Leaderboard

"Keep looking" is the best advice you can get. I bought a real nice 16233 a few years ago for $1000 (L457xxx with lug holes, fluted bezel, 22 link jubilee, goldtone dial), and a friend traded into a tutone 1601 DJ last week with a 'big logo' clasp on a swiss jubilee for around $1000 at a gun show. Internet prices can be twice what a local price might be. Rolex buying tips: Dress like a bum, act sorta dumb, and carry a wad of CA$H. If you don't know the ropes, you gonna get hung. The more you know, the less you lose. Make an offer, haggle a minute, then walk away. Common lies: "It is one hundred percent genuine". "It has just been serviced". "I have more than that in it." "That IS my best price." "I bought it to keep." "It's collectible." Yeah and my cat speaks Chinese. It might take a year to make a rolex but a buyer is born every minute.

Man you do not play around. Great choice on the year Awesome parts selection. She is going to be a beauty. Where in the **** did you find that 700 crown. Looking forward to seeing this one completed.

Wearing my 1680 Carpe Diem Cats

Hello all! So very excited to be on my way to being a full-fledged member of the community by doing my first 5513 build. This is my first "franken" and first build, so I've taken some time to source the parts, talked to a LOT of members (thank you all) and hopefully sourced the right parts. I had a local member "TheMillerDave" help me with many things, including the movement and case, he's a terrific guy and a great resource. Many other members helped me source gen parts too, including Whoopy, Jerkstore, Cubeians, and I'm probably leaving someone out. What I've got here is Yuki (baked) 5513 2 liner underline, gilt with hands MillerDave PCG case and case-back. Probably will try to source gen case & back still from another friend genuine insert and bezel components genuine 1520 movement genuine twinlock 700 crown, rep tube rep plastic dome crystal, one period correct, one 1665 in case I like it better "BK" Rolex 78790 Bracelet, Clasp code AB9 until correct gen bracelet sourced genuine 2mm fat spring-bars I've found holding my loop up to the iPhone and taking pictures results in pretty good macro shots. I feel a little gilty about spending all this money, but hey, it's a hobby Be kind, it's my first try! More shots and macro-shots to come as build progresses but here's a few just to get us started

IMO, the DateJust is the easiest franken build to do. If you like the look, I'd start there. Easy to find gen or aftermarket cases without spending an arm and a leg, and also lots of gen dials are available. Depending on which version you choose, an ETA 2824 or 2836 movement fits easily. There is also our fine member mymanmatt who is a great resource for building them if you don't want to do it yourself.

As automatico said, search is your friend in this (and any other 'I want to build") case. I'm not saying that to be flippant because you are a new member. Anyone wanting to do a build (of anything, not just a Daytona) should do A LOT of research first. It will save you time and money. Sometimes a lot of both. For the vintage Daytona, there are so many different ways to tackle the build that members could spend days giving advice. In order to answer your question, you need to start at the end, and work your way backward. If you are going to build a Daytona, you need to figure out where you want to end up and how much money you want to spend first, because the base you select to start with has to lead you down the right path. The two most common ways to build: Valjoux 72 based builds: Best - Phong case, various gen parts Next Best - DW case, various gen parts Then you have the Valjoux (or Asian) 7750 based builds. The most popular of those is the "Spinmaster" which used a DW case (which is different from the v72 case), and modified A7750 movement which removes the auto-winding parts to convert it to manual like the gen (automatico described it above). You can also build one yourself (Spinmaster was just the modder that built them) by getting the parts together. You can use some gen parts, but keep in mind the case is thicker than a gen case because the movement is thicker. If you go with the cartel or ST-19 base watches, you have less ability to mod them. Obviously the Valjoux 72 builds are going to end up being the most accurate, but they are also very expensive ($2,000+++ depending on the gen parts you use).

Welcome to the Tordrillo mountains, the Jurassic Park of Alaskan skiing.

I would like express my appreciation to Sead which help me to purchase this Tudor BB Red from ZF . Initially I have ordered IWC Laureus Sport For Good foundation but the marker on 12 is not aligned hence have decided to change to BB. It took 1 week to arrive and the watch is very sharp and very nice IMHO except that the dial seems very dark compare to all picture that posted in forum. Sead have been very patience to let me run through all QC pictures , raised up all concerns and looking from a better option from the IWC Laureus to Tudor BB. To me it is very important during the purchase process. Highly recommended to deal with Sead!! After resize the bracelet and oil bath, it is good to go and really to be wear during New year eve party!! Happy New year everyone !!

I do not know much about vintage Daytonas but do know that they are one of the most expensive Frankenstein projects you can tackle if you go with a Val 72 and miscellaneous genuine parts. As for 100% replicas, there are quite a few choices...swiss and Asian 7750 with automatic winding, swiss and Asian 7750 with autowind rotor removed, swiss 7760 manual wind, Chinese seagull ST19 manual wind etc. All have their advantages and faults, usually having to do with sub dial spacing, pusher offset, or case thickness. Then there is the 'closest to genuine' bezel and dial to find, closest case with offset pushers, plastic insert or all steel bezel, 'pumpers' or 'screw down' pushers. It never ends. I bought a couple of the first Seagull ST19 powered Daytonas with the subdial at 6 frozen (hour counter) but they were waaay off...glass crystal, about 3 or 4mm too big in diameter, 20mm bracelet (should be 19mm), evenly spaced pushers etc. They still run almost 10 years later though. You might go back a few years and start reading posts about vintage Daytonas in the rolex section and by the time you have read through to the present you will have a good understanding of what is available and maybe decide on what you want to go with. All of the latest offerings are a whole lot closer than what I got. Maybe a 'cartel' Daytona with a ST19 would be a good place to start while you decide to go Frankenstein or not. I gave up on Daytonas and stayed with 5512/13, 1680, 1016, and 5500 explorers with the no date models being quite a bit easier because they sidestep date wheel and crystal magnifier problems.

Thanks for the update. Thinking about his family right now. I hope his boy is coping as best he can.

Dial looks great, this will be an epic build, will keep an eye out for your completed watch pics!!

These are my homemade dials: ETA2846 DG3804B

Andy, Our good friend legend has pretty well summed up this one!! this is pretty much on par with the ones you see in those cartoons where the guy approaches you on the street, opens his coat wide and the inside is covered with watches. "Wanna buy a genuine ROLEX, fellow"? " I can give you a great deal on one"!! AFA the movement. I would expect that this is a very cheap copy of the 2824, certainly not a Swiss ETA.

exactly !!!

Like the 93150 too. However, build a couple more, then you won't need to change straps so often 5513 PCG on a Bulang & Sons

Just got this last night. Loving it. Now I just need to make a decent strap for it:

Almost there