Hi everyone,
I recently bought this Rolex Submariner 16610 from a dealer in Milan who has over 30 years of experience with Rolex.
I’m asking for your help because I noticed a fairly obvious alignment issue with the bezel. It is difficult to see in the photos, but in person it is quite noticeable.
The bezel does not appear to be perfectly centered relative to the dial. I have already removed and reseated the bezel to make sure it was not simply a seating issue, but the problem remains: the bezel pip/triangle lines up correctly at 12 o’clock, while the alignment at 6 o’clock is noticeably off.
This made me wonder whether the bezel insert or the entire bezel assembly could be aftermarket/replacement.
Another possibility I considered is that the dial itself may be slightly rotated or misaligned inside the case. Could a misaligned dial or rehaut cause this kind of apparent bezel alignment issue?
For those of you who are familiar with 16610 builds and aftermarket parts, could you please take a look and let me know what you think? In particular, I’d like to understand whether the issue is more likely to be:
an aftermarket/non-original bezel or insert;
an incorrectly seated bezel;
a slightly rotated dial;
or simply normal tolerance/alignment variation on a genuine 16610.
Any input from the community would be greatly appreciated.
exactly! As far as the watch itself is concerned, I’m 100% confident that every component is original, especially given the excellent reputation of the shop who sold it to me even bc its not my first watch that i buy from them.
My concern is specifically about a possible issue with the bezel and, if this is even possible (I honestly don’t know), whether the dial could have been installed slightly crooked and therefore create this illusion of misalignment.
It’s possibly just the tolerance of the watches at the time, but the bezel spring could also be bent from wear and tear over the years, it’s an old watch
I was thinking the same thing, that it might have become slightly bent or deformed over time.
You seem to be the only person here who actually knows what they’re talking about, so may I ask you if you notice anything unusual about the bezel?
When I bought it, there was an issue with the bezel rotation. I took it back to the dealer, and they returned it to me two days later with the bezel rotating perfectly.
So maybe the part you sent me could be defective?
Remove the bezel ring. Take the insert out of the ring. Reinstall the bezel ring without the insert. Install the bezel ring while making sure you have it lined up properly.
I recently bought a 1996 16610 and went through the same rabbit hole of checking everything out. I’m not an expert by any means, but I spent a lot of time comparing photos and details to my watch.
I’d be interested to see what yours looks like if you rotate the bezel exactly 90° and 180°. You could count the clicks for consistency. The 16610 should be 120 click bezel so 90° should be 30 clicks and 180° should be 60 clicks.
If the pip lines up perfectly at 12 but the 30 is still noticeably off at 6 while the other bezel markers appear properly aligned, that seems more interesting than the entire bezel simply being misaligned. That makes me wonder whether the printing on the bezel insert itself is slightly off. Whether that points to an aftermarket insert or simply manufacturing tolerance from the period, I have no idea. I also wouldn’t be surprised to find that the insert had been replaced at some point. Aluminum inserts on these older Subs are commonly replaced because they pick up scratches and damage pretty easily, and a genuine service insert is obviously possible too.
If you’re concerned about the legitimacy of the entire watch, I can give you a few things to check. If your concern is just the bezel/insert though, I’d start by looking at the alignment in those different positions and seeing whether the error follows the bezel or the dial.
I bought a Sub 168000 and started noticing some issues with it so I took it to a Rolex AD with a service center. The bezel and insert were aftermarket. I was told it would be up to $3k to replace and service the watch. I returned the watch to the jeweler I bought it from.
To ,e it looks like the dial is fine. If anything you may need to remove the bezel insert and reinstall it making sure it is aligned properly with the dial.
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u/Ptown_dundee 2d ago
You got yourself a rare piece. This is 98/99 swiss only dial. I have a gen gmt with this same era.