Service on 16750 / Hand Swirls - Thoughts?

[crash_c]

Hi all,

I'm new here but I've been lurking for a while. Big fan of the brand -- I own both old and new pieces.

I fairly recently acquired a GMT Master 16750 Matte Dial from the early 80's. It keeps excellent time and I love the piece...

HOWEVER...

Yesterday, I noticed an extremely light partial hand swirl on my dial -- it's a slight arc that runs from 6 to 9 just under the hour hand. And obsessing and inspected, I decided to take the piece to RSC in New York City this morning.

The took a look and advised that I should replace the dial and hands and have a full service (I declined). Their rationale: The lume on the back side of the hour hand is ever so slightly disintegrating and that's what's touching the matte dial. Because of the disintegration, there's a risk of the material falling through the date window and ultimately affecting the movement.

I have no desire to risk the value or 'look' of this older piece. Give the collective knowledge here, I though some of you might have some informed alternative ideas about how I can resolve this issue?

Many thanks for your time and consideration.

[Tools]

There are some excellent independent Rolex restoration watchmakers who can stabilize your hands to prevent further disintegration and damage..

[crash_c]

Hi Tools - and thanks! Are there any such restorative watchmakers that you (or anyone) can recommend I contact?

[jdmi32]

Unfortunately there is not much that can be done for the dial as far as reversing the swirl marks. If the lume is detaching from the hands they might be stabilized as Larry noted, but there is a chance that the color of the hands may turn darker once that is done.

Another route that you could take if the hands are already in poor condition is to have them re-lumed to mach the dial. Pics of your watch would be helpful.

[crash_c]

Hi Jdmi32 - The hands are actually not in bad condition. Please see attached. Thanks for your feedback. Based on these photos, any additional guidance would be extremely helpful. My apologies for the iPhone 6 source -- I don't have my DSLR with me here are work!

[nocrown]

send to abc watchwerks :: nothing wrong w/ reluming hands in my opinion so long as dial is original... they can do magic...

[crash_c]

I reached out to ABC -- we'll see what they come back with. Thanks very much for making the recommendation. Their work looks incredible!

[crash_c]

Incidentally, here are some photos of the watch.

[omitohud]

The drag mark is not serious, u can barely see it. That said the hands need to b fixed whether relume or stabilized. Its what caused the drag mark in the first place.

Btw, u r in good hands with ABC.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[crash_c]

Actually it's more visible in the photos than in reality!! Thanks, Sam!

[crash_c]

Wanted to follow up on this. I followed the advice I received and sent my 16750 out to ABC Watchwerks in LA. The results are amazing.

Here are the 'before' shots in addition to the ones I've already shared.

(Next post will have the 'after' shots)

[crash_c]

And the 'after' shots. Just incredible.

It also appears after closer inspection that the 'swirls' I'd been seeing were the actual luminous material coming off the hour hand. After stabilizing the hands and, presumably, cleaning the watch, the swirl is gone. Crazy, no??

[omitohud]

Glad to hear everything works out. A beautiful watch.


I blame it on the autoconnect.

[jdmi32]

You sent it to the right place for sure. Beautiful result.