Not all dial makers are the same for sure. There are definitely higher grade dial that costs $$$ more. Some comes aged for years (that's how they get natural patina). Why do I know this? Because I'm friends with 2 of the best dial makers [emoji4] and I have seen the dial plates first hand. In fact I'm making the prototype Daytona yatchmaster dial right now with . I have all the vector files and we are working on it (he's very old so he doesn't use illustrator etc).
It's expensive especially for 5-10 pieces run. To make the films and plates. Dials are very consuming to do right and this these techniques. So we are lucky that there are some decent quality being sold for $200-$350. If it was me I wouldn't be able to do it for that price.
And trust me when I say you can see a difference with a $750 dial. The prints are finer, crisper, better quality control - every detail is made as close to gen as possible - that's the different between 80% there or 95% there.
Things to note:
Most gen "refinished" dial means they're printed on metal singer signed plates - however, this most of the time means the plate has singer stamped on it - its not genuine.
The top grade stuff is printed on actual genuine plates - they sometmies use old datejust plates, etc. Now this might not make a difference but it's noted in the pricing. They also use genuine rolex coronets - my Milaguss and Daytona has this (usually taken from old datejust, etc) and that is about $100-$150 alone so it gets added to the price (and quality) of the dial.
I reckon for most people out there, 80% quality for $200-$350 is more than enough - but I also know some very OCD members (myself included) - we're hunting for the "best sub" lol
