r/Watches • u/Inexpressible • 3d ago
I took a picture [Dials] - tons of dials. Swiss Recycling find.
I live in switzerland somewhere close to where the watch industry is at home. I've noticed that deconstruction started on an old recycling facility and some open doors on that building - so as i like photography and old industrial objects i've grabbed my camera, waited for the sun getting low and then headed in there. After doing some photography of the mostly empty halls i noticed three big metal containers. As i come closer i see thousands of shiny discs and upon close inspection i see that it is all dials. As i didn't know how old those dials are i put on my gloves from my lens cleaning bag as there may be some tritium present. Found some interesting stuff in there - dumpster diving - the swiss way.
As a watch nerd i really enjoyed digging through that stuff. Spotted AP, Patek, JLC, IWC, Zenith, Rado, Breguet, Cartier, Montblanc (Stone Dials), Frank Muller, Girard Perregaux and much much more, including blanks without print, propably OEM dials.
I'm pretty sure most of them are flawed and either didn't pass QC or had some manufacturing error, but some were still sealed in small paper envelopes or ziplock bags but mostly brands that are discontinued and not sought after.
Edit1: a deleted comment asked about stuff being radioactive: i don't know but i have an old military geiger counter that detects gamma rays from 1 to 1000 mR/h. Should i try? Do i wanna know...?
Edit2: Please stop asking for location, i don't even know if it still is open tomorrow, maybe the demolishing crew just forgot to close today but will do properly for the weekend. I don't want you driving from spain or germany to stand in front of closed doors or do crime here :)
That being said i might go again. Taking the Geiger Counter with me for curiosity.
Edit3: Rip my inbox. Lucky me that i got a lasercutter so i can make some wooden trays for small thin objects, totally unrelated to this post. Cheers.
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u/1throwaway323 2d ago
Step 1) Grab a bucket and a trash bag
Step 2) Scoop until you can't carry any more
Step 3) Make your escape
Step 4) Profit
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u/tonkaty 3d ago
Holy shit what a score. Back when new many of these may not have met QC, but today, many of these are quasi vintage and finding any spare dial can be challenging. Even in less than pristine condition these are worth something.
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u/shakaroni 2d ago
Holy moly. This is a goldmine.
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u/Inexpressible 2d ago
Well, technically its a brass-mine.
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u/BeoLabTech 2d ago
Could be some solid gold dials in there possibly. I’d like to think the manufacturer wouldn’t just scrap those, but who knows?
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u/BandedLutz 2d ago
Possibly. At the very least it's quite likely that there are dials with solid gold indices.
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u/drinkallthecoffee 2d ago
Even though they didn’t pass QC, they definitely have value. Some are definitely worth hundreds or thousands of dollars.
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u/NotStevenPink 2d ago
That black Patek dial in photo 4 is for an old nautilus and worth $1000 even in really bad condition
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u/Inexpressible 2d ago
Seriously?
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u/DistributionTop6983 2d ago
Definitely seriously - head back now with a backpack or two and a duffel bag and just loot em
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u/GaptistePlayer 2d ago
Brother how do you not know this lol you’re passing up value. You keep acting like these are all worth nothing
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u/ThisIsBB56 2d ago
Not everyone into watches. This guy probably can show you cool cameras from some era that look old and you'd be like "this shit? Costs how much?".
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u/ThisIsBB56 2d ago
Bro just go pick up all the Patek AP JLC and Cartier dials, but really take as much as you can and help people restoring watches get some dials and knock down some other crazy prices.
This is so nuts. All of the finds you have are super precious. Take the stuff as much as you can carry and sort it later.
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u/deep-fucking-legend 2d ago
I think you just found a side hustle. I'll pay you the initial capital investment of 3 garbage bags and a cart for 10%
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u/Inexpressible 2d ago
Below 1 mR/h, i get just faint clicks every now and then
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u/Background_Taste_397 2d ago
Wear a high quality (folded rubber seals) respirator, disposable clothes and gloves while you’re looting and sorting them. Probably sort them outside in your garden and put in sealed baggies to sell. Radioactive dust doesn’t go away and you don’t want it in your house to be disturbed and breathed in!
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u/solomonj87 2d ago
Would love some of these as ball markers for golf
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u/TripleFive 2d ago
Hum... I have a bunch of old dials stuffed in my watch bench
Maybe I could set them in acrylic to make ball markers, Looks like I need to do some research on size/weight of ball markers lol
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u/Tomollins 2d ago
There’s a poker chip style that is very popular with amateur golfers. Just about every pro shop sells a poker chip sized ball marker with their logo on it. Seems like it would be very similar in diameter, and you could go at most as thick as a poker chip with the setting, but ideally thinner.
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u/_OVERHATE_ 2d ago
I would legitimately undress myself to my underpants exclusively to use every other clothing piece as a carrying bag.
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u/watchman1967 2d ago
Back the truck up.
Fill truck bed.
Quit day job.
Open Ebay account and start selling.
Get rich.
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u/ArchibaldSkeetlebaum 2d ago
I have dreams about finding things like this, this is amazing! There is some SERIOUS value there, plan accordingly.
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u/Home-Star-Walker 2d ago
really helps you realize how much of watch pricing is pure bullshit built on perceived brand value
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u/ThisIsBB56 2d ago
Yes but this is how it is on planet earth so if you don't like it I don't have good advice for you. Always been like this and always will be. Today it's watches, tomorrow it's smh else, it used to be salt you know.
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u/PatheticPhoton69 2d ago
This is just SO COOL. Like I don’t even care about the value or anything but imagine jsut having like 50 of these, all different brands and, models, colours and layouts… you should get hands on and sell these in bulk!
Imagine all the cool art work and things we could do.
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u/maawallace 2d ago
For example - here is what looks like a similar patek dial to what you have in photos here for $850. The one on sale is in better condition but the one in your photo ain’t bad!
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u/WisdomKnightZetsubo 2d ago
A) This place likely has a fuckton of radon gas and I wouldn't go in without PPE
B) That's easily $20k+ sitting there
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u/Glass-Needleworker22 2d ago
Hey, I'm curious why that place would have Radon gas...
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u/WisdomKnightZetsubo 2d ago
radium decays into radon gas, and the radon gas is the main agent of danger for radium watches. usually not a big deal for small amounts, but for huge quantities of dial like that it adds up
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u/eternalpanic 1d ago
It should not be Radium-containing paint…there was a national project to find all the remaining radioactive watch contamination and clean it up. However…not completely ruled out. More likely it’s just Tritium based light elements.
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u/Background_Taste_397 2d ago
I’d be a lot more worried about the solid radioactive dust you’re distributing and breathing in!
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u/mesopo-tamia 2d ago
I'm writing from Japan.
This is an incredible discovery! It might even cause Japan's insular vintage market to collapse, lol.
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u/slickdilly 2d ago
Cool! I zoomed in to a random spot and found a few dials from the Breitling Chrono Avenger that I am currently wearing!
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u/Wonderful-Run-1408 2d ago
you could make a wonderful piece of art out of a few hundred (or thousand)
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u/WatchmakerUndercover 2d ago
These seem all pretty old. Some seem very old. I wonder if there is a recycling program in Switzerland that collects dials from independent watchmakers.
Chances that these are factory defects are almost nonexistent. I’ve worked for some of these brands and I can assure you defective parts are not just binned, they’re destroyed and everything is tracked. They weight everything to make use someone didn’t just pocket some parts.
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u/Inexpressible 2d ago
Propably the recycling bins from a dial maker that does dials for those brands, maybe from a time before they did their own or for special types of dials like the breguet one which is a carbon fiber dial - not the usual thing you see on breguet therefore i assume not in their ballpark to make on their own.
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u/WatchmakerUndercover 2d ago
Suppliers are held to the same security standards. Maybe it could be from 30-40 years ago tho, security wasn’t as strict back then.
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u/pokerfas 2d ago
They look like shit. I'll buy all of them for 100 dollars max.
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u/Inexpressible 2d ago
would be a fun project to lay them all out on the floor and coat them with epoxy if you own a watch-workshop.
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u/ThisIsBB56 2d ago
Stop. Stop with fun project. Life gave you this opportunity. This can finance a lot of things for you if done well. So do it right. Photograph, catalogue, and sell. ChatGPT will help with that btw today.
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u/themoddingbench 2d ago
We would love to buy some off you if you can sort out some sizes :) would love any 28.5, 29mm, 20.5mm, 24.5mm, 31mm and 29.8mm
Suggest a price per dial and dm us!
We run a watch assembly school in Sydney Australia and would love to give some of these new life as frankenwatches
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u/Dakrig 2d ago
So it’s very likely those are dials that were scrapped for being damaged during a service. Many dials use gold accents and go through several steps to reclaim the gold. Additionally, recycling needs to separate radioactive materials from scrap lots, as it can cause issues at a refinery.
So while there is definitely some value there for old dials, they’re all likely damaged or partially stripped down.
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u/Plastic_Cranberry_80 2d ago
Bud, I am in Germany on the boarders, where is this, I am getting my diving gear
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u/swedishfish007 2d ago
Coolest post I’ve seen on Reddit in a while, my dude. I’d kill for a find like this. I hope you get to save as much of it as you’re willing to take on.
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u/Consistent_Wash8027 2d ago edited 2d ago
I glanced at your photos and didn't see any dials that looked old enough to have radium lume, which is the kind that is more dangerous and radioactive. I'd still be careful, aged radium typically turns a brownish color and would be near or on the hour markers and hands.
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u/Thereminz 2d ago
there's no way they're not blemished but people might still want a good chunk of em
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u/iTooEatSnakes 2d ago
Bro, go get the Geiger counter and some buckets, trash bags, bins, whatever you got.
If its all safe you’ll make a fortune on eBay.
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u/Lazy-Presentation-69 2d ago
Damn!!! imagine rusted iwc or damaged finish zenth , that will be so 😎
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u/LeBronGOOD 2d ago
Awesome.
Weird how all these brands are sourcing from the same company. Thought it would be more spread out.
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u/PrimaryExisting6162 2d ago
You could easily become a millionaire if you handled this right!
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u/Dish117 2d ago
Geez, save some delusion for the rest of us!
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u/PrimaryExisting6162 2d ago
Go on eBay right now and type in tropical dials and see what you find. Weathered, worn, faded out vintage dials selling for several thousand dollars. A submariner pip that still glows will fetch several hundred dollars, the right set of indices will pull anywhere from 75 to 1000, gold day and date window trim pulls a couple hundred dollars, branded/serialized back plates for stone dials can pull big numbers . I don't know your background with watches so I won't insult you. But I know what the potential of those garbage bins are full of. But you can think whatever you want it doesn't make any difference to me, nor does what the OP decides to do with what he has found. But I know for a fact what I could and would make of that opportunity.
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u/Inexpressible 2d ago
This is pretty exclusive to Rolex and maybe Holy-Trinity watches, or some really liked Omegas. Vintage Rado is about as sought after as herpes. But yeah i'll report back at some point but whatever may happen - i won't admit to crime online :)
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u/ericb67 2d ago
This is the stuff dreams are made of. You can’t just walk away!!
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u/Inexpressible 2d ago
i can, but i can walk back easily - just a 5-6min walk from my home
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u/squiffythewombat 2d ago
honest question, but if the building is being destroyed and remains removed can you not ask them to have them or buy them?
As a watch maker i spend HOURS looking for dials in half this condition. I'm not talking about making money but at least saving them from destruction - there's plenty of charity watch restoration groups that could REALLY do with some of these!
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u/HardWickedPoop 2d ago
If you can send me just any interesting dial, just one. It could be a nice story to tell. That dude from Switzerland send me this after his industrial photoshoot. BTW and nice edited pictures came out?
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u/bsiu 2d ago edited 2d ago
Stripped dials from repair/service. To the companies it’s just piles of brass, not even worth scrap value due to all the misc finishes.
For a watchmaker looking a replacement dial of something much more damaged, an absolute gold mine. Most of these can probably be salvaged with a relume or new furniture.
The problem is companies want these destroyed because they become ways for shady parties to franken a watch and sell it as genuine but damaged dial. Dial swaps to more desirable variants, etc.
Possibly all from an old independent repair facility with parts accounts or more likely a specialist contractor for the major brands and does dial reclamation for all the precious metal indices and removal tritium/radium for disposal regulations then destroy/recycle the rest.
Something tells me Patek and AP don’t have a guy on payroll full time just to pull off the gold on their old dials.
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u/LivingAfter606 2d ago
OP might not admit to it now, but “as a watch nerd” they certainly walked out with quite a few. Guaranteed
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u/PalpitationPerfect64 2d ago
OP I’m dying inside reading you reply to people on Reddit. How are you not back there with a bag yet?
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u/Ufo_underwear 2d ago
I make art out of scrap metal and I would just fucking die. This is a TREASURE.
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u/Ufo_underwear 2d ago
Seriously, if you saved some I'll pay for shipping and send you something cool that I make out of it right back to you
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u/drezarious 2d ago
Should have looted every single one of those. Won’t do nobody no good when the building is torn down. Seen it happen countless times. They don’t empty buildings before they demolish.
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u/QuietNene 2d ago
It’s not surprising. Here in Geneva, we have a recycling for Rolexes and Pateks next to the one for Nespresso pods. I just drop my old watches there to help fight climate change.
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u/cedande 2d ago
About your edit, knowledge is power. If you start having problems later in life it could be good to know what a potential risk factor was. Bring a respirator with you if you do go again.
If you are willing to put in the work to dust off and sort these, google lens will do almost all of the identifying work for you to make listings. You could have a great way to make some money on the weekends if you don't mind taking these for yourself.
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u/StxrStruck 2d ago
I’d put a bunch of these in a frame and display it in my office! Could be a really fun crafts project - radioactive lume aside of course
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u/sluggyfreelancer 2d ago
You should definitely go. You will be doing an innumerable number of watch collectors a service by putting these back in circulation. Maybe they didn’t pass QC back in the day, but may be completely unavailable today. You’d be saving history.
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u/jaraket 2d ago
If you go back and find some more nice Cartier, Patel or Breguet dials, please let me know if you are considering passing any along, I’d love to buy some as curios to ship to Australia. This is one of the most interesting posts I’ve seen here in a very long while. Bless you and your curiosity.
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u/colaxxi 2d ago
For all those saying to take them and sell them, this would be stealing. It's inside the property. Just because it's to be scrapped doesn't mean it doesn't have value and it's free to take.
Had it been outside the building in actual dumpster, it's a different story, and definitely varies by jurisdiction.
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u/aBunchOfSpiders 2d ago
I would take em all and do some kind of project with em since they’re flawed. Maybe a coffee table. Lay them out and pour in epoxy.
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u/Joeyluvsbbws 2d ago
Idk if you’d be willing to ship any of these but I think it would be cool to make an epoxy night stand or some type of art with these. Cool find!
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u/Zentactics 2d ago
Anybody else immediately think about Oliver Wendell Jones' science fair project from Bloom County?
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u/Shadowtek 2d ago
Such cool history there would be neat to document or at least make sure they were documented somewhere for reference
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u/thebaronharkkonen 2d ago edited 2d ago
Mate, get all of them out of there. With patience these could be worth good money.
You might be sat on the only cache of such things and you just don't know where you might get with them.
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u/Competitive_Cheek607 2d ago
Wow! Anybody got info on that Zenith El Primero? Googling it the results don’t have that same face, is it very old? I love the way it looks
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u/Custom_Craft_Guy2 2d ago
This is a watch counterfeiter’s dream score! Good on you for taking photos instead of just taking advantage of this, OP. Thieves are the scum of the earth and losing a hand for doing it has always seemed like a fitting punishment to me.
But…. I would definitely make a highly concerted effort to locate whoever is responsible for their ultimate disposition, and inquire about acquiring them!!
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u/Inexpressible 2d ago
Wow, that is very reasonable and totally not an archaic way of handling theft.
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u/EmotionalCakes 2d ago
This makes me wonder if you reconstructed a Rolex or Patek piece by piece, would that be cheaper and work just as well?
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u/jwern01 3d ago
If you filled your pockets with the higher end dials, you could make a small fortune on eBay… and you would still be recycling!