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Best 1016 dial option


Chuck P

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So I am loving my JMB 1016. I put different hour and minute hands on (much thinner) which improved the look a lot but I think now I want to go with a better dial. Was thinking Yuki but wanted to get folks opinions on best option shy if gen or NDT. I am thinking not a gilt but regular dial but with vintage lume.

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I may expand a little bit the list:

with this new "player" - http://www.vintagewatchmaker.com/product-p/d-24.htm

They seem relatively new on the market, but the Explorer dial is way overpriced for its finish, even on a Singer blank (who and when is going to see this nice detail?!) and with the right diameter of 28mm they are asking too much!

 

Gen dials. Absolutely insane price policy! Makes no sense except you are going to attach to a gen 1570 calibre in a gen "environment", meaning case set, movement etc.

These may have been printed by Rolex specific methods, but at the end of the day they remain metal dial blanks with "simple" paint and lume on them as per all other offerings below.

 

NDT and Minh (same dial offerings as far as I can judge) have quite steep pricing but have the most well printed Explorer dials, some fonts are still off, and remember that those dials are 29mm, need to be carefully trimmed down to 28mm.

 

Whoopy is a quite good alternative (in terms of finish and price), I wish he would do some more, perhaps with a serif Rolex font like 80´s service dials, in near future :)

One thing to add to the price is the luming service by a skilled person, or you may get those lumed if you are lucky!

 

Yuki´s offering is quite budget friendly when someone is looking for a non chapter ring dial. Main font is a bit unproportionally scaled but quite acceptable (a few members have build frankens with them). These look better in real than on their website.

 

JMB´s dial alternative is really the most budget friendly. Though it is of a much older Explorer version with a chapter ring. Pretty nice print quality, further details have been discussed in other topics.

 

any other additions, hidden new offerings?

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eBay seller mahand1 also sells them.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rolex-1016-EXPLORER-Jet-Black-Dial-/311012029085?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4869c2f29d

 

His dial size seems to vary, so you need to check then when buying from him to make sure they fit into whatever case you are using.

 

The Whoopy dial is really the best non-gen option at this time. Better printing and much easier to deal with than Minh or NDT, both of whom are hard to contact and get responses from recently. I didn't think Whoopy had sold out of them yet, but I doubt he is going to remake them if he's out. At that point you'd be looking at M2M sale.

 

The most difficult part of the 1016 build is easily picking out the dial. There are plenty of easy/good alternatives for the rest of the parts (and even more options since I went about collecting parts for my build). It was two years start to finish for me, and a lot of the delay had to do with finding a dial that was acceptable to my eye. If I could have found a dial sooner, I wouldn't have gotten ripped off by MD2020 who was holding my money and movement .... :(

Edited by tomhorn
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Thanks for the detailed feedback fellas. I opted for a Yuki for price purposes. I have a whoopy 1680 and 1665 dial but didn't want to put that much $ into this build. Now when the dial arrives I have a 2879 nos movt waiting for it. Just need to figure out how the date and day wheels are removed. Any tips on that?

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If no whoopy dials available I would go with Yuki because they are reliable as far as communication, delivery etc. The 1016 dial on the Yuki website has 'puff daddy' markers but the one you get may be better. After you wear it a while and the crystal gets some scuffs, the defects may not be evident.

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Thanks for the detailed feedback fellas. I opted for a Yuki for price purposes. I have a whoopy 1680 and 1665 dial but didn't want to put that much $ into this build. Now when the dial arrives I have a 2879 nos movt waiting for it. Just need to figure out how the date and day wheels are removed. Any tips on that?

 

The 2879 would be wrong for JMB's case. It has the same size/crown height specs as a 2836. You need a 2783, which has the same specs as a 2824, which JMB's cases are designed for. From the man himself ...

 

 

2846 will not work as this particular case is specifically for movements with the stem height of the 2824.  If you want low-beat then you'll need a 2783 as previously mentioned...

Edited by tomhorn
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Regarding the mahand1 dial, this is the same one that Yuki was selling a few years back.  The markers are not only puffy, but the numerals are too far away from the dial edge.  I would rank it below MBK's.

 

Out of Yuki's current stock (and assuming you can trust the photos on the website), "1016 matt dial" and "1016 matt dial white lume" look to be the least objectionable. 

 

As for Vintage Watchmaker...  That's a whole lot of money for something with such funny-looking numerals.  (And on an unrelated note, I scratch my head over the Daytona dials they're selling.  It's like they gave up once they got around to printing the subdials!)

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Regarding the mahand1 dial, this is the same one that Yuki was selling a few years back.  The markers are not only puffy, but the numerals are too far away from the dial edge.  I would rank it below MBK's.

 

Out of Yuki's current stock (and assuming you can trust the photos on the website), "1016 matt dial" and "1016 matt dial white lume" look to be the least objectionable. 

 

As for Vintage Watchmaker...  That's a whole lot of money for something with such funny-looking numerals.  (And on an unrelated note, I scratch my head over the Daytona dials they're selling.  It's like they gave up once they got around to printing the subdials!)

That is true on the daytona dials. The subdial numerals are all messed up pretty bad, other wise could have been a good alternative!

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And how does Yuki's Space Dweller dial look to you? 

 

Terrible! The difference in quality between it and the similarly-priced InGod44 dial is astounding.  NDT also has a Space-Dweller, but it's overpriced and is no better than InGod's.  (Based on photos, I'd say it looks worse.)

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Thanks for your reply. That has been my uneducated view as well. Unfortunately, InGod44 is out of stock and has not responded to my inquiries regarding the possibility of a restock. Oh well, the search goes on. Cheers

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... Unfortunately, InGod44 is out of stock ...

Anybody know what's up with ingod?  I don't think I've seen their Space Dweller dial in stock for months...  I do think their Space Dweller is the best bang for the buck.  I have built a SD for somebody with the Yuki dial and it's not as crisp and the "Space Dweller" text is in white instead of Silver.

 

If somebody could come up with a "perfect" dial for around $100 I think they could make a killing - doesn't seem like it should be that hard!

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If somebody could come up with a "perfect" dial for around $100 I think they could make a killing - doesn't seem like it should be that hard!

 

It isn't!!

And that is what perplexes and frustrates me about this whole rep thing. If Rolex could produce these dials with 50's technology then why on earth can't somebody reproduce these with all the modern tech that is available today? Don't get me started on being charged $100- $300 for a half decent dial. I mean you can pick up a "half decent" Seiko aftermarket dial for $20. Yes, I know all about the supply and demand thing, but come on........ Rant over. Cheers

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Dealer cost for a brand new tritium 1016 dial in the early 1990s was around $50. I have a receipt for one I bought at dealer cost but it is packed away with the dial. Also bought one at full retail but can not remember how much it was, about $125 iirc.

So...if genuine dials could be made and shipped half way around the world, marked up by RUSA, then mailed to a dealer for around fifty bucks...why can someone not crank out an accurate replica dial today for $100?

Good question I guess.

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And these are some of the simplest dials that Rolex ever produced! There's no multicolored text, subdial dishing, sunburst pattern, waffle-etching or anything special. Just white on black, and lume on the markers. Seeing service dials sell for ~1000 is frustrating, and encourages me to hoard my parts even more!

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As soon as I come up with $1000 I don't need I'll think about it.  Then there's pads, chemicals, ink...  Maybe I could do a kickstarter thing! ;)  It would be kinda fun! :)

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