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To everyone who replied, I am humbled by the love that you have shown my father and my family. Sadly I will be away from this phone for the foreseeable future, so this may be the last Nanuq post you’ll see It guts me to even say those words Moving in in life seems inappropriate. How do you return to work after losing a man like him. A couple times a day it will just hit me that he’s gone, and I feel a deep ache in my heart all the time But he wouldn’t have it any other way than for me to move on and enjoy life. So that’s what I’m going to do In the future I plan on making an account here just to get to know my dads friends better Please know I read and cherish every single response, and there so many beautiful things here My dad was larger than life, and had a giants soul. I know I’ll see him in about 30-50 years assuming that my life plays out in the averages But I’m sure going to miss him My dad loved you guys dearly, thank you for loving him back

Build finally completed last night.

Following your lead. 🙂

After putting about a dozen 'vintage Frankensteins' together using genuine rolex 15xx movements since 1997 ('explorer 1016'), I have made an 'Executive Decision': No More projects using genuine rolex movements. Why not? 1...Because (imho) it is a major waste of time and $$ even when taking into account that I can do all the work myself. Anyone paying someone to put one of these watches together will have to pay more, sometimes a lot more. 2...Frankensteins are expensive to begin with because of the high cost of genuine movements, movement parts, and service, especially today. 3...To be 'worthy' of the genuine movement these projects more times than not end up with high $$ cases, dials etc. instead of lower $$ cartel parts that most of the time can be modified to pass muster. 4...Where can you go to sell a Frankenstein with a genuine movement when you need $$ etc? You might be able to sell it to an RWG etc. member and get most of your 'investment' back but not always and there is the chance the watch will end up being sold as 'genuine' after it passes through a few owners. Not good. So...my last Frankenstein project using a genuine rolex 15xx movement is going to be taken apart...a '1655' with an aftmkt GMT conversion. The movement will be going back in the watch it came out of (1603 DJ) and an ETA 2846 with a China GMT conversion will be put in the case. The '1655' with a genuine movement might sell for $3000 and it is basically fake! but the DJ will probably sell for $3000 (at today's prices) and it is all genuine. After the '1655' is taken apart I will have one F-stein left...a DW 1680 case with a rolex 1570/75 and genuine 'Mark 1' Lemrich dial. I put it together in March 2011 to keep the dial and movement clean and it will stay that way for now. I have a J$W '1655' case and rolex 1575 with all nos GMT parts so the case will be sold or an ETA put in it. The GMT movement will probably be sold at a watch show etc. All the basically useless information above was presented for only one reason... My (free and worthless) advice to anyone contemplating a vintage 'four digit' Frankenstein with a genuine rolex movement should realistically price it all out before starting the project and decide if it is worth the $$ and effort to go through with it. A rule of thumb on projects like this is after it is all added together...add 30% or 40% just to be safe. Also...take into account that when I bought the parts for all of these Frankenstein projects, a rolex 1520/1560/1570 movement could be purchased for $500 to $800 (often as a running watch) and a very good aftmkt case and dial was around $1000 or $1500. Now the same three components will cost $3000 to $4000 not counting labor. One example...I paid $575 for the complete running 1603 DJ in May 2015 that supplied the movement in the '1655' project and the only thing wrong with it was a rusty stem stuck in the main plate. It needed c/o, a stem, and a mainspring, about $25 my cost.

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this just happened... definitely in love!

Davd I am so very very sad for you and your family. You know your Dad came over to stay with us in the UK and we raced at the TT in the IOM with Stuart. That was six years ago and Bob became a dear friend of ours. He is in our thoughts and minds as are you and your family. We have phoots of the adventure and I will try to find them to share. Deepest condolences and love to you all. What an amazing guy, 'Hell Yeah' AJ Bob rarly came overeas. He was totally in love with his family and life. We were lucky to spend a couple of weeks with Bob on the occasssion he came to stay with us and be one of our leading team members at the IOM TT. RIP Big Man, youa re sorely missed. AJ

David my deepest condolences to you and your family we have lost one of the best. I was fortunate enough to have spent time with Bob as his work brought him to New Jersey and we would do dinner. This afforded us the opportunity to deepen our friendship as we worked closely together here for many years. There has been a lot of dramas and joys in Bob's life and mine over the last few years but when chips were really down we took counsel together, I will miss him greatly. RIP my dear friend the world is lesser place without you.

David, thank you for taking the time to let us know. Bob was immensely proud of you, we talked at length about our respective families, and it a reflection of the kind of family you are that you think of others at this time of grief and loss. The Internet has made the world a curious place. I consider so many here to be friends and Bob was top of the list. We never met, though we did have plans prior to covid. However over many years he always had my back, always was there helping and encouraging and took a genuine interest in me that went far beyond our watch hobby. My deepest condolences to you and your family. I shall sorely miss him Rest in peace Minty

I'm crushed. Bob was a great guy and it was a pleasure interacting with his and sharing a love of timepieces.

Great job buddy!

very close? No, not by any stretch of the imagination! A house next door to me sold after 8 years of sale by more than two thirds of what the buyers paid then! That is over £1.7 million in profit! Back then I was contemplating on getting a £ 300000 loan to buy it myself and I took a deep breath and said to myself better to see a psychologist than a lending institution! Am I thinking the same? No, I now know looking back that I am dumbest person in the world! In 2014 I also saw a fully snickered NOS 118238 presidential on eBay with the whole 9 yards of packaging being sold for USD10,000 as unwanted gift or near offer! I was thinking of flying to Los Angelos just to buy it as seller did not want offer-overseas shipping! To get it at that price, I would have given up drinking gin for life which I later had to anyway because of ailing health! should you feel bad? Cheer up, you are still ahead of me and good luck with your build! I am sure you will forget the chase once your son says to you with the best smileys could imagine “Thank you dad”!!

Took my Aryan 'Master out of her case today to exercise her legs --

"I'm still undecided if I like the radium burn on the dial, I may remove it or redo it, probably should just leave it alone." I would leave it like it is because it looks the part...like a '50 year old watch'.

Forgot about this thread, this was completed about 3 years ago. Sent from my SM-N976B using Tapatalk

5513 spider Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

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David, you’ll always be welcome here. Take care of yourself and your family and pop back when you have time and get to know the place and there will be lots of wonderful memories that members will gladly share.

David, I'm devastated to hear this, and so sorry for you and your family. I only just logged in to catch up on his latest adventures. I thought so highly of him, everyone did, and I don't think it's even possible not to. What an absolute tragedy. As Ken mentioned above, I was on the same team too. And we're talking 17 years of correspondence (and longer for many folks on here), I don't know where the time went, but we all looked quite stylish checking it. Some time in the future, it's worth saving many of his posts on here, because it's like a daily diary for a long time, and much of it was good fun. His last reply to me was three crying laughing emojis. And because we joked together, (I'm not about to be serious to be clear, I'm just saying he would have laughed at me saying this, so I'm really saying it to him), if there's ever room to put a Thin Red Line on the bottom of the casket, he would have liked that joke a lot. (See his posts below) Miss you Bob. \).

So sorry to hear Bob's passed David, we will all miss him dearly, he was the backbone of this community and he will be sorely missed I'm sure.... I like most of us here had lots of help from him over the years regarding our latest builds etc he always gave advice without ever wanting anything in return. Please accept our sincere condolences David x

My thoughts are with you and your family during this difficult time! This reminds me of when this forum played a very special part in my life when I lost my last surviving parent! I never knew that Bob was Nanuq’s real name and his demise will leave a huge emptiness to us all! I am still I’m disbelief as I always remember Bob to be still quite young to be taken from us too soon! It brings back the same pain of when JJ Iranii from the rolexforums passed on a few years back! As someone has already mentioned, thank you for informing us, as we never really know in this virtual world of the web when people we know just pass on! May he Rest In Peace!

Wow , so sad to hear this , in my thoughts and in my prayers . Rest Easy Bro

So sorry to hear this. RIP

I'm so so sorry to hear about the passing of your dad, David, I chatted with Bob many times, and he was a supporter of my work. Rip Bob, why are the good guys taken away from us.

Traded two DateJust watches and added some cash to get this. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@madasboot Thanks for the reply Yes I used a translucent "candy" airbrush paint and dilute it. they are water based paints. and then used the dry detail paints to age the rest of the dial slightly. on the wrist it is alot more subtle, I blame the photo editor app that I tried tweaking the lighting in . its not as drastic irl I agree that your example is a watch that sat for ages in one spot. were my tudor has a bit more wear around the center mine had been stopped a few times it appear but it created a larger burn pattern and thought it was unique almost like a star burst of sorts due to the pointed hands .. Here are a few more examples that inspired this attempt Is it age, water damage, uv damage, radium burns or a combination of all 4 in a 50+ year old watch I like the look . especially on the last example the 6610 you can see where the paint had faded away and its in line with the sweep of the hands . or it might be lighting

will share pics once done

Nice piece, but I think most members would find it easier to view your post if you left out the black highlighting. It makes reading a chore.

Looks great!

Here’s a pic of my 1665 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

just WOW !!! you did a great job ... Mine says hello ... I built it 2017 if I remember well home made Burford dial, fixed bars and 2 parts steel/german silver bezel ... a long journey ... it's been a box queen's for some years but now I've seen yours my wrist ask for it ...

Hi R. precisely my case… Adrian sent me two of those beauties and some months later I got stem adapters and then found out that I had all except drills and taps. Followed your suggestion with practice but metal (or holes) are not my element… will persist though:) that will be the cherry on top. for now I am finishing some gilt dials all my best Marco thank you! here is my latest, built from scratch

Thank you! do let me know if you want to try it:) I had built a few spares best M.

Hear, hear. Decades ago I opened a brand new shrink-wrapped "Master" edition of Dark Side of the Moon, de-static'd everything and made a copy from my high end turntable and cartridge onto a (at the time) cutting edge Denon cassette deck with a Maxell "Metal" tape. That recording is still, after all these years, head and shoulders better than any digital copy I've heard. It's aethereal ... something they have yet to capture in bits and bytes.

pocket shot if the 360 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I own one of these (my third choice as the Uranus and Mercury ones weren’t available) The watch is built with a toy-watch quality in terms of quality and feel. They look a lot better in pictures as opposed to how they feel on the wrist in real life. Huge hype and nice novelty value for all of 5min. Will advise a hard pass for y’all wanting one.

Indeed, but would you send them with or without a Moonswatch?

"...I have two Adrian’s brevet crowns and even the correct tap but i am not good enough with metal works (yet) to redrill and re-tap the tube hole in the case. And where I live I cannot find anyone to do the job for me." Having the correct tap is one third of the battle. My last case tube drill/tap job was drilling and tapping a JMB '1016' case from 5.3mm case tube size threads to standard 6.0mm size threads. Standard 6.0mm and 7.0mm (twin/triplock) case tube threads are 3.0mm diameter by .35mm pitch and take a 2.5mm drill bit. I do not have specs on 8mm case tubes. The next third is drilling the hole in the case to the right size before tapping it. Look up the metric or number size drill bit to use for the tap size you have and buy a few bits. Carbide is best but high speed steel (aka HSS) bits will work if you keep them lubed while drilling. Since the case tube hole is already drilled in the case before you re-drill the hole, the new hole will almost always be straight. I underlined almost because things can go wrong. I use a small milling machine with a homemade bracket to hold the case while drilling spring bar and case tube holes to size but a small low cost table mount type drill press will work just fine. My small drill press was $49USD on sale and I use it for all kinds of small jobs. The small milling machine is not necessary but since I have it, I use it and besides, it is inside where it is warm in the winter and the drill press is out in the garage. The last third is very critical because the tap has to be started straight in the hole or it can get in a bind and break or not cut good threads...this is usually the hardest part of the whole operation. So...what to do? After you locate the proper drill bits, practice drill a few holes in a spare steel watch case, piece of steel strap metal etc about 3mm or 4mm thick and tap the threads to get a feel for it. This will demonstrate how easy it is to start a tap out of true and how to keep it straight. I will admit it is not easy but after a few practice runs you will be able to tell if the tap is starting straight or not by the force needed to turn it to cut the threads. Keep the tap lubricated and blow or flush the metal chips out every half turn or so. I flush the chips out with WD 40 etc in a spray can. After the hole is most of the way tapped you can remove the tap and clean the threads and tap before finishing it up but if you remove the tap before it cuts a few good threads, it will be hard to get it started. Very hard sometimes. Tips: I use a pin vise to start the tap because it is easier to 'eyeball' the trueness of a pin vice than a T handle tap wrench. Once the threads are started you can change over to a T handle if you want to. After you drill the case tube hole you can 'cheat' when starting the tap if you mount the tap in the drill chuck and lower it very lightly into the case and turn it by hand (power off) to get it started straight. This only works if you have a precision case mounting set-up and a good drill press with no slop in the drill's spindle bearings etc. Do not try this at first on a case, try it on scrap metal etc. Practice, practice, practice with a little patience added is the key. Good luck!

Is this what you guys are looking for? yep. gilted sub dial with resinous tritium suspension. Lume was done and applied in 10 mins so please be kind in your judgements. and how beautiful they are

Very very nice. Congratulations! We’ve had many discussions over the years about the bezel construction on an a/6538. Some say they were 100% “German silver” and others say they were 2 pieces, made of stainless lower and German silver upper. I’m not sure that was ever resolved. Mike Wood has some pretty compelling pictures. https://rwg.cc/topic/182962-ref-a6538-6540/

So you’ve had a bad experience with TT and he apparently refuses to work it out. Firstly you need to understand TT will never be removed as a trusted dealer based on this incident. He has been established long enough in this circle to be a trusted name. I’m not saying that what you wrote is untrue or made up. But I’ll like to hear from Andrew to hear his side before anything else. If it’s a mistake, and over a relatively small sum like $200, then send it back for a refund. Shipping fee can’t be reimbursed in this hobby I’m most cases. And lots of patience is needed. Posting this here won’t solve the issue. Communicate properly with Andrew and get this worked out. If one round of email does not work, then do it again. And again. Andrew is not an unreasonable fella, and this fact has been established many times with many different members. I don’t see why he would treat you any different. There is no point trying to put a blight on his name. Every dealer here has his fair share of good and bad reviews. If you need real help then send me and Trusty a PM. We will get it resolved the proper way. Ranting won’t help and serves nothing.

You're kidding me? This is meant to be a warning to others so that they don't fall into the same trap. I don't need moderation, thank you, I have lived and worked in China for over 20 years and I speak Chinese. I have tried to contact him via WeChat or Line to work this out, but he refuses to. I worked very hard for every penny I earned and spend thank you, I can whine all I want.