Guest avitt Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Please opine: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Overall, it looks pretty good. The only things that would really bother me are the location of the 3 lines of text (slightly too high) & the fonts used for ROLEX & DAYTONA. The lines that make up each letter of ROLEX should have varying widths (the ''O' in ROLEX should be thicker on the sides than at the top & bottom). And the 'A' in DAYTONA should be either flatter (for the original version) or the font size should be smaller and the length of the word shorter (for the later san-serifed versions). The only thing that really sticks out marking the watch as questionable is the incorrect font on 'ROLEX'. I think the other things would be hard to detect unless you knew what to look for and inspected the dial closeup with a loupe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avitt Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Good observations, Freddy...thanks! The debate is whether or not to swap it into one of my VJ72 Daytonas. The flaws on my existing dial are significantly more noticeable: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsupilami Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 changing the crown would be the best improvement. the dw dial isn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Avitt -- It has been awhile since I have seen a full frontal of your current dial (hard to see the fonts from the wrist shot). If the 'ROLEX' font looks better on the current dial, I think I would probably keep that one in place. If you are not sure, can you post a direct front shot of the current dial so I can compare it to the new one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avitt Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 All is not as it seems...The dial in my watch currently is not a DW, but is from Timeman. It suffers from "Nanuq Font Error": ...Notice the "R" and "A" in Cosmograph. This is an error that I am dialed in to, and which effects the majority of aftermarket dials, which are available from common sources (like eBay). The dial which I've shown in the original post is a DW, albeit an exceptional one...With slightly off-white (not silver) subdials, an exceptional crown (and self-aged markerr), I find it to be one of the best looking replica dials that I've come across. I don't think it has the "dazzle" of the Timeman, but it does seem to have more vintage authenticity. I appreciate your thoughts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avitt Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 I'm flopping now...The line spacing and font issues that feddy333 pointed out now have my attention, along with some concerns about the subdial size. I am sure that I'll be transferring that crown to some other dial, just not sure which one it will be now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyp1 Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Someone should post a pic of a Gen, a really good rep and a really awful rep dial. All this talk of font and placing of the rolex crown is getting confusing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avitt Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 (edited) Here's a quick gen pic that I just plucked off of eBay: ...The really good rep pics are further up in the post (these dials are as good as reps come, I'm afraid). For bad rep pics, you can go almost anywhere... Edited May 31, 2007 by avitt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Avitt -- I am in the middle of drilling He valves, but these may help Here is a post-production 6263 dial (I am posting the silver face because it is easier to see the fonts & details) This photo shows the differences in the DAYTONA fonts between the serifed versions used on production dials and the non-serifed versions used on post-production dials. The serifed DAYTONA is larger and wider and the non-serifed DAYTONA is smaller and narrower The 1st & 3rd pictures are production dials with serifed fonts. The 2nd & 4th pictures are post-production dials with non-serifed fonts. Note that the non-serifed DAYTONA font is smaller and spans a shorter distance around the subdial below it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avitt Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Thanks for sharing this infomation. That is a great summary (I had read similar information on Doubleredseadweller.com). Most of the aftermarket dials that I've seen use the larger font. Surprisingly, the font quality of the red lettering in Daytona does not give me as much heartburn as the rest of the white lettering...maybe because I believe that there is some degree of variation among genuines. Good luck with the valve... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitimany Posted June 1, 2007 Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 I installed a gen crown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted June 1, 2007 Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 Most of the aftermarket dials that I've seen use the larger font. Surprisingly, the font quality of the red lettering in Daytona does not give me as much heartburn as the rest of the white lettering...maybe because I believe that there is some degree of variation among genuines. Good luck with the valve... The white lettering, especially the relatively large and prominent ROLEX, is probably the most important text on the dial and I usually use that as a benchmark. That is one of the reasons I do not like the OEM MBW DRSD dial (the font is sort of close, but not right). Also, it is harder to see the details of the red lettering against the black background. But having mismatched 'A's would drive me crazy. Actually, knowing that I have the wrong style font on a few dials has been keeping me up late at night. The He valve went in without a hitch (I will shoot some pictures as soon as I get the watch reassembled), but somehow a gear inside the 2846 movement (probably inside the keyless works) went out of alignment after I recased the movement and reinstalled the crown/stem for what I thought was the final time. With all the hand changing and adjusting, and time spent playing musical datewheels (I ended up back with the MBW, but that is another story), I must have R&Red the stem over a dozen times tonight and never had a problem until I finished everything and recased the movement. The stem goes in like usual, but when I try to wind or set the time, it just either spins freely or is locked in the date-setting position. I cannot pull it out to the time-setting position or press it in to the winding position (but I can remove it without any problem). At first, I thought I must have compressed something by tightening the case screws too much (even though I know better). But after I removed the movement and checked it again, the stem is still not connecting somewhere. So I spent most of the evening (after completing the He valve, installing the superdome and Tudor hands, and doing some additional contouring of the case) trying to figure out why the stem will not seat properly. I think this happened once before and then it just magically started working again without my doing anything other than putting it in and taking it out, putting it in and taking it out............... If you have any ideas what the problem is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avitt Posted June 1, 2007 Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 I installed a gen crown. I read your original post on this, pitimany...very impressive. In fact, I transferred this crown from another dial: ...It's not as good as a genuine, but it is much better that all of the other rep crowns that I have seen. I stood out, because of the contour, and the "dimensionality" of the balls at the tip of the crown. Your efforts caused me to start taking a more discriminating look at these crowns. freddy333, I am convinced that the best 6263 dial continues to be the first generation DW. The only siginificant problem with this one was the position of the crown (too high). Unfortunately, the only one of these that I have is damaged. All subsequent versions introduced new errors (silver subdials, incorrect fonts, etc). When selecting a Daytona dial (as with the DRSD), compromise is necessary. For me, it looks like the best option is the Timeman dial, with a new crown (the same goes for the silver dial on my other piece). I'm sorry to hear about your movement problems, although I'm sure that you'll get it figured out soon. I am really looking forward to seeing your latest 1665 mods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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