Congrats and not to put a downer on it, but who polished the bezel?

 

well in one of those shots the plastic is still on it. Dont think it had been polished, took it last night to gearys rolex in BH and they polished it for me.

 

beautiful, congrats man!!

 

congrats! looks brilliant.

 

classic, love it.

 

That is not a factory plastic wrap. It is dealer applied. We buy it in rolls so that after a polish when we store watches in the safe they do not scratch themselves on the buckle or bracelet. Here is a photo of a brand new one and you can see the bezel has dark black markers. Often when the Daytona's are polished on the bezel the black markers fade and the centers of the triangles begin to lose the black color as seen in your photo. Take a look at the difference. Nothing wrong with a polished watch but you should at least be aware. Enjoy it!



And your bezel with missing black paint in the markers.

 

That is some solid info, stryke! I think it makes a huge difference.

 

Wow - I would go apeshit.

 

That is why when we take in a white gold Daytona on trade the bezel condition makes a difference of $3,000 because that is what Rolex charges to replace it and service the watch (they require a full service to replace the bezel, pain in the asses that they are). If it is in bad shape then we can sell it as is at a lower price (usually wholesale to another dealer) or pay to change it. Customers don't always understand this and think their watch is worth more but they don't know the cost of replacing a bezel like this and they think it's just a light polish fix. I know if we polish it the numbers will lighten up so it is a risk. Daytona bezels and Explorer II bezels have the dark numbers recessed. Yachtmaster bezels are also a pain because they are sandblasted but can be redone. Just take time and costs alot more than standard bezels to do.

Here is a roll of bracelet and case wrap we use to protect it in the safe after a polish.

They even sell replacement factory stickers so dealers can make a watch that was polished look like it has never been worn. You have to be really careful. That is why my moto is "buy the seller, not the watch." This business is worse than the used car business unfortunately. Understand, again, there is nothing wrong with polishing a watch at all. It is a part of standard maintenance anyways. Just don't think that it wasn't done, that's all.

 

Gotta go with Gil on this one , go see your buddy, initially I just took a quick look at the dial knew it was WG but you bezel has been totally fvcked up by a butcher..