lhooq

Depending on the condition, anything between USD 1500 to 2000 would be fair for a Speedy Date. I'm not seeing heavy wear in those shots, so 1800 seems fair.

Looks somewhat Vegan, or possibly even Caesarian to me! Here's my contribution. Guess where without looking up the road sign!

Thank YOU, R! Can't wait to see more of this beaut!

Just for you! (I haven't a clue how to embed it properly.)

Haven't worn the '69 Ultra-Chron in a while:

I shall, for you see, I... am... MANOLETE! Actually, I was just touring the Plaza de Toros de Valencia and had the chance to walk the sands. No bull.

Sand, but not on a beach:

Wearing the Speedy. Lake not included.

Nice one, Mike! I love that bezel!

I guess it's October already! Here's my recently returned Datejust on a Eulit.

It's great to have the TC back. Thanks for the great work, J!

Very nice, D! I've been wanting a black-dialed 6239 for a long time, and briefly had one in the forum of a 7750-powered DW. Unfortunately, the bizarre subdials turned me off so I got rid of it. So in contrast to you, I remain stuck in a silver-dialed rut!

Ah... linen. Beautiful one, EMM!

Beautiful! Nice to see a golden Newman.

When you put it on your desk, have you tried laying it on its side?

I'm only speaking for myself, but having a good-looking dial is of such paramount importance that I wouldn't bother with a relume. I imagine that a decent dial would double the selling price of the watch, working movement or not. If I could snag this at a low enough price, I'd swap in a good, aftermarket honeycomb dial and put this Explorer in my regular rotation!

I will have to disagree with a couple of people on this thread. Were I to purchase this watch, the dial would be the first thing to be replaced in a restoration. I suspected it had been redone (and rather roughly), and the Shear listing that alligoat links to confirms it. Unfortunately, genuine 6350 dials are very rarely spotted in the wild. EDIT: I also wonder about the originality of the hands, considering how they seem to be too short for this reference.

Has anyone ever tried to make a strip loin strap?

Looks good. The only better option is to wait for a genuine 6238 dial to come on the market, and that only happens once every two years or so. I reckon that $3-5000 should be enough for a decent silver!

I've never seen the MQ dial from this angle/distance before. Not perfect, but much better than the JAW. Serifs are a bit pronounced (a common problem on aftermarket Rolex dials, but not such a big deal on the wrist), but I do wonder how MQ managed to replicate the open 9s yet close the loop on the 6s! The picture reveals another weakness: MQ's batons resemble DW's i.e. stepped (like a podium) and too short. The metal blocks on the gen 6238 are nearly as tall as those on contemporary Datejusts, and the edges should be angled. Compare MQ's with the gen here.

I've wanted to build a 6238 for some time, but sourcing the dial has always been the problem. Only the MQ (both silver and black) have impressed me. The JAW 6238 is a distant second (lots of inaccuracies with the text), while DW's effort was ruined by the terrible subdials found on his newer dials. Additionally, I'm not even sure if DW ever got around to making a 6238 dial for the V72. The other options for the 6238 are the cartel dials, but these were only made for the 7750 and for the Sea-Gull ST-19. Mind you, I've never seen either MQ dial up close, and I don't know anyone who's finished a build with one.