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Clean Factory Racing Dial Daytonas Release

KJ2020

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@KJ2020 - True but I wouldn't attempt it simply because I would mess it up. LOL! Nice work on that Air King BTW.

Tell you what, KJ. When I purchase the 116509 slate arabic Daytona I'll send it to you so you can paint the chrono second hand (for a price of course). Deal? :)
Bro I have about 50 projects waiting in line (not kidding). I went too long before turning off the incoming flow, haha.
 

Tijdwijzer

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Try to step away from this forum for 1 week, and you'll notice our nitpicking is very extreme. Nobody notice any flaws on the wrist :D its all a mind game. wear with confidence!
 
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mmaggi

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Some complaints are nitpicking. But the Daytona racing/arabic dials are far from perfect. That missing 4 & 6 second marker is very noticeable on the wrist. And it's a shame because it's a beautiful watch, a beautiful representation of a version of a reference that's long gone.

I hope CF corrects it soon and when they do I will be all over it.
 

Kaloc

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Some complaints are nitpicking. But the Daytona racing/arabic dials are far from perfect. That missing 4 & 6 second marker is very noticeable on the wrist. And it's a shame because it's a beautiful watch, a beautiful representation of a version of a reference that's long gone.

I hope CF corrects it soon and when they do I will be all over it.

Are you trying to say that you can distinguish every minute markers lines of 0.1mm thick each from 1.5 meter of distance?
 

mmaggi

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No. What I'm saying is when I look down on my wrist to see the time I will most definitely notice it. I think most if not all would as well. I could give a shit what others would see.
 
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Tijdwijzer

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Wow. I totally missed that. Thanks for pointing this out. Could it be that there was a GEN version of this dial with the missing 4 & 6 minute markers?
That missing 4 & 6 second marker is very noticeable on the wrist.

Bro, to be honoust, nobody will notice this flaw, while wearing on the wrist. Only if you compare next to gen you might notice.

The dial color / subdials / hour markers / sharp lugs is what makes a rep look genuine.
Rounded lugs, wrong dial color (like the hulk laser beam) subdials to small or big, bad rehaut engraving, those are flaws which are noticable.

Missing a 0.1mm minute marker is a flaw i would accept on a genuine...
 

KJ2020

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Some flaws just bug some people more than others. A one tic dial (at 26 and 34 minutes) that should be a two tic dial or vice versa is no problem for me. But the missing 4 and 6 minute tics is an instant dealbreaker for me unless someone finds a gen that way. I would look at it every time with disdain, and I've intentionally made a one-off anomaly watch.

Skg33.jpg


Double Nine Gonzo!
 

mmaggi

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Bro, to be honoust, nobody will notice this flaw, while wearing on the wrist. Only if you compare next to gen you might notice.

The dial color / subdials / hour markers / sharp lugs is what makes a rep look genuine.
Rounded lugs, wrong dial color (like the hulk laser beam) subdials to small or big, bad rehaut engraving, those are flaws which are noticable.

Missing a 0.1mm minute marker is a flaw i would accept on a genuine...
Dude.... NOBODY??? Really? There are many on these threads as well as Reddit who do. Who are you kidding? And no side by side comparison with a gen is needed. It's blatantly obvious.

Owning reps is all about which flaws each individual is willing to live with. If it doesn't bother you, great. It would bother the shit out of me especially after spending $800.

Let's leave it at that.
 
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masterpiece777

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does anyone know what the difference between v1 and v2 is and how can we differentiate these from each other and do they have different CF stickers on the caseback?
 

Kaloc

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does anyone know what the difference between v1 and v2 is and how can we differentiate these from each other and do they have different CF stickers on the caseback?

There was no v1 of the racing dials, there is only one version of these from Clean
 

masterpiece777

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There was no v1 of the racing dials, there is only one version of these from Clean
Great thanks a lot was searching but could not find anything about updated versions and all TD’s list them as V2!
mine is on my way can’t wait to see the slate dial IRL!
 

addy46.88

Known Member
20/10/22
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Dude.... NOBODY??? Really? There are many on these threads as well as Reddit who do. Who are you kidding? And no side by side comparison with a gen is needed. It's blatantly obvious.

Owning reps is all about which flaws each individual is willing to live with. If it doesn't bother you, great. It would bother the shit out of me especially after spending $800.

Let's leave it at that.
Exactly! Just figure out what you can live with. Me personally I couldn't live with that ! They literally missed an obvious detail on the dial. I can accept slight size differences with markers and print but this flaw is too much for me
 
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KJ2020

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I was trying to figure out why CF would do such a thing as the missing tics. Aside from the obvious theory of "Make a V1 with some flaws so ppl will buy a V2", rep factories usually try to copy a gen or gen picture exactly.

If you've ever noticed all the little anomalies in the bottom 2 lines of text on Subs and GMTs like taller letters (C D E F and others), and uneven spacing, most reps dials have it copied exactly.

Actual gen
zEoBGY.jpg


It's hard to imagine CF just taking it upon itself to make a new dial variation. Then I noticed something that makes me think there has to be a gen like this somewhere.

Balance side to side.

There are varying numbers of tics between the hour numerals: 0, 2, or 3 tics are used. By omitting the 4 and 6 minute tics, the number of tics between each set of left side numerals is exactly the same as the opposite right side. This strikes me as something Rolex would do for balance, more than something CF would do on a whim or as a sales strategy.

pic credit @e1phantom
zEiXNo.jpg


Balance is always a goal for dial designers. It's why Rolex uses IIII for 4 instead of IV - to balance the VIII at 8.

Here's an example where a dial design balance was improved. Day date dials used to have a "1" numeral at 11 o'clock because 2 digits wouldn't fit nicely next to the day window. This always bugged me and seemed wrong.

Then the design was changed to have many "1" digits (really sticks), so the overall result is better balance. The 5 and 7 now balance better and the 11 is not an "odd man out" looking like a 1.

zEq1t8.jpg


The 2022 Air King dial was also changed to improve balance by adding a "0" before the "5".

16694695257490.jpg


So I'm not convinced yet that there was never a gen dial like CF's and will keep looking. Obviously at some point the gen racing dial design became what it is now, Rolex makes changes for improvement as they see fit. In this instance if a change was made, it was likely due to an overall better appearance outweighing an initial goal of balancing.
 
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mmaggi

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I tried finding a slate arabic dial with the missing 4 & 6 tics but I wasn't able to. I may have not looked hard enough. Then again, it may not be limited to the slate arabic dial. It may have existed with other Daytona arabic dials. A Rolex expert would know.