I've just been offered a Rolex Explorer 1 (please someone, take the bait....), model 1016.
It's very useful on these occasions if one has a good comparison watch. So, I found in the safes another with the same "frog's foot" dial and a very close case number :
As the cases of these watches were made within weeks of one another, this allows for some detailed comparison of contemporary case engravings etc. I also took the chance to compare the amount of wear / polishing to the lugs.
I've never been one to get overly excited about "unpolished" or "full lug" claims, but this comparison shows just how much metal can be lost with fifty years of wear and perhaps some over-polishing. I do understand how such loss of metal can arise, as it is often tempting to polish out a deep cut or graze in a lug or case-side. "Tooth-pick" lugs generally reduce desirability and value, so it's worth checking even when all the excitement may be in the dial or provenance.
Of course, one cannot hold physical examples of every model from every era, but to assist with correctly identifying the many, many different styles of case numbering I keep a database of model and case numbers with thousands of images like these :
It proves increasingly useful now that the illicit re-numbering of cases is such a common phenomenon, but also helps satisfy that a watch is correct when numbers from the same model / era appear identical in style and application.
H
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