photon

Some more progress...

Mid case engraving:

New bridge:

Done!

Thanks, Alan. I'll try her again.

I have been communicating with Ruby but, the dialogue runs on and I don't seem to get the payment information. Do you know if Ruby could accept PP?

Also, Ruby asked me to communicate via whatsApp... is she okay?

Thank you, alligoat and Freddy for encouragement.

 The coronet was from a local dealer.

1k for a good 6263? At lest 1.5k is needed. Perhaps, one option is to use a Valjoux 23? Even V23 is getting around 1k these days but, I still see one around $500 occasionally. A decent dial may be sourced from Eileen from Singapore for about $200 and hands from Phong for $120. The problem is the case set. After seeing one on the bay few months ago, I don't know where to find a good case set ... but, you may find a case set for around $300 if you are patient. Oh, plus at lest the crown needs to be upgraded and this may cost ~$100.

Thanks for looking at the project summary and the suggestion of starting a new thread.

Sir, haha replacing the rep coronet is a must for me The gen 18k WG coronet is inexpensive relative to the crazy price of the phong dial...

How to replace the pushers? Simply unscrew and screw them, nothing more complicated than this, my friend. I sourced quite high quality Swiss-made pushers from Cousins in UK.

The scary part of this project was to trim the V72 bridge and make holes on the base plate and tap them for adding proper mounting screws at the right level. Many old V72s come with mounting screws on the top bridge and this does not work for daytona cases.

Thanks, blackboxes!

Still learning how to use the macro function of my RX100 ...

Following Sogeha's suggestion, I am starting a fresh thread for my latest project

Specs

Movement: a V72 with broken mainspring but, very clean. I had to strip most of the chrono parts to replace the mainspring which I got from the bay. Parts cleaned and oiled.

Case: A nice 6263 case for V72. The case shape needed to be modified for the smooth bezel of 6238. The bezel was again custom-made for this project.

Dial: From Phong (very expensive!)

The dial arrived had the coronet way too low. Also it looked a bit large. So I sourced a gen 18k WG coronet and replaced the phong coronet. Hands are all from phong - his hands are cool.

Gen on the right. The color difference is visible.

Crystal/crown/bracelet: GEN!

In addition to the gen coronet, I got gen crystal, bracelet and crown for this project.

The watch:

It's been a while since we last saw V72-6238 projects here. I wonder what all the daytona experts are up to these days. My latest project:

Thank you for clarification Mr Pawn King! I have bought two V72 watches but, for each watch I paid above $1k!! They are healthy like a new Seiko though

23 hours ago, Caci said:

Paul Garnier "SCUBA" , Belmont Industries Valjoux 72 $200

Do you mean $1200? $200 for a running Valjoux 72 is a crime!!

rolojack, unfortunately no engraving inside (as yet)

panerai153, thanks for the pic! Is that a gen rivet brace? I'd love to get such a nice bracelet.

Revere, you're right and the pusher positions on 7750 are symmetric. My guess is that DW was lazy enough not to modify his V72 case design and he just increased the bore of the V72 case to fit 7750. The size difference between these two movements is just one ligne (~ 2.2 mm - my home-made mvt ring fill precisely fill this gap). Correct me if I am wrong experts but, it's my view that DW V72 and DW 7750 cases are essentially the same except the bore size. 7750 just happens to tolerate the asymmetric pusher positions.

5 hours ago, Revere said:

Were there any issues with pusher location for the v72 in a 7750 case?

The pushers on DW 7750 cases are asymmetric and their positions are aligned well radially with the chrono operation and reset levers on V72. But, funnily enough mine have a problem in the depth position. While the winding stem position is okay, the top pusher just misses the operation lever. But, this may be unique to my V72 because the length of the operation lever in the thickness direction of the movement is quite short. A more conventional V72 operation lever with a longer lever is on the way and this will tell if the problem is due to the case or the movement.

panerai153, sir I cannot see your picture and could you try updating the link?

alligoat, thanks for the comment!

Sogeha, the Phong dial I started with had three flaws which can be seen in the pic below.

1. "G" instead of "6"

Simply, the gap on the horizontal line was filled with paint!

2. Incorrect coronet (the one with a sharp edge was there)

Got a gen 18k WG coronet and the original one was replaced with the gen.

3. Long indices

Each index except at 5, 15 and 25 position was shortened by erasing partially. This was done under a microscope with a toothpick soaked in ethanol.

6 hours ago, meadowsweet_ said:

@photon did that bezel come with the DW case? Don't think I've ever seen one without the usual UPH bezels. Love this, and that dial is great looking. Always loved the look of the pre-Daytona Cosmographs, something about the look of the smooth plain bezel and the piston pump pushers that's so appealing visually. Elegant, understated and such a "pure" tool watch

I think DW offered smooth bezels for his 6239/6263 case but, he had disappeared from the net before I decided to gather parts. Anyway, his smooth bezel was a bit too tall and I found it off. Smooth bezels are simple and it's not that hard to make one by yourself if you have access to a lathe. I used a hobby lathe for making the bezel and the movement ring for this build.

There are sellers on the bay who offer smooth bezels for 36mm oyster cases but, they cannot be used off-the-shelf because of the brim at the bottom of crystal retaining ring on the DW cases. This means you anyway need a lathe.

I agree with you and I like the oyster style of pre-Daytonas.

7 minutes ago, Revere said:

That looks pretty good. Where did you source the case from, if you don't mind my asking?

The case is one of the standard DW 6239/6263 cases for 7750. I trimmed the edge (filed off and finished with sand papers), made the bezel and movement ring for V72.

My first pre-daytona build is nearly done. Thanks alligoat for the phong dial.

jmb, the crystal on your Montecarlo is very well finished. I am not sure if I can do that well but, certainly a good option. Thanks!

WCM, they are my projects with DW parts and gen dials. Since the DW case I use are made for 7750, these projects are pretty simple and easy. All I had to do is to trim the dial a bit, machine the gen oyster bezel and remove the rotor and two winding wheels from 7750.

Thanks, fabio. Thanks people for the comments.

The specs are pretty much the standard DW daytona case/hands for 7750 plus gen Tudor dials. The only unusual part is the smooth bezel. This is for gen 36 mm oyster cases. The bezel required a minor modification with a lathe before fitting nicely to the DW case. Also, I used a Swiss 7750 and its Sea Gull copy. Both of them have been converted to manual wound by removing the rotor and two associated wheels.

Thanks so much for the information, fabio! I think 25-130 must be what I saw.

I wonder if you guys know where to get a plexi crystal with a Cyclops lens for a DW 7750 daytona case. I have seen one but, could not trace it ...

I'd like to replace the Clark T21 on my Tudor Daytona and pre-Daytona!

I bought the A2813 version of this rep and didn't like it mainly because the dial size is far bigger than gen. There are many 1:1 sub models which takes gen 26 mm dials and I'd get one of them with an Asian 2824 and swap the dial from Yuki's if the project cost is around $400 or going for A2813 with a dial from Raffles (cost would be $200). The crwon on those cartel subs is terrible and you will need to replace it (another $50-100?).

Some examples of such cartel 1:1 sub based projects (happy to share details if needed):

Haha, it's gen. 100%. If not I will give it to you for free. I tell this because I bought this from an AD. Sorry guys, I am the seller and just wanted to know the current market price.

I thought one of you may pick the blue manual which is correct for all A-G series. Panerai started to use the gray booklet from H series but, in the early H series models such as mine came with the blue one...

Thanks guys for the comments and let's see how the bid goes.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PANERAI-112-LUMINOR-BASE-MANUAL-BLACK-CALFSKIN-44MM-MENS-WATCH-PAM00112-/191033459728?pt=AU_Watches&hash=item2c7a7b4410

Two questions:

1. Is this gen?

2. How much do you think this is worth?

Thanks.