chefcook

The Aqua Terra with the calibre 2500 is discontinued for a few years now. The current Aqua Terra uses the calibre 8500 which is completely made in house.

I think the case could be quite nice if you would bevel the lug edges. IMO that is all that is missing for a very good looking watch. See how pronounced the bevel on the lugs are:

At least the Noobmariner and TW Best bracelets come apart quite easily. Wedge a very sharp blade between the outer and inner links of the last bracelet link and pry it apart... TC is quite happy with the first prototype of the end links based on the drawings made by his supplier. He will not sell single end links but is searching for a vendor of bracelets willing to assemble bracelets with his end links. That will be a lot easier for customers...

waiting for TC to come back from China...

I think I solved the problem of your additional jewels today. And I hope you've kept them in a safe place. The reversing wheels (the red ones) fall apart. Inside there should be five of those jewels working is kind of a friction brake in one direction. Without those little jewels the reversing wheels spin freely in both directions and then the watch will not be wound by the rotor anymore. Seems the movement has a serious quality issue with the reversing wheels. All SA3135 I had in my hands so far have this problem,

Yep, left is gen.

Now get a longer adjustment screw for the swan neck and you are there

It won't fit. And the other question is: Why spend that much money on a fantasy watch?

I planned on building a Daytona Franken but then got a great deal on a genuine 116520 and could not resist buying the gen watch... I have quite a lot of parts gathered during the last few years and in the meantime I have a full set of the parts needed to convert a Zenith El Primero movement for use with genuine hands and conversion to only two crown setting positions. They are for sale here:

Works in all 162xx and 1162xx cases. It does NOT fit 160xx cases.

A little more patience, gentlemen

Take one of BK's TW Best subs, let someone drill lug holes, fit a rep 93150 with 501 end links and install this dial from NDTrading and you have exactly the 16800 (NOT 16610!!) that is shown in the video above. http://ndtradingcorp.com/zen/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=356 Of course it will require a lot of work and you'd need someone to relume the hands to mach the dial but it will be a very nice 16800.

Here are a few pics of a SA3135 in another Sean case. I am currently building a second super Franken using a SA3135, gen dial, gen hands, gen date wheel, gen crystal, gen crown, clark's tube and gen bezel insert for my father. Maybe some can remember: My SA3135 did not take gen hands without turning down minute pinion and hour wheel by 0.1mm on the hour wheel and 0.05mm on the minute pinion. Interestingly though the gen hands were a direct and perfect fit on the SA3135 I used for my father's Submariner! The SA3135 works like a charm in Sean's case. Just drop it in, rotate it to the right position and tighten the screws. Using a clark's tube or a gen tube is a major advantage by the way. The tube in Sean's case is slightly smaller in it's inner diameter adding significant difficulty (in form of friction) to finding the right crown position for time and date setting. By the way: Can you remember the times when people thought of Rolex sports watches to be huge and ostentatious? Compare a 16610 Submariner with my gen IWC Aquatimer 2000 and decide yourself if times may have changed ...

Does not work - 5513 is much smaller in terms of the rehaut.

The 5513 case is very similar to the 14060 case in dimensions and appearance, but it has several differences. Dial sizes are the same on 14060 and 5513. The crystal retaining ring, bezel ring, bezel insert, outer rehaut diameter, of course crystal and case back are different, though. The 14060 has the case back gasket in the case while the 5513 has the gasket in the case back. To convert a 5513 case to a 14060 case one would have to do the following: cut a gasket notch in the case machine a crystal retaining ring add a 14060 bezel with insert add a 25-286 crystal and gasket replace the case back find a way to increase the outer rehaut diameter from 28.2mm to 28.6mm The last two points are those I don't know a viable solution for yet. Maybe one could turn down the whole rehaut area of the case and pressure fit a new rehaut ring with the right diameter. But I don't like that solution too much...

Wonderful, very good looking watch! BTW the bracelet is correct for this reference. Your case resembles a 16234 Datejust which never came with solid end links, regardless of lug holes or no lug holes. The solid end links were introduced with the six digit references.

Who is Star Time? Sean is www.etaswiss.net TC is a user here in this community, not a dealer. WM9 used to be a dealer / producer of very high quality (and very high price) Rolex reps. He is out of business since maybe 18 months now.

after already having cleaned and oiled my SA3135 I cannot complain. It is easy to work on, well made... Of course it is no genuine 3135 in terms of quality, e.g. the rotor on my SA3135 was very slightly bent causing it to rub against the balance protector (the little screw-on bridge that protects the balance... ) but nothing that was not fixable. I like it a lot so far and I am already thinking of building another franken watch using a SA3135. Maybe a 36mm Datejust or a 34mm Date...

TC is waiting for some samples from his chinese manufacturer based on the measurements the chinese guys took from his genuine bracelet. If the results are satisfying we are there - if not we'll try the design I made.

case with bezel, back and pushers but without crystal or crown.

4030 movements appear maybe once in a decade. Be prepared to pay in the area of $4500 to $5000. Case without bracelet most probably around $3k (at least that is what a buddy paid). If you want to use a gen case and movement better buy a complete gen watch, will be the cheaper way in the end.

Paneraiguy is completely right. A lot of collectors get bored one day and then finally decide to sell all the stuff to start over again with something different.

aaaah that was what I am searching for and did not find it again... Thanks very much for your help!

Hi guys, I know some of you did it before: How do I fit a Tropic 22 to a 16200 case? Does it the 22 work with the standard 16200 bezel? Does the 22 match the case diameter of the 16200? Thanks for your insights!

As cib0rgman said: There is no such watch. The 14060 and 14060M never got SEL.