JoeyB

As it turned out, it was the least expensive on Ebay at the time. I didn't check to see if he had any other sizes. It seems fine to me. http://www.ebay.com/itm/190799622360?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Yep, I'm cheap. I look for the best price I can find, then try and get it cheaper. I use coupons, even when buying decal paper to make my dials. And I use coupons for some of the tools we use in a build or service, too. So, today in my email I received a coupon for 25% from Harbor Freight. Feel free to use it if you have a store near you. http://widgets.harborfreight.com/wswidgets/common/displayCoupon.do?main=true&week=1313&campaign=e&page=25off.html&single=true&cust=99999999999&keycode=1022 They have several items that are watch related. These are tools mostly made in China, not 'Burgeon' precision quality, nor heavy duty for a watchmaker, but something that will do for a limited use hobbyist. The 'Watch Case Press' is a light duty press that will work on some crystals too. It comes with nylons dies that I've used for other things as well, like with a small hammer and wooden stake tapping to seat a bezel ring. . They use one like this at my local Walmart to sell and install watch batteries. At $12.99 it's a nice thing to have around. . I think that's well worth it with the coupon at $9.75 Another thing I use a lot in shaping cases, and shaping my inserts is the 1" X 30" belt sander. It is on sale at $39.99, and with the coupon it is $29.99. Evidently there is a hobby in knife making, working with stainless steel and such. I found a company online who has custom sanding belts and bought 3000 grit belts along with 1500 and 1200. The speed of the machine takes metal very fast, so the finer grit gives more control and a very smooth finish for less work. Obviously they have a bunch of other tools as well, so enjoy the coupon!

Outstanding!

Nanuq, if you run into a astonishingly handsome young man wearing an authentic looking James Bond 6538, introduce yourself. My Son will graduate from UH in May. Maybe he'll take you cliff diving.

Contact Admin on RWI and have them deal with the Trusted Dealer. That's what they advertise their worth as.

Broken insert prices just went up...

Just beautiful. I love the Daytonas, fortunately for my wallet I can't read the dials any longer!

They all look...old. There is a reason I follow in your footsteps.

Geez, he said no children! 14 may well be legal age in the Land of Palin, but at least wait until her front teeth come in.

I do like the DG3804B for many reasons, though I have the ETA2846 in several of my builds. The DG seems to be the more reliable movement for me. I've had trouble with several ETA movements, did a complete service on two, had MD2020 service two others. With the DG if it goes bad you just take it out, place it on the workbench, hit it with a 40oz hammer and buy a brand new one for $25. And at a glance it even looks more like a gen Rolex movement than the ETA does. Of course, I am a cheap bastard, so that goes with a grain of salt...

My insert is made to fit gen bezels. The outside diameter has fit all the replicas that I know of, so far. As with freddy's phase I and my first, also a Silix, the bezel needed to be deepened for the insert to sit properly. To fit the ETA2846 to panerai's case I machined a movement ring down to fit. I did no measurments, just kept working on it until the inside cleared the movement, and the outside was able to seat in the case.

I did that with limited success. On ETA movements the date wheel has a tight clearance to the ETA dial spacer. Any tiny misplacement of solder or misalignment will make it hang up.

The first is interesting, I've seen the 2nd before here and on Yuki's site. There was a golf club epoxy I used years ago, very shiny black, called 'Conap', I think. It was a quick set and had the characteristics to hold an iron head on a shaft at high torque. If the stuff I have fails, I may go looking for that stuff.

Yep, soldering makes a difference on finished dials, and not a good one! I'm told the dial feet machine does work by soldering on finished dials. That's why an epoxy that really works is so necessary. I'm not buying one of those.

Well, so far so good. The first is about a month in service now, the latest about a week. I did rough up the back of the dial where the feet would attach, and roughed up the head of each foot. Each dial was bare when I did them and I applied the decal after roughly 24 hours of curing. So, they held up during the application, trimming, and luming, then installation. I tried several ways to solder the feet in place, but could not get that to hold at all. The low temp liquid solder would not hold at all, and the Stay-Brite silver solder failed when I tried to mount the dial to the movement. The Stay-Brite is what was used to fill the gouges I made in the face. Both usually hold very strong in other applications. I use an old movement, put the dial feet in the holes and then put the dial spacer ring under the head of each in place, just as it would be finally mounted. Then lock the feet in position, the dial ring flush to the movement. A drop of epoxy on the head of each foot, apply the dial and center it. Then wait to cure. It has worked on both ETA and DG movements now, 3 total.

I tried JB Weld, both the long curing and the 'kwik' and both failed. Then I tried golf club reshafting epoxy, which is 24 hour cure. That works but I'm not that patient any longer. Then I tried the Loctite Quickset 5 minute epoxy in the double syringe style tube. The first dial feet failed, but that was after about 4 hours. After 12 hours the feet stayed and worked well. The 6542 dial has been locked in an ETA 2846 and out 3 times now with no failure. I am careful, but not much more so that with factory feet. Also, the Loctite dries to a yellowish color that makes a great aged bezel pearl.

I really destroyed that dial! But it serves now, so I am happy. I did epoxy on dial feet which makes a build so much easier. I've installed dial feet on 3 dials now, and it is the only way to do it. Dial dots just don't cut it. The 6538 Bond Sub dial I made using sheet brass, drill the center hole and shaped it round to size, then epoxied the dial feet on. But I am a 'master' now at the persistent act of 'do over'. I get lots and lots of practice!

I'm rather partial to nurses as well! Well done. Career Army. Dealing with squids gives me heartburn... The tweezers are very expensive, but oh so nice. You can check the trusted dealers or the member's sales area. There is always something there to play with.

With the scarcity of the T115, and it's high price if found, most aftermarket replacements use the T116 which is .5mm off. But the white dial I made initially for panerai's watch was made to center over the ETA movement date wheel, which is more to the right. I had no dial that has the date window in the Rolex position to use an overlay, The gen dials require a lot of work to use on an ETA movement, as you were first to know. The lip on a gen 6542 needs to be ground off flat, and the dial is still thick giving little pinion for the GMT hand to mount. So, a higher pinion is needed. I tried to use a gen dial on my first build and ran into all that, and then really messed up the dial. That's when I decided to try and salvage some of the money spent on it, ground the lip off, sanded down the back and face to make it thinner, filled the gouge marks I had screwed it up with using solder, and went to the water slide decal. It came out nice, as you might remember, but I've since redone the dial decal several times, every time I found an improvement in my method. I apologize for the pic, just did a quick one to show the date window.

I wish I knew then what I know now. The cartel 1655 Explorer II may be the best/easiest/cheapest answer for now. The tough part is grinding off the crown guards and buying a coin edge bezel. The movement/dial unit is set up perfectly for the case, so no special fitting/grinding spacers and rings. Both the 21j DG3804B and the 'Swiss' ETA are available. The date window is in the correct place, so refinishing the dial is all that is needed, and the GMT hands. I wish the factories would make the very same setup with no crown guards/coin edge for the 6542 and all the Subs. The builds would be so much easier.

Yes it is.

Well then, piece of cake! You can get all the good surgical tools like tweezers, clamps, and scalpels! My Lady is a surgical nurse so a few of the docs she works with took care of my needs. The scalpel is so much better than razor knives. 'Cmdr'? Are you Navy?

The 'cartel'/Chinese cases used for the 1655, that so many have used to make a gen-like 1675, and the 16570, that can be made to do the same for the 16710, both have the gen-like mounting for the crystal and bezel. I know about all the high priced ones, Yuki, Phong, NDT, etc., but are these two the only Chinese cases that have this feature? A 21j 1655 can be had from Perfect Clones for $148 complete. That really can bring the cost way down to modders on a budget. For the price of a bezel you can make quite a few other Rolex models depending on your skills. For a GMT build the movement/movement ring/dial spacer/dial are all made to fit the case already, so that eliminates those hand and stem height issues. The dial has the date window in the correct position, so those who can refinish a dial can use it as the base. It comes with a date wheel overlay, and we can put anything we like on it, as we now know. It'd be nice if they made all the reps in the same design and we could save the price of a bezel. Some bezels, like the old coin edge, start pricing at $300. So my question is, are there any other cartel/Chinese reps that have the same case/crystal/bezel setup?

Take a look at the 'cartel' 1655 that is being used to make the 1675. I have one that I have removed the crown guards on to make a 6542 case. The case looks very close, it is gen like crystal/bezel mount, but still needs the coin edge bezel, and I can't find one of those for under $300 - yet.

The movement listed in both Andrew and Joshua's "cheap" 1655 is a 21j DG2813. The DG 2813 is not a GMT movement, but the movement itself is the same as a DG3804B without the GMT parts. Looking at the movement in person, it is a 21j DG3804B. I suppose the factories could save a buck by buying DG2813 and converting then to GMT, but that really makes little sense. Even the rotor is that of the DG3804B, so my guess is that they are DG3804B movements and just misnamed in the descriptions. I have two brand new movements from Trusty with dials/hands as they came out of the watch on my desk, one from a 1655 and the other from a 16570, and they are identical to the DG3804B I have from Otto Frei.