JoeyB

When did they star putting the date on the dial next to perpetual?

According to this http://www.gmtmasterhistory.com/gmt-master_ref_16750.html during the 16750 run, sometime after 1986. 

 I guess being young has benefits 

It did, but now we have Viagra. 

Unfortunately the closest I can get to my birth year is 1953 (2 years shy, though publicly I will only admit to 1976), so I will keep my replica 6204 and 6542  rather than buy the gens and save $100K or more.

Thanks for serving, by the way.  

Thanks. Had I known I'd live this long I would have been more careful.   

Wow. 1991... I graduated high school in 1990.  

My 20th anniversary in the military was in 1990.   

I think you nailed it! 

Atmospherics. This is a common problem with acrylic crystals, particularly in colder temperatures. When the internal pressure per square inch exceeds the external pressure per square inch, the result is an expansion of gases thereby causing a breech in any closed area. Caution is advised. 

Hah - isn't it funny that part of our hobby is replicating sloppiness and mistakes?

 

 

dieselpower

Yes, bloody Rolex with their shoody work

I would think that back in the early 1950s, so soon after the war, small companies like Rolex weren't sure they would be able to stay in business. The economy in Europe was not nearly as good as in the U.S. Near as I can tell from reading and seeing pictures, a good portion of a Rolex was hand made. That made for variances (mistakes), and individuality (more mistake), which yielded the long term advantage to replica builders 60 years later. 

I might be able to make it "sloppy" looking like the old ones by taking some tensioner pressure off the drive belt...

Or a couple of Tequila shots...

I tried it by hand using a diamond tip scribe. The depth and width looked close, but I haven't got the talent to make the nimbers and letters right. 

So, is it the general consensus that the very lightly engraved looks better/more authentic than the deeper engraved?

I think it depends on when. The early 1950s 'Brevet' look almost hand scribed in pictures, while the later 'Registered' 1950s look lightly engraved. I think the two you show are quite close to being correct for the later 1970s, `80s and since. 

1954:

1959: 

1675:

16710: 

Would you give us more information and details on your  selfmade chs please? I see at least 3 pieces to it, the two pinion gears and the 3 gear stack at the date wheel. 

I have a gen 1675 PCG from 1960 - happy to give measurements and detailed photos of any and all parts.

 

 

Please do. I built my 1675 to that year and model, and I'd love to see if I came close. 

I could be mistaken, but I think the bezel on the 1675 two-tone was 18K solid gold, and not plated. That's likely why it's missing, and same with the original bracelet. WSO will have a plated bezel, but for a genuine gold one, it might be hard to find and expensive. 

With the 'nipple' dial and two-tone bracelet, I'd say it looked like this when new. It's likely a 'root beer'. I don't know if Rolex used plated bracelets, but it could have been replaced over the years. 

The 6538 I received from MK was the case and caseback, no bezel or insert as I have those. The issue, as I said, is that the 6538 does not use the gen style retainer ring mount. My bezel won't work on it. 

I just talked to MK at Helearou. The 5513/5517 case with crown guards does have the retainer gen style mount, but not the 6538. I have not looked closely at the 5513 case, but that might be an option for a 1675 build.

How would my bezel look on a Sub?

I paid $158usd plus shipping for the case, caseback, movement holder, crystal gasket, 2 spring bars, and sterile crown/tube. No bezel or insert. If it had been a gen style retainer mount, it'd be about $500usd for a case set with coin edge bezel. 

It has a steel crystal retention ring yep. Not sure how deep in mm the rehaut is though

I just received the 6538 case from Helenarou. It is NOT a retaining ring/gen style mount for the crystal.  It is set up for the gasket/miineral glass crystal. Looks like a Tropic 19 acrylic crystal can be glued in after shortening it, as we've done in the past. with cartel cases. The rest of the case looks really nice. The curve of the lugs is more gen-like, and the bevel is nice. It can be easily thinned out to work. The rehaut looks deeper due to the glass crystal gasket seat. I'll contact MK and see if a gen style mount is available. 

I was about to take offense and demand that anything my ex claimed could never be trusted, but decided to google "shrinky dink" first. 

They have such a think for inkjet printers, shrinks in the oven. I don't know how you get the right size with little control of the shrinkage. 

Gary Clark will stand behind anything you buy from him. Just let him know what happened, and ask him for help. 

That said, we are working with copies of 50+ year old watches. 50+ years makes for changes in specs, and we are using copies of those. I've had many gen 6542 owners tell me my insert snaps in the bezel perfectly, and a few others with the high end replicas say they needed to shave a bit. My retaining bezel/ring are made to gen spec, and fit the Clark's 25-116 as it's supposed to.  But when I took one apart to work on something, putting it back together the retainer was loose enough on the crystal that I could finger push it to seat flush. The acrylic crystals do have some 'flex' to them, and temperature makes for some contraction/expansion. And that crystal may have had a bit of 'wear' in the first press. The bottom line is that, especially for those of us building/repairing replicas, the need for slight adjustments should be expected. If it fits together perfect the first time, I likely did something wrong! 

Maybe the buyer thought these 6542 inserts are like starfish, and hopes to grow nine new ones from these pieces!

Oh, wow! That is a GREAT marketing idea! Thank you so much!! 

'JoeyB's Amoeba Inserts' $25usd each. 

You are fortunate, 1 mm is not much. I have made dials from sheet brass going square to round, and reduced diameters in this fashion:

I use a piece of wood as an 'axle' through the hole in the dial. DO NOT USE METAL, it will enlarge the hole. Been there, done that. A toothpick will work if you are very careful, but they are not very strong. If it breaks your dial can go flying, and you don't want it damaged. You can soak the toothpick in water to make it stronger. Instead, I use a skewer made from bamboo for shish-ka-bob. With the dial on the 'axle' and your fingers used to steady on each side of the dial, touch it to a bench grinder. The bench grinder will spin the dial on the axle while you hold it steady. Just touch a little bit, check the fit, and again until it fits. 

Happy New Year to all!

These are my homemade dials:

ETA2846

DG3804B