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I have been watching rolex 1520, 1560, 1570 no date and date movement and parts prices rise for the past 10 or 12 years. My conclusion from the rise in prices is a movement alone is now worth more than the value it might add to a 'Frankenstein' 1016, 5512/13, 1680, 1665, 1655/75 etc. Right or Wrong? For this reason, I am thinking about removing all 15xx movements from Frankensteins and sticking Etas in them or selling the cases/dials/bracelets for parts. I have a few cases for the movements so I can sell the movements 'naked' or in a case. Good or Bad idea? I am rapidly coming to the end of the run with these things because I have genuine watches needing attention so I can sell them and do not wear 'steins/replicas very often now.

OK, so if I am reading correctly, here's the recipe for success: 1) Buy the 904L ARF from Puretime with the V2 SH3135 movement. Remove the movement and use in another project. 2) Find a gen 3135 - you get the added bonus of the gen datewheel, so 2 mods in one. 3) Gen dial and if you really want to go nuts, gen hands but these are not needed. 4) Gen crown & tube. 5) Prof black hole crystal. Is this the 2xAR version or just the Black Hole crystal? 6) Gen seals. 7) Lastly, send the insert to one of the modders for gen platinum puff coating!😎 Throw it on a gen Rubber B and you have an absolutely killer genken, or send the bracelet to one of the modders in the EU who does gen process bracelet refinishing.

RWG is such a fine place for gentlemen to hang out, it seems like good things always happen here. Watching James Bond movies, you see him with his 6538 and when the bad guys jump in the ocean he leaps in after them without a thought to the watch he's wearing. Contemporary VRF denizens would shriek in horror at the thought of a precious 6538 getting wet, much less flying into the ocean. This is remarkable to me, because the big crowns were produced as an upgrade to the small crowns, with increased water resistance. Read the dial... it says "SUBMARINER" not "DESKMARINER". These were made to be worn in the water, down to horrific depths like 330 feet and beyond and were expected to keep time and not leak. They were tools to make a diver's work safer. Now, because of their scarcity, we treat them as My Precious and polish and coddle them. I can't think of the last time I polished and coddled my tools in the garage. Their purpose is to keep my Land Rovers running. When my micrometer torque wrench screws up, guess what? I'll buy another. It makes me a safer mechanic. When I was a commercial diver my tools made me a safer diver. Strip away the mystique and that's all these watches are. There's a certain thrill to taking a Big Crown out into the ocean, and USING IT like it was intended. It's in its natural environment and we can taste the reality of what the nostalgia promises. Down at moderate depths, there's nothing quite like looking at a Big Crown on your wrist doing its job. Throwing caution to the wind, scoffing at the fears of weaker men, and just enjoying the beastie in its natural environment. Like it's supposed to be there. And if it floods? If you're running an ETA, no harm done. Fix it and go diving again. If you're running a 1030 or 15xx? Welcome to misery. IMHO life is too short for misery.

If I was to do that I'd get a good Phong case and have Dbane work it over. Then a Dark Lord dial and ETA movement, maybe a 2783. Gen hands and gen everything else. That would be a good looking workhorse I could wear every day for the rest of my life.

Interesting insight here. The one thing that always bothers me is that I might have difficulty getting my rep with an ETA movement serviced by a good watchmaker. I know I could always just take the movement out and have them tackle the movement by itself, but that doesn't work if I want to pass the watch on to someone. Other than that downside, the advantages of using ETA are immense, the biggest one being you can actually use your watch as it was intended.

Exactly right. I used to wear my 6536 every day, it went everywhere and did everything for decades. Then on its last service with Ziggy he sent me traces from his timing machine and some scary photos. Then he said he was able to clean up the autowind gears and they work fine, but they're nearly used up. And there are no more available. That settled it, and I put it away. I still wear it on special occasions, and I miss it. So now the Big Gonzo wears the mantle.

I doubt anyone was comfortable contemplating their first build. My first was the 6542, a really complicated build at the time, only Freddy333 had done one. I've rebuilt/improved it 6 or 7 times now, and wear it daily. The thing is that if you choose to build one, the knowledge, information and help/guidance here is astounding. Bottom line is that your watch should be what you want.

Go vintage, and I'll tell you why. There is so much less scrutiny AND there is so much more interest in "old stuff" when you encounter a regular civilian. What I mean by that is if you are wearing a brand new, flashy, and shiny modern Rolex this is going to draw more comments of "hey, nice watch." Then you are left with the dilemma of how to respond. Do you just say "thanks" and leave it at that, or do they continue asking questions about it and share how they have always wanted one, or whatever the case may be. The lingering and nagging reality, no matter how freaking awesome the rep may be (50th anniversary SD43 or the latest Cameron Deep Sea) many of the general public will always have a gut feeling about "cheap Chinese knockoffs." With vintage, it flies under the radar with the average civilian, but with other watch enthusiasts it can draw the right kind of attention. You can talk about the build, you can talk about the history of the piece and what drew you to that particular one. Then you can share details about your build with them. How you tinkered with it yourself, or how you worked with a really cool watch builder wherever, or how you sourced parts for months (or years) to make this build. Honestly, every watch person I have ever talked to and every civilian I have talked to about vintage pieces has always responded VERY favorably when I share that I love vintage watches and I am building up the courage to assemble and build my own vintage watches. I use the vintage auto restoration analogy all the time because I think it is the perfect comparison. Not one person on the planet (besides maybe a hardcore auto show collector guy) would ever fault someone who restored and built a classic Vette using a mix of aftermarket OEM spec parts. They would all say "awesome Vette" and talk about it fondly. I think vintage watches are the same way with everyone except the most hardcore of the collectors. It's for personal enjoyment. Good luck! If you decide to go vintage, there is no better place to be than right here. The most brilliant minds in the horology world reside here on this forum and they are willing and happy to help in any way they can. I love this place.😀👍

Man, the sky blue and cherry one is the bomb! Perfection![emoji106] Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk