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62 MAS today

If anyone (other than me) is crazy enough to go down the rabbit hole on a '1655' project using a Rolex 15xx movement, here is the 'short scoop' on hands from what I learned the hard way. Learned? More or Less. After all, I have not quit on it yet. Genuine hands are up for sale on eBay etc. from $3500 (!!) to maybe $1200 and can go from nos, to pretty good, down to ratty. My 'shortcut 1655' project has been abandoned and the no hack 1575 movement is now in a 1002 with Yuki 'explorer' dial, minus the date parts. I had a pretty good set of aftmkt hands on it but with them being r/r maybe 20 times during the 'shorcut experiment', I need a better set for the next round with a 1575 hack movement, same 'shortcut' parts, and a J$W com case/dial. Sooner or later...I'm still gathering up parts. I kept a lookout on eBay, Chrono24 etc. and landed on a few pretty good sets of aftmkt '1655' hands for the Rolex 15xx movement on eBay after giving up on genuine hands. As of today (7-1-23) there are a couple sets of good aftmkt hands on eBay: Imho, the best deal is from 'watchpartsking' at $115 plus $4.99 shipping. eBay item number: 185791782661 Second best is Phong (guessing going by the address) at $195 plus $9.50 shipping. eBay item number: 234857545475 Both sets are very good, and I would go with the lower priced set only because of the price. Last choice is the set from WSO990 at $34.95 but they are not very accurate compared to genuine. The lume stripes are too long, too wide, too close to the hubs, and the black painted area is too short. The price is right though. eBay item number: 310304838749 I would not use them on a project and listed them for comparison. Today's highest price for a set of genuine 'straight second hand' 1655 hands goes to: eBay item number: 153524838667 at $3500 plus $65 shipping from Brazil. If you want a 'straight second hand' to go with an aftmkt hand set, a suitable 'straight second hand' with a long tube can be found on the 'net for around $10...paint it white, and age it. I found a few in my parts from other projects that are exactly the same as genuine except for the color. You need a long second hand tube because it has to pass through all the GMT and date works on top of the movement. Rolex hands were made mostly by Universal, Virex, and Fiedler. They made millions of hands for many brands and since Rolex 1655 'straight sweep second hands' are not out of the ordinary, it is fairly easy to find a duplicate. Otoh...a 'common sense 1655 project' would be an accurate cartel case, good dial/hands, and Swiss ETA 2846 with Asian GMT conversion, or lower $$ DG 3804. Building an MBW Sub + 'shortcut' rlx 1560/70 GMT conversions... - Page 2 - The Rolex Area - RWG