Robaer

Doesn't the TC case also have shallower rehaut than the gen 16610?

The crown looks crooked on one of the new 2014 models. http://www.panerai.com/en/novelties-sihh-2014-geneva/luminor/17-collections/historic/luminor/635-luminor-base-8-days-acciaio-pam00560 I don't know if this is common or not. Check your QC pics before accepting a watch from your AD.

The crown looks good imo, just like the gen I have. In the 10th picture it looks a bit low though, but pethaps thats only the angle. The rehaut looks a bit shallow, again this depends on angle.. Bezel teeth looks softer than most gens i've seen, but that's not really a tell. The bezel pearl looks good.

I have a couple of unused mbw cases in my drawer, but I must say accuracy per $ seems very high on these cases when I compare. You have done a good job on this case and the short crown guards blend in very well. The thing that I notice more is the low crown height., but that goes for almost all Rolex reps.

Yes, it's the best, but only because there are no alternatives. It's nice for the price but it's very easy to spot its flaws.

Just replace the whole watch with a gen.

How is the crown height?

Look at the dial markers, 3,6 and 9 are too thin and square. The old ones were not perfect but a lot better imo.

Well done. Nice to see good shots of the pmwf insert. Where did you say you got the bracelet?

I was under the impression that the TCs were really close? Though I've never seen one IRL. Too bad. Anyway, I've spent a lot on my franken MBW 5513 with gen more or less everything and I don't think I'd do it again. Even with all the money, work and parts I have in it I'd never mistake it for a gen in a million years. If you have the skills and tools to do most of you're own work it's ok, but otherwise you're very dependent on the rep community for repair work, mods etc and also resale as mentioned earlier. If you lose your high end rep/franken or it gets stolen you can kiss all your money good bye. No insurance is going to help you. And you're also running the risk of being called a cheap, fake, poser, white trash, POS no matter how much you spent on your rep, or how much you love your hobby. I've never met anyone who likes, respects or even accept rep/fake stuff. So, in my opinion reps can be great and fun, but once you go with expensive versions and mods it can end up costing more than it's worth. It all depends on yourself really.

The cad drawings look awesome, but I have one question. Maybe it's just the pics, but it looks like the lugs are too straight when viewed from the side, just like the MBW cases? On your 5514 prototype it looks like they have a more correct downward curve. Good luck with the project, I'm buying for sure.

TC's crown should look ok.

The bezel insert doesn't look to bad.

Look here and here.

The crown tube can be aftermarket, but the crown should probably be gen. A TC sub crown is probably acceptable, although I've never seen one IRL, and my Noob GMT II C crown isnt too bad next to my gen 5513 crown either. Best dials you can find is probably from ingod or a relumed MBW if you're not going with a gen.

Nice.This is probably the best way to get a good ceramic sub rep. The lugs and crown guards are very good on this case compared to the noob factory's version. How is the quality of the bracelet compared to the noob, and are they interchangeable?

He is the best. Absolutely awesome.

I didn't realise the retaining ring was gen. Only my bezel ring was gen. I'm not sure I would modify gen parts.

I sanded the top surface to make more room for the friction washer. I perhaps did a very tiny bit on the circumfence, but if you do too much here the bezel ring will not snap on securely and may fall off. I actually ruined one retaining ring by sanding too much, so go slow and check your progress often. I've ruined many parts by trying too speed things up and work faster than I should... As I said earlier, some dry lube will also help things a long way. And make sure all surfaces are smooth and not coarse after sanding. It's not a difficult job at all if you're careful and I got perfect results on mine. Just remember to go slow.

I did some sanding on my MBW retaing ring to get my gen 5513 bezel ring to fit. It took some time to get it perfect. Afterwards I polished it a bit to make it as smooth as possble. The bezel was still very tight and difficult to turn so I sprayed the friction washer with some CRC teflon lube. Now it's easy and smooth to turn when pressed down and then locks tightly when released, no risk at all that it will move by itself.

The rehaut is in the shape of an inverted cone, similar to a wok pan. On the gen sub the rehaut is much straighter from the crystal to the dial. There is a noob factory version of the no date sub c which looks better imho, but still not perfect.

Are you doing these mods yourself? You could perhaps also have the cyclop AR treated. I've seen that done a couple of times on the rep gmt c which uses the same case and crystal as the rep sub c. Keep in mind though that the rep sub c is not the best base if you are going for great accuracy. Still a great looking watch with or without mods.

Looks good. Where did you source the crystal and bezel insert?

The tube on the NOOB GMT C will accept a gen crown, but IMO opinion it's not worth the change. The rep crown is not too bad and the rep GMT C has some flaws that are more obvious than the crown. Actually, I think that the rep GMT C is one of those watches that you can just leave as it is and just wear it. It's a very nice out the box rep, but even with heavy modding it can be spoted as a rep in less than five seconds by some one who is familiar with modern rolex watches. Even if you have it relumed the hour markers will be to small compared to the gen, and if you replace the crystal the date font will still be off and the wrong size, also if you have the movement serviced it will still have the wrong hand stack, though the hand stack problem is not very obvious. And if you spend time and money to get all of these flaws fixed, gen dial, BK date wheel, gen crystal and gen crown, the bezel will still feel wrong when you turn it compared to the gen and i don't think there's really a way to fix that, since the bezel construction can't be taken apart without damaging it. Oh and speaking of the bezel, the rep bezel insert is really nice but the engravings are not deep enough and slightly wrong font style compared to the gen and instead of platinum filling they have white/grey paint. A gen insert is almost impossible to source and probably super expensive if you ever find one. So, IMO the rep GMT II C is a great beater watch, but modding money should perhaps be spent on reps with better potential. Of course, this is just my two cents. I hope you enjoy the watch either way, I know i do.

How is the crystal shape compared to the gen? It's a mineral glass, correct?