2018...and RSC have just fitted a new Flat Four insert to an LV for me.

[Haywood_Milton]

Morning all,

In July 2018 I sent a 16610 LV with F61xxxx case number to Rolex UK for service, glass, bezel insert and crown.

This is how it has come back.



It's a "full set" example with Mark 1 dial - note the wide form of "SWISS MADE" text.





This is, without question, a Flat Four insert....but is it a new variant? Notice how the short end of the horizontal stroke "kicks up" slightly.

Is it a new service part, or is it some curious, older part at the bottom of the storage bin which has luckily been drawn off for my watch?

If it IS a service part, will they fit it only to those LVs which should have had a Flat Four insert? I cannot believe so, as this would show a level of nuanced interest in vintage / collector taste which is not normal Rolex practice. Their policy has historically been to fit the last version of a part available for a model, such as a Submariner dial with white gold surround indices replacing the dial of a 1960s 5513.

If this becomes the standard service part fitted to all 16610LVs, what effect will it have on values? One might expect the Flat Four market to be undermined, as there would suddenly be a lot more available. There would be a distinction between early Flat Four inserts and later, but subtlety like that will undermine the premium that a Flat Four currently enjoys.

Valuing a later 16610 LV such as a 2006 / Z case number example that has such an insert might be easier, as it will conspicuously not be contemporary, but appraising a full set Y- or F- case number 16610 LV with one of these inserts will be more testing.

Should it be directly equivalent to one with its original Flat Four insert? If this were a contemporary insert that had somehow been dug up by Rolex, maybe -- but if it is a 2018 service part, perhaps not.

How should one describe such a watch? I would suggest "with full disclosure," but there will be those who describe such a watch as nothing other than an "F-series LV with Flat Four insert" knowing that they cannot be faulted....and they will probably price it as if no different. I suspect that one or two of these inserts are already in circulation and have been presented without comment, implicitly as if circa 2004 parts.

There is no right answer, but if this a hitherto unknown part and for as long as it has not been seen in any volume I would suggest that a correct period LV that bears one of these inserts, sold with proper disclosure, will attract a significant premium over the same watch with a pointed four.

We've all seen how desperate demand is for this type of watch in recent times. With that clamour comes less discriminating buying, fuelled by buyers and dealers alike.

If this is indeed a new, standard service part then the premium for watches fitted with it will diminish in direct relation to recognition and volume.

Knowledge, as always, will help one buy well!

Haywood