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XavierM - unfortunately, I only had a 48 hour inspection period. So I had to return it pretty quickly. I did look at the watch very closely when I had it in hand. The minute hand did have a crack in it. The hands had oxidation and looked old. It didn’t look like a recent relume to me. The lume on the dial did have a waffle like texture. Which seems possible for some submariners and gmts from 1968. But I can’t be sure. I’m not an expert on meters first dials. I have seen some mk1 1675 gmt, meter first red subs, and meter first 5513/5512 with this waffle like texture.
What I can say for sure is that it looked odd under UV light. It looked as if the lume markers had been messed with. Or perhaps some sort of oil got on the lume markers. Notice the weird purple spotting/marks on the lume markers in my UV light photos. Additional, in sunlight, at certain angles, the lume markers had what I can only describe as a wet ring around them. Almost like an oil ring. As if something was on the dial and was cleaned up. Which would make sense given the lume markers all showed a purple spotting which was also present at the edge of the lume markers. To add to the mystery, the lume looked fine when not under a UV light. At least in my opinion. When I looped it, I didn’t see any signs of manipulation.
I’ll also add that the watch was sold by a very reputable dealer. Not only that, I happen to know the watch has been sold my a couple vintage dealers in the past. Dealers that I would tend to trust. Images of this watch can be found on a dealers website in the sold section.
Again, the watch was a mystery for me. I’m also not an expert on watches from the 1960s. I mostly know Rolex from the 1970’s and later. Ultimately, I do think something was off with the lume on the watch. Or at least it didn’t come out of the factor the way I received it. In that situation, I felt it best to return the watch. It’s too bad, in person, it’s a great looking watch.
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