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Anyone up for a fantasy build? One of my big regrets, Rolex parts-wise, is not snagging a NOS 116000 dial when it showed up on VRM a year ago. I don't think I've ever been so captivated by a dial upon first laying eyes on one: The perfect shade of blue, crisp white text printed on it, and applied metal markers. The 116000, for those unfamiliar with the model, is a 36mm Oyster Perpetual with a blue 3/6/9 dial. It's also more commonly known by its nickname, "The Blue Explorer". Now, I've had a thing for blue-sunburst Datejust dials for a very long time. Ditto Explorers. And while I've never been a huge fan of the 14270s and newer, any Explorer plus a beautiful blue dial should have been a slam dunk. So what went wrong? The selling price of EUR 300, for one thing. I swear that if it had been listed at EUR 299, I wouldn't have hesitated one second. Unfortunately, something about that "300" made me hem and haw for a few days, until the dial was gone. Since then, I've never seen another one come up for sale. A few months ago, I asked Justin if he'd ever seen a similar rep dial come up during his parts purchases. No blue OP, but he was able to locate a blue Explorer dial. Of course, there's no such thing, and the dial itself is an odd combination of several recent Explorer models. It most resembles a 14270, except that the numerals are polished metal (as on the 39mm 214270), rather than in-filled with white paint. The sticks are chubbier than on recent Explorers, the blue is a bit grayer than Rolex's sharp royal blue, and the print quality is dire. But it looks good at arm's length, especially when it catches a bit of sunlight. Justin put the entire watch together using parts he had on hand, and he did a great job as usual. The case is pretty good as far as rep DJ cases go. Inside it is an A2836 that's running really well. In fact, J set the watch to my local time right before sending it off. How amazing was it that, two weeks later, I opened the package to find the Explorer running and telling me the correct time? Not bad for a movement that started out with a few toothless gears! So the Bluxplorer becomes my new at-home beater, but I'm still keeping one eye open for that elusive 116000 dial. There's got to be another one out there.

Saw this Tropical Dial MC for sale on eBay and thought I would steal his fabulous pics just to share them here. I love the matte finish on the dial and the chamfer on the lugs is sublime. Makes a nice difference to the overall look of the watch!

From what I understand Omega's service may leave something to be desired in speed, quality, and pricing. Take this with a grain of salt as I have no personal experience with their service directly, but when I get my Bond serviced soon it'll be going to a local watchmaker. Search locally for someone you can visit in person. Support your local watchmaker!

Loving it!

Thanks JKay! Every day i a school day, i will try that mic out, apple earbuds mic is a bit crappy, gotta handle it a certain way for good results. Every movement i regulated with kello runs like a charm.

Pulled the trigger on a 360 from Andrew.

I had some spare time tonight so I browsed my usual sale sites for genuine Rolex. I discovered that mine raised to 4.200€ these days. I am the proud owner of a A serie, Swiss and Flat S dial, that increased their value by 35% since 2008. This is the only time I'm not loosing money on watches

Hey what's that pilot doing down here

PAM188h on Big Chief leather

Not sure, but from reading all the posts on rwg, he seems to be the best guy to buy from as he mods all the watches. I will put up pics when it arrives. From reading around, I don't think you can purchase a better sub from anywhere else. I decided to buy the more expensive TW 16610 opposed to the newer 116610 ceramic sub as personally I thought it seemed like a better rep. Check out his section.... http://www.rwg.cc/forum/196-bks-watch-garage/

Easy to do, you'd be better off getting a strap changing tool than using screwdrivers, nails, forks or other stuff to do it though By a bergeon strap tool, the one with the small fork, it will save a lot of frustration. These might help: http://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/cha...rap-95460.html http://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/pla...ps-354144.html same deal as with any watch, go slow, don't force anything and masking tape is your friend

Some here have AR'd their DSSDs ... you have to be careful, tho, since part of the charm of a dome crystal is being able to see the dome.