To relume or not to relume...

[sojourner]

That is the question...

But I know there is no question here as I'm sure the consensus would be not to relume.

However, my 6263 has some significant missing plots that sure do bother me.

Any thoughts please?

[BlakeA]

Not qualified to answer, but...just curious. Where do the plots go? Do they disintegrate and end up in the movement, or are they fished out during a service?

[sojourner]

Hey Blake,

In my case, my watchmaker 'cleaned' up plots 3,5,6,9,11 as they were degraded and he was concerned about them affecting the dial.

In hindsight, I may have had them left on and untouched. Who knows...still learning every day about vintage Rolex.

Originally Posted by BlakeA

Not qualified to answer, but...just curious. Where do the plots go? Do they disintegrate and end up in the movement, or are they fished out during a service?

[Kingface66]

Regardless of what happened, I would absolutely get new dots. With a pleasing cream-color it'll look a lot better than it does in the current state.

[roh123]

Originally Posted by Kingface66

Regardless of what happened, I would absolutely get new dots. With a pleasing cream-color it'll look a lot better than it does in the current state.

Or remove the remaining. Bit odd as is.

The simple answer is to always leave untouched. I do however feel your pain.

[BlakeA]

Originally Posted by sojourner

Hey Blake,

In my case, my watchmaker 'cleaned' up plots 3,5,6,9,11 as they were degraded and he was concerned about them affecting the dial.

In hindsight, I may have had them left on and untouched. Who knows...still learning every day about vintage Rolex.

I see. I can kinda see the watchmakers point, but the missing plots would bug me too. I'd have to replace them if it were me.

[sojourner]

I may just leave as is...

The bad part is having to look at the 'unbalanced' dial.

The good part is I can wear it with no reservation about losing lume because if any more drop off then I'm one step closer to 'balance' again.

Originally Posted by roh123

Or remove the remaining. Bit odd as is.

The simple answer is to always leave untouched. I do however feel your pain.

[Cheutc]

such a shame the plots fell off, I would get new cream colored plots to match the hands, nice watch by the way

[swish77]

I have a 6263 with very slight tritium loss on two plots, but even if the dial had more tritium loss, I would never, ever mess with the dial, especially since it's a Daytona Big Red.

If you're on the fence about whether to add new plots, ask yourself if you'd rather buy a vintage Rolex with a refinished, restored or repaired dial, or would you only buy it if the dial was original and untouched, even if it has some age wear and tear? My guess is that most vintage lovers would go with option No. 2.

And let me add that you must have great eyesight. Sure, in a blown-up photo the plots are clearly missing. But on the wrist are you saying it really stands out a lot because a couple of tiny dots aren't there?

[1675-David]

who would you trust the job of reluming to, just curious as I've seen a few really bad resumes in the past, who is the go to relume guru?

[roh123]

Originally Posted by 1675-David

who would you trust the job of reluming to, just curious as I've seen a few really bad resumes in the past, who is the go to relume guru?

If not the usual suspects like LAWW etc I doubt people will want to share. No one wants to be the guy being able to relume tritium to perfection.

[henrylee]

There’s 3 plots on each side. I would leave it be.

[1675-David]

Originally Posted by roh123

If not the usual suspects like LAWW etc I doubt people will want to share. No one wants to be the guy being able to relume tritium to perfection.

"I know a bloke who knows a bloke who knows a bloke. Now, I know you know this bloke. This is a bloke you know. "

[roh123]

Nice and very rare sigma dial as well.

[sensui]

I wouldn't touch it....shouldn't have in the first place also. Too much risk and part of appreciating vintage is appreciating imperfections.

[77T]

Only you know what you’re willing to trade off for symmetry in lume dots. Would you risk losing half its value? Will you keep it forever?

If it was me, I’d have it done the way I want. But first, I’d buy a plain old cheap DJ dial and have the dial finisher show me what he could do on that palette before handing him the Daytona dial.

Sounds overly cautious, I’m sure...but it gives you an idea of what the craftsperson can do beforehand. And you’ll be able to sell of the DJ dial when you’re finished.


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[roh123]

Value is already damaged. A proper nice relume would probably raise the value. Depending on how good it is done and if the owner discloses it. Removing all dots would probably not hurt the damage further. I doubt many buyers would care if it had 6 random plots or none.

Personally I would do what felt best. Keep as is if I liked it or clean/relume depending on contacts to do a nice relume with matching tritium.

[onthedial]

@sojourner
As more members reply to your post it will be interesting to see where the numbers end up: Yay or Nay
Usually I'm of the leave-and-enjoy-as-is school of thought, but in your specific case I think I'd go with an expertly done re-lume. I would categorize this intervention as "minor conservation" as opposed to a "major restoration." Since you are in Texas why don't you contact Phillip Ridley at Watchmakers International and see what he thinks?
___________
Instagram: @onthedial

[swish77]

Originally Posted by roh123

Value is already damaged. A proper nice relume would probably raise the value. Depending on how good it is done and if the owner discloses it. Removing all dots would probably not hurt the damage further. I doubt many buyers would care if it had 6 random plots or none.

Personally I would do what felt best. Keep as is if I liked it or clean/relume depending on contacts to do a nice relume with matching tritium.

Not sure I agree with that. I think any doctoring, tinkering, reluming, etc ... of a dial would decrease value. (I’m not talking about a totally trashed dial that needs to be restored, of course.) We all love natural wear and tear on vintage watches, and to me that includes some minor tritium loss. Once a dial is messed with, it loses its originality, IMHO.

I won’t even consider buying a watch that has an altered dial in any way. Maybe that’s just me. I also hate the seemingly growing trend of color-matching hands. It’s been around awhile, but it seems to be more widespread now. I avoid those too.

[roh123]

Each to their own of course. I doubt neither of us would buy this watch if that is the question. Relume or not.

Having 4 out of 10 lume dots washed away is beyond natural wear to me.

[springer]

Originally Posted by roh123

Each to their own of course. I doubt neither of us would buy this watch if that is the question. Relume or not.

Having 4 out of 10 lume dots washed away is beyond natural wear to me.

And....the dial isn't one of the freshest that I have seen.

[sojourner]

Yep. And there are tool marks on the dial as well along with a stress crack at 90 on the bezel. Oh, and the bracelet has stretch.

BUT I do love the curves on this thing when wearing it. Nothing compares to a plastic Daytona on the wrist imo...even a beat up example.

Originally Posted by springer

And....the dial isn't one of the freshest that I have seen.

[roh123]

It’s a nice watch with a very rare big red sigma dial. Enjoy!