tomhorn

Swiss Legend is owned by Swiss Watch International, not the Swatch Group.

A few more pictures.

Very nice! Definitely a keeper. My 5514 is about to go off to be built, but I'm not going as far as you did (Whoopy dial and ETA movement in mine). Love seeing build threads like this. Very inspiring and good information for those who follow.

You are going the wrong direction .... or at least trying to do it the hard way when you don't have to. If you're dead set on building it yourself, you can buy all the parts you need from TC and put it together. You're going to need to do a LOT of reading here to figure out how to do it yourself. The movement work of adding the proper parts to make your movement an H4 is best left to a watchsmith (or someone who has done it before). By the questions you have asked, and your reactions to the responses given, you aren't ready to do it yourself ... yet. Your best bet really would be to buy a completed TC Sub and get someone who knows what they are doing to swap the movement in for you. I haven't dealt with TC on an entire watch, but you might want to reach out and see if you can send him the movement and have him put it in for you, or buy all the parts and ship it to BK for assembly.

I can't pull off the gold myself, but Matt does great work!

You will need the H4 cannon pinion for your movement.

Search is your friend. http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/162375-whoops-custom-vintage-rolex-dials/

+1 on the TC. Although not necessary, you could easily swap in your ETA 2824 (TC uses a clone movement now), but I believe you will need to make sure that you have the taller cannon pinion setup for that movement for it to fit properly. It will take gen parts, so if you wanted to add a gen crown, tube, crystal and/or insert, there's no issues doing it. Just a word of advice for projects. Research before you buy any parts, and never buy a movement first. That should be the last thing you purchase because the proper movement may be different depending on what case you use.

Thanks for the bezel! I bought it so long ago you probably forgot you made it for me ... I got mine direct from TC, but it was several months ago. Which reminds me, I never relayed 'the rest of the story' as to why this build took so long. Originally I was supposed to use a 2846 that had just been serviced .... which I bought from MD2020. He was going to do the build for me and I (like an idiot) told him to hold on to it until I found a dial. We all know how this story ended ... with me out the money and the movement ....

+1 ... love my Whoopy dialed 1016. Next up is my 5514 build also with a Whoopy dial ...

I originally bought the Clark's as well. Just saw too many posts saying the TC hands were better, so I bought a set for this build and my in progress 5514 (which is also using a Whoppy dial, BTW).

This one took a bit longer to complete than I wanted it to, but it's always like Christmas when a build gets finished and it finally shows up on your doorstep .... The journey to a 1016 started out as an accident ... I know, don't they all? For those of you that have been around a bit, you already know my first franken build was a DateJust, specifically a 16014 (that build thread is here: http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/152469-franken-datejust-journey-finally-complete/). The difficult part of that build for me was finding the genuine white gold gold bezel. The first case set I purchased didn't have one, and gold prices were sky high at the time so you couldn't get a real gold bezel without spending a lot of money. I managed to find a gold bezel at a great price ... and as luck would have it, it was still attached to a 16014 case! Happy accident, but what to do with the extra case? My first thought was to build another DateJust, since I also had an engine turned bezel and a linen dial. Figured I could just sell it off when I was done, as I surely didn't need two (I know KBH would disagree). And then I came across LHOOQ's threads on the 1016. For those of you considering a 1016 build, start with those (http://www.rwgforum.net/blog/9/entry-27-the-repository-of-threads/). A world of information can be found there, and he's very helpful via PM as well. I also spent a lot of additional time researching, and found threads like 1680's (http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/167880-the-built-of-my-franken-rolex-explorer-i-ref-1016/), and Ubi's (http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/128495-understated-and-basic-project-1016-wrap-up/). I'm sure I've forgotten all of the helpful posts I read, but there is some amazing information out there for these builds. Needless to say, I was hooked, so away I went. For me, the toughest part of the parts collection process was picking a good dial without spending a fortune. I wanted a matte dial (not gilt). Finding a good one without spending an arm and a leg was difficult. I loved the ingod44 SpaceDweller dial (http://www.ingod44.com/rolex-explorer-i-1016-space-dweller/), but didn't want a SpaceDweller. Loved the ND Trading Patina dial (http://ndtradingcorp.com/zen/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=402) but it was pricey and set up for a gen movement. Even tried the guy on eBay that has them from time to time (mahonig1?). Long and short of it was I just couldn't find a dial that hit the sweet spot of quality vs price. Then along came Whoopy with his vintage dial project (http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/162375-whoops-custom-vintage-rolex-dials/), and I thought I had found a good alternative without breaking the bank. There is really no other choice for the bezel but getting one JMB's masterpieces. I found an amazingly good deal on a gen service T-22 (after buying a Clark's). Short-term, I decided on Mary's surprisingly good 7836, with WSO 580 endlinks (these fit better than the 455b's I also bought) and the Fasci (aka "Aussie") 23-9293 springbars (http://stores.ebay.com/FASCI-STAINLESS-STEEL-WATCH-GEAR?_trksid=p2047675.l2563). TC's Submariner hand set (http://blog.tc-sub.com/2012/05/tc-parts-list.html), and an ETA 2846 from a donor watch round out the parts list. BTW, if anyone is looking for a 2846, it seems they are all over in the Philippeans. I picked up two donor watches on eBay, and nearly every one I saw while bidding came from there. So to recap, here's the build list: Gen 16014 case, caseback, crown, tube Gen Tropic 22 crystal Whoopy 1016 Dial JMB Custom Bezel Mary's 7836 bracelet WSO 580 End Links Fasci 23-9293 springbars ETA 2846 TC Submariner Hands Raffles-time #2 movement ring And off to PBdad it went. I had PBdad do the following: Relume the dial and hands with an aged patina mix Pull the movment from the donor and service it Drill the lugs for the 2mm springbars Assemble the watch One thing to mention with regards to PBdad's work. Be patient if you are having a movement serviced. PBdad doesn't do the service himself so you are at the mercy of his watchsmith. It took a long time for my 2846 service work to get done. PBdad apologized profusely for it, and the rest of the work he did got finished quickly and of course his quality is excellent. A QC picture came within days of him getting the movement back: And the watch arrived a couple of days later. I couldn't be happier with the result. Some quick camera phone shots ... And, of course, the obligatory wristy ... Better pics to come later, time permitting. I think I will continue to search for a gen bracelet, and of course if an affordable gen dial happens to come along, that's always an option. I'm happy where it stands so far, so it's off to finishing the 5514 ... and then the 6265. Thanks to LHOOQ, JMB, Whoopy, PBdad and everyone else that shared experiences for all the help!

As a former professional photographer myself who shot everything from 35mm to 8x10 I can confirm everything ww12345 put forth above. I still haven't warmed to digital. Much prefer film for high quality images, but I do occassionally use a Sony point and shoot (with a Zeiss lens) for stuff I don't really care that much about.

I can't believe this thread is still alive ....

I would buy the v2 w/ the a2892. Swap the parts you want to swap into the new case, and resell the watch built with what what you don't use. I'm sure you could get enough back to make up the difference in price.

That gen dial is stunning.

I'll do a build thread once it's here with some more pictures. I'm excited, because it looked like this the last time I saw it ...

I'm not sure if LHOOQ was including mine as the 3rd one (I did give him an advance look). It's in transit, but here is PBdad's preview pic ...

It's been one of those weeks ...

Well I did mention it in the original post ....

We have a winner! I think I am officially done with this build other than needing one extra link for the gen Jubilee. My 1016 project should be back from PBdad soon, then it will be time to finish the 5514 that is ready for building. All that's left in the pipeline is the 6265 that I've found all the parts for but the v72. What will I do next? Did I mention I hate this hobby ...

Resurecting an old thread with a quick update. She just came back from a trip to MMM ... Quick and dirty camera phone pic, but she has a nice new addition.

Recognized by other college students .... certainly none of those if you are talking about brand recognition. Rolex, Omega, or Tag Heuer would probably be the only brands recognized by most college students. Most wouldn't know anything else, except perhaps the women also knowing Cartier. Personally, I would go with a TC Rolex Submariner, an Omega Liquid Metal Planet Ocean (or the UPO or v4 or v5 42mm Planet Ocean in an M2M sale), or a Cartier Santos XL Ultimate if you want to make sure people recognize it. Would have a completely different recommendation if you were just looking for someone to think it looked good.

1) Because they are selling thousands of these watches without spending the time/money to produce a better movement, and it wouldn't boost their sales enough to warrant doing it. 2) That dealer will be fine until he gets busy, and then will have to stop the service because people will complain about how long it takes to get a watch. On top of that, they would have to charge more, and although many people will say they'd be willing to pay more, once they see a watch is $50 more than at Andrew/Josh's site they will start complaining about the price or will go shopping elsewhere. Spending 5 minutes checking a each watch is fine when you only have 10 a day to do. When you're selling 100 or 1000 it becomes a much tougher job. You also run the risk of damaging the watch when you open it. Those of us that have been around the various boards for a while can remember the string of dealers promising higher service / QC, who simply failed after they got busy. EuroTimez springs to mind immediately. He was great when I bought my Ebel 1911 Chronograph in his early days, but flamed out a couple of times before finally disappearing.