Patek Philippe

Guys, Here is a somewhat esoteric but real problem. Let's assume you bought a 3970 WG from Patek with a "silver" dial, but you wanted a "black" dial. So you asked Patek if they would exchange the dial. They say yes and it goes back to Geneva and comes bac... 

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as for your first question, it's clearly a "dial exchange" on "customers request" as you may sometimes find it described (auction catalogs, etc...). Normally a "redial" would mean a "restored" or "refinished" dial. There are no further technical definitio... 

From a purely collector's perspective, a refinished or "enhanced" dial will make the watch less valuable, as it is no longer "original." And again, I thought Patek no longer allowed dial exchanges that might create a "unique" watch. Would like to know if ... 

Dear Guys, Thank you so much for all your replies which were quite insightful. I hope I din't give anyone false hopes with Patek doing dial exchanges on 3970s. My question had more to do with dial exchanges on vintage annual and perpetual calanders - spec... 

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I own a 3970EP, bought in 1994, originally the watch came with silver dial. I requested it changed to black diamond dial. I have two certificates, one indicating silver, and the other one black with diamon. Do not know if they will still do it or not. All... 

Do you still have both dials? D.