Do hour or minute hash mark chips on a 1675 affect it's value?

[fizz]

I'm in the market for a 1675 and have seen and been offered a few pieces where the dial hour and minute hash marks seem to be chipped on a few samples at the edges of the dial.

Granted this isn't probably noticeable (from what I remember from back when I used to own a 1675) while the watch is on the wrist but I was curious to know what everyone thought about how much, if at all, should something like this affect the asking price/value of the watch (considering that the dial is the most valuable part of a vintage watch...).

I rarely read of any of the sellers, even the most trusted/reliable ones, ever mentioning it in their description. Is it inconsequential and I'm just being too picky or does it really cause ownership grief and dial devaluation in the long rum?

Some examples below (one of which is from windvintage). You are encouraged to click on the link to see the full, high-resolution image to determine the extent of the chipping.

[av1atic]

i personally don't touch stuff with dial damage (chips, hand drag, etc). too many other options out there.

[springer]

The examples depicted, if not an optical illusion as mentioned by MrBlobby, have very minimal damage. The watch isn't NOS...right? Those hash marks missing a very minimal spec of ink matters if you are overly anal retentive.

[MrBlobby]

I think that is an optical illusion. The metal sides aren’t sitting directly on the dial. There is a slight gap and it is making it look like the white minute markers aren’t finished to the end of the dial.

I could be wrong but in my opinion those don’t look like damaged examples.

[swish77]

Agree with above .... I wouldn't really consider that damage, and certainly nothing that would affect value.

Chipped minute markers usually result in more of a loss of the marker itself and often the damaged marker becomes curved at the end.

Significant and numerous chips can affect value, of course, but I don't see that here.

[av1atic]

by the way, not saying the dial above is damaged if those are in fact optical effects. rather, that there are too many options out there in today's very soft buyers market to be putting considerable capital towards anything other than a perfect dial IMO.

[Dan S]

The examples you have shown have very minor damage, IMO.

[MrBlobby]

But they’re not chipped. If. It isn’t the photo then some of the print has rubbed away. It might be the photo but if not you are never going to see it unless you using a loupe.

Sometimes the contrast between hands and lume plots look quite different on large images but to the naked eye it is hardly noticeable.

Clearly the second insert has a chip on the 10.

[MrBlobby]

Seeing in person would obviously help any evaluation. Sometime I find comments on polishing a bit daft when they are based on certain photos. Not people above but there are many on here who are experts on polishing based on photos taken from weird angles.

To me the second watch has odd spotting on the dial that might be more of a concern or might just be dirty glass.
https://www.windvintage.com/rolex-fu...675-unpolished

[jedione65]

Almost imperceptible I think that’s due to the distortion from the acrylic crystal. Hand drag, chips, etc as said above does impact value significantly. These are decades old watches and have imperfections regardless of how perfect we may want them to be. Second watch is really nice btw

[MrBlobby]

I’ve just looked at a watch that I’m wearing that I have also photographed. In the photograph the minute makers seem to have similar defects to the images at the top of this thread. However under the loupe they extend all the away to the edge. Also it is a gilt so the minute track won’t have worn away.

The only way to know for sure is to see the dial out of the case.

I don’t agree about too many opinions in a soft market. Both those watches look good and depending upon price it doesn’t matter if there is one opinion or one hundred opinions as to whether they are good or bad buys.

[av1atic]

Originally Posted by MrBlobby

I’ve just looked at a watch that I’m wearing that I have also photographed. In the photograph the minute makers seem to have similar defects to the images at the top of this thread. However under the loupe they extend all the away to the edge. Also it is a gilt so the minute track won’t have worn away.

The only way to know for sure is to see the dial out of the case.

I don’t agree about too many opinions in a soft market. Both those watches look good and depending upon price it doesn’t matter if there is one opinion or one hundred opinions as to whether they are good or bad buys.

If your disagreement was with my post, there's a misunderstanding. I stated "options", not "opinions", in my comment. My earlier point -- and I double-down on it -- is that there is an abundance of options in today's buyer's market, which gives every reason for a buyer to carefully assess a particular watch's condition and relative price point.

[MrBlobby]

Originally Posted by av1atic

If your disagreement was with my post, there's a misunderstanding. I stated "options", not "opinions", in my comment. My earlier point -- and I double-down on it -- is that there is an abundance of options in today's buyer's market, which gives every reason for a buyer to carefully assess a particular watch's condition and relative price point.

Sorry, I misread that. You are right to point out available choices.

[fizz]

Thank you all for the replies, thoughts, and opinions.

This has stirred up more debate than I thought.

First things first, I don't think the chipping, especially of the first dial, is a so-called "optical illusion". There are pictures of that dial from other angles where the chips, minor and inconsequential as they are, can be noticeably seen in the same places I have highlighted.

Personally, it does not bother me and I love the look in general (dial/case/insert) but this is how the learning curve of collecting, never-ending it seems, is. Before I knew about the finer nuances and aspects of vintage watch collecting, polished cases and relumes may not have bothered me either, that is until you learn what collectors value and what good, original, clean, unmolested condition should look like (or can!).

The other consideration, keeping aside buy/wear what you like, is that once you start transacting in the 15-20k USD range you want to be sure that what you are picking up isn't just appealing to you (it must be) but has some collectible worthiness to it and isn't junk (I'm using an extreme analogy here to make my point). So yes, the considerations of the watch-collecting community as a whole do factor into whether a piece is worth acquiring.

[MrBlobby]

Consider the “chip” in the first image at the 60 minute mark. Is there any reason why the defect isn’t showing up on the reflection of the minute track on the inside case wall? Now look at the reflection of the 30 minute marker. Why does the reflection have a defect that isn’t on the dial?

[fizz]

My best guess (and that's all it is) is that the reflective surface isn't a true/proper mirror and the reflection isn't an accurate representation of the dial.

[Tools]

Depends on if you are the buyer or the seller.

Whenever the movement is taken out or adjusted it tends to contact the closer
font marks on a dial and eventually some minor chipping occurs.

When we are looking at 50 and 60+ year old examples it is something that is not unusual to see.

If you are selling you see it as normal wear and expected; if you are buying you see it as extreme damage that needs thousands knocked off for.