Leaderboard

There are 2 types of "case necks" on the 5513/5512. Pre 1966-ish, the outside of the rehaut wall was straight... Diameter was roughly 28.05-28.10mm. After 1966, the outer rehaut was "stepped". The top 1/2 portion of the rehaut was wider and was roughly 28.2mm as automatico has indicated. The lower 1/2 was still 28.05-28.10mm. I imagine Rolex made this change to improve water tightness. The stepped design creates more "tension" on the inside wall of the crystal and the top 1/2 of the rehaut (in particular the lower corner lip of wider section) "bites" into the softer acrylic material of the plexi after the retaining ring is installed.

The 'case neck' where the crystal fits is supposed to be 28.2mm outside diameter...if genuine spec. Where the trouble begins (assuming the neck is 28.2mm) is with crystals and crystal retainer bezels (inner bezels). Almost every aftmkt number 19 crystal is different, some will fit and some will not. Besides that, some case makers may have a genspec case neck and use an odd spec crystal along with an odd spec inner bezel. This equals trouble as there is no telling who might have a suitable replacement crystal. I found only one brand of aftmkt crystal that is always the same...GS. Unbranded crystals from supply houses and internet sellers may be the same from batch to batch or not. The catch is GS 19 crystals come in three sizes: PA 462-66 (30.45mm) PA 462-67 (30.48mm) PA 46220A (30.30m), more if you count the 'hi dome' models. You also will need a precision digital caliper, not a HK cheapie. Last but not least...you need a good crystal press with metal dies and develop a 'feel' for the proper fit. After you press the inner bezel down over the crystal (assuming it 'feels' right) take a 10x loupe and a bright light and look closely all the way around the crystal skirt for cracks by looking down through the sidewall of the crystal. If the inner bezel was too tight, the sidewall of the crystal will crack but it may not show without a close look. After you know what size and brand of crystal will fit your case/inner bezel combo you can go from there. My advice is to find what fits and buy at least three if you plan to keep the watch. Btw, it's not cheap or easy if the first few crystals do not fit so maybe you will be lucky and hit a good combo first or second try. I have maybe 30 assorted number 19 crystals from genuine to Sternkreuz, GS, Best Fit, Clark, ST etc and have tried them all on various projects. I remember on one of my MBK '5513' projects I ended up with an ST/Clark bezel kit (same thing) and a GS crystal (?? on the p/n). The original MBK inner bezel would fit the GS crystal but the rotating bezel was not a good fit on the inner bezel etc, etc so I went to the ST/Clark kit. So far, so good. I posted a full dose of what to expect because it sounded like you wanted the watch to be water resistant. Crystals: http://www.ofrei.com/page419.html

+1 JMB does really good work and is easy to deal with. Very helpful as well. No plans for a steel bracelet in the near future. It's funny I prefer leather straps on the Explorer and steel bracelet on the subs.

I have started a notebook on movements, which is a work in progress and very embryonic at the moment. However I believe the 2878 has a stem height of 2.5mm and the 2836 is 2.25mm. Both 11.5 linge. Sorry I can't be more help. Perhaps a sticky with movement specification is something we could think of working on as a group?

What a nice reply sir I'm impressed with your humility. I'm also learning myself even today. Thank you for the well wishes.

Damn, just dropped some knowledge on us!

Good morning people....

What's urgent about it?

Message crafted while riding a leathery juvenile T-Rex and charging toward the horizon.

I'll get this going with my new beater. Pict from yesterday

LOL I had a picture of myself running around with a feather duster trying to clean a mansion! But that is over we have plenty of very capable guys to get the job done and we will!!

Thanks for the info Mike. RWG is definitely my home. I usually just go to the other sites to buy and sell.... Some of the mods on the other forums are high on themselves!

My friend at this time to be honest with five fresh mods full of ideas our area on tilt , one guy working on contacting TDs to get them more active ( did I mention teasers on new products, some mentioned their own raffles for us) others handling cases on bad deals (Very time consuming on cross board stuff FYI), who is doing research on this that , contests being structured , member drives etc etc.............. We have our hands full and I do not want you guys to feel ignored. I am sure there are some good ideas but right now let us get present agenda completed (should take a month) and then I think it is a good idea to implement. You never know we might address a lot of the suggestions with our present list so we get that done then look for other ideas after you guys see what we have done.

Boy that pepsi GMT is sweet. Thanks for clearing up the confusion I had on the movements I think the 2893 is the way to go. Cheers

Just something I bought on EBAY. I have several of them, and they are very nice looking displays. Bill