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A source for Vietnamese Dials and Rolex movements


altesporsche

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Hey Fellas. 

Been looking for a Dial to finish a build im doing on a 1655.  Just wondering what places you guys have used for Vietnamese Dials or reprinted good quality dials elsewhere. I know of the usual spots.. Just looking for some new ones to explore maybe some one off makers etc that are really good.  Particularly looking for a MKII 1655 dial as all i have seen in MKII or MKIII but they have had the wrong cornet etc.. or odd lume etc.. 

 

 

Also if anyone knows of a 1575 or 1570 GMT movement send me a mesg lol ... i have one but it is toast.. I didnt pay much for it thinking it would be rebuildable but it isnt lol  

 

 

Cheers!

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2 hours ago, Jovanotti said:

Try raffles? 

Nahh raffles isnt the quality im looking for. This is a several thousand dollar build SO im looking for dials in the quality level of MQ and Phong etc..  Appreciate the reply though ! cheers !

 

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One good thing about 1655 dials is they are not very 'pretty' to begin with (imho) so a good repdial usually looks fine.

 

Two things to look for:

Make sure the outer row of lume markers reach right up to the edge of the reflector area (aka rehaut).  Some repdials leave too much space and it is a quick tell.  

Be sure the movement/dial combo is securely mounted in the case because the lume on the outer markers can get scuffed away if the dial/mvt slides back and forth when setting etc.  This depends on how much 'wiggle room' there is to begin with.  Aftmkt cases may have more space between the movement and case than genuine.

 

 

"Also if anyone knows of a 1575 or 1570 GMT movement send me a mesg lol ... i have one but it is toast.. I didnt pay much for it thinking it would be rebuildable but it isnt lol"  

 

GMT parts are very hard to come by so if your movement is a correct 1575GMT there are quite a few very hard to get parts on it.  If you have all the GMT parts, changing a regular 1570/1575 out to GMT is fairly easy. 

 

Here is the parts list again if you did not save it:

https://rwg.cc/topic/191728-planing-steve-mcqueen-1655-project/

 

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, automatico said:

One good thing about 1655 dials is they are not very 'pretty' to begin with (imho) so a good repdial usually looks fine.

 

Two things to look for:

Make sure the outer row of lume markers reach right up to the edge of the reflector area (aka rehaut).  Some repdials leave too much space and it is a quick tell.  

Be sure the movement/dial combo is securely mounted in the case because the lume on the outer markers can get scuffed away if the dial/mvt slides back and forth when setting etc.  This depends on how much 'wiggle room' there is to begin with.  Aftmkt cases may have more space between the movement and case than genuine.

 

 

"Also if anyone knows of a 1575 or 1570 GMT movement send me a mesg lol ... i have one but it is toast.. I didnt pay much for it thinking it would be rebuildable but it isnt lol"  

 

GMT parts are very hard to come by so if your movement is a correct 1575GMT there are quite a few very hard to get parts on it.  If you have all the GMT parts, changing a regular 1570/1575 out to GMT is fairly easy. 

 

Here is the parts list again if you did not save it:

https://rwg.cc/topic/191728-planing-steve-mcqueen-1655-project/

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the info ! well aware of the dials :P thats why im so picky about what im buying.   Ive built tons of watches and ive become very anal about my builds recently lol This watch is a Phong cased watch and will house a Gen 1575 or converted 1570 if i cant find an original GMT movement. It will be well secured for sure, i dont do half ass jobs :)    thanks for the link I may look at converting as the 1570s in non GMT are a little easier to find. 

2 hours ago, dpap said:

Did you try Ruby?

http://rubyswatch.com

Yea ive tried Ruby, shes been annoying to deal with recently and give random high prices for garbage at times. 

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6 hours ago, altesporsche said:

Thanks for the info ! well aware of the dials :P thats why im so picky about what im buying.   Ive built tons of watches and ive become very anal about my builds recently lol This watch is a Phong cased watch and will house a Gen 1575 or converted 1570 if i cant find an original GMT movement. It will be well secured for sure, i dont do half ass jobs :)    thanks for the link I may look at converting as the 1570s in non GMT are a little easier to find. 

Yea ive tried Ruby, shes been annoying to deal with recently and give random high prices for garbage at times. 

As far as movements are concerned... maloja @ geeeeemejl dot com

I'm sure he can help you + he's US.

 

Sorry to hear about Ruby.. I agree on the random high prices. It's starting to piss me off.

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"I agree on the random high prices. It's starting to [censored] me off."

 

Yeah.  Me too.

How does Raff sell a fair dial for $30 and one a little bit better from someone else is $250?

When 'Paul' was in business, his dials were $10 and free delivery.  Ten Bucks!  Not that hot by today's standards, but only $10.

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1 hour ago, automatico said:

"I agree on the random high prices. It's starting to [censored] me off."

 

Yeah.  Me too.

How does Raff sell a fair dial for $30 and one a little bit better from someone else is $250?

When 'Paul' was in business, his dials were $10 and free delivery.  Ten Bucks!  Not that hot by today's standards, but only $10.

Hmm with all do respect the heavy hitters from Vietnam now are ten times the quality of the old fellas in the market. Honestly on a level to be par with genuine manufacturers..  

 

honestly MQ, phong, ruby etc... could be spot on if they pay attention to detail. 

 

Ive seen in a few different varieties of the same dial giving us one complete and exact dial when it comes to rolex. They just don’t do it for some reason.. given the price point they will not lose customers, they will gain from the fellas wanting perfection. I know myself as one that will pay a lot of money for a correct dial, after all, the cornet doesn’t match the other stand out issues the the dial no matter of a $30 eBay Rep to the $800 re printed dials will all be liked st the same.. 

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"Hmm with all due respect the heavy hitters from Vietnam now are ten times the quality of the old fellas in the market."

 

I understand that.  Paul's $10 dials were only an example of how little an average dial cost to make 12/15 years ago.

Today a first rate dial probably cost $40 to $60 to make in VN...or less.

 

 

"Honestly on a level to be par with genuine manufacturers."

 

They are good all right.  Probably as good as the 1960s/1970s genuine dials.

The process is the same for $30 dials and $300 dials...a pad printer, dial blanks, and a few drones to do the work.

Stamp 'Singer' on the blank, solder the dial feet to the blank, paint the dial, stamp the letters, apply the lume. 

Applying the lume is the only hard thing about it.  No applied markers or anything out of the ordinary to fool with, just $3 to $5 in material and a couple hour's work.  On a crude production line they can probably turn out 40 or 50 a day.  Maybe more.

One main thing that determines how close a repdial is to original is how close the cliché plate is to the genuine dial to start with.

 

 

"honestly MQ, phong, ruby etc... could be spot on if they pay attention to detail." 

 

One problem (imho) could be they might not want to get it right in one whack.  If they get a little bit better every year, think how many more dials they can sell.   

I have one genuine Mk I Lemrich 1680 dial.  It is no better that my 1680 dial from IG44...except it has tritium markers and looks older. 

I would rather have the IG44 dial on an otherwise genuine 1680 than a modern 'genuine' dial with 'swiss' at the bottom.  After all, it is not really 'genuine' either.  It's a rerun.

I do not like 'genuine' 44xxxx replacement cases very much either.  How can you tell one from a professionally finished replica case?  A Yuki 5513 case with 44xxxx serial number might pass after it has been worn a few years.

 

Here is a Lemrich Mk I dial:

http://rolexpassionmarket.com/watches/rolex-1680-submariner-fantastic-mk1-lemrich-dial-circa-1977/

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9 hours ago, automatico said:

One problem (imho) could be they might not want to get it right (...) If they get a little bit better every year, think how many more dials they can sell.  

That’s precisely the point...

demand for better means wanting better, meaning paying more for it.

funny thing is “they’ are the sellers we know, the small visible tip of a huge iceberg.

Production costs in SE Asia are low, so low. medium and high quality cost the same; and market is huge.

in the right places in VN one can find a vintage franken memovox for less of the entry price of a “noob” swiss ETA sub that we are so familiar with or find a “singer” dial for the price of a Johnie Walker.

 

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I have a contact for Tonney’s case supplier (pm me if you’re interested). I didn’t order anything, but the guy was responsive. A few folks here have dealt with him, so better wait for them to chime in with any recent experiences (if any). 

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On 10/3/2018 at 5:48 PM, altesporsche said:

Hmm with all do respect the heavy hitters from Vietnam now are ten times the quality of the old fellas in the market. Honestly on a level to be par with genuine manufacturers..  

 

honestly MQ, phong, ruby etc... could be spot on if they pay attention to detail. 

 

Ive seen in a few different varieties of the same dial giving us one complete and exact dial when it comes to rolex. They just don’t do it for some reason.. given the price point they will not lose customers, they will gain from the fellas wanting perfection. I know myself as one that will pay a lot of money for a correct dial, after all, the cornet doesn’t match the other stand out issues the the dial no matter of a $30 eBay Rep to the $800 re printed dials will all be liked st the same.. 

I’m in full agreeance with you ! I too would pay a lot for a good dual. 

 

Ive seen a few that were so close it hurts lol and others that were perfect in every way but one detail and hat one detail makes the dial useless no matter how much it was lol for example I seen rail dial recently for a 1655, but it had the regular cornet and the rail dials only had the frog foot cornet, so a huge easy give away for the ones in the know about these. But to be honest if I’m building a high dollar build and Incorrect dial is a killer. 

1 hour ago, mir36 said:

I have a contact for Tonney’s case supplier (pm me if you’re interested). I didn’t order anything, but the guy was responsive. A few folks here have dealt with him, so better wait for them to chime in with any recent experiences (if any). 

They made dials as well didn’t they ? 

 

Id like to give them a shot.. I’ve used Ruby’s and Phong’s cases recently and the quality is amazing, but always looking for others to try. 

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On 10/3/2018 at 9:51 PM, automatico said:

 

One problem (imho) could be they might not want to get it right in one whack.  If they get a little bit better every year, think how many more dials they can sell.   

Say hello to the "remastered" CD industry.  The David Bowie reissue campaign currently underway represents the fourth time his catalogue has come out on CD (RCA, Ryko, Virgin, Parlophone).

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Thank you for the suggestion. I asked about a brown enamel Dial (Helena Rou) and her minimum order is 500!!!! Then I thought about it and it feels like there are a lot of people looking for nice dials at a good price. I don’t know the unit price but I asked. I don’t know if she’d be flexible to perhaps adjust her min to 200 but I wanted to start the dialogue and then offer excess dials at my cost to others. I specifically enquirers about the 6653 below as a starting point:
fcfcb6844ef275f5db18cbabfde79908.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Enquired * - apologies.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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