Month: October 2020

At first glance, the watches look almost identical. And that’s pretty much true since both of these are Rolex Sea-Dweller ref. 1665 watches from the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, there is one unique difference between the two watches – the dial. Here we will compare the tritium and rail dial ref.1665 this is only a few years apart and the key details. Let’s take a closer look!
This is not a fancy name for a dial design, but an indicator of an important dial element. Tritium, a luminous material used in these early ocean dwellers’ best replica watches, is actually radioactive. So, to determine how much of this potentially dangerous substance was used, Rolex used a code on the dial to represent it. You can always identify a tritium dial by the “T” mark at the bottom, under the 6 o ‘clock mark.
Moreover, some later-era service dials are marked with ‘T Swiss T <25’ but they actually feature LumiNova on their hour markers. To be clear, ‘SWISS’ can also indicate radium, but this was only used on watches in the early 1960s, and the Sea-Dweller was not released until 1967.
While there are so many different dial variations for the Rolex Sea-Dweller 1665, the Rail Dial is incredibly rare since it was only produced for two years. Between 1977 and 1979, the ref. 1665 could be found with a particular feature that involved the ‘Superlative Chronometer’ and ‘Officially Certified’ lines of text that appear above the six o’clock hour marker. 
You see, if you look closely at the image above, you’ll notice that the ‘C’ in both ‘Chronometer’ and ‘Certified’ line up almost perfectly. Take a look at the Tritium dial below for comparison and you’ll see they’re not in line at all. They are almost parallel on this dial (kind of like the rails on a train track), hence the ‘Rail Dial’ nickname. These wines are hard to find today, both because they are old and because few were made.
Now, if you keep looking at the six o ‘clock position in the figure above, you’ll notice that this dial also has a tritium mark. Therefore, all rail dials are actually tritium dials. However, not all tritium dials are rail dials.

Working in this industry, we often hear the question “if I could only spend money, what watch should I buy?” There are a lot of factors to consider, and one person’s answer may not be everyone’s answer, but it’s still an interesting game.”
To make things more interesting, we don’t focus on a particular brand or type of watch. We’re also making some cohesive choices so that if someone wants to build a reliable five-watch line, they can do it from this list and end up with a fairly comprehensive luxury replica watch portfolio. 
A new arrival in the shop and a watch that we’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for, the Tissot Heritage Navigator is a very unique vintage-style world timer from the cheap Swiss brand. It’s based on a model from way back in 1951, and even brand-new it was a wonderful value proposition. This particular model adds a very legible vintage-style dial and casing, powered by the ever-reliable ETA 2893-3. At 43mm across, it’s a bit on the large side, but it safely dances the line between dressy and casual; a strap change would make a world of difference, and a NATO strap would quickly take it from collared shirts to a t-shirt and shorts look.
The great thing about this piece is that even if it’s meant to commemorate an anniversary for the Williams F1 team, you wouldn’t know this unless you flipped the best watch over and read the details on the case back. To the rest of the non-F1 fan world, it’s just a sharp steel chronograph with a black dial and subtle blue accents.
So, we opted for the Blue version, as it has always been an unsung hero alongside the classic red, the bronze, the GMT, and of course the more compact Black Bay 58. The blue hue is as much reminiscent of vintage Tudor snowflake divers as it is a nod to the faded ghost bezels often seen on vintage Submariner references. 
At this price point, we must add another icon to the list- enter the Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch. The Speedmaster has a legacy that rivals the Rolex Submariner and Daytona. It is not difficult to write its legendary status off as just hype, but the watch was the official go-to for NASA. In this instance, the hype is well deserved.
Speedy Pro is still standard equipment for U.S. astronauts operating outside the international space station. There must be a Rolex at the top of this list of luxury replica watches, and while there is ample supply in the category, we decided to choose a modern model for this last position. Oyster’s 36 white grape dial is one of the few color watches released in the Rolex oyster permanent collection over the past decade or so, and a combination of smooth bezels, 36 mm cases and a color dial make it slightly retro in feel on the wrist.