Leaderboard

Exactly. 10yrs ago I think our Frankens could fool actual Rolex collectors because the vintage Rolex Market & Internet knowledge base hadn’t reached critical mass. I mentioned before, I go to a lot of GTGs pre-pandemic. The Frankens and eBay specials are showing up with no intent to deceive. It’s almost become a right of passage to show up with a questionable vintage Rolex. Case in point, there is always a 6542 available on eBay. Pretty amazing for such a rare watch 😉🤔 That said, I wouldn’t sweat the details as much these days. If you land on an aesthetic AND reliability, and in budget. Enjoy it.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G981B met Tapatalk

Since you asked............ In the dozen or so years since this thread began, I still LOVE, frequently wear & find this watch to be a perplexing enigma. It is the only watch I have ever come across in nearly 40 years of collecting that I cannot conclusively ID as either gen or franken. Over the years, I have encountered a stream of gen Rose Tudor 7016s with solid provenances that caused me to vacillate my view of this watch back & forth. To date, I still cannot say, with ANY certainty, what we got? Were they gens or 25+ year-old frankens? The dials & casebacks are probably aftermarket. But am I prepared to put money on that? Nope! I just do not know? Then, as now, (with the possible exception of its original crown (which I replaced with a new 703 & tube), & even then?) the watch has the feel of a vintage Sub; not vintagized, but genuinely, & for the model's age, old--inside & out. But, whatever they are, all who were fortunate to have been at the right place at the right time got the deal of the century.

There you go. Thanks, alligoat!

Anyone that is aware of the correct bph for a gen 6542 & close enough to the watch to note the movement of the sweep seconds or gage the beat of the movement will undoubtedly detect the many obvious tells of a non-gen dial, handset, bezel, etc. So if you are able to find a slow-beat ETA, great. If not, I would not fuss over it since no one but you (& RWG) will know the difference.

Most recent acquisition...