togasa

2-3 gears that you can't really find anywhere....you can find them only on 1575 movements...

I have to take back my comment about the dial of southcoast. the font is a bit off. Still excellent print tho.

As far as 1655 history, the bible says that there were 4 models (as another member pointed out). A) Early 70's. Straight seconds hand, ROLEX in slab-serif font B ) Mid 70's. Seconds hand with 2 dots, same font as (A) C) Mid 70's. Same as (B ) but slightly larger numerals on the bezel D) Late 70's. Same as © but, ROLEX in serif font, Different shape cornet You notice that slab font is used in almost all models since 70's. Before then, a few other fonts were used, depending on models and production years. Illustration for the 2 fonts and cornet, both of which are tough to describe : cheers,

Southcoast it looks pretty good, the bezel indeed looks right. Dial looks good also (it's the style of late 70's, the last generation of the 1655), although something tells me that it's probably a refinish (extremely high quality). As for the date wheel, i've also seen the same thing on another watch with gen dial. I think the date wheel was taken from a different model. it's also possible the wheel is aftermarket. Nonetheless, i wouldn't worry about that too much, unless the date font is wrong (yours looks right). As for the case, it is indeed aftermarket. the lug holes are too small to accept rolex spring bars and the positions are off, as you pointed out. The bracelet number and the end piece numbers are correct but they look too deep, and the clasp shape doesn't look right for that model. Now, one recommendation for you is to replace the hands. It's a relatively inexpensive to do so and will make your watch look much much better. Here is my illustration of differences: Good luck. Great piece, Cheers!

Thanks@! I have so-called rolex bible book and it says that there were 2 types of fonts used for 1655. The dial in your photo was used in the 70's and the one on mine was used in 80's. i'll take some pic later and post them. happy wkend

Edited

Here is mine. Gen 1575 GMT movement, fully serviced Gen refinished dial Gen crown & tube Gen crystal 1:1 case (detectable by only RSC), the "too expensive" case. Riveted bracelet I might post it for a sale as i want to reduce my collection. The dial is refinished by a veteran, who's been doing this for gen rolex for more than a few decades. Naturally, he's got all the correct fonts and the whole setup. The print is sharp. I was able to find a badly beatup gen dial for a good price and found the guy to do the job. When the movement was serviced, i asked my watchmaker to give a good polish to round the edges a bit to give more realistic look to the case. After daily use, it's acquired scruff marks and the whole thing looks just perfect and undoubtful.

Someone contacted me for the crystal but his/her account doesn't allow PM.... so if you want me to contact back, allow members to contact you... the price i am asking is modest 35usd including shipping world wide (i tell you that there is no profit for me in this, just sharing the joy). Payment by paypal and i will ship to paypal address only.

here u go. some better pictures (i don't own this)

Some results below. the crystal ended up being a bit shorter than i ordered and the corner of the crystal wasn't quite as edgy as i intended. With the crystal on the case, it gives a good distortion at an oblique viewing angle (i just need to polish the edge a bit better...) The fit to DSN case is perfect. No spacer needed. very tight fit. i also made much shorter one for 1950 case. 4.1mm total thickness, 40mm dia. I tried to install this onto my 1950 case but i couldn't remove the mineral on the bezel. i have a few of each. if anyone wants one, let me know. i'll share one at a very reasonable price. if someone makes a good measurements off of the exploded fiddy (need inner dia of the bezel and base height by digital caliper measurement), i can get those made.

oh btw --- one clarification about RSC cert. comment i made earlier.... it was on a sub, not SD. i heard 3 of them got cert, while 3 others (at least) didn't..... good luck gents! oh btw --- one clarification about RSC cert. comment i made earlier.... it was on a sub, not SD. i heard 3 of them got cert, while 3 others (at least) didn't..... good luck gents!

---- i am not supporting the viet cases but when i compared gen case of the same era (1675) and viet 1655, the case material looked identical. they also claim the cases are made of the same grade steel (316L?). I know recent rolex upped the grade to 400-something-L (rolex even forge the steel in their factory, i've seen pic of their tiny furnace, haha). However, various aftermarket bracelets and chinese reps with ETA cases i've seen do seem to be made out of different grade steel. some "pro" said that one of the cases highly discussed in this forum (for its accuracy to gen) is made of scrap metals (don't quote me, i don't even know how this pro determined this. super microscope??) just sharing my opinion/what i heard. others may have different opinions/observations/experiences/info

what i see is that they bumped up the price in the recent year.... both phong and natalie. the cases used to be ~1000. now they are asking close to 1500. i think this is bc rolex stopped selling parts outside. many high end watch makers don't release/sell parts. now rolex is taking the same route. this is resulting in higher price of rolex parts.... with markup, i was able to find triple lock crown for 100. now they are like 3-500 from some sellers on ebay. completely nuts. but then rep crowns are junk... i guess chinese factories can't do that level of micro machining..and assembly (rep crowns slip over time - sometime within weeks - and u can't wind a watch at that point)

btw, i initially wanted to do SD but i never believed in viet case's HE valve so i didn't do that project. i was going to do sub project 1680 and bought a dial but put that one on hold for panerai project now... too busy

i did one project about 3yrs ago. here is the photo footage. i negotiated with phong for the whole kit. i got a good price but i think he didn't give me the new gen crown... oh well, it still works. i killed the airking but didn't feel so bad bc of the distasteful orange dial. the cases are fairly well made. i've come across a few but there are some quality issues. more specifically dimensions tolerances inside the case is worse than it should be. the sellers will tell u that they are all QC'ed. the engraving is done by a thin font mechanically, not by laser like DW's 1st gen case or 300 reps. the font is still microns thicker than gen. some japanese rolex books critically point out these subtle differences. good luck, everyone

For the crystal, i'll be finalizing the order pretty soon, if anyone is interested, send me PM with the following 3 dimensions. The top curve profile will be roughly the same for all. I've given the shop side profile pictures and they gonna CAD it and figure that out. I visit the forum sporadically. but if you send me a PM, that ensures i get your email on time. For simplicity of my side of things and speed, send me dimensions, not your crystal or bezel (estimating dimensions off of a bezel is a challenge...and i can't be liable for that). right now, i plan to make 2 versions - 6mm total thickness (for davidsen's case) and 4mm thickness (for 217/127 case).

this may be a bit old subject --- but if you prefer (i do) solid plexi glass crystal, i am in the process of making a small batch, probably 10 (finally, I found a good shop to do this, with a help from my ex. good thing i dated her, haha). If anyone wants one, let me know. My plan is to get the profile just like the gen vintage profile (comes out tall, very much similar to davidsen's). Because this will be solid plexi, i can bang it around, even get a corner chipped -- which will give nice vintagy look! like this (from my panerai book) This is the profile i'm going to have it made are like this http://www.paneristi.com/archives/vintage/index.html scroll down to almost the bottom http://www.theoldwatchshop.com/collpics/Dscn1240.jpg The diameter will be nominally 40.0mm but can be customized if i hear in the next 4-5days. I am figuring out the thickness right now, as i am doing for 3 different cases. Thickness can also be customized without additional cost (based on the shop's feedback so far). I measured davidsen's case and 127/217 cases, and these are all 40mm. I can probably release each one for a very good price ~40usd.

u might say that it's matter of time but my evil twins are still kicking if others are blowing up for no reason, then i'd imagine mechanical stress when the crystal was installed into the bezel. Or the ambient temp is so low that bezel contracts and crushes the crystal. thermal expansion (or contraction) rate of glass is half of that of steel. this winter has been colder than other years in california...about low 50F at night

I saw several ppl looking for one. i have one i might spare.... send me PM, if interested. it's used but there are only a few hairline scratches. Keeps excellent time. 95+% condition overall. it's got domed sapphire with AR coating. correct dagger swan on swiss movement! the best of the best. i probably bought it from eddy lee, as i've bought mostly from him. i'm in the US. if this is a wrong forum to post an ad, pls kindly advise...

just to share... those cases are made for gen rolex movements (not ETA). The way the case is machined are very much the same as gen. so the sellers base their prices on the value of gen watches. the result of the project is at least a few notches better than what's discussed in this forum mostly. You can also get dials and hands that are much more accurate. i built a few with gen rolex movements and they are pretty much perfect. i also noticed a handful of suspicious pieces even auctioned in antiquorum from time to time......

man.....i am speechless...That's one truly amazing piece...!! BRAVO madasboot !!