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The watch thread: pocket, wrist, sporty, showy? You name it!

I find Seiko's tendency to put multiple different fonts on the dial to be disconcerting to my eye...I am not sure why they do that. Must be some sort of a Japanese aesthetic thing that I don't understand.
 
stevec67 said:
Very nice, I have the older SARB 017, which I really like and keep for "best" .
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I wear mine as a daily. The leather strap has about given up. I have a SS one somewhere. My 'best' is a choice of solid titanium cased Breitling Aerospace (Quartz) from the 80s (inherited, and cost a fortune to service) or a recently awarded long-service Raymond Weil gold watch, which in truth is a bit too big for my small wrist but is a lovely flashy thing for nights out.

Stop - press - I have just seen second hand prices for SARB017 Alpinist watches - woah - surprised indeed - about 3x what I paid for mine only 3 or 4 years ago!
 
JTC said:
So do you run a watch shop or summat?
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No I just like collecting watches and about two years ago I thought I'd have a tried at doing some reviews and to be fair I enjoy it
The channel has grown really well farmer than I thought it ever would

Over the last few months I've even had companies sending me watches out to review which is cool a
plus now I have Francis and Gaye of Coventry allowing me to review some of their watches too so win win
 
paulfromcamden said:
No experience of them myself but David Bill & Sons are frequently mentioned and seem to be well respected.

https://billandsons.co.uk/

As I'm sure you're aware many collectors will prefer an imperfect but unrestored dial - though obviously it depends on the damage and what your plans are for the watch.
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Thank you for the advice. I am lucky enough to have several older watches a couple of which have a lot of sentimental value and on one in particular, a Jaeger LeCoultre automatic, the dial is so worn that it is not really readable / usable.

I am at a crossroad - do they live in the back of the drawer for the rest of my life or do I make them usable so that I and hopefully my children will use them.
 
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My daily driver, a Zenith Disco Volante aka UFO.
 
Redialing is difficult and precise work. There are very few watchmakers who can do a decent job.

For me, if the watch dial is very damaged, I would sell it off but obviously you can't since it has sentimental value. Depending on the watch model, an alternative to redialing worth exploring is using a similar replacement JLC dial. It need not be identical to the original, it only needs to be suitable (aesthetically) for the watch in question. It may not be cheap but then again, I doubt a redial would be either.

Copperjacket said:
Thank you for the advice. I am lucky enough to have several older watches a couple of which have a lot of sentimental value and on one in particular, a Jaeger LeCoultre automatic, the dial is so worn that it is not really readable / usable.

I am at a crossroad - do they live in the back of the drawer for the rest of my life or do I make them usable so that I and hopefully my children will use them.
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Personally I'd be a little uncomfortable about having an incorrect dial fitted to a vintage JLC. Aside from resale value or collectability it would just bug me knowing the dial was 'wrong'. But again, it's very subjective.

P.S. agree that there's nothing worse than a bad redial. The Omega forum has a ten year long(!) thread of terrible redials...
 
Thank you for the advice.
From my research so far I have found that there are 2 recommended dial restorers in the UK. I have spoken to one who would require that the watch is dismantled and only the dials are sent to them. This will therefore require another specialist to be involved. I am about to try the other to see if they will dismantle and reassemble as well as do the dial.
 
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