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But this one. http://www.pf-818.com/r41djs-705-116334-ss-ss-fluted-oyster-blue-sticks-sa-3136.html The movements are good and it’s the most gen like in appearance and function, if that’s what you are after

Over the past 4years that I have been active in the rep community, I have come across only a few inexpensive rep cases I would consider “workhorses”. Cases like Silix Big crown and Cartel 5513/1680 might be mentioned in this category but even them 2 cases are far from correct. Silix case doesn’t take any gen part while the Cartel 5513 only takes gen dial & crystal without modding. Why do I think this rep 16200 case is the ultimate workhorse? 1. It’s accepts all the Gen parts you would need to make a Franken DJ like Crystal, dial, bezel & Crown without any mods...straight plug & play [emoji1474][emoji1474][emoji1474] 2. It’s quite versatile. I have used it to build numerous franken DJs & Explorer 14270s.[emoji1474] 3. It’s quite inexpensive. You can get a complete case set as cheap as $40.[emoji1474] 4. If not for this case, we wouldn’t have a JMB 1016 Explorer V1 or V2. I have actually built a rare 1018 OP using a JMB v1 case. [emoji1474][emoji1474]@JMB pls bring back the V1 cases. 5. Even though the only Gen part that wouldn’t fit without mods is the case back. The rep case back actually fits gen 16200 case. [emoji1490][emoji1490][emoji1490] But with all the Pros there are sure some cons. - I noticed that the 2824 versions sometimes have a wider dial rehaut which causes dial alignment issue or might cut of railroad tracks & “Swiss” @ 6digits. “T Swiss T dials arent period correct for 16200 anyways so avoid using them. Keep those Dials for your 160xx builds - The lugs are a little bit to robust for majority of the Datejust I build which are with tritium Dials. This “con” is pretty easy fix though. It can be done with a mid-level dremmel multipurpose hand tool like this Here are pics of the stock(sterile) case, before and after the reshaping. A little metal of the top & side of lugs I replaced the case tube, brushed & polished. Compare the results Stock rep case(left), reshaped rep case(middle) & Gen case (right) And here a complete franken 16233 w/ the reshaped rep case. What do you guys think? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hello all, I'm going to show you my first build (or, better...assembly) that has been very easy (only effort was to source the parts) and very rewarding... Googling for watch parts I stumbled in "Raffles Dials" that has some ice cases and dials and hands (I say "some" because some sellers have a larger choice...) The price was right (cheap) and the quality was looking good (even a good picture can't tell anything about the "feel" of a well polished case or the "real life" detail of a dial...) so I pulled the trigger for : 1) TUDOR SIGNED VINTAGE STYLE OF 34MM STAINLESS STEEL PRINCE WATCH CASE WITH SMOOTH BEZEL AND 19MM LUGS SIZE FIT ETA 2824 MOVEMENT (First pic) 2) 27MM SILVER DIAL MARKED TUDOR LOGO WITH SILVER STICKS AND DATE WINDOW FIT ETA 2836 OR 2824 MOVEMENT FOR MENS STEEL PRINCE DATE WATCH (2nd pic) 3) ONE SET OF SILVER TUDOR PRINCE WATCH HANDS WITH LUMINOVA FIT ETA 2836 OR 2824 FOR MENS 34MM WATCH (3rd pic) As said before the price was good as I paid the whole set a little less than 81 USD... (with a little discount from Ken) But I was still in the need of a movement... Since I don't like the look of the cheaper Asian 2824 I went for a better look clone (although the solid case back)... Look at the pics #5... isn't it a beauty? That was 87 USD shipped (bought on eBay)... Now what? I can't assemble the watch myself! (Never done before and I have no tools at all!) Solution? : Bring the whole package to the Watchsmith... He said it was a very easy task (everything were fitting and there was no needs for additional spare parts...) and he was asking a very little money so I bought a nice Blue Croc Strap (Morellato) from him. The Pics from 6 to 12 show the final result... It looks a really nice watch although a minor flaw... (the date window is a bit off center) All in all it has been funny to choose the dial,the bezel,the movement... I will do it again (..next time it will be SS and Gold...) Thank you for reading this and thank you Ken (RafflesDials)... You have acquired another happy customer! P.S. Sorry, I don't know how post pictures between the text lines...

I finally got in some 2824 16200 cases, it was a really long wait as they have been unavailable since about Feb of this year! Dimensionally these appear to be the same although the machining tolerances were not as tight as older batches. Progress, right? I snapped some pics of the steps these go through to make 1016 cases although I forgot to take a pic of the rough machined case before drilling any holes. I start out with a plain "vintage" style 16200 case They then spend some time on a little CNC lathe I built and get the tops of the lugs machined to give them a thinner profile. You notice the burr left side of the lug top. All of these burrs have to be removed by hand with a file and sanding. After they come off the lathe they head to the mill where the lug get "ventilated. I set up on the right, drill hole, rotate case 180 degrees and drill another hole. When they are all done I set up on the left and repeat the process for the remainder of the holes. When this is finished I finish de-burring the case, brush the lug tops, and it's ready for either a polished or aged finish. Here is a comparison between the original and re-shaped cases. I hope this sheds a little light on the process.

Ask for it if you feel it's needed. The TD should have the watch there and be able to do so quickly and easily.

I dug this out of the depths

I think I warned you at the time about sticking with Trusted Dealers??? I hope it gives you no more problems though

I remember the $hit-storm somebody tried stirring up on RWI and Stone was very gracious and transparent - I would've taught everybody a few new words. I've collaborated with Stone on numerous projects over the past several years and I always enjoy seeing his creations. His honesty and attention to detail is beyond reproach. If folks want a V1 case (let the record show I was not the one who came up with these rev numbers!) I did save back 5 of the 2824 cases for this type of thing but I'll warn you that StoneP has put dibs on two of them...

Stone, I travel. I know you have taken some incoming over the last few months and I saw the gentlemanly and open way you responded. A credit to you, I still hold the faith brother. JMB V1, My Christmas wish

A brother just PMd me pictures of a case from her and I’m impressed, very impressed

Finding V72 chronos has gotten tough. When you pull up 'Valjoux 72' on eBay all the stuff is overpriced imo. Next would be to run thru Vintage chronograph on eBay. It's long and tedious, but you might find a sleeper w/ asymmetrical pushers or a shot of the movement. Watch shows is another possibility. Expect to spend $1K for the watch/movement and $300 plus for a service. Be careful buying Heuers- the plates may be oversized and won't fit in a Daytona case.

SD4K

With Watchoutlet you get no help for a packet seizure nor warranty on the watch... that's why it's cheaper... (Read the FAQ)

http://www.pf-818.com/r41djs-705-116334-ss-ss-fluted-oyster-blue-sticks-sa-3136.html This one is the odd one out, it has the true clone of the Rolex movement. All the others are Chinese 2836 with deco plates. Honestly I think the factories make it as hard as possible to sort out which movement they are using. Why name them all so similarly otherwise. There is nothing wrong with the Chinese 2836, other than the crown being slightly lower than gen. I personally dislike deco plates, especially as in order to fit them to some reps, they make the case deeper than gen. so for a bit of theatre behind a closed case back that isn’t going to fool anyone, they add a very obvious fault to the case. Mutter, mutter. Having said all that, I wouldn’t refuse a watch simply because it had deco plates

Puretime have a sister site for sales like that. www.watchoutlet01.com I will have a look at the links a little later, I’m a bit busy right now. Damn job getting in the way of hobbies???

@Americany13 Any time buddy. TD’s are expected to use actual pictures of the watches they sell, but sometimes they use the same picture for the 2836 and clone versions. If you are looking at TD sites, just post links up here and we will try to help you make sense of what you are seeing and make your own decision

Broadly speaking the higher the price the better the rep. A clone 2836 is directly swappable with the genuine ETA or any Swiss clone. The big issue is the 2836 places the crown too low on the case. It is up to you to decide if you can live with this. If it were me, I would go with @tframo‘s advice and buy the 3135, then budget another hundred Bucks just in case it died and needed a modder to rebuild it. The V numbers are versions, the A, AA etc is total BS and not worth listening to. Stop for a moment and consider who decides what is only AA and what is AAAAA plus, do you think there is a Chinese board of counterfeit goods that awards and enforces the standard? No of course you don’t ? It is all very baffling at first. We know, we have all been there, but the more you read, you find it slowly starts to make sense Oh and just to help out if you don’t already know A3135 is described as a clone, but it is just an Asian 2836 with rather silly and pointless decoration plates that make it look slightly similar to a Rolex 3135, pointless, because it has a solid case back and anyone that knows enough to be opening the case back isn’t going to be fooled. I despise them SH3135 is physically the same dimensions as the 3135, looks similar, same dial feet position, same hand size etc, but no interchange parts. Found in Noob watches, it was unreliable, but is now reported as much better SA3135 clone of 3135 with the majority of parts interchangeable with genuine Rolex parts, but obviously not of the same quality or finish as Rolex parts, found in BP watches. Actually a BP would be worth considering for this model Generally because of the conditions these watches are built in, the movements are dirty regardless of which movement is bought. Opinions vary, some immediately send a new watch for a service, others run to failure then get it serviced and repaired.

Maybe next time, if I remember, I'll shoot a video of the case on the lathe.