http://stefanomazzariol.blogspot.com/2010/02/rolex-gmt-master-ref-6542-albino.html



English version coming soon..

Ciao Stefano

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Probably one of the rarest dials ever seen.

...is on line.
Many thanks Taimoor.

Englisch version is on line.
Ciao
Stefano

Hi Stefano,

thanks for the scans - impressive als always.

I animated two of them to spot similarities and differences. For a better comparison the white one is inverted.



Cheers
Roland

Grazie and thanks Stefano for sharing with us once again your amazing blog!!

It took a while but the last question mark
has been answered by professor Pisani

Grazie! and MANY thanks Stefano!
rg.Philipp

Analyze this scan...I have never owned a 6542 with ink dripping in the coronet area..have you..? not to much passion on this one..

A



http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/

.

the serifs on the OCC? I have never seen a 6542 dial with that. also, the "serifs" on the 5 second markers? I guess they go along with the 6 and 9 o'clock markers.
there are different 'r's" everywhere?
I am not even going to get into the "swiss" at 6 o'clock.

Sorry to be a party pooper but I do not believe this is correct...

can we compare to original black 6542 OCC dials, please? the "step" is very pronounced, like a service dial.
early OCC dials look different, to me anyway.

for starters the font P and E are longer and on a different plane then the rest of the word..oh man..

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http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/
To me it looks like a dribbling black ink job.. Roberto where are you, I miss your banter? lol..
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looking for Arthur is bent .. different plane's too technical for me. LOL.

Rgds Sparky

A



http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/

but bent and dripping sounds rude to me. LOL.

Rgds Sparky

http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/

I agree there is no other way, falling ink sounds naff, so bent and dripping it'll have to be then. lolololol.

Rgds Sparky

The example used as comparison is from earlier batch 6542...





&

Layer on layer; text print is 100 % same johnny-boy


&

The swiss writing & serief 5 minute markers is the same as we see on rare '54-'55 examples... (courtesy Darker Imperator )


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The serief in 5 minutes markers & the "swiss: writing we also see on other early sportsmodels... (courtesy M.Pisani )


&

To be honest, i've had my reservations due to the swiss print, at first i thought when whole print is correct
the minutetrack and swiss will also be correct but it didn't made sense to me as it's different / non serief..

So i thought about the possibility that it was maybe produced later as swiss was more 1675-ies to me but Proffesor Pisani
teached me to look back, to earlier production, once done that, everything is 100 % clear for me...

It's interesting to say the least...not often we come across a VERY rare dialversion. I have BIG respect the way Stefano has
handled the putcome from this rare bird..Only question that remains for me is, is there anything engraved on the caseback...personally i think it's clean but maybe it will be shown one day...

Hope this helps you to understand the dial of the Albino as Stefano calls it.

rg.P

http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/

I know you see what I am saying...

wow... A

http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/

It's all up here in his post / blog, first read all, then question Arthur

&

i'm not further going to play today...take Sparky instead
Rgrds.P

no games here just asking you a straight question?
A

http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/

dripping paint, strange swiss, step on datewheel, and more important the white color of the dial looks like
Glidden Outside White, you know, like you use on your house! the "eggshell" finish is pretty unique, don't you think? did you hold it in your hand and examine, P? what do you really think?

I guess the search still goes on..

A

http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/

nt

Note also the "SWISS."
Best,
T.

???
no comparison, T...

So not just red write and pan am's with the early SWIS S

---Perpetual Knowledge---

like the paint job?

---Perpetual Knowledge---

to many inconstancies in font alignment and styles..Some fonts seem have serifs and other do not..and so on..Rolex is not that messy..A GMT 6542 Texas dial..I bet it will sell as well.
When you comapre this white dial to other 6542 dials you see more problems..

the swiss is on a dial without serifs. I am curious to see the whole dials not just portions...
anyone?

gloss was the background of the day...Maybe I am wrong here..The dial surface looks like it has dimples..what is going on here?? To many no no's in my opinions..When one compares this white 6542 other 6542 dials one can see the disparages becoming even greater. Same goes for the so called white 5508 dial..

Bakelietttttt!!!

P, I would love to see the same layout on another dial. serif OCC with "snakey" swiss!
it seems that the swiss and OCC are right, but from other versions, no?
Hey, if it is right it is a fantastic find, but I am not convinced...yet!
Someone has to question this stuff...

nt

it takes time to get this knowledge. it comes by questioning, sometimes you are right, other times wrong but you have to ask questions.
It seems there are alot of questions being asked and many times no solid answers, or answers from people who just do not have the knowledge or experience to make these calls.

this thread is an exception as there is a good arguement on both sides. There are also very knowledgable people stepping up and really making the case for both sides. i would love to see this watch in person.

...maybe you don't get sarcasm.
The VRF is THE place to go for healthy skepticism, as we can see by this thread and dozens of others monthly.
No matter how great the collector/dealer posting the watch, the truth will out (or at least brutally honest opinions will pour forth).
I don't think any of the great members around here have a monopoly on "calling it like they see it," amigo--seems to be the rule rather than the exception.
That being said, sometimes one has to admit that there is a preponderance of evidence that strongly indicates that what we are seeing is the real deal, albeit an extremely rare piece. Then we must tip our hat to those expanding our knowledge base for the better.
Such is the case with this "Pan Am" 6542, IMO.
Best,
T.

Typical late '58-'59 crown with NON serief print ...

&

Here you can see it clearly, layer on layer says it all...

what does this exercise turn up...






http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/

...can often look a little "sloppy". For example, if one looks closely at the text on a silver dial Daytona, you can see what I mean. Because thick black enamel paint is being applied directly to the surface of the dial, it can sometimes have imperfections: varying thickness, small spots, breaks in the letters, etc.

Most gilt dials, on the other hand, have a shallow "stencil" for the letters in which the gold paint sits, which is then covered by lacquer, giving a very clean appearance for the most part.

And surely we are all aware of white printing on genuine matte black dials with smudge coronets, slight letter bleeding, varying thickness, etc.

For me, this dial looks correct and if it weren't genuine printing, we would all be in a hell of a lot of trouble because the fonts, "flaws" included, are spot on for a correct 6542 dial.
Best,
T.

........ you WANT to see ONE paint's drain, but you DONT want to see 20 (or more) other coinciding points ......


why my friend ?






cheers.

IMHO there are too many corresponding similarities to say it is not an authentic dial. A little messy painting on one spot does not mean it's not original IMHO.

I have to agree with Tom on this one. Very nice Stefano, thanks for posting. =)
Dennis

So R my friend you think this dial is 100% correct...Also why has no other white 6542's surfaced? Can you post another paint dripping with unexplained matte dialed 6542?

Even you R have to admit to many hummms on this dial to make it 100% correct.
The PN Texas dial also had many coinciding points..

http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/

oopppssss!!








cheers from Italy.

lol...thank you my friend..
the fonts in PERPETUAL are on two plane levels on the white dial and the fonts in PERPETUAL are on one plane on the black dial..
R why not compare this white dial to a few other 6542 dails? You will see how wrong the 6542 white dial is..



http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/

Surly more 6542 dials must have paint dripping as the white dial does. FYI, I cannot find any on any other GMT 6542 dials with this type of paint dripping and misaligned Perpetual sentence with a matte dial and inconsistent fonts. And why no other GMT 6542 white dials of this type have surfaced up yet?

Yes it is a 6542 Texas dial..

http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/

...Texas??...please find another like this for me...i 'll pay much!!











best wisches

Stefano

Very Nice and rare find.

it is always underestimated

First, too me that dial in combination with the words "PAN AM" was always the Yeti- everyone claims he exists but noone has ever seen him. So, I was the biggest sceptical like JB and Viper when this showed up.

Second: Stefano never showed the caseback of the watch and there is still a myth.

Third: "Rinaldi-style" indeces...writing on the dial

Fourth: The "SWISS"

All these points were abolished in that way:

1. Stefano did not mention "Pan Am"
2. Still to show but here we are talking about the dial
3. Ok, as the scans proofed with the overlay and other dials
4. Same as "3"

Concerning the "ink-dripping" in the coronet I had a look in my database of the company and what did I find? (As some of you may know I am involved in plastic/carbon/ business and therefore in colours especially translucent ones)

ALL colours from that age have nearly the same chemical attitude regarding Thixotrophy!!!!! (based on the colour making ingredients) Means the thickness of the colour itself when being poured (ok, very rude and simple description)

However, BLACK is about 30% thinner (still today, if not adjusted) as black is easily to get as a colour. Assuming that the dial was printed with the same technology in a series of just 1 (?) to maybe x, using the same tampon printing process, it is possible that the black colour is more dripping and you see the result....not much time to adjust the process regarding colour quantity when you have only one dial or maybe 5 or 10- this needs to be done within the 50s or even 100s. And yes, I know what I am talking about, we use Tampon print here. New colour means new adjustment!

As a conclusion: I buy that dial....the combination of this dial and Pan Am has to be investigated further.....separate Pan AM from that dial, guys....

100% agree !!


&


100% Original "Proof" dial for me, Brevet Case batch.


IMHO



cheers.

why not compare it to other 6542 dials..??One will find a more discrepancies when you do compare to a few other 6542 dials

A

http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/

For me, this dial looks correct!!

Congratulation Stefano!

Cheers,

Francesco

is much more likely to drip on a dial which is printed over the surface of the plate, than 6542 black dials which had no ink involved

But I still would like to see other examples of dripped ink in any other Rolex dials, with white background and black printing.

Interesting!

for a watch from the mid-late 50's it makes me wonder. I see the arguments, but I still have not seen another dial with OCC serifs and the snake swiss.
JB

we have seen same matte texture in perfect condition on Newman dials... ok, those are not from the 50's. But though it's something important, I wouldn't take freshness as a non authenticity sign.

The lume is something that has not been discussed here yet either.

it looks too bright. remember, that dial is 50 years old. it has not aged at all. you can see the datewheel is discolored, but the dial is bright, even at the datehole!
Look, I would love to see a real one and I know all the "important" people say it is correct, but I just cannot get past the issues I pointed out.
remember, there are alot of other names who have not commented either way. I am always willing to step out on a limb and voice my opinion, regardless of whether or not it is a popular position. If it turns out that I am wrong, I will humbly apologize to the membership, but I really think we need to examine this further.
I remember another dial that was posted not long ago...

honeycombed or gloss was the dial texture of the day.. And if a matte dial texture was produced in the 1950's why had no other sport dials acquire this texture in any dial color?

Second point which is overlooked, was that the same black GMT dial is being compared to this white dial...It behooves the members defending this incorrect dial to compare this white dial other black 6542 dials. more inconsistencies will be predominant.

And lastly, can anybody defending this incorrect white dial produce a dial with this degree of sloppy paint dripping? I have yet to see Rolex this sloppy in dial production..and at a high visibly spot on the watch.

To many problems with this dial for one to say it is 100% correct..

A



http://rolexnessreviews.blogspot.com/

I looove to dwell into technicalities and details, just to find out the truth. So when this great white emerged I just had to start thinking...

How gilt dials are made.
I have studied some gilt dials and as some of you might know these are made like this:
1) Electrolytical gold plating
2) a mask is tampon printed on the dial where the gold shall shine throug the black
3) the black paint is added (electrolytical acording to some??)
4) the mask is either removed or in the case of electrolytical plating remains(transparent)
5) the dial is coated with gloss lacque
6) lume is added

How printed dials are made.
1) Dial is covered in base color
2) text is tampon printed
3) lume is added

Yeeez, how many of you think Rolex ditched the gilt dials due to manufacturing costs???

Well...

...could it be that someone ripped a scan of an gilt dial to print a white dial where the text perfectly matches the gilt example????
1) put a gilt dial into a high definition scanner
2) Some digital treatment in photoshop and you have a new master.
3) You print out the master in 1:1 size on transparent base in a proffesional repro machine.
4) You use the transparent to photoetch a new copperplate
5) You print a new tampon print

You would be able to reproduce an exact copy of the gilt text with all itīs flaws etc. This would make not make Stephanos comparison between the white dial and the gilt dial worth anything as evidence.

Do I belive that this is the case??? NO!!! (but i canot be 100% of course).

Then why do I belive that this is genuine???

A)On the white dial the black text is slightly thinner than on the gilt example. My guess is that this is due to different characteristic on the transparent mask used on the gilt dials and the black paint.
The transparent mask is probably printed with thicker (more) paint to be sure to keep the gold free of the black paint (especially if this is made electrolytical).
Black paint on white covers the white very good and you can use less paint and thinner paint for this.

B) The only explantion if the dial is fake is that someone ripped the text of a gilt dial!
If itīs not fake then that is because they used the same master for both prints.
If someone ripped the text they would need to clean up the scan to create a master, this is very difficult to make without accidentally remove some of the carecteristics from the original master (but of course not impossible).
If you look carefully at the photos you wonīt find any artefacts remaining from such a clean-up. I.e missprints from the gilt master that transfered to the white.
You will ONLY see the imperfections from the original master and these are quite carecteristic (imho).
You can also see that the print on the white dial gives a clearer impression of the master than the gilt example. Typically what you get when you print with the thinner black paint. I would not believe that it would be better printing quality on the white if someone originally ripped the text from a gilt example.
There are also some imperfections in the line-up as some has pointed out. If you rip the text from another dial you would not get this error. But it is definently possible to get these variations while tampon printing.

Therefore I belive that both prints were made with the same master and that the white dial is original.

But....

... one thing concerns me a bit though:
The circular depression on the rear side appears to be non oxidized, yes even looks like gold!!!
This would make me belive that the base dial originally was electrolytically goldplated...

Then why??? Maybe the white dial is a rolex prototype/small series and they pick a gilt/gold plated base, sanded it down on the faces (but not in the depression) and went on making the white dial on this? Might be plausible...

So my bet is:

For Genuine 85%
For Fake 15%

Myth: Plausible

//Oystercase