Has anyone had a vintage dial refinished by Patek?

Hello All,

I am thinking of purchasing a relatively rare vintage piece that has had some 'refinishing' done to the dial in past years. The refinishing of the dial is not all bad and I'm not particularly anal about such defects so I believe I could live with it.

But, if it starts to drive me crazy ... I thought I'd do some homework on my options.

On Patek's website, they talk about the restoration services they offer, which appear to be very comprehensive. There are no explicit statements about reprinting a vintage dial but from their 'before and after' demonstration, they obviously have worked on the dials of the watches. Whether it was a complete reprint or a careful cleaning, it would be difficult to say without any first hand knowledge. I suspect that it was a reprint as the damage appears to be severe and the overall hue of the dial is vastly different than the original. Maybe due to photography, but I don't think so.

I'm wondering if any other collectors have had their dials refinished by Patek. And if so, were you happy with results, both cosmetically and financially (e.g. did you feel that the cost was reasonable).

Thank you for any responses,

Thurmond

Some redial results may be better than others on vintage

By: veblen_goods : November 4th, 2013-07:04

I think it kind of depends on the era of which the watch relates. For example, 1940s and 1950s era pieces had dials with the 'printing' actually done in enamel (i.e. the dial details were engraved into the plate and filled/fired with enamel). A refinish w...

I have had occasions to deal with 2 vintage

By: whit : November 4th, 2013-10:48

restorations, the first was a rectangular cased piece from the early 1940's and the other was a square cased piece from the early 1930's retailed by Tiffany (Tiffany on dial, mvmt marked Patek). Obviously, both pieces sent to Geneva for estimates. The 194...

Oh, forgot to give you the time requirement for the

By: whit : November 4th, 2013-11:08

1930's square watch, 36 to 48 months.

You are lucky!

By: dr.kol : November 4th, 2013-11:17

I picked up my wife's 2106J-SCI from 1950 on 19th March 2013. The watch was completely renovated including the dial. The service receipt says as follows: Quote Dial restoration: The protection glaze as well as the background color have to be removed. The ...

Lovely!

By: small-luxury-world : November 4th, 2013-12:32

Congrats to your wife! Oliver

Thanks Mr. Moderator

By: dr.kol : November 4th, 2013-12:39

My wife loves the watch: she calls it her "little Girl". But wait when the next one is coming from full renovation... All I can tell is that "she" has a hand painted enamel dial. and that is just like it was made yesterday. Best, Kari

Kari, you know how to get my attention ...

By: small-luxury-world : November 4th, 2013-23:44

"the next one is coming from full renovation ..." :-) Who has chosen the latest one, you or your wife? Best, Oliver

I chose the next one for my wife

By: dr.kol : November 5th, 2013-00:57

but she loved it more than anything. I spoke about the watch with Mr. Thierry Stern when we walked from the pier to Cutty Sark in UK, According to Mr. Stern, such a watch is something that has been in the minds of him and his wife. Patek heritage again......

Thanks for the replies - sounds like

By: Thurmond Von Ripper : November 5th, 2013-04:55

a dial restoration is not going be a exorbitant as I thought it would possibly be. I'm guessing in the couple thousand $'s, and not 5's or 10k's. In this hobby, nothing really surprises me anymore. Anything is possible! Thurmond