automatico Posted January 25, 2023 Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 Was going to buy another Air King 'explorer' dial from Yuki. Have one but have two projects going. Bought 12 or 15 dials with free delivery including hands in the past. Picked one out for $106 (no hands) and went to the order section. Shipping is $48 USD!! No more Yuki Dials For Me! Ever. 1-25-23 Proof I have purchased Yuki dials before. Most are Yuki along with IG44, MBK etc: About half the compartments have two dials in them. Two 'Red' 1680 IG44 dials, '1016' dials from unknown supplier in 2008 etc. + one Yuki '1016' dial not shown. Toot dial is genuine but don't know what model it fits...25.5mm in diameter for ETA 28xx. Yuki '5513' center, J$Wcom '1655' dial on right for never ending project. Two Yuki '1680' dials top left, the printing looks like ////////////////////////////// when highly magnified, not solid lines, only two dials were like this from 5 or 6 years ago. Only the two '1680' dials were not up to par, all the other Yuki dials are very good. IG44 'Red' dials top right...best of all. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddhabar Posted January 25, 2023 Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 It is becoming unsustainable .... by now even buying from abroad on Ebay involves paying tax after tax, which in my opinion is unjustified. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatico Posted January 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 "It is becoming unsustainable .... by now even buying from abroad on Ebay involves paying tax after tax, which in my opinion is unjustified." True! If I did not already have most of the parts, I could no longer afford this 'hobby'. One dial question stands out: Why are Raffles dials one third to one tenth the price of other dials and 90% (or more) as good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted January 25, 2023 Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 10 minutes ago, automatico said: One dial question stands out: Why are Raffles dials one third to one tenth the price of other dials and 90% (or more) as good? Free market & beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddhabar Posted January 25, 2023 Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 1 hour ago, automatico said: "It is becoming unsustainable .... by now even buying from abroad on Ebay involves paying tax after tax, which in my opinion is unjustified." True! If I did not already have most of the parts, I could no longer afford this 'hobby'. One dial question stands out: Why are Raffles dials one third to one tenth the price of other dials and 90% (or more) as good? Probably all of us fans of this hobby let ourselves be conditioned, that buying expensive is the best way to get the most perfect builds possible. For example, some time ago I bought a 5517 Yuki dial (26mm), but just a few days ago I realized that it doesn't fit the case which instead fits a 29mm dial. So I'll have to get another dial from Raffle...that's 29mm. But frankly I'm not sure I have the best. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatico Posted January 26, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2023 "But frankly I'm not sure I have the best. What do you think?" In my experience, the same model of dial from the same vendor, even in the same order, can vary quite a bit. I have some very good Yuki 1680 dials, about as good as any and as I said, I have two that are not up to their usual standard. I'll use them in an ETA project with a lowball case maybe. Maybe not. My two Yuki 'AK Explorer' dials are as good as any 'refinished dials' I have seen and that is why I was going to order another one. One of mine has goldtone letters to be used in a tutone AK 5501 and the other is to be put in an old AK with a rough silver dial, and I need one more for a 1964 1002 OP with 1570. Luckily, I found a pretty good original AK dial in my parts after I started this thread to put in the old AK. Many old AK 5500 watches have ratty dials and a Yuki dial used to be cheaper than getting the original refinished counting shipping etc. Besides that, most of the legit refinished dials on original blanks are not close to being as good as a Yuki dial. Raffles dials are Ok too but the dial feet are for 'A21' and ETA movements and I need them to fit a rlx 15xx. On top of that, some Raffles dials are made for the cases they have for sale, not oem spec. I've had trouble with cases too. My DW '5512/13' cases are made for 26.5mm dials, not 26.0mm like original, and a 26.0mm dial just barely hangs in the case. This is a headache so I bought a couple MBK 5512/13 watches that are made for 26.0mm dials and they worked fine. But there was a catch. The catch was...my MBK 1680 cases are made for 26.0mm dials too! Because of this, I had to stick one of the DW '1680' cases in a lathe and recut the dial window to work with a 26.5mm '1680' dial. It's always something, and it never ends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddhabar Posted January 26, 2023 Report Share Posted January 26, 2023 Thanks mate. Your explanation is very comprehensive. It denotes good knowledge in the parts you use for builds. However your speech convinces me to buy from Raffle ... certainly cheaper. Maybe I'll sell Yuki's 5517 and 1655 dials that I no longer need. Returning to the primary topic of additional shipping costs, I believe that globalization has increased the business of shipping companies ... and as with everything, the more demand increases and the more we get to exaggerated costs (often even higher than the value same as the goods). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatico Posted January 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2023 "Returning to the primary topic of additional shipping costs, I believe that globalization has increased the business of shipping companies ... and as with everything, the more demand increases and the more we get to exaggerated costs (often even higher than the value same as the goods)." I agree. Example: A week ago, I sent a small (approximately 140 or 150mm square by 8mm thick) envelope containing a watch dial to Australia. The dial was placed between two sheets of thin cardboard placed inside a paper envelope, then inside a padded plastic shipping bag, and heavily taped all around. Weight was probably 75 to 90 grams, and the shipping cost was less than $20USD. Instead of blowing close to $200 on a dial (counting a hand set), I paid $200USD for a Hamilton Ball 999B Railroad Approved pocket watch today in very good condition, except the dial is not great. They are going for $700 to $1200 plus/minus on eBay so I came out OK. Shipping was Free! It was a hand to hand deal. Ha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddhabar Posted January 28, 2023 Report Share Posted January 28, 2023 (edited) Wow...you got a good deal.... Look here how much it costs... https://www.etsy.com/it/listing/1312856969/ball-hamilton-999b-railroad-pocket-watch I love pocket watches too....here's a Hampden Mc Kinley. Edited January 28, 2023 by Buddhabar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatico Posted January 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 Ball 999B... "Wow...you got a good deal...." Yeah, I did pretty good on that one. It needs one tiny screw for the 'whiplash' regulator, c/o...and a dial. Hampden McKinley pocket watch info: hampden wm.mckinley | NAWCC Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddhabar Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 4 hours ago, automatico said: hampden wm.mckinley | NAWCC Forums Thank you for link... new info about this brand. cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prospex44 Posted May 17, 2023 Report Share Posted May 17, 2023 Could anyone please provide a link to the Raffles dials?I’m looking for a 5513 dial for a build. Funnily enough, I was looking at the Yuki dials, and yes, very expensive shipping charges!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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