alligoat

I know nothing about Longines, but here's a link to Trusty's Longines Legend https://trustytime88.io/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=134&products_id=25501 This 42mm, and from what I've read, the 39mm is a newer iteration. Maybe a used on on Chrono24 might be in your budget.

So I guess you're too picky for Buford dial from Mochacha. Maybe Mochacha could make you a plain 5517 dial. 5517s ran from 1971-1979 so the dial print is white. The Dark Lord makes earlier gilt dials but I don't know how to get in touch with him and besides, he'd be wrong for a later white print Sub dial probably. The key to a good 5517 is going to be in the aging of the dial and hands- making the lume look good- yellow but not too yellow. Aging the case is also important. You might also talk to Tripdog and see what he suggests. Ruby has dials and Yuki might still be around. https://www.mochacha.org/shop-1/vintage-rolex-5517-milsub-burford-matte-black-repaired-dial-hand-set

Check out jmb- Justin. Looks like he still does engraving- he's also thinking about doing a batch of 1016 bezels.

The parts list is fine but I am concerned about the cyclops position- it could be the camera angle but it looks too far to the right. And yes, the dial and case need some aging but the insert looks good.

Back in the day you could build one of these for a somewhat reasonable, albeit, expensive price. Now days you can double or triple the price to build one. Gone are the days when gen and good rep parts were easily available. And of course MBW is gone. It's a beautiful watch- a true franken!

No, the 16610 has come a long way since Eddie Lee. What Eddie sold looked good but wasn't gen like construction. Since the early 2010s gen like construction came around and things got better. Watchmaker 9 started some of this, MBW and TW Best also followed suite. TC had some very nice 16610s and since then JKF, ARF and RAF have followed up. Now days you can buy nice 16610 rep cases from China via AliExpress. And of course the VR3135 and VS3135 rep movements are available. My last build was a TC case, a JKF dial and hands, a noobmariner 93250 bracelet and a VR3135 movement. I think the insert was a flat 4 rep insert with a watchmaterial.com pearl. I first tried a SH3135 movement but that was a $250 mistake with service and I have been happy with the VR3135 since then.

I must admit that my gen Rolexes are all in the safe- seeing very little wrist time these days. My replicas with eta movements are running strong. I even have a few dg2813s that have stood the test of time. I did have to have a couple of franken DJs serviced a year or two ago- a 16013 and a 16014, both with 2836-2s, I built them 16 years ago. I have gotten into Seikos recently- building homage watches with the NH35 and NH36 movements- nice $200 beaters. They may look like a YM but they're not.

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I'm with pompompurin on this- buy the Korean case. Granted you'll have to buy a crystal, bezel, crown, a set of hands and a VR3135 or VS3135 movement. But I think you'll be happier in the long run. Another option would be to buy a 36mm rep DJ with a 3135 movement in it and swap in your dial. These would likely be the later DJs- 116200 or the 126200, but this would be a cheaper route.

Interesting that you were able to use a BP case. Which movement did you use? We're seeing people use this gen spec case for these 16710 builds https://www.ebay.com/itm/363982081862 They still have to get the gen spec bezel parts, most go to Startime Watch Supply here in the USA.

A real Day Date in white gold would be a 118239, so I'm assuming this is a rep. Also, a real DD wouldn't need to have the date aligned! I don't know of anyone who can do this type of work for you. I used Mymanmatt and he was very good at dealing with DWOs, but if he's retired, that's too bad. Maybe you could find someone over at RWI who could help you out.

The JKF- JK Factory- makes a decent 1680- it is a cartel watch, but it can be a base to start from. It comes with a 2836 clone or a dg2813. With the 2836 clone, switching to a 2846 is easy but even the 2846s are hard to find these days. Case shaping is needed- esp. at the crown guards. But to do cgs, I have to pull the case tube which means I've trashed it out getting it out of there. Tap the hole, install a 7030 tube and a 703/704 crown. I use the WSO990 case tubes and have found a nice 704 rep crown on ali express for around $20. 702 assemblies are around- Athaya has them, but not sure how good they are. Drilling lugholes always helps. Bracelet is a 93150 rep, but it's decent. Haven't tried the fat 2mm spring bars, but the 1.8mm old style DJ bars work fine w/o having to enlarge the holes in the bracelet. Crystal is glued on, but it's a decent top hat so I've left it alone. Bezel insert has a decent all acrylic pearl so I'm happy with it. The JK comes in red or white, so take your pick. You could swap out the dial if you want- decent rep dials are around. DWOs, date wheel overlays, are also around- I just haven't found one lately. JKs run from $145 to maybe $245, so the price is reasonable. I've been buying from Marvellous lately. Next step up is a Viet case from someone like Ruby, but that will put you over $1K pretty quickly by the time you get a movement- not sure what will fit- a dial, and a bracelet. 93150s are tough to find these days, btw.

Building a 1680 is tougher these days- gen parts are few and far between. They're also very expensive and there's a bunch of fakes out there parading as gens. I've built a few frankens with gen movements back in the day, but wouldn't do it these days. Servicing 1500 movements is getting tougher- 1530, 1520, 1560 and 1570-5. If you have a decent watchmaker you'll probably be ok, but obviously you can't go to Rolex. My recent 1680 was an old MBW which I was lucky to pick up. I put in an eta 2846-2, and a few gen parts and did some case reshaping. Your 1500 is going to be worth more than any franken you build. Phong is still around, Rubyswatch.com has cases and dials, MQvintagewatches.com is in Vietnam. Mochacha.com has dials.

I've been looking at these Polars lately. I'm doing a Seiko one- GMT white Seiko dial from Aliexpress, NH34A GMT movement, case and hands fr Ali, under $200! Waiting on parts from China! The other possibility is a BP Polar, modified with a VR3186- still thinking about that one....

Nice! I've been on a NH35/36 run for the last few years. The availability of aftermarket Seiko parts is amazing. My friend refers to some of the dials as feiko Seikos. From China of course. But it's fun to put together a watch for $150-200.