Rolex 16660 Sea-dweller w/ crazy dial?

[sgrossma]

Came across this absolutely "unique" (as its described) 16660 dial Rolex.

On the one hand the dial is total garbage and worthless and on the other hand I think it looks so awesome that I almost can't stop looking at it.

How does something like this even happen to a dial? I've never seen anything like it before.

[1675-David]

looks amazing!! Probably water got in and someone put it close to a plutonium source to dry out, when the plutonium was struck by lightning during a freak storm...

[Micha]

severe heat exposure?

[sgrossma]

That looks beyond water damage though, no? It's like it was baked in the oven for too long and got burnt. And the text still looks great!?

[Tom1675]

i love it! I hope its not some kind of manufactured look but I think it looks great. I'm sure someone here on the forum can shed some light on this watch...

[uncleluck]

I actually really like that. But then I've got a 62MAS. With a pretty unique aged dial which I love too.

It's funny, as you say; to some people that's junk (as would mine be) to others it's a thing of beauty.

[sgrossma]

Interesting! So far it seems that more people like it than don't!

[autofiend]

In addition to the discoloration, the dial is crazed too. Maybe was in a fire or near one (?) A little too much "patina" for my tastes but I see the beauty.

[southtexas]

Although the dial is obviously shot, I think it looks really cool. It gives it a rusted, sea-weathered kinda vibe.

I'm sure many would say don't buy it as the dial will eventually start falling apart into the movement, but for the right price it is a really cool watch.


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[sgrossma]

Thanks. I want it, but it's so hard to put a value on it. I just don't have a clue.....

[southtexas]

Originally Posted by sgrossma

Thanks. I want it, but it's so hard to put a value on it. I just don't have a clue.....

Pay less than what a correct one with bracelet goes for, and you're in business (pay $4000-$4500 tops?).


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[offrdmania]

Its at Bobs and they want 7 grand for it. Thats a big pass!

[sgrossma]

Yeah... def too much.
But I sure wish I picked this up at a yard sale for cheap.
Oh well

[autofiend]

No way for $7000. Good luck with that.

[uncleluck]

Originally Posted by autofiend

No way for $7000. Good luck with that.

It's a tricky one because it's unique. I totally get 90% of people won't understand that, show it to joe public and they probably just say "bin it". But to someone wanting something unique, it 'could' be worth a premium.

If it's a genuine crazy aging phenomenon then it's certainly unique, people go crazy over ghost bezels, crazing etc so why not an 'Iguana' dial (you heard it here first lol)

My own watch has a unique dial which (again) a lot of people wouldn't get but it's got such a charm in person and I would never swap it for a run of the mill example that everyone else has.

[Vincent65]

I'd venture it got flooded and then baked dry. Of course, the dial is ruined, but it's pretty cool. Rustic salty sea dog vibe.

7K? Ha! Maybe 4 grand, but it's harder to find buyers for knackered dials...

[murkeywaters]

I Love it, its got an almost "art" to it and reminds me of a star constellation/nebula look..

I would pay good for this if I had lots of funds and already owned complete solid watches just because I like it.. It would have to be a genuine story and not be a laboratory franken dial..

[HERITAGE82]

I love it as well, but agree that it is overpriced. The uniqueness doesn't equate to that much of a premium especially without the bracelet or B&P.

[spoilsofwar01]

I like it but my guard goes up.

Id want to know a lot more about it.

the date of the dial ?

how does the rest of the watch compare?

the movement, as shot as the dial?

last service?

is this not meant to be a Cyclops eye crystal ?

you get the picture.

I like vintage but it needs to be "Clean" if you catch my drift,

[murkeywaters]

Originally Posted by spoilsofwar01

I like it but my guard goes up.

Id want to know a lot more about it.

the date of the dial ?

how does the rest of the watch compare?

the movement, as shot as the dial?

last service?

is this not meant to be a Cyclops eye crystal ?

you get the picture.

I like vintage but it needs to be "Clean" if you catch my drift,

Seadweller's didn't have cyclops..

[csfischer20]

It caught my eye on Bob's for sure, but I think the price is crazy. Whatever abuse it took certainly shouldn't make it more valuable. I do love how it looks though. You never know though.. people buy those Romain Jerome watches with rust all over them.

[Kingface66]

Just speculating, but this looks like a case of someone attempting to "age" (or, in guitar parlance "relic") a watch. The dial looks to have been baked, or heated in some manner to create some patina (obviously, THAT didn't go so well!). And that insert looks to have been bleached, or sanded or otherwise distressed on purpose, as well.
If this is the case, you have a damaged-by-accident-while-trying-to-age-it watch that, if it came out of the factory like this, it would've been destroyed. So, if, in fact, it's a failed modification on a perfectly good Sea Dweller, why someone would pay thousands of dollars for it is just nuts.
And how that $7K price tag was arrived at is beyond me.

[sgrossma]

I called Bobs yesterday and they said "we have no idea how it got to be that way, but we liked it so thought it should stay that way." I asked her if she had any ideas how this happened as I've never seen something exactly like this before and was told most likely extreme and prolonged heat. I was also told that the movement was recently serviced, but no movement pictures so hard to know if the movement is clean or looks very rusty.

I really do love the look and think it is super fun, but without knowing more about how this happened, I decided I would not buy, especially at this price. The listing says the bezel fade is original, but who knows...

Maybe if it sits for long enough and if they lower the price to something more reasonable (or find out the story), I'd re-consider.

[spoilsofwar01]

Originally Posted by murkeywaters

Seadweller's didn't have cyclops..

Aha, ok that's on concern taken care of.

[spoilsofwar01]

Originally Posted by Kingface66

Just speculating, but this looks like a case of someone attempting to "age" (or, in guitar parlance "relic") a watch. The dial looks to have been baked, or heated in some manner to create some patina (obviously, THAT didn't go so well!). And that insert looks to have been bleached, or sanded or otherwise distressed on purpose, as well.
If this is the case, you have a damaged-by-accident-while-trying-to-age-it watch that, if it came out of the factory like this, it would've been destroyed. So, if, in fact, it's a failed modification on a perfectly good Sea Dweller, why someone would pay thousands of dollars for it is just nuts.
And how that $7K price tag was arrived at is beyond me.

I agree with you , id be interested as to the date of the watch, the dial looks like its from the 80's ?

[uncleluck]

It could well be man made but.

Would someone risk aging it when an old SD already is a solid value?

If it was baked on purpose wouldn't it look more uniform?


It almost looks to me like it's received a concentrate of heat near the date window, how though! Was it left on a dressing table behind a glass bottle and had sun heating damage? Or did someone take a blow torch to it!

The text seems rather clean for the damage though, and the lume has gone an incredible colour, or has it! But then again my 62MAS, the lacquer on the dial has gone way past that stage where it goes shimmering pink in the light (although there is a tinge left) and almost looks like the dial has plant life growing on it! Even though this is the case the white writing is still good because it was originally under the lacquer, so it could be possible.

Just on the balance of whether someone would deliberately ruin an expensive watch I'd say any cagey response could be likely due to the fact the watch has been rebuilt around the dial. I'd hazard a guess the watch looked a whole lot worse than this at some point.

There's also the fact it could have been accidentally fire damaged or perhaps a disgruntled woman stuck it under the grill when she served up her husbands 'last supper'

[uncleluck]

Just to add..

It'd also be nice to look through all the dates on the date wheel, wonder if there's one that matches up with the patina? i.e. if this did happen naturally and that's the original date wheel there should be a noticeable discolouration on one date (assuming it's sat somewhere idle)

And one may also assume the seller would have made up a story of it was faked?

[Loevhagen]

FUBAR. 7K? Ha, ha.

[springer]

Originally Posted by sgrossma

Yeah... def too much.
But I sure wish I picked this up at a yard sale for cheap.
Oh well

That's where Bob got it. I can see him beating up the seller now...

[springer]

The dial is severely damaged but it has not been "baked." The fonts and white lettering would not be white if baked intentionally.