originally Pepsi Or Black unless you have the green hang tag. They were all labelled 16700A30 on the warranty paper no matter what insert was shipped.

And here's the watch with the new LN insert. I still have the pepsi too so I can swap whenever I want.

Of course, I'm certain I also said that they would sell which ever an owner wanted. They would not force a replacement which is what the OP was concerned with. I agree the LN looks great on the watch and is my favorite.

Here's mine (now gone) in varied inserts (and bracelets)!!!

[Tools]

Originally Posted by yangin

Is there any way to verify the original bezel insert color of a 16700 without papers? Does the serial number give anything away?

I am buying the watch from a trusted source but you can never be too careful. I would hate to buy a pepsi at a premium to find it was originally a black bezel or coke.

Thanks in advance.

The serial number does not tell you anything except that it is a number.

No 16700 ever came with the red/black insert; they were only available with the red/blue and the black insert.

The majority of 16700's are pepsi fitted; from 1983 to ~1988, it was the only GMT in pepsi as the 16760 GMT II only came in red/black.

[swish77]

Originally Posted by sillo38

When I went to RSC NY last month with my 16700 I was given a choice of any one of the 3 colors even though the 16700 never shipped with the coke insert.

In the US the papers never indicated what the insert color was on the 16700 so you're never going to know if it was originally Pepsi Or Black unless you have the green hang tag. They were all labelled 16700A30 on the warranty paper no matter what insert was shipped.

And here's the watch with the new LN insert. I still have the pepsi too so I can swap whenever I want.

I had the same experience at the NYC RSC, with my 16710 years ago, and more recently with my 16700. I had my choice of inserts. For whatever reason, they didn't seem to be as picky as they usually are. Maybe it depends which RSC you go to.

[blada4life]

Go to the RSC and tell them you want a quote on the watch to service it etc. ask if they can check it’s timing. They can do this in a few min in the back. They will bring you out a quote with all the watches info printed on it, including the serial and bezel info.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HogwldFLTR]

Originally Posted by swish77

I had the same experience at the NYC RSC, with my 16710 years ago, and more recently with my 16700. I had my choice of inserts. For whatever reason, they didn't seem to be as picky as they usually are. Maybe it depends which RSC you go to.

I believe it's because there are no records of what the watches came with.

[sillo]

Originally Posted by HogwldFLTR

I believe it's because there are no records of what the watches came with.

That's what I think too. I brought mine in with the bezel removed and they just asked me what it had before and which would I like to have now.

[yangin]

Thanks for all the info guys. Looks like the best thing to do is take it to rsc and see what they can / cannot validate for me.

[swish77]

Originally Posted by HogwldFLTR

I believe it's because there are no records of what the watches came with.

I'm sure that's true, but the RSC in NYC would have been willing to install a Coke insert in my 16700 even though originally the reference left the factory only with a black or Pepsi insert. I went with the latter to keep the watch correct, of course.

It just reinforces the notion that the RSCs aren't all that interested in the history/vintage qualities of their watches.