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Here is my little vacation watch for 2012. It's my first rollie I've made (but I have built many pam style watches) and I really appreciate any leads on how to upgrade rollies. I also have a Comex Sub and a DSSD in my drawers that I will rework later this year. I was really into vintage Daytonas, but I'm reluctant to go that path as it seems to lack reasonably priced parts. I have a Athaya brevet crown and tube that I could use, but for now I wanted to see how the stock crown works. I'm very impressed with the Clark xtal, and I strongly advocate others to replace the stock plexi with this one. It really makes a huge difference. The parts: Cheap Silix Rollie I did soften the case a bit - it came with some sharp edges. Dial aged and relumed (the silix dial has mustard colored indices, which I killed and replaced with off white lume) Bezel bleached and sanded. Pearl remade. Hands sanded to brass, aged and relumed Clark Crystal ref no 25-19. It's a bit too small for this case - needs gasket and some glass glue Bond Nato (I got the watch a riveted bracelet, but the quality is really bad)

Hi all well I got up this morning and thought I would attempt fitting a genuine insert on my franken upo, this being one of the last mods to this rep unless I can get a cheap genuine crystal to top it off. It already has gen dial,hands,crown and tube So I bought a genuine bezel and insert from a member on another forum and was planning on fitting both the bezel and the insert, but after searching heavily and messaging a few of the top modders and other members with so called gen bezels I found that they do not fit without heavy modding to the case or bezel due to difference in size and the clicker rail in a different place, both are imho a waste of money when you compare both gen and rep bezel side by side, there really isn't any difference in the look once fitted.Here's a picture to show you the difference between gen and rep..... Gen on left you can see the clicker rail is in a different place to the rep... And here's with inserts on to show they look the same apart from the obvious position of the pearl Onto the modding If you look at the underside of the gen insert you can see there is a raised line all the way round in the centre..... This has to be filed off to fit on the rep bezel, I have a second case to use as a tested whilst filing and checking.. This is what it started off as, you can see in the picture that it's raised due to the part that need filing.... This was about half way through the filing of the insert, you can see the line In the centre is starting to disappear.... In this picture below this is the technique I used by tilting the insert and keeping the file flat, this is the rep insert for demo purpose as I forgot to take a picture All you have to do is file until the centre line has gone and the insert fits as it should on bezel,also you need to sand very lightly around the whole insert as it is ever so slightly bigger that the rep, I used 2000 grit and went round literally a couple of times, again take your time and keep testing before you file/sand too much This is what it looked like, when you happy with the fitment you'll need to glue it on... I used a 2 part epoxy glue which I bought from a hardware shop ages ago called jb weld which is used to bond almost anything together, metal being the no.1 thing it's made for, I put a small amount round the insert on the inner part, I used a toothpick to apply it on.... Then put the insert on and lined up the lines with the points on the bezel ring and wiped off any excess glue. Hopefully it will stick as its drying as I type this Can't wait to pop it and and see it in its full glory Hope this helps anyone trying to fit a genuine insert on a upo 45mm Cheers Ry

After a few months of working with Ken at Rafflestime we have an affordable small arrow GMT hand for the 6542 and early 1675. Ken has them listed on his site and on Ebay, and sizes to fit Rolex/ETA 2893-2, DG movements, and the Asian converted 2836/2846 movements. $25 usd. http://www.ebay.com/...=item231f005593 http://www.rafflesti...1675-GMT/Detail

How come I hear crickets after ASCI's posts? The dude gets it -- there are TWO things in this world...Watches and women

Modded 3717

Awesome. I look forward to reclaiming my TC Sub in exactly three days.

Still wearing my Franken Datejust:

Okay fellas, I am having the crystals and gaskets delivered to me this week (finally). I am very pleased with this effort and support from our members. Without communities like this, projects like this would not be possible. Shipping: I will begin the shipping label production over the next few days. So you will be getting a 'item shipped' message from PayPal. Please know that it will not actually be in the mail until I post here that the crystals have been shipped. Please contact me with any questions. Thank you and take care, BC

When I told you, "wait till it's regulated" I was wrong, as TC regulates these himself. You should be good to go there As for sel fit, wait and see what TC says. In your pics it looks like on the bottom sel, one side sits higher. I guess we will see how that works out. I prefer the TC braclet as it's designed to be able to use genuine 2mm springbars. Jmb has had to modify and drill my previous bracelets out for that. Your bezel is hard to turn? If you had more experience with these I would tell you to pop it off and see if the spring is sitting wrong, but please don't as there are things that could go wrong for you with that plan. If you end up sending it back to TC just make sure you tell him you love that one. Keep up with tracking TRF, VRF, ebay and the rep forums for an insert....sooner or later you will find a reasonable priced insert. Your very fortunate to have entered this hobby at a time when watches like these are available, not so long ago there were so many mods that had to be done to make a good watch...now they are close to perfect out of the box....and will continue to get even better.

Alternatively, you could build a standard black 6265 and figure out a way of turning the crystal yellow.

:-)

Love this clock...

I hate to be negative & it may just be your pic, but is the bottom of the triangle on your tip perpendicular to the red wand & is the triangle equilateral (all 3 sides the same length)? Compare the shape of the tip to this gen (note, especially, the angle of the bottom of the triangle as it intersects the red hand) There are a number of aftermarket sellers who have been offering small GMT hands for a couple of years now, but the tips are the wrong shape (the gen tip is always equilateral).

Double-T that last photo just knocks it outta the park.

Speaking of waterproof... Or should I say liquid proof I'll have mine wound, not shaken or stirred... A Rich & Dirty martini...

Here is the swap completed. Put in an old school true Swiss ETA 7750. Apparently it was a piece of cake. Of course the date wheel fit in perfectly. Used the rep rotor. By the way the rotor was hanging by a thread on the original movement - classic example of poor rep assembly. now it is reattached to the bearing, properly lubed and attached to the ETA. Rotor is smooth as silk and goodbye second hand stutter.

Daily yum yum

Looking good My only suggestion would be to swap the NATO for a Tropic-style strap, as they're much more comfortable if they get wet and dry out much quicker

These appear to be the same pictures that Yuki uses for its Daytona handsets.