16030 datejust piece of dial broke off

[amedeiros]

I bought a 16030 datejust for the Mrs, and I just noticed that a portion of the stock (the circular part closest to the bezel) just broke into two pieces. The watch is all original, and the sticks and circles behind them had a very nice patina to them. At present the circular part broke into two, and is floating around between the dial and the acrylic.

Any recommendations on whether this can be easily repaired, or if its even worth it?

Best,

AM

[robie]

Picture would help.

[77T]

Do you mean the tiny whitish tritium dot like below?

If so, they will break off - sometimes in pieces and sometimes completely. Not "repairable" with new tritium. But you can have them all removed.

A replacement dial is also an option.

[amedeiros]

Yes the Tritium dial. Would you guys leave it as is, being that its a "vintage" watch?

[amedeiros]

Apologies its upside down, but see the tritium dot at 9 o'clock.

[OysterDavid]

You've got a few choices...the first and probably least expensive is to get the watch to someone who knows what they're doing, open the case, remove the movement and get rid of the loose dot and put it all back together.

You can also send the watch to Rolex in NYC, or Dallas and ask them to service the watch and in the process, at your expense, replace the dial in trade.

Or you can scout out the auction site or this and other internet sales forums to see if you can find a replacement dial and find that watch technician to do a dial swap for you.

Doing nothing puts the movement in jeopardy because if that dot falls through the date window and makes its way into the movement, it will foul things up making for a more expensive repair.

Lady Datejust dials are vary readily available and they're all pretty much interchangeable as those dials don't have dial feet (little prongs that fit into the movement), they're pressure fitted by the watch repair person.

This is not, in my opinion, a vintage collector's watch and so replacing the dial most likely won't impact the value. But I'm sure there will be others who will jump in protesting that replacing the dial and/or hands will dirty the purity of an older Rolex, but that's their opinion.

[GerardoG]

Originally Posted by OysterDavid

You've got a few choices...the first and probably least expensive is to get the watch to someone who knows what they're doing, open the case, remove the movement and get rid of the loose dot and put it all back together.

You can also send the watch to Rolex in NYC, or Dallas and ask them to service the watch and in the process, at your expense, replace the dial in trade.

Or you can scout out the auction site or this and other internet sales forums to see if you can find a replacement dial and find that watch technician to do a dial swap for you.

Doing nothing puts the movement in jeopardy because if that dot falls through the date window and makes its way into the movement, it will foul things up making for a more expensive repair.

Lady Datejust dials are vary readily available and they're all pretty much interchangeable as those dials don't have dial feet (little prongs that fit into the movement), they're pressure fitted by the watch repair person.

This is not, in my opinion, a vintage collector's watch and so replacing the dial most likely won't impact the value. But I'm sure there will be others who will jump in protesting that replacing the dial and/or hands will dirty the purity of an older Rolex, but that's their opinion.

I agree.

[cop414]

I would at least as suggested above have the loose dot removed so that it doesn't get into the movement.

[JohnBoy]

Thats a collectible old DJ with the bezel and 'wideboy' markers. I think I'd sent it out to Rikki or Bob Ridley to have it looked at. Above all, don't leave the flakes of material grinding around in the watch - and don't try to 'blow it out' yourself. Good Luck!

[melons]

Originally Posted by JohnBoy

Thats a collectible old DJ with the bezel and 'wideboy' markers. I think I'd sent it out to Rikki or Bob Ridley to have it looked at. Above all, don't leave the flakes of material grinding around in the watch - and don't try to 'blow it out' yourself. Good Luck!

^^^
What he said.

[amedeiros]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to have the pieces of tritium removed. Johnboy I appreciate the info on the wide boy markers. I knew the dial was a variant of other dj's, but did not know the term.

Do these datejusts fetch a premium over other datejusts from the early 80,s? I would consider the market to be around 2k for these, thoughts?

[Chaching]

1983 was the Quickset or 82 ......personally the Quickset are better in my opinion to set the date . Others chime in...

[amedeiros]

This is a quickset model.