cjjoyce1

My C&I from 1977 Note the holes in the rivet ends. Generally 30% cheaper than gen 7206's in similar condition.

Last year my son bought a cartel 6263, that was D.O.A. Strange since it's a hand wind, but dead nonetheless. So he left it with me to check out before sending it back. Turned out that somehow during shipment the package took such a hit, the balance got knocked as the roller table pin wasn't engaging the pallet fork. Or, the movement was never checked before being installed at the factory and the balance was never properly installed. Simply reseating the balance assembly was all that was needed to fix it, and a week long check proved it was running and keeping time well. That's when I got to thinking (which can be a bad thing for me). My son wasn't happy about the subdial at 6 position and told me about the pin mod to do it, so. . . I decided to do a build for him. I know the case isn't the best to start with, but sometimes ya gotta work with what you've got (and I'm not afraid to attack cases with files, drills and grinders either - which proved very necessary on this). First, I discovered how the cartel solved the problem of the offset pusher as was previously pointed out in a review of the watch. Since I had a spare gen 703 early style crown and tube which would require re-tapping the case and countersinking, I thought while I was at it, I'd attempt a Clark's pusher swap which would require much of the same. Boy did that suck, but I did it! Notice in the pic below, the brass tube on the bottom (top) pusher. That was the cartel's solution to that pusher to properly engage the movement as well. It didn't quite fit the Clark pusher though and when i tried to force it on, that litte sucker went zinging off into oblivion. I had to find a solution, and you know what worked absolutely perfect? I took the hour wheel from an ETA 2836 and ground off the gear down to the tube! Here's what it looked like when I first opened it, pre mods. The "L" shaped bar was easier to finagle on the Clarks and epoxy in place. The next issue was I bought a NYWatch bezel after reading the DW/Phong/NY comparison. Great looking and compared to the cartel, hands down must replacement. Cartel on the left (duh). but wait. . . Crap. I didn't know the inside lip dimensions were so different. So what to do? Get out the grinder and get at this lip! I masked the entire case off in two layers of duct tape for it's rugged protection in case I slipped - which I did a few times without harm. Thankfully the Tropic 21 fit like a dream on the rehaut and under the NY bezel. The pin at six mod was easy-squeezy and the DW dial went on after snipping the dial feet and epoxying on new bergeron feet. Unfortunately, the cartel hands had to go back on as the Seagull hands and V72 hand sizes are vastly different. The finished product (on my sasquach son's arm) The specs: Cartel 6263 with ST-19 (venus) handwind Clarks pushers Tropic 21 Gen 703 crown and tube NYWatch bezel DW's new batch Dial (which is drilled for gen coronets!) Gen 7835 band

They were asking $150

So today I spotted this staking tool set at a local antique shop. The glass lid has an anchor on it and reads "Anchor set of 120". There's only one piece missing and it all seems in really great condition. I just have no idea how much something like this should go for, so I'm turning to you guys for advice. Thanks for looking and thanks in advance!

Glad it's getting serviced so it'll give you great performance in the future, but yes, all 15XX series movements all have washers, and yours needed one.

One tinsey critique. You need to make sure your 1675 24 hour hand tracks the hours (like at 2pm - it points at 14 if your bezel has the triangle at "12") like you've set your explorer. The 1575 movement does not have a settable 24 hand. It's an instant "tell" if it isn't set right. What an awesome collection! I bet the hunt for parts was nearly as fun as building and owning them!

A bit late to the party here, but out of curiosity, did you install a friction washer between the center wheel and the dial? if the center gear is slightly unseated, you'll be able to manually set the time, but it won't track with the movements progress if it's not meshing properly. People with the ETA 24XX GMT's will find a similar problem with the 24 hour hand if the center gear isn't meshing correctly.

I don't mean to hijack, but this was exactly my experience as well! - and this is what I got. http://www.rwgforum.net/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=msg&attach_id=87332

The crown that came on your 5513 can be modded. I actually think the replication of the old style 703 coronet on the cartel vintage crowns are pretty decent. But yes, the crown itself is too tall. A few of us solved that issue by gripping the crowns stem in a dremel or drill and holding a file to the lower edge as it spins. you can grind down the height while at the same time put a more correct lower edge bevel on it. Pretty easy to do - go slow and check your work - and won't cost you anything. Plus the coronet on the crown is more period correct for your watch than a modern replacement style. Just my 2 cents

I have a gen C&I on my 1675. I removed links similar to Nanuq, but in a more painstaking way. Yup to the pad, but I used a surgical razor. I inserted the tip in the small opening at the side of the middle link between the two outer side links. Worked the blade carefully into the fold gap in the middle link. Once I had "sliced" across the and made a slight gap, I worked the blade in and then pried up on the longer side until I could barely squeeze out the center bar from the link I wanted to remove, then repeated the process on another to get that link out. To close the gap, I ran a pine dowel continually across the center links with firm pressure until the link was closed again. This all took quite a while, but I was very pleased with the results, and the gap is very tightly closed.

Accuracy wise, Yuki's is a great but slightly pricey one. Depending on the case, some people reported having issues with lug holes lining up and others have had problems with spring bars not fitting through them easily. The cartel have them for substantially less money, but they are quite inaccurate all around.

#2 from Rafflestime

Thank you all, this is THE reason I love this board. Cheers

Hi guys, thanks for looking. I'm doing a bit of work on my son's 6263 http://www.ttw168.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_6&products_id=7507 for reference. This is listed as various movements on the cartel sites, but is it really a 175 movement? or a ST-19? I broke the damn stem and need to order a new one. If anyone has one of these stems I'll gladly by it from you or trade you for a Valjoux 23, 72, 72c, 230, 236, 726, 730 stem. Thanks in advance

Here's one I put together for another member. All gen except ETA, hands and date overlay (I think it was a clarks crystal too. .) Here's a silver stick dial with a nice patina I sold several months ago. Not a 16014 with the engine turned bezel, but patina is similar to alligoat's example. The center is my favorite DJ - again all gen but the ETA, hands and overlay. I love Datejusts.

I've been watching this for a few days now and all I can say is dude, this is brilliant! The Genie is out of the bottle now!

I can say with absolute certainty that a DG 3804 will fit in a gen 1675 case with a #2 movement ring perfectly.

Are your pics "true to color"? NDT's lume was very orange for a while. If your pics depict the true color of the lume, looks like they finally fixed that problem. Looks nice - and no flat S~!

Not 100% sure on this, but you should be able to just change the end links. Depending on how much stretch/play there is in the bracelet, the two center ends should be able to be fit in the new end links if they happen to be a slightly different width or the inside link-to-link distance is a tad smaller than the 20mm. And for the few dollars it would cost to pick up a pair of rep 20mm endlinks it's worth a shot. I will warn you, however, that there will be a noticeable difference between the last link and the end link. It will look off and it may or may not bother you.

Thanks for resurrecting this thread, it was great reading it again!

Very nice! I think the President bracelet would set off the bezel nicely. Go for it.

What stands out about the dial to me is the huge distance between the markers/minute ticks/lume dots and the rehaut. And it can't be a gen dial as some have suggested because no gen 16XXX series dial has that much room between the edge of the dial and the markers. It wouldn't fit in this relief. Besides that, the coronet is wrong an the OP and DJ printing is off for this generation dial

Personally, I use a white glue called "Tacky Glue". It has just the right amount of stick, yet work time that I can maneuver and fine tune the placement of the overlay before it sets

Here is the case. You can see the size of the lip. Here's a couple side-by-sides of the bezel. Cartel always on the left, NY on the right. You can see some major differences right away. The Cartel insert is bigger/wider. The inside lip of the bezel on the Cartel is noticeably smaller, almost invisible from certain angles. From underneath, the size difference in the relief cut for the lip is substantial - not some simple shave job. The print differences are astronomical too.

Calling on all you great modders and 6263 builders. I've run into a dilemma I need help and advice with. I'm modding a Cartel 6263 for my son. He bought the watch last December and I've been carefully watching, researching, and buying based on how to best work with the base watch I have. After reading the excellent side by side review on the various bezels, I got a NY one off fellow member MIKE32500 - (great guy and transaction BTW, Thanks!). And now here comes the issue. The Cartel case has a much larger seat under the crystal and rehaut than others, like 2mm in diameter bigger. After having the Cartel bezel side by side to the NY one, there is absolutely no way that Cartel one is going back on this watch. So. Which would be easier in peoples opinion. Opening up the bezel to fit on the case, or shaving down the lip on the case to work with the bezel? JMB, your thoughts please? Thanks everyone for looking.