What are "Vietnam dials"?

[GC]

I've heard this term used several times, I'm familiar with DW, Ming, Phong, Tony, HR et al... But who/what (as where is already know) are these dials. And where can I see a selection?



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[Alexandrehlt]

I'm interested too


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[kilowattore]

Have been trying to research the same, as of now I reckon the term is referred to a few internet/ebay sellers. The names I could gather so far are tonny watches, dung_chrono and of course minh quy.
Only MQ has a website afaik.

 

[Logan86]

@yodog should be able to shed some light on this.

I think there are a couple of sources in that area of the world that make higher quality watch parts than what we get out of China. At least that's my understanding.

 

[Retina]

Vietnam dials are dials which come from a supplier in Vietnam. Most of the guys kilo mentioned get them from the same source. They are known to make fantastic dials at very good price points ($200-500) depending on the type of dial.

You usually get them off dealers from Tonny or dung


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[GC]

Vietnam dials are dials which come from a supplier in Vietnam. Most of the guys kilo mentioned get them from the same source. They are known to make fantastic dials at very good price points ($200-500) depending on the type of dial.

You usually get them off dealers from Tonny or dung


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Thanks for that... I'll have to hunt down a nice GMT dial.

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[yodog]

They are all fake dials made by a select few people around Vietnam. All of the sellers you mentioned get them from the same source, they are just sellers. Please do not pay $500 for a dial from them.

PS - I have seen the dies and plates they print these dials with - its amazing. Frog foot 1655 coronets, bart simpson coronets, etc.

 

[NCRich]

Good to know. Then again I wouldn't pay $500 for a dial if the Lord Almighty made it. :lol:

 

[Retina]

Good to know. Then again I wouldn't pay $500 for a dial if the Lord Almighty made it. :lol:

theres a rumoured dark lord who made true gilt dials though

 

[NCRich]

theres a rumoured dark lord who made true gilt dials though

He could have made the one ring and I still wouldn't have paid that.

 

[yodog]

Expect to pay $250-$350 for less common Daytona or Gilt dials. $150 to $250 for simpler prints such as run of the mill matte 1680s 1675s, etc. Sometimes they run eBay auctions which can end much less than these prices stated. Again, nothing is RARE, they can literally print it. Its a matter of it they have it in stock, or have to order it from the maker. There is no elusive magical elf in Vietnam that does this by hand.

Also, Yuki dials are shit. Really.

 

[GC]

Good to know. Then again I wouldn't pay $500 for a dial if the Lord Almighty made it. :lol:

I did once pay $350 for a dial, but that was when I wore a younger man's clothes.

I wouldn't pay it again, but at the time I had a one track mind. Cest la Vive'

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[GC]

Expect to pay $250-$350 for less common Daytona or Gilt dials. $150 to $250 for simpler prints such as run of the mill matte 1680s 1675s, etc. Sometimes they run eBay auctions which can end much less than these prices stated. Again, nothing is RARE, they can literally print it. Its a matter of it they have it in stock, or have to order it from the maker. There is no elusive magical elf in Vietnam that does this by hand.

Also, Yuki dials are shit. Really.

Let me guess about the Yuki dials... The date window is off?

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[TheSociety]

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

 

[Tudorflake]

Interesting to read about the background of these dials/maker.The quality is quite variable from my experience.

I had bought a "refinished " snowflake dial from one online dealer for US$350 in the past and it looked like nothing shown on his web page. Had to return it and the replacement dial date window alingnment is slightly off. Dial colour is not as deep as shown and lume index material used are too excessive and too raised for me. After this I am reluctant to pay premium for another " refinished " dial.
I had since bought another Snowflake dial from Vietnam ebay seller for 1/3 the price of the earlier dial and date window now aligns properly but the applied text fonts are a little thin and not that crisp. On closer look I think I was sent a different dial from the one shown on the actual ebay sales adv. Sigh......i will get it right one day.

 

[NCRich]

Interesting to read about the background of these dials/maker.The quality is quite variable from my experience.

I had bought a "refinished " snowflake dial from one online dealer for US$350 in the past and it looked like nothing shown on his web page. Had to return it and the replacement dial date window alingnment is slightly off. Dial colour is not as deep as shown and lume index material used are too excessive and too raiser for me. After this I am reluctant to pay premium for another " refinished " dial.
I had since bought another Snowflake dial from Vietnam ebay seller for 1/3 the price of the earlier dial and date window now aligns properly but the applied text fonts are a little thin and not that crisp. On closer look I think I was sent a different dial from the one shown on the actual ebay sales adv. Sigh......i will get it right one day.

Naw, you're buying counterfeit watch dials for fake watches. If it weren't for deviants like us they would all be worthless. :lol:

GC sent me a link to a gen 1675 blueberry on ebay with weird looking crown guards, mismatched lume, and what I'm sure is the wrong bezel insert. Its worth 10X what anything on here is. You got to laugh sometimes.

 

[TheSociety]

@NCRich haha sounds like every vintage Rolex I see on the bay! Always something is off - or sometimes they just look like they went through WWII and then a blender afterwards.

@jaspert - luckily I get my dial from the source and hand pick them. And that's also why I pay more for some dials than others. Different grades. I see the prints on the cheaper grade dials and its just not quite there. The example of my DRSD I posted above you can see how amazing crips the dial is. I had to go through a lot of dials to get that one.

Here's another tough one, a Milgauss 6541. Honeycomb gilt chapter ring. Red Milgauss faded to pink. Vintage lume to match gen hands. Every little detail makes the dial more and more expensive.

 

[Tudorflake]

Naw, you're buying counterfeit watch dials for fake watches. If it weren't for deviants like us they would all be worthless. :lol:

GC sent me a link to a gen 1675 blueberry on ebay with weird looking crown guards, mismatched lume, and what I'm sure is the wrong bezel insert. Its worth 10X what anything on here is. You got to laugh sometimes.

Haha.....very true. That's one way to look at it.

 

[Tudorflake]

@jaspert - luckily I get my dial from the source and hand pick them. And that's also why I pay more for some dials than others. Different grades. I see the prints on the cheaper grade dials and its just not quite there. The example of my DRSD I posted above you can see how amazing crips the dial is. I had to go through a lot of dials to get that one.

Here's another tough one, a Milgauss 6541. Honeycomb gilt chapter ring. Red Milgauss faded to pink. Vintage lume to match gen hands. Every little detail makes the dial more and more expensive.

Good for you. If I can get to hand pick the good ones, I would gladly pay premium for them.

That's a gorgeous MG 6541.

 

[Retina]

Dials are an important ingredient to a quality build. It's usually worth to spend 50% of the build on a good dial. At least that's in my limited experience [emoji23]


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