Tiyal

@LHOOQ + 1 99.99% of the public will ever know the sticker price for the $100,000 Gen or the $80 horrible rep. I just like sourcing the parts & building the watch and am proud of the ones I've built and worked on. I see it a skill set (money pit)

I knew Joe Biden was good for something! and this writeup is it Let me get this straight 2836 - stuff A 2846 - stuff B + stuff A - flipper Thanks! LOOKING GOOD !

Dwelling in its natural habitat

looking good

Very Nice

First one was too flowery, Here's a set of REDs

Double Red in flower

Unfortunately I'll begin the week at work. Good its only for one day, lets keep it speedy

one more lume shot of the 1680

Aloha all! What were doing today is a yearly update on two standards in our world. Specifically Josh’s (Perfect clones) 1680 or 5513 or 5512 / vintage sub and Angus’ (Pure Time) 1665 Sea-Dweller. Beginning with Josh’s 1680, I gave this watch to each of my grooms men when I got married last year. My paradigm then was “Vintage with a heavy lume”. Beginning with that goal for my first modding experience was good in the sense that it popped my cherry and I became comfortable breaking down an automatic watch. Last year I took three good looking watches soaked their bezels in drain-o, applied blue lume directly to the front of the hands, drilled out the lug holes and end links added overpriced gen spingbars, greased the gaskets but thankfully I stopped short of sticking the watches in a bag of coins and throwing them off the roof. This 1680 was originally waterproof and my groomsman could and would dive with it (in the open ocean) almost daily (gotta love Hawai’i). But a few months ago it started to fog up. When we’d hang out the watch was awesome, just flat gorgeous however my lume job was not so gorgeous and made the dial look sophomoric. Here we go, Parts order Clark Crystal x2 Crystal Ref. # 25-127 127 (1680) Tropic 19 (1665) Gaskets for 1680 Gen Crown and Tube Yukiwatch / Flea bay Inserts Watchbandman 50 Lume NoctiLumina Tap M3 X 0.35 D5 HSS BOTTOM TAP North Bay Cutting tools Hands & Movements Star Time Everything comes off the case simply (I love the construction on the case) The original crystal is cracked at the neck and there is a cutout for a gasket under the bezel retainer but no gasket Old tube gets pulled, case and rehaut gets sanded then polished with simichrome. Countersink and tap the case for the tube (I countersink to align the crown to 12 o-clock takes a few tries to get it right) Tube finally gets red thread lock I pull the movement then carefully remove the hands** snapped the second hands post but don’t realize it yet ** Dial comes off. The old lume while bright lacks finesse in application so I carefully remove it with a scalpel. The hands get soaked in acetone to remove their lume The dial is carefully-relumed then matte sprayed ** matte spray can cover up some imperfections but I would use an airbrush if I ever do this again. Spend the money and buy a nice dial Hands are stripped of old lume then new lume applied carefully to the back of the hands Bezel Pearl is removed, old lume is dug out new lume applied then top coated with enamel and gorilla glued into insert. **Note gorilla glue expands Everything cures Replace hands and ******* mother F#@$er I broke the post!! Movement is garbage Order new movement and hands wait and repeat plus date overlay swap. Second hand (size 17 & don’t fit, too large so I crimp gently and attach) Case the movement taking care to not sandwhich the date wheel triple check the date alignment. Remove all dust Install new gaskets- Tube, crown, case back and under retainer Install crystal (Note: this is the very, very last thing I did as to not get any dust under the crystal) Install Bezel and Insert. 1665 I used Angus for this piece last year (PureTime) I liked that it came with the ETA 2836, however how the Josh’s 1680/5513 loves the gen parts you have to modify everything on the 1665 to get them to work. The ETA lasted only a couple months before it gave up and now sits waiting for a service. I swapped in a ETA 2824 and love it! Slow beat be dammed! Same as the 1680 case is stripped, and re-polished gen tube is removed, lugs are reshaped, tube is reinstalled with fresh gaskets. I try to get the crown to line up at 12 o-clock but I don’t want to counter sink any further or over tighten the tube so I settle for 2 o-clock. Dial and movement are pulled, hands come off. My NDT singer DRSD is attached with dial dots. New Star time Hands are Lumed yellow. Soaked first in acetone stripped of old lume then new lume added. Pearl on insert is removed then dug out, new lume added epoxy’d and re-glued. The new star time hands are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and glow like the sun. I had Yuki hands before and Star Times are far superior. The NDT dial is also FK**n HOT (spend the money) The Dial I do not relume, it’s too perfect to mess with. Finally re-case, check alignment. Reglue the Insert into the bezel (another reason why the 1680 is superior) and put it all back together. Again the case gaskets are not gen spec on this watch but luckily I have a few oversize ones in the parts box. I love the vintage Rolex, there is so much you can do with joshes 1680 case but not much with the 1665. As for vintage-izing, I think a beautiful watch that you have your mark on is the best way to go. My 1665 DRSD has a military bezel with a high beat movement, the 1680 has modern Rolex blue lume and I love them because I built them, Thanks to RWG and all of you who’ve inspired and passed on your experience and knowledge Enjoy

Looking great !

looks great !!

Some good lookin wristies here today, Ill add one more. My 1665 fresh out of my home spa with a BEAUTIFUL NDT dial

Very Very nice, now please find us a GMT :-)

Finished. But crap!! The bezel shifted. It's not lined up properly to the dial. M***ER F**K*R! Start over. !!!!!!! LOL funny !

looking good !

This is the tap i use, super easy. Rotate in a few turns then back it out a little 7 repeat takes 30 seconds http://www.ebay.com/itm/300513894073?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Nope.

Just checked my josh 1680 ..... which is a 5513 case # L341175 and fits the clarks crystal perfectly. the outer diameter of the case neck is 28.15 mm

Very Nice! This is the way its done! can you describe the parts for your build?

Bump

WOW! amazing!!

who cares if its accurate, YOU-built it ! Keep it up!

Gorgeous!

simply hot !