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I have noticed this post rather late and what I would have said is pretty much what others have already done! if it is any consolation, you are not alone and if you ask most people you meet how they feel, the answer would a very much be similar to yours! There are those that put on a good show but deep inside them, all have a story to tell but prefer to be in denial or maybe it is just a way to cope! You have done well to get it off your chest! Bottling up is not always the answer! I too, find that almost everywhere I look, there is something not right! It is sometimes all the little things that just add up and before I can blink, I get into an emotional melt down! It ranges from a leaky tap that I have attended to several times, the car playing up after having spent my half years savings to get right, the hot water boiler just giving cold water soon after the warranty has expired, someone I care for in hospital, etc,,,,I therefore look for something to cope, but then before I know it, I have noticed that there isn’t an angle that is right in the 360” circle. Then there is the current world situations! Where does it end? I often ask is it me or is it just life? It feels like every small move is a climb to Everest!, I then say to myself I would rather have things the way they are than for them to be worse!!! Period!! Coincidentally, today is the 8th anniversary of my fathers passing and in his last years of life I was unhappy, but looking back I was happier then than I am now missing him today! As Timelord has said, hang in there and all I will add is that no matter how dark it gets, midnight will turn to dawn and then the sun will rise! Enjoy your lovely collection and just add or trade to your liking! Life is there to be enjoyed! Follow the sun!

"How is that J$W case compared to say a phong?" J$W = Jewelry & Watch = Phong. "I have A phong now and it’s not accepting my genuine 1570/75 movement." A genuine rolex 1565/75 GMT movement and oem spec dial will fit into my J&W case and I noticed where the case has been scratched inside where the casing screws are located. My guess is the previous owner was using a 'shortcut' GMT 15xx movement and this caused the movement not to fit as it was meant to. A genuine 1565/75 GMT movement has a slightly thicker calendar ring (spacer) making the movement a little bit thicker than a regular 15xx date movement. Sometimes case clamps with screws must be used in place of regular casing screws that mount inside the groove in the case. I have needed to do this in a few projects using rolex 15xx movements with aftmkt cases. Try your 15xx GMT movement with an oem spec dial in your case without casing screws and see if the dial goes all the way down inside the case and fits against the dial seat. If it goes into the case Ok, check where the casing screw heads would be and see if it looks like the screw heads will fit inside the groove or need to be above the groove and use case clamps. The GMT calendar ring is 1.0mm thick and a regular calendar ring is .9mm thick. The .1mm will make a difference if the case is machined exactly same as genuine. Look at the eleventh post on page 1 about case screws/clamps: Building an MBW Sub + 'shortcut' rlx 1560/70 GMT conversions... - The Rolex Area - RWG J3/Amc

Feeling my franken PreA today after strapping on my black A series XL strap

RWG is the paper and my posts on this subject are just the pencil that started writing the story. Freddy and Alligoat have sharpened the pencil and turned the page. Where I only expressed my side of the story, their comments show valid reasons both for and against assembling Frankensteins in general. I fully agree with both. I am not moving over to 'anti-Frankensteinism' but have moved slowly away from 'chasing the dream' of the 'non rolex' rolex. Slowly being the key word. "Placing a gen movement into a rep/aftermarket case with a rep/aftermarket dial/handset does not make a lot of sense because it will have little effect on the look & feel of the franken. On the other hand, powering a gen dial/handset in a rep/aftermarket case with a gen movement takes the enterprise to a much higher level since what you see & feel is gen." And... "Second watch is an 1803 watch in SS. Picked up a 1556 movement on the bay with a silver day and date wheel for a good price, a redone white dial with silver stick markers and got a 16000 DJ case that Phong modified to accept the 1556 movement. A white dialed 1803 in SS. I love the watch- it flies below the radar. I'm wearing it on a 93150 and call it the Sportman's Day Date." Two very good reasons for 'chasing the dream' and I appreciate it. I still feel the same way about it but time has slowed me down a little and I have pulled back on projects. Besides that, it is the beginning of Summertime!, the grass and weeds are growing, and the porches need painting. Tending to it all will be taking up a lot of my 'spare' time for the next six months. Looking back at my opening post...maybe it was really (subconsciously?) aimed at members, forum surfers etc. who have entered the replica scene in the past few years and want to put a 'Four Digit Frankenstein' watch together with a genuine movement etc. but do not realize the pitfalls lurking in these projects and the $$ it takes to put one together today. I should have stated this up front but left it out. After all, guys like us who are 'addicted' to this 'hobby' are undeterred by the difficulties and cost of these endeavors. Below is a repost about the actual cost of an F-stein '5513' project I put together 10 or 11 years ago. It ended up costing about $1300. Compare it to how much the same watch would cost today. Double at least, maybe triple. Btw, it is still apart in the same box. Thanks for the replies, the more the merrier! Here is the info on one of my MBK 5513 projects a few years ago, 2011 or 2012 iirc (I have posted this before). It ended up costing about $1300. I still have it but it is apart right now. $300 or less for case (can not remember exact $$, got it from a member) $102 for Yuki dial $25 for TC tube and crown $12 for ST hands $650 for 26 jewel rolex 1520 hack mvt $20 for mainspring etc. $0 for c/o (did it myself) $85 for fake 358 hoods and put together '93150' bracelet, also have a folded oyster from 'Mary' that adds up to about the same $12 for GS crystal $68 for ST bezel kit (better fit than MBK bez with the GS crystal that was used) $25 misc...spring bars, gaskets, case screws etc.

Having done the franken route with gen movements back in the 2006-9 period, I've definitely quit that path. I built a 5508 with case and dial from NDTrading and a not quite correct 1520 movement from an Air King. I paid $880 for the AK and surprisingly it came with 7835 bracelet with 571 ends- whoppee! I spent $2500 putting the watch together including a service in there. I picked up a couple of gen T-16 crystals in the day for $100 each or so- gone are those days! I could work on making sure that the watch is WR, but I just don't see the point. I do have an older AK with a 1530 movement which would be correct for the 5508, but I haven't gotten around to swapping them out. The older AK with a gold plated case- maybe I paid $1000-1100. I just don't remember. Second watch is a 1803 watch in SS. Picked up a 1556 movement on the bay with a silver day and date wheel for a good price, a redone white dial with silver stick markers and got a 16000 DJ case that Phong modified to accept the 1556 movement. A white dialed 1803 in SS. I love the watch- it flies below the radar. I'm wearing it on a 93150 and call it the Sportman's Day Date. Once again I spent around $2500 putting the watch together. For all around beatability, I like my two DJ frankens- a 16014 and a 16013, both with 2836-2 swiss movements. There are WR tested watches and are great at $500 each

Frankens were never a sane financial investment for the reasons stated. But for those who either have very deep pockets (to pay a watchsmith to assemble the watch for you) or the skills to do the work themselves, they remain the most cost effective way to the look & feel of the real thing. Of course, alot depends on the percentage of gen parts used & the quality of the work involved in the assembly. Placing a gen movement into a rep/aftermarket case with a rep/aftermarket dial/handset does not make alot of sense because it will have little effect on the look & feel of the franken. On the other hand, powering a gen dial/handset in a rep/aftermarket case with a gen movement takes the enterprise to a much higher level since what you see & feel is gen. Of course, when dealing with vintage Rolex components, maintenance is & will be an ongoing dilemma since costs are constantly escalating & supplies -- those that remain available -- are tightly controlled by the mothership. I think if you have the passion, knowledge, will & cash, frankens are the only affordable way to experience vintage Daytonas, SDs, Subs & GMTs.

"... if you want to sell the gen or replica with the 15xx GMT conversion for 3K I'd be ready and willing!" Thanks, I appreciate it. Btw, the '1655' has two problems that have bothered me... 1...The date flips part of the way at midnight but is always centered by 8 or 9am. 2...It is not a hack movement and afaik all 1655 models were. This has no effect on the way it runs but it has always bothered me a little bit. It has a folded oyster and 'lume dot' SS hand so it mimics a 1973 or a year or two later model. Earlier models had straight SS hands, no lume dot. The 1655 was introduced in 1970/71 (I've seen both dates claimed) and by 1972 all 15xx were supposedly hack movements. From what I have read, 15xx hack movements started showing up in the late 1960s on some models. Who knows for sure? Not me. Over the last 10 or 15 years with genuine rolex movement and parts prices escalating yearly, I just cannot recommend putting a 15xx movement in a project watch. This is mainly because I have genuine cases, dials etc. for the extra movements stored in cans. I am very slow putting watch projects together and this summer I'll be putting an Asian GMT conversion in a nos ETA 2846 to put in the '1655' case after the 'shortcut' GMT movement is removed. Until then, the '1655' will still be together to protect the movement. My J$W '1655' case is a problem though because it is such a nice case that it 'deserves' a genuine movement like I stated in the first post. The question is...would the J$W case with a genuine 1575 GMT movement be worth as much as the case, dial, hands, movement etc. sold one at a time? Here is a guess at what these parts would sell for: 1...Genuine 1575 GMT hack movement in 90% condition with fresh c/o and new mainspring...about $4500 today going by similar movements sold on eBay. Very few have been for sale with one on eBay now for $4950 with 'blistered' plates, number 224974170550. One in pretty good condition sold for $4850 on April 7, 2022 and it probably would need to be c/o. Mine is low mileage and looks like new plus c/o with new mainspring and all the genuine GMT parts are nos. Genuine Factory Rolex 1570 1575 Caliber GMT Complete Watch Movement w/ Date Disc | eBay 2...Used J$W case complete in 90% condition with genuine case tube and crown...$750. 3...New J$W dial and hand set...about $300. 4...Aftmkt (Mary) fold-oyster with genuine clasp and WSO 580 hoods...$400. 5...Labor (free to me but not on projects put together for sale)...$250. Total...$6200. Imho it would be very, very hard to get $6200 for the finished watch. "I have couple frankens with great cases and dials that I'd love to put gen movements into. My rationale here is to invest in what I have instead of buying more fakery." Nothing wrong with that as long as the individual parts hold most of their value. Today's high prices might make it a bit risky if prices happen to fall. Looks like gasoline prices are holding up though. Ha! Regular gas is $4.28 around here. Ha! Not so funny.