What is a ghost dial?

Ultraviolet light breaks down the pigment in the dial finish, and on grey and some black dials the color loses saturation rather than shifting hue. What was a solid charcoal or a deep grey ends up a pale, almost translucent silver. The printing usually survives better than the ground, but on grey Buckley dials the numerals fade with it, which produces the effect that gives the dial its name: at some angles the markers all but vanish.

The process is slow and uneven. A watch worn on the same wrist for thirty years will fade more on the side that faced the sun, and the area under the hands sometimes keeps a little more color.

The direction of the change is different. A tropical dial goes from black toward brown; the pigment is changing color. A ghost dial goes from grey or black toward pale grey; the pigment is losing strength. Both are caused by the same light, but they are different chemistries in different finishes, so the same watch does not go both ways. Matte black Submariner dials from the 1970s tend to stay black while their bezel inserts ghost; gilt dials from the 1960s tend to go tropical.

The market treats them differently too. Tropical is the older, more established premium. Ghost dials and bezels have become collectible more recently and the premium is still finding its level.

A ghost bezel is a black aluminum bezel insert that has faded to grey. The anodized aluminum inserts Rolex used on the Submariner and GMT-Master through the 1970s and 1980s were not colorfast, and a black insert left in the sun bleaches toward a soft, even grey. The 1680 we sold is a good example: the insert went pale silver while the matte dial underneath stayed black. Ghost inserts are judged on evenness and on whether the numerals and the lume pearl at 12 are still intact. A patchy insert with a bright spot where a watch strap covered it is less desirable than one that faded uniformly.

A faded dial keeps its surface. Under a loupe the finish is intact and the fading is in the color, not on it. Water damage leaves a cloudy bloom, spots or a ring; a refinished dial in a fake ghost shade has printing that is too thick and a color that is too even. We also look at the lume plots, which should have aged to cream and should match the hands. Fresh white lume on a faded dial tells you something has been touched.

• Even or gradient fading with crisp printing: ghost.
• Cloudy patches, spotting or rings: moisture.
• Uniform pale grey with soft, thick printing: refinished.
• Insert faded evenly with the pearl intact: a good ghost bezel.

Usually, yes. A well-faded ghost Buckley or a ghost-bezel Submariner sells above a standard example of the same reference, sometimes well above. How much depends on how even the fade is, whether the rest of the watch is original, and how much of the ghost effect actually shows in person rather than in a photograph. We priced the ghost Buckley 1603 and the ghost Submariner 1680 we sold on exactly those points, and they are listed below with their sale prices for reference.