Your Dial of Choice

[freddy333]

There is apparently some confusion regarding the differences between the OEM WM/MBW DRSD dial and a generally well done aftermarket dial that Polexpete used in his watch (I purchased one of these dials as well). So, to try to clear up some of the confusion, I am posting side-by-side photos of both dials so everyone can see the differences between them.

Unfortunately, the comparison is not 100% fair because I did not have a second WM/MBW case & movement to fit the aftermarket dial onto. So I placed one of the vintage datewheels that was recently produced by RWG members under it and a gen T39 crystal over it. In this way, the two dials can be seen under similar conditions. There is some difference in the way light is refracted through each crystal, but when viewed from straight-on, the differences are minimal.

The dial on the left is the OEM WM/MBW dial with OEM datewheel and crystal.

The dial on the right is the aftermarket dial with the recently modded datewheel and gen T39 crystal.

Some of the most noticeable differences are

* the width of the index markers at 6 & 9

* the color of the lume (you cannot see it in the photos, but the lume in the aftermarket dial looks very much like tritium in both color (slightly whiter around the edges) and its 3-d shape

* the printing on the aftermarket dial is crisper, but somewhat uneven (note, as one example, the spacing between the H and R in CHRONOMETER (on the other hand, there is too much spacing between the letters in SEA-DWELLER & SUBMARINER on the WM/MBW dial))

* the coronet in the aftermarket dial is narrower at the bottom (which is incorrect), but also crisper and more detailed at the top (which is more accurate)

* the font in ROLEX is more correct on the aftermarket dial (note, for instance, that the sides of the O are wider than the top and bottom, which is correct)

There are other differences to be sure. But, all in all, and as good as the aftermarket dial is in many ways, I think the OEM WM/MBW dial comes closer to matching the gen DRSD dial. For comparison, here is a gen version IV DRSD dial

Opinions?

[Guest avitt]

Hi Freddy. You already know my opinion on this one. I immediately spot the aftermarket dial as a fake, while I have to stare at the MBW a moment longer to make the same determination.

There was an interesting thread at Timezone recently, where they discussed a dial that looks very much like yours:

DRSD Dial Discussion

I've said before that none of our rep dials, whether DRSD or GW, hold up to close scrutiny. We have quite a way to go to achieve (near) perfection. In my opinion, one of the most difficult thing to reproduce will be the Tritium lume. We can get the color right, but I've never seen a rep that captures the texture - as if it was applied in rows by a dot-matrix printer. Described as a "canvas" texture, you can see it in the picture that you posted above, and in this one, from TZ:

BTW, I noticed some variation between the dial that you posted above, and my MBW...Mine's no more correct, it's just a bit different, indicating that multiple versions exist.

[freddy333]

Hi Avitt --

Yes, I saw the same Timezone thread and it looks like the same dial or at least from the same source.

I do not think that all of the tritium dials had that canvas texture. At least not from what I see in some of the other Timezone posts and Rolex books. The one thing that does seem to be common with all the tritium markers is their grainy appearance, which is lacking on the OEM WM/MBW dial. This is one of the things that aftermarket dial got about right.

I noticed the slight difference between our MBW dials too. Since your MBW dial is older than mine, I think that is the reason for the variation. It looks like the variations are just variations and not improvements. Different factories maybe?

[kingkitesurf]

Freddy that is one interesting post. IMHO there is a strong variance in the gen dials as well. The biggest attention point for me is always the size of the markers. The bigger the better. The gens always have big markers... I have my DRSD with gen tropic #39 superdome which really enlarges the dial a lot. Next to my 1665 White with gen flat tropic #39 it looks significantly bigger. But still the markers on the gens are always still bigger... In your picture as well.

[freddy333]

You are right. There is alot of variation in the gen DRSD dials. doubleredseadweller.com has a dial section that shows some of differences.

I always compare the rectangular hour marker at 9 with the round markers above and below it (at 8 & 10) to be sure the 9 marker is the right length. I think the problem is that the round markers are smaller on the rep dials and so they had to shorten the rectangular markers to maintain the proper perspective. If they made the 6 & 9 markers the correct size (to match those on the gen dials), they would stick out too far (in either direction) beyond the smaller round 8 & 10 markers above and below it. I guess the factory chose to shorten the 2 rectangular markers instead of just making the round markers the correct size to begin with. Like I keep saying, there is always something obvious the rep factories miss (or purposely get wrong) that leaves me scratching my head.