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Thanks here fully assembled Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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1655 Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-A520F met Tapatalk

1665 for today

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Been thinking about this. The 16660 is my favourite SD variant. We have an amazing rep with the BP SD. I'm just wondering if anyone else already went this way, since the differences between the 16600 and 16660 are subtle, wouldn't it be possible to turn the BP SD into an old matte SD? Work to do: - change datewheel - change dial - change hands (not sure) - create larger chamfers - create thicker crown guards (who's able to laserweld on the forum?) - different bracelet Anyone else who went that way?

January 29 2019 In answer to the question: "what is good price these days. i bought a 1570 over 10 year ago for $800" Posted in: "Wanted 1575 movement" in the "I Want To Buy..." section. I thought it might help anyone starting a project with a rlx 1570 etc. "What is good price these days. I bought a 1570 over 10 years ago for $800" I would guess a 1570 or 1575 in good condition (no rust and no service history) is fairly priced at $1000 to $1300 now. Sometimes you can find a complete watch with rough case/dial for that price, mostly reference 1500. BIN prices on eBay are pretty high but when you look at 'sold items' they are sometimes a bit more reasonable. From my experience, most of the 'just serviced' watches have not been touched for years other than with Rodico to remove specks. Many rlx 15xx movements are in bad mechanical condition but still look good. 1...Look at the outer edge of the main plate to see if the winding rotor has worn the plating away because of a worn rotor axle, broken jewel, loose a/w assembly etc. There is usually a small circle of brassy unplated area on the outer edge of the a/w plate but this is always present and not caused by the rotor. Rotor axles can be replaced but they are not just 'knocked out and pressed back in'...the outer edge of the top of the rotor axle should be cut off and the axle pushed out from the top to keep from enlarging the hole in the rotor when an axle is driven out from the underside. The riveted part of the axle on the underside of the rotor will remove metal from the rotor when it is driven out and the next axle may be loose even after it has been riveted. Many 'rolex mechanics' take the shortcut and just drive them out. It may work one time but usually not two or more because the hole in the rotor is enlarged each time. 2...Reversers also cause problems and if the red anodized surface is worn or chipped it is a good indication of a high mileage/low maintenance movement. Many 'rolexperts' claim the red is Teflon. Not Teflon, it is hard anodized for wear resistance. 3...The 'intermediate wheel' that transfers winding power from the a/w assembly to the movement can also wear, check the teeth and pivots closely. High quality aftmkt replacements are available. 4...Mainspring arbor (axle) holes in the main plate can wear out of round if they are dry for a long time. This causes the m/s barrel to rub the main plate causing low power reserve. The fix: A...new main plate. ($$) B...Peen the area around the hole to close it a bit (not the best practice but it works). C...Put a bushing in the hole. A tedious job but probably the best fix. D...Grease the plate under the ms barrel so it will turn easily for a while...a common 'quick and dirty fix' for traders. 5...Balance staffs can get broken but usually the watch stops or only runs 'dial up' or 'dial down' so they are fairly easy to spot. The staff can wear down from dry pivots/dirt/no service especially if the watch is left 'dial up' or 'dial down' overnight for years because the balance is swinging on point contact, not line contact as it would be when 'dial right', 'dial left' etc. This is why mechanical watches can gain time when 'dial up' or 'dial down'...there is less friction when running on point contact, as long as there is some oil. 6...Because the 1575 date is slow set, the canon pinion is often loose. Some may get so loose that the watch will run but the hour and minute hands do not move. The fix is to tighten the c/p or replace the 'center wheel with c/p' (available in aftmkt). 7...Check the teeth (aka leaves) on date wheels for wear/bent teeth along with the numbers, background paint etc. 8...See if the dial screws are present and not broken off in the holes...same for calendar spacer ring screws. Etc, etc. My last few rlx 15xx buys: Last movement I bought on eBay was around 2012...a '1570' that turned out to be a 1560 with 1570 autowind bridge, the rotor was turned so you could not tell it was a 1560 in the pictures. I doubt the seller knew the difference but it was still a pretty good deal for $650. May 2015 I snagged a 1603 DJ from a watch trader with a good black dial and very good case for $575 but the stem was rusted and stuck in the main plate (no rust anywhere else). Early last week I finally got around to soaking the plate in white vinegar and now most of the stem has been melted away where it was stuck. I covered the steel parts (winding pinion/clutch wheel) with Testors enamel to protect them and the plate was set only deep enough to cover a few mm of the plate where the stem was stuck. I am soaking it in penetrating oil now to finish it up. January 2016 I traded a Heuer Pasadena (V7750) for a rlx 1500 with very good case/dial/movement, Funny thing is I had owned the same Heuer Pasadena over 20 years before and I had $300 or so in it back then. Got it back March 2015 for $250 from a gold/diamond trader and it looked the same with no more nicks/scratches than before. Bought a rlx DD cal 1556 movement from the same guy May 2013 for $600...they had melted the case and bracelet. (!!) A good deal is where you find it. I usually find the best deals when I am not looking for a deal.

Old work beater.

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Well, I know a handful of amazing laserwelders that work on watches but they won't do it on a rep case. They're all in Italy, and AMAZING at what they do. One particular reason why I stay away from Italian vintage dealers, hehe.

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BPFF. V1

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Divers and Rubber!??.. I'm in! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very true!!!! Back then a watch could have been sporty and elegant at the same time. Especially the 6538 had a dual nature of being both a sports watch and a dress watch at the same time. Most of todays watches are so big and bulky like the 1970's ones where you would need an arm sling to wear one. That is just my opinion Totally agree!!! Not much point having a genuine original dial and a case without lugs for example. Sure the case is important. You can buy a lot of genuine dials - even brand new. Try getting a new genuine case either here on anywhere for that matter

Thanks guys. Honestly, I think you will find the shaping of the hands very easy. I can barely lume a dial and my attempts to cut lug chamfers have been disastrous. I didn't even use magnification doing this... there's a lot of room for improvement. The JK hour hand has the perfect outer dimensions, it's just too fat everywhere The hardest thing for me, besides lume, has been getting a deep, even bronze finish on the hand surface. I have a bad habit of working by lamp light and it totally masks the luster of the hands and convinces me they are uniformly the right tone, then in natural light I realize they are half polished and half dull, mottled between brass and almost silver color, and usually way too bright and shiny, overpowering the gilt dial. Most of the gen hands I've seen have a tone even with the chapter ring or are even darker/more tarnished. I found one method that kind of works, using ammonia fumes, but the effect was pretty uneven. Anyone know how to darken and dull the hands without them just going silvery and rusty looking? I added this absurd early-style second hand after noticing a couple gen Tudors with them. It's a bit too long, and I don't think it was ever original, especially for the early military 7922s in the big crown case, but it looks hilarious to me and the little dot way out there helps to emphasize the low beat movement. A luminous second hand is now an ISO standard for dive watches, so I'm told, and it's funny how these early tool watches met all the modern standards but in such a stylized and barely-functional way, i.e. the Rolex way

Just sharing some of my current collection of watches not in the safe. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Micky over Dirk always...the nick always corresponds to the owner