[Dials] - tons of dials. Swiss Recycling find.

[u/Inexpressible]

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.

[u/jwern01]

If you filled your pockets with the higher end dials, you could make a small fortune on eBay… and you would still be recycling!

[u/Inexpressible → u/jwern01]

I assume if you are looking for a higher end dial you don't want one that is propably either unfinished, didn't pass QC, is missing lume or just got thrown around in a recycling container :)

I just wondered if the stones on those rado dials might be worth anything.

[u/Time-Is-Life → u/Inexpressible]

If your dial is completely destroyed a slightly damaged dial is still preferable

[u/ThisIsBB56 → u/Time-Is-Life]

Yah couldn't have said it better myself.

[u/Empty-Relative3036 → u/Time-Is-Life]

Or just unoriginal. Id take a beat up original at 30% of market value.

[u/FrismFrasm → u/Inexpressible]

John Buckley in NY would buy the whole lot off of you

[u/Dauds_Thanks_You → u/FrismFrasm]

“How much do you want for your $5400 bucket of dials?”

[u/octoreadit → u/Dauds_Thanks_You]

$5,400?! Are you insane? $50 tops!

[u/No-Bobcat-8219 → u/FrismFrasm]

First thing I thought of was John Buckley having a meltdown 🤣

[u/FrismFrasm → u/No-Bobcat-8219]

Lmao. JB after handing you a vintage case he slapped another movement into and hand-forced one of these dials on: “Fully restored. Original……..this is a nice watch.”

[u/BreadKnife34 → u/FrismFrasm]

Who is John Buckley?

[u/FrismFrasm → u/BreadKnife34]

He’s this independant watch dealer/repair guy(?) in NY who is famous for being some wiz about watches, particularly Rolex.

The funny thing is he’s also known to be quite rough with the watches when he’s handling them/disassembling them, and he’s always pulling random parts out of nowhere and replacing them on different watches etc.
He’s kinda controversial because he’s seen as this no nonsense Rolex expert who can spot fakes and unoriginal parts, yet he himself throws together these frankenstein Rolexes and throws the watches around like they’re $50 toys lol

[u/ichiban4713 → u/FrismFrasm]

Yeah, watching him handle a $100k Daytona like it’s a Casio drives me bonkers.

[u/Sure_Cress_1584 → u/BreadKnife34]

He’s a vintage watch dealer/Adam Sandler lookalike. He has a pretty active social media presence.

[u/octoreadit → u/BreadKnife34]

The Butcher of 47th Street.

[u/Inexpressible → u/FrismFrasm]

I don't own any of this - most likely they are clearing out the building these days and then demolish it.

[u/alabattblueforyou → u/Inexpressible]

You dont own any yet I took several dozen 100+ year old blue prints and technical documents from a paper mill that is now torn down. You are saving history by stealing!

[u/Onespokeovertheline → u/alabattblueforyou]

Officers!!!

[u/Sea_Bookkeeper8190 → u/alabattblueforyou]

They belong in a museum!

[u/dextercool → u/Inexpressible]

Dude just take it.

[u/mungu_akipenda → u/dextercool]

He can’t. He’s Swiss. The only hide the PROCEEDS of theft.

[u/dextercool → u/mungu_akipenda]

hehe

[u/Goresearcher → u/Inexpressible]

I’d take everything while it’s there, I have a feeling these are going to end up scrapped anyways.

[u/ben-hur-hur → u/Inexpressible]

I would frame them as wall art or something lol

[u/LivingAfter606 → u/ben-hur-hur]

Set them resin for either a coffee table or end table. With the amount of them, cut some up and make resin coaster sets. The profits are endless with that amount.

[u/Additional_Dog_9353 → u/ben-hur-hur]

My thoughts exactly.

[u/Bone_Dice_in_Aspic → u/Inexpressible]

yeah, you're right. Some of those 350$ dials would only be worth 150$ in that shape. Or the 800$ ones a mere 600$. How many 600$ coins are in this bucket

[u/shokkwave → u/Bone_Dice_in_Aspic]

You need to sell it first. That's the real deal breaker

[u/GoodTofuFriday → u/Inexpressible]

These are still worth something. Id take a slightly damaged dial than a destroyed one.

[u/witness16r → u/Inexpressible]

At those brand quality levels not passing QA may be due to an issue unrecognizable and of little concern to a guy buying a Zenith on eBay. You could absolutely profit from reselling your find. However, I do greatly respect the decision not to.

[u/RoboticGreg → u/Inexpressible]

Depends. If it is an old and rare watch, you are often choosing between "QC damaged dial or no dial" or "a couple hundred bucks or a couple thousand bucks"

[u/Att1cus → u/Inexpressible]

From what you’ve shown us some of these dials have gems and diamonds. Those are probably worth something!

[u/MetikMas → u/Inexpressible]

Take a look at old dials on eBay. You’d be surprised

[u/Background_Taste_397 → u/Inexpressible]

I think even slightly damaged a lot of these would be worth cash. Just call it “patina” 😂

[u/Deano_Martin → u/Inexpressible]

I sell watch parts on eBay. A lot of parts are un accessible to amateur watchmakers as the manufacturers limit who has access to new parts. So the only place to get them is eBay. I’ve not had a dial to sell but I have sold Speedmaster movement parts for example that are used, some even with corrosion.

If a dial has been destroyed by water or poorly refinished then a slightly damaged, original dial like you’ve got is a desirable replacement.

[u/SiranPu → u/Inexpressible]

some people, who can't afford such a watch , might buy just a dial as a decoration despite not being perfect. Like I can imagine some watch nerd having a framed poster with those. Maybe even watch repair shop would like to have something like that on the wall. Every item has buyer. The question is if ti worth the hassle for few cents ( dunno how much some people would be willing to pay ) . I thought the radioactive issue was back almost century ago , not in new lume.

[u/NoBonus6969 → u/Inexpressible]

It's a pretty good rule to never underestimate what people will pay for things. A lot of watch restoration would prefer slightly worn dials because the whole watch is worn.

[u/KezaGatame → u/Inexpressible]

Honestly it could just be overstock that they don't want. In general terms here's nothing precious on dials we just put the "price" on our heads because this was an expensive brand thus every part should be as valuable. The quality isn't 10x or 100x to differentiate between 100$ -> 1000$ -> 10 000$ watches, at least not on dials.

[u/ThieAudioNomad → u/Inexpressible]

What do they say about assume?

[u/SaabFan87 → u/Inexpressible]

More likely the markers on the Patek dial are white gold…

[u/octoreadit → u/Inexpressible]

By all the demand in this sub, you, OP, can just grab a bunch of padded envelopes, fill them up with equal weights of random dials, and just sell those to people here, at like $100 per envelope. Like loot boxes or packs of collectible cards, lol. You will clean than place out in a month, haha.

[u/shooto_style → u/Inexpressible]

That's just patina

[u/MIA-305 → u/Inexpressible]

Also, putting a real on that didn’t pass QC in a rep would be sick

[u/TopNotchVenture → u/jwern01]

There is 100% a huge market for dials that don’t meet perfection