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I could wait on the Noob 127 to become available again, so I decided to go ahead am buy a 217 in the meantime. Along the way, I was able to buy a genuine dial, hand set, and crown guard. I was also very fortunate to have a look at a genuine crystal and OPX movement. I took some pictures of the genuine parts and Noob for future comparison. I am not a wordsmith so I will let the pictures do most of the talking. I will apologize in advance for the pictures not being the exact same size. It looks a little weird when posted side by side. So....here are those comparison results, as well as my finished 217. Let’s start off with the dial. Here is the Noob dial and genuine dial side by side: (gen on left) The dials are very close to one another but the 1 in 12 is the biggest tell to me. Now let’s look at the print: Genuine Noob Genuine Noob Genuine Noob Now let’s have a look at the crystal. Here is the Noob crystal and a WSO crystal (Noob is on the left): Now let’s look at a genuine crystal compared to the WSO crystal (genuine crystal is mounted in the bezel) Next up is the crown guard. The Noob crown guard is very close but there are several small differences (genuine on the left). [ Here is the genuine crown guard next to a modded Noob crown guard. The Noob crown guard was drilled out for a gasket and the lever tip modified for a more genuine shape (genuine on the left). The Noob hands are close to the genuine article, but the tips are blunt instead of sharp. I had a set of Noob, genuine, and DSN hands available for the comparison (genuine on the left). Hour Hand Minute Hand Seconds Hand Now all three (genuine, Noob, DSN) I then wanted to compare a genuine OPX movement to my modified movement. I wasn’t quite done with the modifications when these pictures were taken, but I think you will get the idea. And finally some random pictures of the finished product. I know someone will ask for a list of mods so here goes: Genuine dial Genuine hands Genuine crown guard WSO crystal with stripped AR 6497-2 barrel complete 6497-2 lower center wheel jewel 6497-2 center wheel 6497-2 fourth wheel 6497-2 escape wheel 6497-2 pallet fork 6497-2 click 6497-2 set lever spring 6497-2 minute wheel Flat polished cannon pinion Stripped hour wheel ETA incabloc Shaped and plated swan neck spring Hfac swan neck screw 6497-2 ratchet wheel 6497-2 crown wheel 6497-2 click screw 6497-2 ratchet wheel screw 6497-2 crown wheel scew Mainplate engraving I think that is all of the mods that I can think of right now. I should also say that all were performed by me except for one (you know who you are and thank you!!!!). I hope that this has proven to be helpful for some looking to do a 217 build. I would like to thank all of those how were involved in helping me get this together. This is truly a great community. Thanks for looking!!!!!!

I guess it's October already! Here's my recently returned Datejust on a Eulit.

I'm loving this 399, gorgeous.

He could have at least put a v2 with that kind of profit!! Lol wow what a shame I hope no one gets stuck with that watch!!

Old beater for today

They definitely fit but in my opinion it doesn't look as nice as the 16610 on a nato. But nevertheless your choice so upload a wristie

Just in JLC Master Compressor GMT on a gen alligator strap

Welcome to the madhouse Doug Glad to have you here mate, plenty of Aussies on here mate! Enjoy the place

Wearing her one last time.

Still

My new Gen -

Hi From a Gold Coast member. O/S

If I add a Ferrarri 458 to the list Mikes working on do you think he'll twig on?

Still Seiko Monster

That means something completely different over here mate..... if you ever get this side of the pond please never use it especially near public toilets !!

This one for me again, Swiss Legend Challenger

Finn you should look up the OP and get more info on his "local watchsmith". You deserve it. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

My Sea-Dwellers at the beach, you say ????

Can't see the pictures...

Since I couldn't persuade Ziggy to do it for me, I have been slowly working thru my Rollie collection, changing all the spring bars to the correct size. It's something of a chore as I have a bunch of them. The watches that I have to change are two catagories - the classic watches with MBW/TW Best cases, lug holes and sapphire crystals The vintage watches that are becoming my new obsession. I have several new MBWs since this picture was taken. I started with some Chinese vintage cases that Josh and Andrew sent me to practice on. Now that I have it down to a science, I am zipping thru the "Perfect" watches I got from them and my MBWs. Here are the watches I did this evening, an MBW Milgauss, an MBW DRSD, and a . . . [drum roll] . . . very rare MBW cased GMT II with 2893 movement. Here is the objective. We want to take these nasty little pins out of our watches and replace them with the correct pins that are larger and much stouter. First, you NEED a drill press. If you don't have a drill press, you should task the job to someone who does. Although mine is a free standing model with twin laser guides, you don't need any of that - any table top drill press will work just fine. This is NOT a drill press and it will not work worth spit for this. A dremel is a fabulous tool, the press stand makes it even more useful, and mine gets a world of use, but it absolutely is not the right way to drill lugs. When it comes to polishing a watch, it's great. Drilling lugs is all about set up, tool speed, set up, cobalt wire drills, set up, plenty of lights, set up, cutting oil, set up, a vice with rubber jaws, and did I mention set up? As with most tool and die work, it's all about how you set it up. I set mine up using a fine wire drill that I can run thru the upper and lower lug, allowing me to adjust it such that the centerline of the hole is concentric with the centerline of the drill. The drill in this picture is for illustration - it's actually the drill I use to chamfer the holes. As you can see above, a case that might appear to be properly positioned is actually a little crooked. Positioning the wire drill thru the lugs makes the invisible become readily apparent. Once you have evrything lined up correctly, a good quality cobalt bit will do a half a dozen cases. The key is a slow, steady advance of the drill thru the work piece and plenty of oil - regular, household 3-in-1 oil is fine. If you see smoke, you are going to fast. I haven't timed it, but I would thing ot takes about 15 seconds to go thru each lug at 3000 rpm. Do not "choke up" on the drill by putting most of it up in the chuck. While it is true that a short, stubby drill is less likely to break than a long one, you are also much more likely to touch your watch case with a spinng chuck which can ruin a very nice case in a skinny instant. Once you drill all your holes with a size 55 cobalt drill, you chamfer the holes with a larger drill (I use a 3/32). Note that the set up is dramatically different. To drill thru the lug, you want the centerline of the existing hole to be concentril with the centerline of the drill, you want the point of the drill to go straight down the existing hole. Chamfering is different. This isn't like "frenching" a car antenna (for those into custom body work), you want the edge of the larger drill to uniformly widen the RIM of the existing hole VERY slightly. That requires even contact all the way around and to do that the surface of the lug must be perpendicular to the axis of the drill. Remember, this is a very, VERY slight touch - if you see shavings, you have gone WAY to far. The DRSD (Case scratches are from daily wear) A pic of the GMT II Another of the GMT II A pic of the Milgauss Another of the Milgauss I took the pics before cleaning the watches up so you could see that there is no reason to scratch a case during this process. Next, I will take a little jewelers rouge and polish the watch cases with the dremel and them hand buff them with a little Flitz. I hope you found this to be helpful. Bill

http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/160996-problem-with-member-mlinnyinhd-warning-to-other-members/

Ill stick to mikey