Hey Cal 11, Can 1133B owners comment on this. I need a 1133B in my life. Please ignore the case condition. I'm asking which dial, hands and pushers are more original? Left or right Monaco? Why is there such discrepancy in dial color in same reference? Thanks all.
Copy/ pasting my response from OF: In this case I think the discrepancy is heightened by the different lighting conditions of the two photos. If it's the same seller, ask for side-by-side photos in the same lighting to compare. However, the earlier Monacos had a dark blue metallic dial whereas the later production runs had a flat blue dial - it's possible that the example on the right above is what's known as a "Transitional" dial (from the very first batches, to the standard production later on), while the left is a "standard" production model. Hands are murkier, but they appear correct for both models - we see the thinner lume style on earlier models, and the wider ones on later models. The wider hands could also be service parts, but this is unclear. Crown and pushers are too hard to tell in these photos, you'll need shots of each side of the case to compare. but, all Monacos had fluted pushers and both of these do, so no immediate red flags.
There are two distinct dials- the first ones are a deep metallic blue and the second series (the better known) is a flat lighter blue. Both are correct. The case on the left has definitely been polished (over polished) and I would say the same for the case on the right (OK, I know you said to ignore this) Basically, I agree with @abrod520
She arrived today. Looks better than expected. Can someone advise me how to release the crown to free the movement from the case?
This is the video I found showing movement freeing from case. The guy simply pulled off the crown. I can’t easily do that with mine. Is there a step before that I missed?
I love how the case of the original Monaco is assembled, and how the movement sits within a milled circular recess. The way the crown came off in that video it's almost as if there was no stem installed? I know nothing about old Monaco's though, they are a beautiful mystery. I wonder if TAG would ever make a new Monaco that is put together that same way?
Probably not - the reason for the Monaco's strange construction was because they wanted to ensure it was water-resistant which was very difficult to do with square cases at the time. You can see the lengths they went to, which was ultimately not very successful at that! There's also a very common gasket melt issue around the dial that is fortunately not present in this example
Took a tremendous amount of force to pull off crown to free the movement from case. Here is the movement shot.