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Old Rolex

Wanted members' opinions on this dial, looks like a 6240 vj72 dial for a Franken project I am working on. Looks to be a rare variant with Cartier stamp (Rolex sold through the Cartier store in New York for a short time in the 60s, there are a few floating around but they are like hen's teeth). I like the style of it, just wanted to hear what the experts think. Thanks!

DUDE HOLY SHhhh...I just beat the hell out of it and its working now LOL

Franken Spider Day

A nice sunny day in Seward, what a treat!

So with the pick-up of droptopman's 6538 last week (the most amazing watch I've ever worn on my wrist) I have since upgraded to VIP on here to show my support and figured I'd actually introduce myself since I've become more active on here the last few months. Name is Adam, I live just outside of Portland Oregon here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. I've been into reps since I got out of college in 2003 - My first purchases were from a guy in China after stumbling upon his website by chance. $25 for any rep you wanted - these things were 21j rudimentary pieces that looked the part from about 5 feet out but that was about it. I LOVED watches, picked up like 10 of these and they held me over until I purchased my first gen Rolex, a GMT II-C shortly after they came out back in 2007. I wore that thing proudly every single day for a few years including to my wedding but then regretfully parted with it shortly after. I decided to prove to her after we got settled in that paying off student loans was more important than acquiring "stuff".... We had about $200k in combined student loan debt so that watch was the first domino in what would take us almost 4 years to achieve. Looking back, it put such a small dent in the actual total but was symbolic in a way, as it said sacrifices must be made to get out of this hole we are in due to our degrees and career paths. Speaking of which, I'm a MBA grad and have about 11.5 years of experience now in the medical sales niche. I've done everything from rehab equipment in physical/sports therapy, to surgical instruments in the operating room. My current home though is with a fantastic company catering to the diabetic community. After selling off my GMT II-C, I began searching for a rep worthy of my wrist after wearing the gen. I stumbled upon one of the forums, and BK in particular and the rest is history. His GMT was amazing and helped ease the regret of selling my own. Fast forward to the last few years and I've always had a full watch box but sold off most everything I owned more recently to collect vintage Rolex exclusively. I'm not sure what it is about watches that are old (or are made to look the part), but I love how each one can age differently and be appreciated for what it is, and not what it isn't. I'm having to part with quite a few of my builds to recoup money from the 6538, but after wearing this watch and seeing how special gen parts are on a vintage piece, my attitude is continuing to shift. My 5 year goal is to (of course) keep this 6538, and add a 1981 5513 and a 1981 1675 (birth year) and potentially build a gen-spec 6542 albino if I can source a good base dial or have one made. I think those two watches, with the 6538 and a 6542 would make for an amazing collection to hold onto. Will I ever stop purchasing/building reps? Definitely not. The journey to completing one is too much fun as is the research that goes into it. Do I want some gens though that will appreciate in value and can be held onto for decades? Definitely! Outside of my watch obsession (it's about to get REAL nerdy here)... I LOVE board games and online gaming (particularly the Battlefield franchise). Euro games that require serious strategy really stimulate me. Many know Catan, but go further and look up "Twilight Struggle", and "Castles of Burgundy", and you will get the idea. I also love good whiskey, cigars, and getting out on our boat or just being active in the beautiful outdoors here in Oregon. My wife and I don't have kids quite yet, but are looking to start sooner than later as we're both 34 and the clock is ticking. I LOVE this forum in particular for unique reasons over the others that are out there that I also wander around on. People on here take their builds to a another level. There's many talented folks on here that do amazing work and create works of art. I feel the members on here also appreciate those finished products in a different way than your basic user that's online trying to find "the best sub". Thanks for letting me participate and keep posting your build threads as they inspire me to want to do more with my own!

"Depending on where you're located" Guys important to at least put your country in your profile, buying selling asking questions it is needed. I understand most like to remain under the radar but country ain't giving much away. And depending on what country you are in I maybe able to help you. Oh just get a new 2813 they are not expensive.

I got this in the mail today. It's a gen I like sharing my new stuff with the guys here only. Enjoy.

Still wearing my pre-Comex

Nice intro! Welcome to the forums. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A formal welcome to RWG my friend.

Welcome aboard Adam, that my friend is what you call an intro!

ahh the rare Albino tourbillon.

Which 'tomorrow' are you posting pics on? I'd like to see your 44mm as I've only the 42mm and am thinking about going for a 44.

Oh no, well at least it didn't happen at the start of summer or to your dominant hand! I hope you get well soon

I only dealt with Baleinedessable and God was on my side. I brought over $2000 in stuff from him, starting with a set of automatic winding gears from a 3135. After that I saw a phong case for a 16610 and I brought that for $800. I brought a band for my sub from him. I brought a Gen bezel assembly with insert. Bunch of other small things. When I got them, I thought he was the cats meow. I send everything to my watch maker, Mike (Misiekped) who I trust undoubtedly! He said to me that The case was not a phong case. The case didn't fit my gen 3135. He said that the bezel assembly also is not Gen. Then also with that stuff Baleinedessable didn't add the back of the case or did he add the crystal retaining ring with the bezel assembly, which both were to be included. When I called him, he said that he would mail it. Also the ceramic red gears for the auto bridge. He sent me one instead of two. Then he told me that as a set it only comes as one because there is a small gear inside of the other and that was what he meant as set. He told me he would send me that too. The band. Not even close to being real. Color of steal way off and the markings were not close. This shows you how good God is. I didn't have to do anything or notify anyone.After I got the news from Mike that the case wouldn't take real 3135, I get an email from paypal about my account. I log in and I have a crazy amount of money in my account. I also have like 4 emails from Baleinedessable. He is apologizing about something that is going on with his account. He then asks me to wire the money into his bank account or to wait a couple of days because he was setting up a new paypal. I asked him to call me. He did. I asked him what was going on. He explained to me that his account is set up personal and that they saw all the transactions with high amounts going in his account. He said they asked him to verify them as non business and he couldn't so they froze his account and reversed all the sells. He said they wanted a crazy amount of VAT tax or something like that. That was when I told him that the stuff he gave me was fake. He said that the case was a phong case and that he had a Yuki in it. I told him Mikes name and at that point, I guess he knew that Mike knows his stuff., he gave me another option. To return everything to him if I wanted. That was the option I did. So this week I had a dealing with Phong. His name came up. I thought phong was going to have a stroke. He called him a fraud and that the case in question was not one of his cases. All his 16610 cases take 3135 and 3035's. I'm glad someone did something with him. I didn't complain. I am new. I didn't think anyone would listen. I wanted to in the worst way. He kept posting the pics of the case. People kept commenting on the misaligns of stuff. His stories were never right. My intuition always was up with his stories. I don't like to judge and thought maybe he just didn't know any better but I see now that he is just a scammer and fraud. Thanks Mike on a Bike and RWG for having out back and investigating him. The other guy. Never dealt with him. Stay safe everyone. Robert

I have gens and I certainly don't hate reps or their owners. Why? Because I have more reps than gens, and I get a kick knowing that my five Panerais cost me probably $1000 total instead of $35,000-$40,000. But when I'm wearing a gen, there's a kick in knowing the quality of what's on my wrist and yes, that I could afford to buy it. (Plus, I could walk into any jewelry shop in the world and not worry about being called out.) Either way, I'm happy and I don't hate anybody.

This is such an old and idiotic comment to this subject. If not for those who buy gens,there would be no reps for you to crave,and buy,for the opposite side of your own argument. Some might find it odd to see the amount you have spent on a fake chinese POS of the gen.

Hey Jkay, I am sure gasebah will speak for himself when he gets the chance, but I sort of see his point that it is unrealistic to completely disregard the attraction a certain brand provides. I don't quite buy the whole 'love for classical mechanical machines' when in fact the rep movements are nothing that resembles the in-house movements of the major brands. Or perhaps I have taken this out of context? I agree with you that people got into this hobby for many different reasons. My interest was first piqued by an Internet popup ad that showed a Panerai and I thought "ohhh... me likey"...