automatico

A happy ending to a worthy project! The tropic 25-21 is the same crystal as used in a rolex 1018.

"With (which) sweep second hand do you mean straight without circle ? But for what movement eta ?" Straight without circle. The movement is a genuine rlx 1570/75 with a 'shortcut' GMT conversion...details are in the rolex sticky, page 2: Building an MBW Sub + 'shortcut' rlx 1560/70 GMT conversions... - The Rolex Area - RWG The center wheel, canon pinion, hour and 24H wheels are genuine rlx GMT parts. The center sweep second wheels/posts are the same for all rlx 15xx movements so the sweep second hand tube is longer for date movements and longer than date tubes for GMT movements. The tube needs to be at least 1.5mm long with a .20mm opening for a GMT...hard to find because of the long tube and small tube ID. Esslinger has some straight SS hands with long tubes so that is probably what I will get. The tail of the hand is tapered and genuine rlx have straight, even sides so they may need sanding down a bit. Watch Hand Refills Regular, Medium and Long Post Style Sweep Second Hand (esslinger.com) "Which GMT hand do you have ?" It is an 'OEM spec' aftmkt hand and it fits Ok after it was broached to fit...the ID was a hair too small, mostly paint. Do not know where it came from, it was included with the shortcut kit. The tip comes pretty close to the center of the outer 24H markers on the dial. My aftmkt dial is too big in diameter and the dial opening in the case is also bigger than OEM so the outer markers are not right on the edge of the dial opening like genuine but maybe .3 or .4mm away compared to genuine. A genuine spec dial is too small in diameter and just barely hangs in the dial window. A genuine 1655 dial is 27.3mm in diameter, this one is .5mm too big more of less. Genuine rlx 15xx hands: H hand 1.20mm M hand .80mm SS hand .20mm GMT hand 1.80mm Do not know about ETA 24H hands. Could the 24H hand for a 2893 GMT movement be the same as a 24H hand for a china ETA 2836 GMT conversion? That's a good question. "WSO have 1655 hands for 1575 but the pics I’m not sure are for the real gmt hand they sold and are not able to give me a serious reply, on the pic on eBay the tip is short like the tiger." The holes should be rlx 15xx spec and the same length as genuine but always remember: "With WSO, you never know." I noticed their hand sets for rlx 1655 appear to be silver or gray and genuine hands are black. "I will try to file down the stock BP gmt hand that is correct for the length but too fat tip and on the neck of the base triangle , how make rolojack on his watch but only on the neck (see pic below blue arrows) I want to file down also the tip (red arrow). I have sanded a few hands down on the sides with extra fine paper folded over a narrow piece of flat metal but it was nerve wracking. Things go wrong...the lume can crack/fall out, the hand can get bent, and paint can chip. Hands, dials, and hairsprings give me the willies.

"A question for everyone, are rep cases made casted or forged? Many say they're made from solid block but what does that mean? Forged is always prefered as metals are uniformly in one direction, unseen by the naked eye." The majority of rolex style cases are made by stamping. Stamping = 'case blanks' are punched out of flat stock just like flat washers. The small vertical lines on the mid case and between the lugs are from when the stamping die punched the part out and/or the next step...die forging. The blanks are precision die forged next to shape the lug tops etc. All precision areas are machined...case neck, case back threads, inside of the case, reflector aka 'rehaut' etc. Flat stock = sheet metal. 'Solid block' = advertising BS, it sounds better than sheet metal. Evolution of a rolex case, the image is from a post by 'Jocke' (Sweden): http://www.watchwallpapers.com/tocb3.jpg My guess is many of the rolex replica cases are made basically the same way the genuine cases are...with a bit less precision. Quite a bit in some cases. (pun!) "Bracelet are probably casted." The links are made from sawed off or stamped pieces of rods, flat stock, or tubing. The raw rods etc are formed by drawing steel or gold through a die. PMP (powdered metal process) is another method of making parts, hand wrenches for example because it eliminates most of the machining. Ka-wham! Here's your wrench... Seiko made some of the early 'Arctura' cases by this method. Powdered Metal Process for Metalworking (zioninduction.com) Vol.1 | by Seiko watch design (seiko-design.com)

"Automatico which base watch do you have ?" Dan71 Thanks for responding! I have no idea where the case came from originally because I bought it from an RWG member in December 2014. It is close to genuine spec (going by a Phong 1655 case) except for the dial being a couple tenths mm too big. The case neck might be a hair too big too but one or two of the generic 116 crystals I had worked fine on the case...but the bezel was either too loose or too tight on all of them and the 30.32mm ID bezel is on it now. I will probably go with what you did and sand the OD of the crystal down a little so the bezel will not crack the crystal. I may also need to sand a slight taper on the inside sharp edge of the crystal skirt so it will not shave a sliver of plastic off. I've had a few shave plastic off and end up between the bezel and case if I do not see it. "I just build a 1655 with BP Base watch and inside is engraved 1675." Far as I know the two main differences in a 1675 and 1655 are the GMT mid case is a little bit thinner and the crown guards are shaped differently...maybe because of the 6mm crown on the 1655 vs the 5.3mm crown on the 1675. I tried a Sternkreuz crystal on the watch but it was not a good fit. The crystal I ended up using came in a package with no useful identification and it fits the case neck but the bezel is not quite tight enough. Besides that, the crystal was old and the supply house may have a different supplier by now. If I can find some crystals that fit the case neck and the 30.32mm ID bezel is still too big, I'll machine the ID of one of my other bezels to fit. Next time I have the bezel and crystal off I'll write the case neck size down and not lose it. I am going to order a straight second hand for the watch so the crystal and bezel will be off sooner or later. I found some sweep second hands with long 1.8mm tubes so they should work. I will post any updates in this thread.

"That insert ain’t going nowhere!" But now it's only .00002mm thick...

"You need to run the insert over with your truck at the 35 minute mark..." I had a few inserts that refused to be pressed into the seat because they were a hair too big OD so I pressed them down over the tapered neck of a glass bottle to slightly reduce the OD. I padded the insert (printed side up) with a soft cloth and used a piece of plastic plumbing pipe for the press tube. The pipe needs to be the right size to catch the outer half of the bezel OD to make it work. Keep the pipe centered on the insert to make sure it does not bend it and lightly press down by hand, then measure it. May take a few tries. This is for thicker oem type inserts, not the thin stick-on type. No guarantees. You might turn an insert printed side down between two flat surfaces in a press of some sort to make a bigger OD but I never tried it.

The Heuer Gulf Monaco is one of my all time favorites! My Dad worked in a Gulf station in the 1930s and it was also the Ford automobile dealership in our town back then. Still have his cap from the Gulf station with the Gulf logo and a few wrenches with the Ford script from back then. Never owned a Heuer Monaco...yet. The family that lived two houses down from us when I was a kid owned the local Chevrolet auto dealership so I grew up around car guys. All my TAGs are quartz now, the best one being a silver dial fourth generation Link WJ1111 from early 2012. Paid $400 for it like new with box from a guy that came in the watch store selling his watches. Divorce? Maybe/probably. It had happened before.

"What do you think about buying cheap watches online?" If 'cheap' means less than $50USD you are usually Ok buying them online if the price is less than you can buy the same watch for locally and the seller/dealer is an established outfit or has a good eBay etc rating. The main chances you take buying online are defective products and loss in transit. Many online discounters and private sellers have basically no customer service other than an exchange or maybe money back for a defective product in a short time period after purchase. If the watch is lost in the mail the dealer might make it right. I say might because they may tell you to file a claim at the post office, UPS/FEDEX etc. I always figured it was the responsibility of the seller to make sure the product arrives but when dealing with online dealers you never really know where you stand until something goes wrong. With eBay you have buyer protection when buying with a credit card or PayPal and eBay almost always sides with the buyer. This is good for the buyer but it can be not so good for the seller if the buyer turns out to be a crook of some sort. I have purchased quite a few 'cheapie' watches online and all but one arrived safely and PayPal put the $$ back in my account for that one. It goes without saying that dealers located outside your home country can be a real hassle to deal with when something goes wrong.

"If I had to guess, the Bezel is a "Nylon" ring tension bi-directional system on the acrylic dome models." You are probably right. This would explain why they are so cheap...fewer parts that have to fit correctly. My old Paul/Abay 5514 and SD cases had the crystal lightly pressed down over the case neck but not quite touching the case top. The 'spring wire' rotating bezel was pushed down over the crystal and the spring wire snapped into the space between the edge of the crystal skirt and top of the case. If you bumped it, the crystal and bezel fell on the floor. The spring bar holes in the lugs were correctly spaced (not too close to the top or bottom), and the case neck, case tube threads, He valve etc were oem spec. Looking back, the cases were pretty good but the bezel set-up was horrible. Btw... Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress, widely known for the roles of Cathy Gale in The Avengers (1962–1964), Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964), Julia Daggett in Shalako (1968) and Hera in Jason and the Argonauts (1963). She is also known for her role as Laura West in the ITV sitcom The Upper Hand (1990–1996). from Wikipedia

"Will it take 2mm bars?" I have a couple similar bracelets and they will accept 2mm spring bars after a 2.1 or 2.2mm rod is pressed through the opening to expand the link if needed. Taper the leading end slightly and use grease on the rod to keep it from getting stuck. I refer to this type of end link (pictured below) as a 'figure eight' type as opposed to other types such as the 'tube' type. The figure eight type seems to work better than the tube type because the figure eight end link fits around the spring bar and the pin in the bracelet and does not allow the end link to get in a bind. The tube type end link can get in a bind when the bracelet is moved around because there is a lot of empty space inside the hollow tube link, especially if the tube is too long. This is why a regular hollow bracelet mid link will not work very well for a connecting link...it is too long and can allow the outer links to climb up over the bracelet hoods. I know this sounds like mumbo Jumbo but you will know what I'm talking about if it ever happens. Btw, Mumbo Jumbo is my second language. eBay item number: 381546383310

This is a little bit off topic but if anyone wonders how much it might cost to make rep-rep rlx 55xx, 1680 or SD cases here is an example (they look a bit more like vintage SD cases). They are $35.95 USD including delivery. I figure they cost $12 or $15 to make. The main differences between these cases and $700/$1000 cases are details, numbers, and letters. Spend a day detailing one and you are in the groove. Sorta. The Big Problem is they are made for 28.5mm dials. Boooo! on that but they could make them for 26.0 or 26.5mm dials for the same price if they wanted to. Raf.... has some oversize dials that might work. eBay item number 203114283734 I do know the '1655' case for my shortcut Ex II project is very, very close to my J$W case except for letters and numbers. Saw this a little later: Daytona type cases for $55.85 + $3.50 shp: eBay item number 272296280963

Good find! The connecting (end) links are worth the cost of admission imho because supply houses do not sell the end links. They usually have the little narrow links to connect the bracelet to the clasp but not the wider end links that connect the bracelet to the spring bar/hoods between the lugs...and that is what is needed to fix the 'Mary' bracelets.

Friday's True Funnies... Why buy a Rolex when you can get a Bum for Free? A total of 31 people have already taken advantage of the offer. May 6,2021 REMIX NEWS author: JAN HRON The Swiss city of Basel has come up with a special way to deal with its homeless population by offering them one-way tickets to European locations beyond Switzerland's borders. However, homeless people must sign an agreement not to return to the country. If they violate it and return, they risk deportation. Homeless people in the city can ask for a train ticket that will take them anywhere in Europe. In some cases, the authorities also offer a plane ticket. In addition, they will receive 20 Swiss francs (€18), said a spokesman for the Basel Ministry of Justice, Toprak Yerku. However, it has one catch. "Beneficiaries must undertake not to return to Switzerland — at least for a while," said Yerku. "If they are spotted again, they risk being expelled from the country." According to critics, this strategy amounts to "street cleaning". A total of 31 people have already taken advantage of the offer, including 14 people from Romania, seven from Belgium, seven from Germany, two from Italy, and one from France. Basel also offers numerous Romanian beggars to pay a plane ticket worth 60 Swiss francs (€55), according to the La News server. Switzerland's tough stance on homeless people The Swiss authorities do not have any overall data on the number of homeless people in the country, but research conducted by the University of Applied Sciences in Northwest Switzerland (FHNW) in 2019 estimates that in Basel, about 100 people sleep outside or are in emergency shelters. Switzerland is known for its tough attitude towards the homeless. In 2016, the canton of Vaud introduced a law banning begging in public. In the canton of Geneva, a similar law has been in force since 1946. In 2014, police imposed a fine of 500 Swiss francs (€455) on a homeless woman, and because she had no money to pay it, she was forced to serve a five-day jail sentence. However, the European Court of Human Rights argued that the police action was not in line with the objective of protecting public rights, which resulted in the city being forced to pay her damages worth €922. Basel is not the only city in the world that has tried to get rid of homeless people by providing them the opportunity to travel to new locales. According to The Guardian, during 2015 and 2018, a range of British cities and towns provided hundreds of people on the street with a single ticket to other parts of the country or even away from the UK.

"I would much rather see an aftermarket attempt to build a moment platform that: 1. Matches alignment with crown/tube holes 2. Accept genuine/aftermarket calendar wheels 3. Accept genuine/aftermarket hand size (and with an ETA Option) 4. Have a mounting system that leverages genuine case mounting (and with a case clamp option) 5. Has accommodations for Genuine or ETA dial feet, or Pie-Pan/6542/6538 dials 6. I really don't care about BPH. No one is fooling anyone anymore... " I am with you 100% except on number 6. Old model 10xx and 15xx rlx run at 18,000 bph and newer 15xx run at 19,800 bph. A vintage rlx project with a 21,600 bph ETA etc will pass the 'layman's sweep test'. The higher grade cases and dials now available for vintage rlx projects are good enough to pass as genuine 80% or 90% of the time but a 28,800bph movement will not pass...imho. "No one is fooling anyone anymore... " I will admit fooling myself is not easy but slower beat movements seem to help...in some cases. pun for fun One comment on using genuine rlx 15xx in vintage projects: I have had my share of watches with rlx 15xx movements and will say they excel at one thing...they build running reserve quickly, maybe because of the low friction nature of the autowind assemblies. Otoh, ETAs do not seem to build reserve as quickly and china '21 jewelers' are duds in my experience. YMMV.

"Did Switzerland become luxury before ww2 or after ww2?" My guess is after WW II. Patek etc made a few very high grade pocket watches before WW II and most were special orders for Rich Fat Cats. After WW II a 'luxury' wristwatch usually had a solid gold case and a movement with more than 17 jewels. Lower priced solid gold models may have 17 jewel movements but no one knew the difference because watch brands might brag about '21 jewels!' but not 17 jewels so it was not printed on the dial. After all, solid gold is solid gold no matter what is under the hood. My favorite solid gold vintage watches are Hamilton and Elgin with Hamilton being number one. Hamilton had super fine movements and they were 100% made in Lancaster PA. Elgin was 100% made in Elgin IL during their heydays. Most cases were square or rectangular and had snap on case backs but they had style and I still see a few today on older adults. Btw, I call them 'one drops' because one drop of water or one drop on a hard floor and they are done for...usually needing a new balance staff. I still have a few but where am I going to wear one? Walmart? Walking around in cheap blue jeans buying a loaf of bread sporting a $500 gold vintage Hamilton? I would be lucky to make it out of the parking lot. (rlx 1030) "Look how simple it is compared to modern watches. Someone can replicate one, easily. Improving with today's materials shouldn't be difficult." The 1030 is Ok but a clone of the 1570/75 would be better imho. Many more 'classics' used the 15xx. Probably never be one so the best I can hope for is a 19800 or 21600 bph movement with dial foot holes matching the rlx 15xx...probably never happen. "Omega use Silicon for hairspring, but very difficult to machine, I can imagine laser cutting. Silicon is $50-70 per lb." Silicon HS are cheap to make, they are made photographically like micro chips, laser zapped, or cast by some mysterious method etc...AFTER gearing up to make them. The technology and machinery are what cost $$. I figure if silicon HS cost much to make they would not be in the ETA Powermatic...a movement no one is 'allowed' to repair btw, except for 'factory' fix-it shops. All kidding aside, the silicon HS is a good idea except for being attached to the balance with glue or whatever quickie method is used. I like plain old screws but I'm 40 years behind the times. Most metal HS are laser welded to the balance now and when one comes loose...you have to buy another balance complete. The Rise of Silicon: a Revolution in Watchmaking (prestigetime.com) "Teflon coating on gears, as rolex PFTE/teflon coat theirs in 3135 and 3235." It is not teflon, they are hard anodized to make them wear resistant. They chose red for the 15xx, 30xx etc. "Rolex Parachrom blue hairspring is 85% niobium. Easy to machine, but expensive. Nobium is $20-35 per lb." Niobium! Are you sure? I thought the fabulous new rolex HS were 85% bullsheetium. Just kiddin'. It's probably pretty good stuff. Which Rolex Movement Takes The Top Spot? A Watchmaker’s Comparison Of Rolex Calibers 3135 And 3235, And Which Is Better? – Quill & Pad (quillandpad.com) "Many top-tier watches use Glucydur for balance wheel and hairspring. Glucydur/beryllium-bronze is $6-8 per lb." Hamilton RR pocket watches used a similar mix 70 years ago, called Elinvar...they made it themselves. Also made their own oil...they had the smallest oil refinery in the world. I went to the Hamilton factory in Lancaster PA and walked all around it about 20 years ago...it had been converted condos. A Master Watchmaker’s Take on Hamilton Watch Company’s Best Hand Wound Movements – Vintage-Hamilton-Wristwatches "As others have correctly stated, gone are the days when mere mortals were able (or could afford) to purchase gen Rolex components for "reasonable" prices." Sad but true. Because of that, some of mine have Roleta movements.

"...Switzerland once copied British and American watches as swiss were considered inferior." Their biggest hits were copies of USA made RR grade pocket watches and copies of fancy dress pocket watches from the late 1800s through the 1920s/1930s. I have seen a lot of them for sale at watch shows, commonly known as 'Swiss Fakes' and there are people who still collect them. The brand names are often misspelled to 'fool the fools' back then. The Swiss also made millions of low grade pin lever wristwatches in the 1940s/1950s/1960s as well as some higher grade pin lever models featuring 17 or more jewels. Bettlach and Ebosa brand movements were used in many of the better brands and most usually had '17 Jewels' or '21 jewels' on the dial. The common models had cheapo 1 jewel movements with no jewel claims on the dials sporting brand names no one had heard of that retailed for $10 or so. Some went so far as to have 'Bolivia' (knockoff Bulova) etc on the dial and came with boxes and papers...they were around $15 or so. The most famous pin lever brand of them all was Timex with movements from all over the world including the USA and England. Bettlach 17 jewel movement: 17 Jewel Ebauches Bettlach 8800 Walk Through. - Your Walkthroughs and Techniques - Watch Repair Talk Swiss Fake PW movement:

This may not be much help but the signed autowind bridge is good because not too many replicas have them signed. Signed rotors yes, but not many signed aw bridges. The timehead may be Ok but like Timelord said...It is a hard call. I also vote the bracelet is bogus as I have a few like it. A few years ago just about any of us could spot a replica in less than one minute. It's not like that now. Something else...afaik the bezel is solid 14k gold on genuines, at least they were 30 years ago. The tutone bracelets were always gold filled or heavy gold plated. Bought a new tutone Tudor with ygf jubilee type bracelet in July 1991 with ETA 2824-2 and it had a solid 14k gold bezel. Iirc the list price back then was $1175, do not remember how much I paid. I paid $115 otd for a new 6430 Speedking on a signed lizard strap with signed buckle from an AD in 1972...it is still nos today. Back then new rolex watches were a dime a dozen from an AD...if you had a dime. An example of 'high line' toot vs 'low line' rolex prices, then and now...bought a new rlx 6694 in 1989 and it was $925 out the door, still have it nos. Now the 6694 will sell for around $2000, maybe $2500 and the tutone toot (if still nos) would go for around $1000/$1200.

"It's a fake bracelet! The watch itself could also be a rep..." Fer shore. The Suspicious Cat says: You need to be very careful with Tudors as there are extremely accurate replicas being sold complete or put together from kits. 'Toot kits' are available and usually come with cases, dials, hands, crowns, and bracelet clasps. All that is needed next is an ETA 2824 or clone, a signed winding rotor, and a bracelet (usually jubilee type) with hoods...455B because they are very common on replicas and easy to find. Most original Tudor ETA 2824 movements were fully decorated but a china Seagull deco etaclone can be substituted after the addition of a signed rotor. 'Fully signed' = ETA trademark and movement numbers on the main plate below the balance wheel and a signed rotor. Unsigned decorated etaclone Seagull 2130 on eBay, item number 233959719208 $82 delivered. Signed rotors for $10.34 each (inc shp) on eBay. Item number 293303964387

I can not remember ever seeing a lady size automatic watch with day of the week spelled out at the top, not saying there are none, just that I have not seen one. Have seen quite a few with the day and date in a row at 3 o'clock and the day is almost always shortened to three letters. The smaller ETA 26xx (8 3/4 ligne, about 17mm) often used in lady size watches never had a DD in the Prez configuration that I know of. Probably some quartz examples out there and I looked on ST at the ETA 8 3/4 ligne quartz movements and did not see one. Can not remember seeing a Cit-Eco with this feature but I have quite a few and will look through them and post an update...doubt I have one though. Update 4-16-21: Looked through a bunch of lady watches and none have day of the week spelled out at the top of the dial but a few have D&D at 3 with three letter day abbreviations.

"Are these reverse threaded by any chance?" They are standard right hand thread...righty-tighty, lefty-loosie. "And they are in fact threaded into the crown?" Every crown I have taken apart was the older type with 'bottle caps' crimped over the crown frame and the crown post always unscrewed from the crown. They might have thread locker of some type on them because some were hard to get apart and I did give up on getting a few to come apart. Heating the crown cap might help but it could damage the clutch spring. "But I thought I better ask if they are cross threaded and if we are certain that large tube is not soldered onto the crown." The threads always look good after taking one apart and I doubt any are soldered but you never know. Most of what I took apart were 5.3 and 6.0mm crowns. I bought a few 7mm crowns from TC and they all had weak springs but I never took one apart to change springs. I thought maybe a spring from a spring bar might work, just never tied it. They were very well made but after a few screw ups and screw downs the spring in the crown would get too weak to overcome the set lever spring and the watch would not go from setting position to winding position. You had to flip the crown a few times like flipping a kid on the head to get their attention. That will probably get you 20 years hard time for 'child abuse' now. Crown abuse is still Ok afaik.

One thing is for sure: "The Vietnam case selling for over $1,000 is testing the market prices." They are selling for $1000 because buyers will pay the price, not because they are 'worth' $1000. If no one bought them they would lower the price until they started selling or make something else to sell. J&W Watch com probably gets a lot more. S&D, business as usual. I have mentioned before that I have two Yuki cases that I bought direct from Yuki in 2014 (5512 and 5513). I still have them and will say they are made to an extremely high standard, as high or higher than genuine vintage rlx 55xx cases of the 1970s that I have compared them to. I also know that some earlier Yuki cases were not as well made and I owned a Yuki '1680' in 2011 that was very good but not quite up to the standards of the 5512 and 5513 from 2014. That being said...if the 'Vietnam' cases will sell for $1000+ it is fine with me...but I also seriously doubt they are made in Vietnam, a modern watch factory in China gets my vote. Something else... Since I completed my 'shortcut 1655' I have looked on the internet to see what genuine 1655 watches are going for. They are priced at $15,000 to $45,000 (!!) but there is no way to know what they are really selling for so let's say an average of $20,000USD. How much $$ did my 'shortcut 1655' cost to put together? I'm ashamed to say. I also have a complete genuine 1570/75 hack GMT movement in first class condition with genuine nos GMT parts that ended up costing $1500+ above the movement price for the GMT parts. I will venture to say at today's prices a complete genuine 1575 GMT movement will cost $3500 or more and most likely not be in fine condition like the one I have or be put together with nos GMT parts. There is no difference at all between a 15xx movement that left the factory as a GMT and a standard date movement turned into a GMT using all genuine parts. They both have a serial number beginning with D (for Date) and no GMT identifying marks. Since the factory refuses to give out any info at all there is no way to tell if it is an all original GMT movement or if it has been converted using all correct and genuine parts. That's the way it is now and with almost no GMT parts available today there probably will not be many conversions put together in the future. That's why the 'shortcut' GMT conversions came about but they still need a few genuine GMT parts to function properly. So...subtract $3500 from $20,000 and it says a genuine 1655 case, dial, hands, and bracelet are 'worth' at least $16,500 now. Wow! What kind of idiot would pay that much for a few old faded out, half worn out rolex parts? I might be surprised. Maybe this is why they are can get $1000 or more for a good quality replica 'Vietnam' case. I doubt many buyers are sticking $200 ETAs in them.

"Just for a follow up....I would definitely only recommend using a pin vise instead of crushing the tube with a large vise unless you intend to not reuse the part that is getting crushed." Good advice. I use a collet in an old 8mm 'watchmaker' lathe. The collets are made in .1mm steps and are high precision so they will not slip and damage the crown post. Most hobby guys do not have one but most old timer repair guys do and many will let you use the lathe for 5 minutes to unscrew a crown post. You do not use any electrical power, you just snug the crown post in the proper collet with the drawbar and back the crown cap off with your fingers while holding the lathe pulley with the other hand. If the crown cap is too tight, wrap the cap with leather or something to protect the finish and use pliers etc. Clean the parts and use a new crown cap gasket. Old style crowns with steel or gold 'bottle caps' are usually made of nickel silver and are pretty soft so the threads are easy to damage. I usually try to apply a smidgen of Loctite to the threads where the post screws into the cap but my guess is it does not do much good if it gets mixed up with lube etc. For this reason I run a very small amount of oil down into the crown post between the telescoping part that screws on the stem and the crown post...after the Loctite has had time to set. I've had a few come unscrewed so I went to Loctite. It seems to help. I always worried about new crown cap gaskets because they just flop around between the end of the case tube and crown cap. They can get crosseyed and damaged but usually they stay put. I tried to cement a few to the crown cap with sticky gasket goo but it made a mess so I gave up on it. It's just something else to worry about...and another reason to wear a G-Shock.

"What are the crown tube dimensions for the 50s oyster perpetual? I believe they came with the 6mm crown. Does that mean they also had the 3mm x 0.35mm crown tube?" Most of them are the same depending on the watch reference number. Some models might have the 'Super Oyster' crowns carried over from the early 1950s but I do not know when they were cut from production. The 'Super Oyster' was not too hot, they tended to wear out sooner than anticipated. The oldest watch I have is a 1956 6605 DJ and it has a regular 6.0mm crown and case tube...send the watch reference number by PM and I can look it up and see what crown and case tube it came with.

"Here is a perfect example of the wear on the pins giving the illusion of stretch." Ronin, I noticed that was a tutone bracelet. I have seen tutone jubilee bracelets with the spring bars worn through the tube into the coil spring and the gold end links would still be in good condition. Evidently the gold is tougher than it is perceived to be. Tutone jubilees that are worn loose are prone to wear if they are not washed every week or so. TT oyster models wear out too but it seems they wear at a slower rate. I have some TT jubilee bracelets from ST (made in Italy) and the center links are quite a bit thicker where they ride against the steel connecting pins than regular aftmkt bracelet links and they last for a very long time...but they ain't cheap now with $1750 gold. I have used quite a few of the ST 'made in Italy' bracelets and they are always highest quality. Many sellers claim their bracelets are 'made in Italy' but are not. It is fairly easy to tell them apart if you can compare them in hand. It sure would be nice if tutones came back in style. I still have TT parts left from the 1990s. ST...Men's Rolex 14K Gold/Stainless Steel Heavy Link Jubilee Date Replacement Bracelet. Italian made $1235.00

"Before doing anything, I would post good clear pics of said dials. You may be fretting over nothing, or the pics might inspire the right solution." Very good advice. The dial markers on my 'shortcut 1655' seemed to be a little too dark. So I fixed it. How? By looking at pictures of 1655 watches until I found a few just like mine. I can only hope they were genuine and not replickas. I understand colors may be off a little on 'net pics but I'm willing to be at peace with the dial now.