Polished RED or UNpolished???

[Jetkopite]

Good morning folks,

There is alot of talk lately of polished or UNpolished cases of vintage pieces so thought I would share a few shots of my 1970's 2.82m RED Sub which was claimed to be unpolished???

In all honesty I am not sure how a 45 year old watch can go through life with no polishing and to be honest im not too bothered about it as long as it has a strong case and doesnt look over polished as many examples on here seem to be...

What do the experts thing about this example?? In my opinion its been lightly polished many years ago but im not sure...

Andy


instagram:jetkopite777

[Jetkopite]

Apologies for pics being upside down... I dont know why they are displayed like this....

[Passionata]

I m far from an expert but the bevel and specially the crownguard seems to had previous polishes.Usually you can see the best on the pinholes but in this particular piece those are seems to me okay.
Other will correct me if i m wrong.

[Jetkopite]

Originally Posted by Passionata

I m far from an expert but the bevel and specially the crownguard seems to had previous polishes.Usually you can see the best on the pinholes but in this particular piece those are seems to me okay.
Other will correct me if i m wrong.

Yeah I have been told the pinholes are a give away with regards to polishing. What exactly is the give away with pinholes?? What do you look for??

Thanks

[Passionata]

Originally Posted by Jetkopite

Yeah I have been told the pinholes are a give away with regards to polishing. What exactly is the give away with pinholes?? What do you look for??



Thanks

After some heavy polishing the lugholes (1)getting closer and closer to the edges of the lugs,(2)their shape lose sharpness.

[Passionata]

Here s a good example for polished lugholes
http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=352214

[Jetkopite]

Originally Posted by Passionata

Here s a good example for polished lugholes
http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=352214

Thank you George

Yeah I think there must have been a little polishing on my RED but not too much thankfully... I guess the crown guards are a give away too with regards to thickness and pointiness of them ?? ..

[Passionata]

Originally Posted by Jetkopite

Thank you George



Yeah I think there must have been a little polishing on my RED but not too much thankfully... I guess the crown guards are a give away too with regards to thickness and pointiness of them ?? ..

Yes the lower one seems much thinner than the other one however it may happened in the factory used to be and just passed the QC but as i said i m really far from an expert let s wait until the Vintage experts waking up in the US and join us to give us the final judgement

[TimeToGo]

Some watches are polished and look awful..

This one has been polished but looks great to me! I would never have that one polished again (only overhaul), the character looks great! Congrats!

[ADINVA]

I am definitely not an expert but the dial appears to me to be relumed. Any experts?

[Frogman4me]

Originally Posted by ADINVA

I am definitely not an expert but the dial appears to me to be relumed. Any experts?

The dial is not relumed, just stunning patina your seeing there

[TimeToGo]

Originally Posted by Frogman4me

The dial is not relumed, just stunning patina your seeing there

X2 / Great example..

[Frogman4me]

Its likely received a light polish probably long ago seeing that its no longer shiny and has honest marks and bruises on the case. But its nothing to worry about because the case is thick, chamfers are well pronounced and the crown guards are strong. The bottom guard being slightly smaller is common. Great MKIV example IMO, enjoy it my friend.

[lhanddds]

Originally Posted by Frogman4me

Its likely received a light polish probably long ago seeing that its no longer shiny and has honest marks and bruises on the case. But its nothing to worry about because the case is thick, chamfers are well pronounced and the crown guards are strong. The bottom being slightly smaller is common. Great example IMO, enjoy it my friend.

Agree with David, this one is nice Andy. I really don't believe anyone can be sure of unpolished unless he has owned the watch it's entire life.

[azguy]

polished, that lower crown guard especially

[droptopman]

Case looks great. Maybe a light polish at some point. Beautiful example. Love the faded insert with the nice patina on dial, hands and pearl. Matches up perfectly.

[Hi-roller]

I'm no expert but I love the matching patina and the case looks great.

[Robbyvm]

Who cares it looks great and as said before, you can only be sure if you are the original owner

[Jetkopite]

Originally Posted by TimeToGo

Some watches are polished and look awful..

This one has been polished but looks great to me! I would never have that one polished again (only overhaul), the character looks great! Congrats!

Originally Posted by Frogman4me

Its likely received a light polish probably long ago seeing that its no longer shiny and has honest marks and bruises on the case. But its nothing to worry about because the case is thick, chamfers are well pronounced and the crown guards are strong. The bottom guard being slightly smaller is common. Great MKIV example IMO, enjoy it my friend.

Originally Posted by TimeToGo

X2 / Great example..

Originally Posted by lhanddds

Agree with David, this one is nice Andy. I really don't believe anyone can be sure of unpolished unless he has owned the watch it's entire life.

Originally Posted by droptopman

Case looks great. Maybe a light polish at some point. Beautiful example. Love the faded insert with the nice patina on dial, hands and pearl. Matches up perfectly.

Originally Posted by Hi-roller

I'm no expert but I love the matching patina and the case looks great.

Originally Posted by Robbyvm

Who cares it looks great and as said before, you can only be sure if you are the original owner

Thanks guys yeah this a great example and I paid a little premium for it but very happy with it.. As I thought it has been lightly polished in the past but I will leave it as is as I love the battle scars on the case...

Wish you all a great weekend

[Vincent65]

Great example. It looks pretty 'raw' and honest to me. Could well be in original shape. Any slight difference between the lugs; it could have emerged from Geneva like that, as many did. I don't see anything which screams 'polish job' to me. One indicator of likelihood is service marks in the case-back, and whom it was carried by. Does it have any?

[Jetkopite]

Originally Posted by Vincent65

Great example. It looks pretty 'raw' and honest to me. Could well be in original shape. Any slight difference between the lugs; it could have emerged from Geneva like that, as many did. I don't see anything which screams 'polish job' to me. One indicator of likelihood is service marks in the case-back, and whom it was carried by. Does it have any?

Sorry Karl just seen this as ive been away on trips...

The case-back doesnt have any sign of service marks, only thing I remember when it was opened once was 1680 and II70 stamped or something like that???

[Kobin]

Polished - shmolished, it's a great looking Red! Gorgeous patina indeed.

[1675-David]

Any way you turn it it's a great looking sub, in my daily work I do a lot of metal polishing, and have a solid knowledge and experience of polishing, how it's done, with what machinery and which polishing mediums to use for different metals to achieve the best effect, The wear on that case looks consistent with what your sleeve can achieve after decades of constant use and I would have no problem at all in accepting that as an unpolished case. Uneven lugs and crown guards, sticky out pins and all the other obvious signs of polishing are at best a hint at what might have happened to a watch case but the truth is that every time you wear your watch you are polishing the case, it's only when it comes into contact with something harder than stainless steel that you get a ding... also part of the process of wear.

[rodwatch69]

I see a lot of cases and am pretty good at determining polish. This case has had a light polish at some point in its life. However, I would still rate that case a 9/10 as the chamfers are sharp and the lug holes are still round.

One of the easiest ways to tell is by looking at the case from the side so you can see both lug holes. I like to view them with and without a spring bar inserted. You know a spring bar is perfectly round so, when it is in the case and you look at the lug hole (with springbar in place) you can see how "true" the circle is compared to the bar. Polished examples become more oval or egg shaped rather than perfect circles.

This one looks good so if and when it was polished they focused more on the meaty part of the case by the crown guards and center of case, and less on the lugs and sides of lugs.

DONT POLISH it again, its good to go forever now...

[Jetkopite]

Thanks alot guys some very interesting stuff from many experienced guys out there...

Dont worry I wont ever polish that case, only movement service for this one.. I love that rugged scratched up case, gives it so much character..