Leaderboard

After about three years' time, I can call this one "done". The case looks to be hand made, from maybe the 70s, likely from Vietnam. It's nearly perfect, though a little too rounded on the sides. Inside the case back is the curly Rolex logo from the era, stamped deeply. The serial numbers are age appropriate and it has BREVET+ between the 12:00 lugs. I put a Brevet+ crown on it, and the dial is correctly dished, but chipped around the edges because the case maker didn't provide a good way to anchor the movement inside. The hands it came with were horrible, made from bits of different hands soldered together. The hours hand looked like card stock and the seconds was 2mm short. Over about a year I put together the parts, including a Tonny Watch negative relief gloss gilt dial (magnificent) and a perfect set of hands I found on eBay. We went back and forth and decided to use the original chipped dial because it has the patina and it's correctly dished. I went with a low beat ETA because a reliable A260 movement doesn't exist. And now here it is, and dang it, sitting here on the desk beside me it looks exactly like my 62 year old gen 6536/1. It looks absolutely genuine. I wish I could upload high quality photos to do it justice.

"My gens are getting pretty long in the tooth, I still want to wear them, but can't justify daily use." Same here. I can't remember the last time I wore a genuine rolex for more than a few hours at a time, probably 20+ years ago. I just do not want to fool with them. "...those Lawn boys are the BOSS if you can make them rev high enough." Yep, I have one (self propelled model 10324) that revved up and down all the time so I took the carb apart and drilled the main jet out a little bit. Now it runs fine but is a gas hog. When they outlawed them in California I figured they would discontinue the 2 cycle models so I ran out and bought a new 'spare' 10324 (sure 'nuff they quit making them). My old one is still going strong 12 or 15 years later so now I have a nos Lawn Boy 10324 with b/p out in the garage. Also have a 'nos with b/p' Echo backpack blower that I traded a watch for. They might end up being eBait but shipping rates would be a killer. Here is a Lawn Boy exactly like I mowed with when I was a kid. We had it for close to 20 years. It was basically a magnesium deck with blade/handlebar/wheels etc and an OMC air cooled trolling motor. The articulated left front wheel was supposed to prevent scalping. https://www.gasenginemagazine.com/equipment/vintage-lawn-boy-mowers I had a paper route when I was 13 to 15 and mowed a few yards on the paper route. Since most of the yards were over a mile away, a friend took me to the yards on his Cushman Eagle. I rode on the luggage rack and pulled the LB behind us. The Police Chief (family friend) stopped us one time and said we were not allowed to pull a lawn mower behind a motor scooter. I said "We sure as hell ain't gonna push it in front of us." He busted out laughing and let us go. I called him 'Chief No Mow' after that. Still have the first rolex I bought in 1972 but have not worn it in 40+ years. Probably never will.

I thought I’d try the Big Gonzo on a leather strap.

Making a 3135 fit inside a Raffles 2824-2 case was hell, but worthwhile.