tomhorn

Laughable. They can hire enough people to build as many as they want. The problem is that if they built enough to keep up with demand, they become another Omega or Tag Heuer, and then they aren't "special" anymore. The last part is correct though. The AD's aren't doing them any favors. Case in point, I have a good friend that used to live in the midwest before he moved to Florida. He was back in his old hometown, and walked into the local AD that he had bought a Daytona from 20+ years ago. When asked if the AD had anything in stock, he was initially told no, that everything they had allocated was already spoken for and there was a waiting list for everything. Friend asked if he could get on the list for a Sub, was told it would be years, so he asked if there was a list for a YachtMaster II and was told yes. After wandering around the store and talking about watches in general, the AD walks into the back room and produces a YMII and tells him it's his if he wants it. No Rolexes on display, and everything was allocated, to here's a YMII if you want it.

Amen. I can't tell you how many AD's I have gone to trying to purchase a 126610LV. Most wouldn't even put me on a list. Resellers have had the market drop on them a bit, but it's still a 50-60% markup over MSRP. I bought a VSF, originally just as a placeholder. After getting it and wearing it regularly, I have stopped looking to buy the gen. The VSF is close enough, and a very good watch in it's own right. Maybe TC was the smart one. Go to the top level rep factories, get them to custom build you a high quality version of a popular rep, changing out enough parts to get past the "copyright/patent" issues. Sell them at higher than rep price, but less than a name brand gen.

Ubiquitous built one with a v72. I would search for his posts on the subject. You can also start here, but there are also plenty of other posts on using a v23.

Very sorry for your loss. Your Dad was a great member, and was a pleasure to deal with. The Rolex 5514 in his collection came from me and I can't imagine parting with it to a finer guy. RIP Nanuq, you will be missed ...

You will be hard pressed to find a franken. Watch is too new (and not really being produced in any quantity) so parts are extremely hard to come by and expensive when you can find them. The VSF and Clean Factory reps are great out of the box.

Yes, they were about as good as they got. Rare to find now, but I was lucky enough to find one for my 5514 build.

That was a steal.

Ubi always wins the day .... :D

TC has been gone for a long time, so a M2M sale is going to be your only option.

There is a sales section, with rules for selling. https://rwg.cc/forum/352-watches/

That watch looks somewhat familiar .... improving it already ....

The Valjoux 730 has a calendar complication, which would require modifications to work on a Daytona build. It is not your best option. From a cost/availability standpoint, your best option for a Valjoux movement would be the base Valjoux 72 movement, as opposed to the Valjoux 726 you mentioned in your OP. If you want to read more about building a franken Daytona, you can start with my build post (linked in my signature). The start looking at other's build threads. A lot of people have taken on a Valjoux 72 based Daytona build, and there is a lot of good information in them.

Fine watches. Fine people. Our slogan says it all. If a member can't live by that, then they should be gone.

According to his post on RG, $195. https://www.repgeek.com/straps-and-watch-parts/274173-fs-rolex-explorer-1016-v2-set.html

+1 Nanuq. If you are looking to retain value, a vintage Rolex that you like is the best answer. Unfortunately, there just aren't that many watches that hold their value (or increase) like a vintage Rolex. Or buy something that doesn't cost nearly that much so you don't have to worry about it, and use the rest of the money for something else. Based on some of your description above, something like an Omega 3573.50 would fit the bill. You can get it with the Mitsukoshi panda dial, and it has an exhibition caseback with an interesting movement. That dial is rare, and you should be able to find one for under $5,000.