omgiv

You should be able to separate the crystal from the nylon gasket with your fingernails. I find that it works better if I gently push from the inside while holding the edge of the gasket from the outside.

My first instinct was to also say that it was too high. I looked through my pictures, I think it is pretty close judging by the profile picture you posted. Here are a couple of profile pictures taken from an ad for a D series Submariner just for comparison. You can see that it sits pretty high just like yours. It looks like your pearl is cracked in the 3rd and 4th picture. Sorry about that if it is.

I am no expert but the crown guards look short and over polished, which doesn't really match the rest of the case. The engravings in thecaseback look sloppy as well. If it has a service dial, wouldn't it also have a newer style crown?

The etaswiss bezel will take a genuine insert without modification. It is very difficult to get in, much like the TC bezel but it will fit. The etaswiss bezel, however, will not fit onto the TC retaining ring. The retaining ring on the TC case is larger than the one on the etaswiss case. I tried but did not want to push it for fear of bending the bezel or not be able to get it back off. I did try the TC bezel on the etaswiss retaining ring and it slipped on and off.

TC retaining ring

etaswiss retaining ring

Here are a couple of pictures of the etaswiss bezel and a genuine bezel both with genuine inserts installed. You can be the judge of which is which.

Thanks for the commenst guys! I do have an update. After reading Rosnik's comment about being able to fit a genuine 93250 to his etaswiss case, I went back to the bench. I brought out every spring bar I had and tried them all. I found one that will let me attach the genuine bracelet to the etaswiss case. It was in a plain bag, so I don't know where I got it from. Ofrei usually writes on theirs, so I don't think I bought them from ofrei. The only rub is that they are 1.8mm instead of 2mm. I would usually not want to use them, but there is absolutely no play in the end links. There is still a slight gap but no wiggle at all. Anyway, since I can fit the genuine bracelet to it I may use the etaswiss midcase and TC caseback combination. Here are some pictures of what that would look like:

Thanks for the advice automatico! I will give them a try when they get more in stock.

I received my 16610 case set from Sean at etaswiss yesterday and was very excited to see what all of the buzz was about. I have been looking for a good midcase and caseback, as I want to build a franken Submariner. The only things I am missing at the moment are the movement and case. I have heard really good things about the etaswiss case and couldn't wait to take it apart. I have to say that communication with Sean was great and his shipping was fairly fast.

I should first start out saying that I will not be using the etaswiss case for this project While it is a good case, I could not get my genuine 93250 bracelet to fit. i could get one of the spring bars into the hole, but not the second. I tried several different types of spring bars, but the hole is just a little too close to the middle of the case. The options to modify the bracelet or case are there, but I amjust not open to them. That being said, I think that I will be using the TC case that I received a week or so ago. The bracelet fits that case fine without any modification. The gap between the SEL's is about the same on both cases and I would rather have a genuine bracelet with minimal gap than a cheaper rep bracelet. Maybe if the SEL project pans out, I will look into my options. I just don't like how loose rep bracelets tend to be.

I am not as eloquent as some of the members here and I am certainly not the best photographer, but I did want to share a little side-by-side comparison of the TC case and the etasiss case. I will let the pictures do most of the speaking and leave little commentary to me. The only modifications that have been done are retapping the crown tube on both cases and removing the rehaut engraving on the TC case. Thanks for looking!!!!!

One of the things that people have been talking about is how good the etaswiss bezel looks. I have to say that the bezel teeth look very good compared to my genuine bezel. I did not, however, try to install a genuine insert so I can't speak on that. Perhaps someone else can chime in. The teeth aren't quite as sharp as those on the genuine bezel, but I am sure that the genuine bezel would loose its lines once polished. I snapped several pictures comparing it to my genuine bezel and also the bezel that comes with the TC case.

Genuine Bezel (left) vs. etaswiss bezel (right)

Genuine Bezel (left) vs. etaswiss bezel (middle) vs. TC bezel (right)

Genuine Bezel (bottom) vs. etaswiss bezel (middle) vs. TC bezel (top)

The case shape of both cases is very good and I can't really see any difference that scream out at me. I snapped some pictures of the crown guards, lugs, etc.

TC case (left) vs. etaswiss case (right)

The engravings between the lugs are a toss up. Neither are 100% accurate but at least everything is spelled correctly on both cases:) You can also see that the shape of the crown guards are very similar.

TC case (top) vs. etaswiss case (bottom)

The casebacks are also very similar. The TC case has the correct number (2160) while the etaswiss case has the number for GMT models (2180). The TC caseback does have very sharp teeth and fit my caseback removing die perfectly. The etaswiss caseback also fit, but there was a little bit extra hanging out from the bottom of the die.

TC caseback (left) vs. etaswiss caseback (right)

TC caseback

etaswiss caseback

Hi Guys,

I was wondering if anyone has tried Start Time Supply's RP23-16613S bars? I have a genuine set of 23-44200 spring bars for my 93250 bracelet and have been trying to find an economical duplicate. I have tried several from ofrei and haven't found a good fit. I ordered some recently from wholesaleoutlet990 on eBay that looked okay. I got them in the mail yesterday and they are really short. They fit the bracelet fine and they will fit to the watch, but I would not trust them. The portion that goes into the holes in the case is just too short. You can clearly see how much shorter they are to the genuine bars. I have been meaning to try STS's spring bars but they are out of stock. If anyone has tried them, can you share your experiences? Thanks!!!

Thanks alligoat. The problem is, I can't remember how much I paid for them now Thanks for the ballpark figures though. I appreciate it.

Hi Guys,

I have never sold one of my reps before, but I am thinking of thinning the herd and was wondering what an honest value would be. I am thinking about selling my BK/WM9 V2 Submariner and my BK Transformer. The only upgrade on the Submainer is a Casker tube and a genuine crown. The Transformer has a genuine tube and crown, the dial and hands have been relumed, and I have two Transformer bezels with new genuine inserts (Pepsi and Black). I don't want to be ambitious in selling these. I would just be looking for an honest value for a relatively quick sale. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to say so. Thanks!!!

It sounds like you have a couple of things going on. If the rotor spins when you wind the watch, it is a good sign that the pawl winding wheels (1488 and 1530) need oiling or are improperly oiled. But that shouldn't have anything to do with the keyless works.

You have to be a little gentle when it comes to the keyless works. I usually pull the stem out to the date setting position when I remove the stem. When reinserting the stem, you have to play with it a little. It has to fit through the winding pinion and also fit through the square hole in the sliding pinion. It helps sometimes to also press the setting lever again like you did when you removed the stem. This lifts the setting lever and allows the stem to find the groove or the setting lever.

Do you have any better detailed pics of your keyless works? The pics that preacher62 posted are pretty clear and good for a comparison.

The hack lever should be the same on the 2824. You will have to take off the automatic assembly and the barrel bridge. You should be able to replace it from there if you need to do so. I would check the one you have before you go through that trouble though.

Hi Ryan,

I don't know if I will be much help, but I will try. You are correct in that moving the hacking lever towards the center of the movement (from the dial side) does hack the movement. This is because the sliding pinion (part 407) is moved toward the center of the movement when the stem is pulled out. This allows the date and hands to be changed. Are you sure that the hacking lever is in the slot of the sliding pinion. It has to be perfectly centered in that slot to work. If you are sure it is centered in the slot, it could possibly be bent down. That would prevent it from coming into contact with the sliding pinion. If that doesn't provide any help, just let me know.

I also just pushed a little harder and got the genuine insert to fit. I just wasn't pushing hard enough. Thanks for the tip!

I tried out two genuine inserts in the TC bezel and neither one snapped in. The bezel measurement I got on my genuine (although old) bezel, was 37.65mm. The TC bezel measured about .5mm smaller. It may be able to be forced in, but I didn't want to push my luck.

Totally not a genuine Rolex movement.

I honestly haven't messed with the bezel. I have another insert somewhere that I will try to use and report back. I will also take some measurements if that will help.

The bracelet fits but there is a slight gap on the sides like many other bracelets. That is a gen bezel on there as well.

There is a difference because I have a gen bracelet trying to fit it to a rep case. Perhaps the TC end links would be a better fit. I don't know since I didn't order a bracelet. If it bothers me that much, I may try and find a bracelet with better end links and use a gen clasp. Please don't take this as me complaining...just sharing and learning.

Hi Guys,

It has been a while since I have posted anything, but I just received my TC case yesterday and wanted to take some quick measurements for you guys. I currently have a BK WM9 V2 with everything gen except dial, hands, movement, and case. I was planning on using this new case in conjunction with a gen dial that I have (with gen 3135 and hands). The one thing that I did notice is the opening for the bracelet is slightly larger than that of the V2 case I have. There is a slight gap, but I don't know if it is big enough to stop me from using the case. Anyway, here are the pics. Please forgive the bad lighting and dust.

Dial Opening

Rehaut opening

Gen bracelet

Gen dial

BK WM9 V2

Hi Guys,

One thing that has always bugged me is Rolex's modern triplock crowns. The documentation that I have and have seen states that vintage models get 703 crowns and 704 (monobloc) crowns on modern models. I have been wondering if Rolex was going to phase out the 703 (much like they did the 702) with the 704. I have seen a few sales on the genuine boards of vintage Rolex watches with monobloc crowns but no documentation. Well, yesterday I saw a sale on VRF of a Red Sub that had been serviced by Rolex (with paperwork) and had a modern 704 monobloc crown. Now I feel like I can cross that question off when it comes to these crowns. Thanks for reading!!!

Link to sale:

http://www.network54...with+RSC+papers

Hi Guys,

Things have been pretty busy lately but I have been trying to keep up with the forums. I have been working on a few NOS Omega pieces lately. I saw this post and thought that I had posted a completed project review. It has been finished for a few months now. Overall, I am pretty pleased how it came out. The only thing that bugs me is the case. I don't think that it is as accurate as others have seen. The caseback does not fit a Rolex die and the pushers had to be countersunk very deeply in order to reach the movement. In the end, I also had to fabricate two new pusher extensions for the movement to make things work. The bracelet also had to be trimmed slightly to fit between the lugs of the case. Anyway, here is the rundown of the parts:

Case: Phong

Movement: Zenith 400 with genuine Rolex parts added

Pushers: Genuine 24-P402 (New)

Crown: Genuine 24-704

Case Tube: Genuine 24-7030 (New)

Dial and Hands: Genuine (New)

Bezel: Genuine (New)

Crystal: Genuine 25-295 (New)

Bracelet: Genuine 78390A (New)

The question of the hour is how much it cost to do the project. I didn't keep a running tally of what I spent but it was probably somewhere around $6000-$6500. You could easily do this project for $5000 if you are smart with your budget, are patient in searching for parts, and don't care about using used parts. I wanted this to look like a NOS piece and thus was looking for new parts to use. I did have a lot of help from members of the forum, but did all of the labor myself. All in all, I think that it turned out to be a worthy project and would recommend it if you have the funds and desire. Thanks for looking!!!!!

You guys have pretty much figured it out. Here is a ST19 movement with a DW V72 dial mounted (obviously, there are no dial feet). The running seconds and minute counter hands will line up, but the hour totalizer is too low. Since it is frozen, I don't know if it can be moved up a mm or 2 towards the center. I also don't have a case to see if it would fit. Anyway, here is the pic.

I have a ST19 movement somewhere and a bad V72 DW dial. I will see if I can take some measurements and pictures sometime tomorrow and get them up. Is there anything in particular you guys are looking for?

Thanks Alligoat! I have a bunch of squat crowns myself, but they are all monobloc and not crimped. I have been calling those 704's.