symbebekos

Hi Jasper! According to the bible (Rolex Daytona: A Legend Is Born) "Early models ref. 6263-6265 have Oyster Twinlock 700 winding crown...in the early 1970s Rolex [supplies] Oyster Triplock 701. In the second half of the 1970s...Triplock 702." My understanding is that PN dials for 6263 and 6265 (the screw-down pusher models) DO NOT say Daytona - only the PN dial meant for 6262 and 6264 (pusher buttons) models have the Daytona indicia, and the correct crown for those Daytonas is the Twinlock 600...it's confusing, and if someone knows better than me, please chime in!

That's very helpful...I guess the only way to be sure of getting a 1575 is to take it out of a vintage GMT-Master? I hate the idea of doing that - putting aside the cost of a 1675, it's almost sacrilege to mess with such a great watch.

Oh brother, I had completely failed to take the GMT function into account - thanks guys, I'm going to have to give this more thought. Do all 1575 movements have a GMT gear, or is that something Rolex only added for Explorers?

Having completed my 6265 Daytona, I'm thinking about doing my next favorite, the 1655. I was thinking of buying a 1601 or 1603 Datejust and taking out the 1570 movement to use with a 1655 case - is that advisable? And also, once that was done, is there an aftermarket movement that would fit in the Datejust so I could get two working watches out of the deal? Has anyone done this?

Thanks to everyone for the kind words! Freddy, as usual I agree with you, I think a gen bracelet is the best thing to do next.

Well, it took a while for me to get this project done, but it's finally finished. Here are some preliminary photos, I'll post more detailed ones later. I was able to find a wonderful watchmaker who did all the work for me without any problems. In fact, he was very curious about where I was able to get such rare replacement parts, even after I clarified that they were aftermarket and not original Rolex. For me, an unqualified success! The V72 is running as it should and of course the chronograph function works perfectly. Let me know your thoughts! Over time, I'd like to add a gen bracelet, bezel and dial, and the case needs to be properly engraved with model and serial numbers, but I'm not in any rush. Putting this on my (hairy) wrist for the first time was a huge thrill!

Freddy, that dial looks amazing. I wouldn't hesitate to go to KR based on that, for sure. Thanks to everyone for the good wishes - I'll update the thread with photos when I have the watch put together. Again, if anyone has an experienced watchmaker they use in Los Angeles, please drop me a line!

That seems quite reasonable, considering the delicacy of the work! Do you have a photo of the dial they did for you?

That's a drag. I did see an eBay auction end at $800 for a beat-to-hell-but-gen dial - I wonder what Rich charges for the redial.

You're dead right about the O. Another thing that bothers me is that the numerals don't overlap the subdial circumferences as with the gen, which is another chronic problem with the DW dial. I don't know what to do about these issues except look for a gen dial at a reasonable price (ha)...although in a recent thread someone brought up the idea of sending a blank gen Singer dial to a pro like Bob Ridley or Kirk Rich for a complete redial service; if that were possible I'd go for it but I don't think it's been tried.

Thanks for weighing in, Freddy and Ubi! Here's a shot of the first bezel DW sent me: At the time I felt the stamping was way too deep (the 85 and 90 are practically slipping off the left side of it) but now I'm second-guessing myself. As for the engraving, I was thinking about sending the unengraved case off to Phong...I know he's expensive, but he can do the correct engraving.

First of all, I want to express my appreciation to everyone who's helped me so far - Avitt, Freddy, Ubi, DW, and everyone who's posted useful information in the many vintage Daytona threads - there's no way I could have gotten this far without you, so thank you! OK: I've gathered up the parts to do a V72 6263 build, but before I approach a watchmaker to do the assembly and initial service, I wanted to see if anyone had any comments on the parts I'm using or general hints or tips. (Also, if you have a great watch person in the LA area, please shoot me a PM!) I should say that my goal with this project is to produce a watch I love and can enjoy wearing, not to fool anyone or (god forbid) sell as a counterfeit. I actually think it's a lot more interesting to learn everything about a watch and produce a homage from parts than to just drop $30k at a Rolex dealer. So although I will eventually look for a gen dial, bezel and bracelet, I won't be adding rep bridges to the movement or anything like that - I suppose if I could find a Rolex 727 at a reasonable price I'd put it in, but what are the odds of that happening? The movement: I won a Gallet chronograph from eBay for $684 - I only bring up the price to point out that it's still possible to get deals on V72 movements and possibly bring in a complete 6263 project for under $1200 if you stick to rep parts. Case: I actually bought two DW cases, one engraved and one not - both have gen crowns, tubes and crystals but rep pushers. I need an opinion - is the engraved case engraved improperly? It looks like it was done with a laser or something and not correct mechanical engraving. For that reason I'm leaning toward using the plain case. Dial: Not much to say, a very nice DW dial from a friend. I do intend to put in a gen dial eventually as there are no rep dials I'm completely happy with that I've seen. Bezel: I bought two direct from DW - the stamping on the first one was comically bad, so he sent me another one for a nominal cost. I'm not happy with this one - there's no space between UNITS and PER in UNITS PER HOUR but I can live with it until I source a gen, I suppose. Bracelet: A rep 78350 with 557 endpieces and an incorrect clasp. This is going to be the first part I replace with gen. Any thoughts before I put this together, RWG??

I agree - Flex, that dial looks amazing, I don't know that it really needs to be refinished...

You're the man Avitt! Can't wait to get my package

Jeez Avitt! You have PM