Newdoc Posted November 2, 2008 Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 Ive been tossing around the idea of putting together a vintage seadweller for a little while, probably a Great White. I would have it relumed with the lume vintage-ized (is that a word?) so that I had a functional face with a vintage look. I know a real 70s face would have faded to nearly no lume by now, but regardless.... So I was just wondering now, does Rolex do relume jobs on vintage watches to make the lume functional again? If so could I build a piece that was vintage except for brand new, not vintage-ized dial markers and hands, thus still being passable as a Gen? Just wondering... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolex001 Posted November 2, 2008 Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 Rolex does never relume a dial - what they do is remove the old Tritium dial and install a new replacement dial. The replacements are built by Rolex and are mostly similar in appearance to the original dial. The markers however are Superluminova painted - easy to spot because of the plastic-like look. If you want a vintage look and a functional face - go for a replacement dial - in your case there is a replacement dial available, to be exact it's two versions - Rolex changed the service dial appearance in 2003. First service dials were labelled "Swiss T<25" probably because of a remainder of pre-printed dials - they were already covered with SL. Then, in 2003 the "Swiss" dials came up - they are only labelled Swiss at Six and are indicating RSC replacement dials. These dials are similar in appearance, matte surface and no Whitegold trimmed markers. But the markers are plain white SL. There is no other trusted option - a vintage Tritium dial with a relume is just not correct in the eye of any collector. Of course it is your decision - but as you asked if Rolex would relume a dial - no they would not and if your GWSD was a genuine, you would only have the option to retain an original Tritium dial or to go for a SL coated service dial. Sure, you can relume your dial, but nobody from the "gen world" would do it - it would devaluate a T dial completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newdoc Posted November 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 Man thanks. That kind of blows though. If I had a gen GWSD with a vintage dial and I inadvertantly let Rolex swap it for an assembly line modern replacement I would be [censored]. I know Takashi has vintageized lume that's functional on a vintage Comex, but I don't think I would want that now. Maybe Ill just do a vintage everything-but-the-dial.... I definitely don't want the whitegold trimmed markers. So what if I had a gen DRSD and wanted functional lume from Rolex. Would they give me a DR face with SL? or are the replacement dials you referred to all going to be GW? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolex001 Posted November 2, 2008 Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 No, there are to date three versions of the DRSD luminova dial. The latest has a coronet and font like the Deep Sea dial... The version before looks identical to the latest GW service dial, somehow it seems only the word Seadweller is printed in red. The first Luminova dial is also marked Swiss T<25 like the first GW. Well, with Rolex you can always say - you don't want a dial exchange - of course they can't change it then. A gen DRSD is worth a shitload of money, so you wouldn't want to get that relumed. There are some nerds that would pay top $$$ for a Luminova dial, but in fact they are worthless, not well done and come with no "soul"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newdoc Posted November 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 Like this? http://cgi.ebay.com/Rolex-Double-Red-Seadw...p3286.m63.l1177 wow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolex001 Posted November 2, 2008 Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 The dial you show is a nice condition Mark IV. IMHO not worth the talk - MarkIV was the by far most common dial. FYI this is a Tritium dial, so most likely it will not glow any more - the first Luminova replacement is called MarkV - it looks similar to the MarkIV with two lines of red writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newdoc Posted November 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 Wow thanks man. I have somewhere to start now. I think I am going to go with one lke the Mark V, then. I really want one that glows ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newdoc Posted November 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 Oh God.... I just looked at a Mark V dial :bad: :bad: Back to the drawing board Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolex001 Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 Well, after all you can't just walk in an AD and buy a replacement dial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Charles Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 And if you want to see how Rolex can bugger up a decent watch, rob it of soul and cast misery upon it's owner, take a look at this sad story: Here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted November 4, 2008 Report Share Posted November 4, 2008 This is why it is important to follow this procedure to the letter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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