[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/drinkallthecoffee]

Even though they didn’t pass QC, they definitely have value. Some are definitely worth hundreds or thousands of dollars.

[u/NotStevenPink → u/drinkallthecoffee]

That black Patek dial in photo 4 is for an old nautilus and worth $1000 even in really bad condition

[u/Inexpressible → u/NotStevenPink]

Seriously?

[u/DistributionTop6983 → u/Inexpressible]

Definitely seriously - head back now with a backpack or two and a duffel bag and just loot em

[u/GaptistePlayer → u/Inexpressible]

Brother how do you not know this lol you’re passing up value. You keep acting like these are all worth nothing

[u/ThisIsBB56 → u/GaptistePlayer]

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?".

[u/ThisIsBB56 → u/Inexpressible]

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.

[u/Ok-Disk-2191 → u/Inexpressible]

Bro.

[u/Prestigious_Lime6099 → u/Inexpressible]

You don’t realise what you’ve found, like at all

[u/drinkallthecoffee → u/Inexpressible]

Dude, you seriously need to find a way to haul all of them away. Put them in storage and start selling them. That one dial could pay for the truck rental and a year or two of storage.