photon Posted September 15, 2013 Report Share Posted September 15, 2013 Dear vintage Daytona experts, I am looking for a good dial for my 6238 project and would like to seek for your opinions on available dials. I found the MQ 6238 dial the most stunning, followed by JAW and DW. Ingot and NDT don't seem to offer pre-daytona dials. The MQ dial looks nice but, it's a hefty $800 rep dial. Still, I have never seen it in person and the color and texture are hard to tell from pics. Has any-one used those high-end refinished dials? Regards, K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted September 15, 2013 Report Share Posted September 15, 2013 I have no experience with his '38 dial, but MQ's Newmans are the best currently available. As always, research & educate yourself on the gen you are targeting & then click the buy button. Basing a buy at this (price) level on others' opinions is not a wise move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photon Posted September 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2013 Hi freddy333, thanks for the tip. Your projects are all super impressive and opinions from members like you would be very helpful. I agree with what you are saying but, how one can eduacate him/her-self when it comes to the real color/texture without seeing the dial? Naturally, I will judge by myself whether or not the MQ dial is for me but, without information on some experience by others, I honestly don't know how one can educate him/her-self. You mean I shoud look for forums to find some projects where this very dial was used and extract comments from other members? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhooq Posted September 15, 2013 Report Share Posted September 15, 2013 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photon Posted September 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2013 Thank you for the advice, lhooq! Well, I now got replies from the two forum members who are most knowledgeable about vintage daytonas. You are right. DW's 6238 dial for V72 may be my illusion. Then, we only have the $800 MQ or the inaccurate JAW option. This makes the story rather simple. MQ dial looks pretty nice: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhooq Posted September 16, 2013 Report Share Posted September 16, 2013 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted September 16, 2013 Report Share Posted September 16, 2013 Actually, the edges of the hour marker bars should be (slightly) beveled, but just not to the same degree as MQ's dial. Until some hard-core collector designs an aftermarket dial himself, I think there will always be inaccuracies of fonts & layout on aftermarket dials. As always, the buyer must choose which set of sins offends him the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photon Posted September 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2013 Thanks for the sharp observations for both the kings here. OK, the hour indices are clearly off I can see now. lhooq, "6" on this MQ dial seems to be open: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhooq Posted September 18, 2013 Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted September 19, 2013 Report Share Posted September 19, 2013 The serifs on the numbers of the outer tachymeter scale certainly are pronounced. 6s and 9s on the subdials look closed to me which is ok. here's a gen that you can compare it with- it's a little whited out colorwise, but we're looking at the printing to compare with the MQ. I think the last gen dial I saw on the bay went for $4500-5000! These Interwatches aren't bad to look at either for comparison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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