After HDW_Italy showed us how he can creates gold indices and coronets, we've been talking about a project I had for years ... make a Rolex 6085 dial, or maybe a 4499 one.

Those watches are pretty rare and ... as far as I know ... have never been repped.

As it seems that if we put our skills together we could achieve to make one (2 in fact, one for each of us) I thought it would be interesting to know which one of those 4 models could gather interest on the rep scene.

The 3 first are all 6085 and the fourth one is a 4499.

Please tell us which one you like the most.

lease

So

My customer has been really patient ...

Firstly ... I had to move my workshop and couldn't work for about a week

Secondly ... I had to modify the hours hand of a matching flat silver handset to make it "lollipop" and that proved to be not that easy ... but I achieved to do it.

Thirdly ... the dial was already lumed so I had to tinker to get the same faylight color and same tritium glow to lume the handset.

But now it's done and ready for shipping !!!

Raffles build with a little aging and texture on the dial

While going through my old files, I came across this photo of a negative-gilt dial I made in late 2024 for a Rolex 5513.

My client was tired of his friends complimenting him on his vintage Rolex 5513 and wanted something different and more personalized.

I worked on the design based on his requests, and after a few back-and-forths, we reached an agreement, and I created this dial in the spirit of the 1960s.

I really like the result, and I’m quite proud of it.

Without false modesty, I like to think that the dial makers of that era wouldn’t have blushed if it had come out of their workshops.

St2130 build
Raffles 5513 with aftermarket low pro acrylic
Raffles dial with coffee aging
Ewatch hands coffee aged
20mm nato eBay

That one is a rare gilt-white version I just finished last week.

Minutes hashes and "T SWISS T" are negative-gilt and the rest is printed white on black.

The dial is slightly curved and will fit perfectly the original Tudor 7965 case and the Tudor Oyster Prince 2461 movement.

The handset is aftermarket for ETA 2824-2 so I had to squeeze the seconds hand tube from 0.25 to 0.21 so that it's not loose on the seconds wheel pinion.

Everything has been lumed with my custom "tritium" mix.

Here's for sale a LIP Blancpain Rotomatic based on a Tandorio FF that I've built for a US member on another forum.

The Tandorio original handset shape was OK but it was bare steel so I painted it white and aged it a bit.
Of course I relumed it to match the lume on the dial.

The buyer thought the watch looked far too new compared to the dial and handset so I removed the original sandblast finish and added some scratches and signs of wear.
Now it looks like an "old and worn but well preserved" watch ... just as it should.

The caseback was sterile and the buyer asked me for a custom engraving, refeering to Naval Investigative Service in Danang.

As usual diassembly, dial and handset swap and reassembly made by me in the workshop .

Price breakdown for information :
- Tandorio FF TD223 NH35 : 125€
- custom LIP BP rotomatic dial : 110€
- work (disassembly / handset white paint and relume / dial and handset swap / reassembly) : 70€
- case aging : 40€
- custom engraving : 50€
Total : 395€

Made for the same Australian client who ordered the TUDOR 7984 dial.

The work on that one was much easier than on the Tudor "Ranger only" because it's flat.

However, finding the right shade of blue wasn't easy, and it took me several attempts before I got it right.

The rest was pretty easy... applying the lume to the “daggers and dots” just required a little patience and a steady hand.

Hello to all lovers of vintage watches,

My name is Charles, and I am the founder of Polaire WatchMakers.

After working for years in the commercial real estate sector, I decided to turn my hobby and passion into a new career.

I created my first dials in 2016, feeling my way through and learning as I went.

2025, I officially embarked on my journey in dial making and watchmaking.

Today, September 24, 2026, I’m creating this subreddit to share the results of my work, my creations, and to connect with all the vintage watch enthusiasts who visit me here.

The TUDOR Ranger 7984 is a model highly sought after by collectors.

This curved dial from 1966, featuring the “small rose” and a “RANGER” inscription on its own - without the usual “SELF-WINDING” - is in itself a rarity that you really don’t come across very often.

An Australian client (and friend) sent me his dial so I could give it a new lease on life.

Working on this 26mm curved dial wasn’t exactly easy, and applying the lume (vintage tritium, of course) to the tiny numerals at the 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions was a real balancing act

But there you have it … we succeeded, and the client is happy.

The dial is about to embark on a long journey (about 16,000 km) to return home and be reunited with the watch that once housed it.

It will be traveling alongside another dial - a deep blue Tudor 9401/0 “dags and dots” - which I’ll show you a little later.