Panerai Boutique Special Edition " 2000 St." NEU & Ungetragen 2012

My First Grail Watch: Patrick Bek
Welcome back to an original watches-dealer feature, "My First Grail Watch." In this series, we ask prominent people in the watch industry about the first timepiece that they lusted after. Today, we are speaking with Patrick Bek, one of the founders of Uniform Wares. Read on to learn about his first watch, what he sees in the classic Rolex Oyster case, and what particular Rolex reference he hopes to pick up some day.watches-dealer (ABTW): Who are you, and what is your relationship to the watch industry?Patrick Bek: I am a co-founder of the British watch brand Uniform Wares. We create watches with an emphasis on character and distinction through intelligent design, not branding. The collection is the result of our design and development background, underpinned by the manufacturing expertise provided by our collaborative international factories. We sell via our website and a roster of international design and fashion stores.ABTW: When did your fascination with watches start?Patrick Bek: I

Can an incorrectly redone Illinois dial be correctly described as"Minty"?
This seller always has BEAUTIFUL watches! That said, just about every dial is redone.. and for most Illinois collectors, that is not typically a plus. That said, it's probably always a bad idea to re-print a Blackstone dial as a Cushion. Please see: 260914252100

My IWC doesn't say IWC
It has International Watch Co across the front and just under that it says Schaffhausen. I got it from H Leichley Eiche at Greiffengasse 10 Basel in Switzerland. That was just after the war. To identify the war it was the one we won. What do you think?Arthur Kramer344th Bomb GroupEngland France Belgium Holland Italy Germany.

Why you should have a library.
We've said it here before - you need to have some reference material if you want to get serious in this hobby. Wanna see a perfect example why? Can anyone tell me if that dial is original or not? Well, it isn't.but it almost fooled me into making a $2800 mistake. It's a pretty watch, and a very nice caliber inside that was in correct order as were the hallmarks on the inside of the caseback. The Maltese Cross on the dial is the correct shape for the period. Even more important is the shape of the ampersand (&) - it is also correct for the period. That's two key components to pre-1974 Vacheron Constantin watch dials. With less than an hour left in the auction it was time to triple check myself so I went to all the stuff I had on the company including something I had saved from a dedicated VC collector website. Know what the tip off was? The lack of the accent mark over the second E in GEN¨¨VE. No redialer puts that on for some reason. Pretty stupid and seemingly nitpick

Illumination
I inherited a Submariner Date made in 1993-1994. I haven't found the original box, but I have found two return boxes from the Rolex Repair Division. The last repair was dated 2007 (what the repairs were I don't know). Question: the watch (dots) have no illumination at all. I can shine a flashlight on it with no avail. Is this normal?