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LeeH LeeH is offline
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Join Date: May 2000
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 7,714
The bezel is a bit of a mystery. Although, I did find a watchmaker's blog where he refinishes what he calls a 16610 that is blue/gold. Date code on the bracelet matches the date code on the watch.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Coffey View Post
If she (or the dealer) is claiming that the dial and bezel insert are original, they are wrong. They look to be genuine at first glance, but certainly not original to that case. If in fact the case is marked 16610, it is a stainless Submariner Date. The blue dial and bezel insert were only available on the two-tone and all gold models, and those pictured are from an older all-gold model (16808).

The fakes are getting ridiculously good these days though. Here are a few things you can do/check to help confirm if it's real or not:

* Unscrew the winding crown (counter-clockwise), and pull out to the last position to set the time. Along with a "hacking" second hand, the hour/minute hands should advance time forward when the crown is turned clockwise (most of the ETA/knock-off movements made to look like Rolex movements will only advance time forward when turned counter-clockwise)

Second hand does hack. Clockwise=advance.

* Remove the bracelet and look at the engravings between the lugs. Specifically look at the "E" in all of the words. The middle bar in all of them should be shorter than the tops and bottoms (magnification helps here). If not, it's fake.



* Gently shake the watch next to your ear. If you can hear and feel the rotor spinning, it's fake.

Cannot hear or feel the rotor moving... at all.

* If the bezel turns both ways, it's fake.
Bezel is missing the spacer/spring. Don't know why. This would require parts to fix, but everything looks "normal" when the bezel is off.

* The “T - <25” at the bottom of the dial indicates it’s an older tritium-lumed dial. It should not glow any longer (or be “charged” by light). If so, the dial is most likely fake (it could have been re-lumed at some point, but it’s not very likely).

No glow at all.
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Last edited by LeeH; 09-24-2015 at 07:02 AM..
Old 09-24-2015, 06:46 AM
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