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Gen Sub or Rep


Greystash

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Hey Guys,

Do you think this is a Gen or a Rep? Notice the (flatter) font, especially on the 'S' in Submariner.

Submariner Link

Also the '1' in 1000.

I don't know enough about these mid 90's Subs to make the call, but the font looks different to a lot of gen sub dials from the same period.

Rip into it...if you can. ^_^

SubDialCloseUp.jpg

Edited by TwoTone
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Genuine.

16610 comes with both "S" fonts, so no problem there.

Thanks By-Tor.

I tried hard to find a picture of a gen dial the same as this one. Could you give me a little push in the right direction?

EDIT: The '1' in 1000, looks oddly close to the '000'.

Edited by Greystash
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I've been seeing the flat 'S' dials on 16800's and maybe early 16610's- from the late 80's and very early 90's. Of course T<25, tritium, went away around 2000. And 16800 prices continue to escalate- especially the early transitional matte dials- they're up over $5K if they're in good shape.

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I'll preface this by saying I really don't think I've ever seen a rep "SWISS T < 25" 16610 dial and 16800 reps never existed. So without looking at anything else, that would immediately make me think gen. But some other details leave questions in my mind. Most notably that O in ROLEX is far from typical. The mercedes hand looks a little questionable. The marker borders look a little thick at 12 and 6. And it's difficult to tell in this cropped pic, but the cyclops looks misaligned... All this on a watch that is probably genuine!? Just goes to show that there are no hard and fast rules for these things. But it'd still be good to see a shot of the entire watch, in my opinion.

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I'll preface this by saying I really don't think I've ever seen a rep "SWISS T < 25" 16610 dial

My first Sub rep was marked "SWISS T < 25". I wish I still had it for reference. If I remember correctly, the 6 marker was a lot fatter and completely wrong.

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Just out of curiosity, what year is W? My reference books at work! It's got to be 90's- tritium dial, 93150 bracelet.
It's 1995 alligoat.

>

>

Well, I hope it's all on the level anyway, because I just agreed to buy the dam thing. (Just waiting on a final delivered price)

Would anyone like to look it over before I send the money? Remember the dollars are in AU so $3500 is around US $3125.

Submariner Link

I think I've done enough homework on this one and I'm hoping with a service it shoud come up a treat.

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Looks good to me- correct rehaut, crown sits high on the case- that's the one thing no rep has imitated, good pearl. Enjoy your new watch. I much prefer the old 16610's w/ tritium dials, lug holes and the old 93150 bracelet (w/ 501B end pieces?).

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Looks good to me- correct rehaut, crown sits high on the case- that's the one thing no rep has imitated, good pearl. Enjoy your new watch. I much prefer the old 16610's w/ tritium dials, lug holes and the old 93150 bracelet (w/ 501B end pieces?).

Thanks for that alligoat, it

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The price you paid is fair. I tried to buy a 16800 at $3250US and lost out last week at the last minute. I always figure a Rolex service when I'm buying a used Rolex- around $200. That watch isn't that old, so it should just be a simple service. Just look at it as an investment- in 5 years it will be worth a lot more- of course, the US dollar will also be worth a lot less! Nice watch, enjoy!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey Guys,

Thanks again for your help on this one.

I received the watch last Tuesday and I got my caseback tool kit today.

Everything looked Gen on the outside, was in good condition and the watch is keeping very accurate time. I was still glad to see this though when I opened up the very tight back this afternoon.

25-01-08_1838.jpg

I'll post some pics of the Sub when it comes back from a service if anyone is interested.

How badly would it effect the value of a tritium model like this if you had the dial and hands relumed? Just toying with the idea.

Cheers

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How badly would it effect the value of a tritium model like this if you had the dial and hands relumed? Just toying with the idea.

Cheers

Nice watch! Wear it well. I would keep it all original and not relume. If you really want SL, you could take it to a RSC and they can swap the hands and dial for you. Problem with that is, "swap", so good bye original hands and dial. Also will cost you a fair bit of money as well.

You could look around for a set on eBay or one of the gen forums and you could probably find a better price for dial and hand set. That way you could keep your original set if you wanted to sell down the road.

Have a nice weekend.

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Thanks Stilty,

Definitely the safe option is to not touch it at all and my preference is to keep it original. I do like a good lume however...

Actually you wouldn't believe it, the old tritium dial and hands are still giving off a very faint Radiant glow heh. If you look hard and wait for your eyes to adjust you can just make out the time. :1a:

I'd love to put it under a geiger just to hear it. :lol:

You have a nice weekend too.

Edited by Greystash
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  • 1 year later...

Hey Guys if you remember a bit over a year ago, with your help I purchased this, my first Gen Sub. It's a 1995 W Serial Tritium Model.

I said I'd get back when I got it serviced and I've finally got around to it. My Sub arrived back from the Sydney Rolex Service Centre today, so here are the picks.

Here's the Before Shot

Before.jpg

While I was in Sydney I was fortunate enough to be able to sit down with one of the RSS Watch Smiths and negotiate to leave in the Tritium Dial, Hands, Bezel Insert and Pearl. It took some convincing, but I got there in the end. They said the second anything looks like it's going to flake off the hands and get into the works, the hands will have to go. But they were fine and I still have an all original Tritium Sub. :)

I purposely left some of these pics large to allow those interested to see the CG's up close as well as the job they did finishing the case and bracelet.

Enjoy.

1RolexCert.jpg

2RolexPack.jpg

3RolexFace.jpg

4RolexCGs.jpg

5RolexCGsa.jpg

6RolexBack.jpg

This was the first service since it was made. I was a little scared that, because the case had not been opened in over 12 years, that the cost might be much above a standard service. Fortunately for me it still only needed a straight forward over-hall.

Edited by Greystash
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Congratulations, Greystash. Nothing beats a Rolex service, if you can afford the charges. But at least you know that now your Rolex is 100% correct.

Interesting about the hands flaking. I guess that's why all of the vintage guys on TZ send their Rollies to Bob Ridley for service- so they can keep the vintage parts- I think he even can fix hands and dials- maybe with a sealer on the tritium to keep them from flaking.

How's the lume on your dial holding up? I have a tritium dial in my 16800 gen which I figure is from 98-99 and it still glows very well at night.

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