alligoat

Nice write-up! The only thing I would add is if you look at the engraved 78350, the gen has a flat-top 3, the reps have round top 3's.

BT, I don't understand your aversion to the GMT modified 2836-2- it's a fairly reliable movement. Sure it might need to be serviced, but that goes for any rep movement. You're jumping into uncharted waters w/ no guarantees and the prospect of spending $3K-4K, maybe more on a franken. I think this new 1655 from Josh and the other collectors is a great option at a great price- just swap in some gen parts and away you go http://www.1-pc8838.com/00rlex00101-vintage-explorer-1655-ssss-swiss-2836-p-8964.html

This watch has some good features- the 2846-2 movement, the 93150 bracelet w/580 end pieces, decent bezel insert. Case and bezel are the same as the PT 1665- large lugholes and 2mm springbars. Swap in a better dial if you have to, put on a smaller crown and trim the cg's and it would be a great beater. Maybe they'll fix the dial- then it would only be the crown and cg's which need work. The laser etchings at 6 and 12 suck- keep the bracelet on!

Eurotimez used to sell the MBW silver DW in the correct open 6's and 9's w/ the flat top 3's. Somebody over in the EU can also get them, can't remember who. Mine is WR largely because jmb milled a custom retention ring for me and then I had to sand it on the inside to fit tightly. I used a T-39 domed crystal from GS. I also installed a gen crown and aftermarket tube, but your BK crown should work- just grease the seals. Grease the o-ring on the caseback, tighten it up and hopefully you're good to go. The HE valve is fake, so you don't have to worry about it! The T-39 high dome isn't exactly correct for the GWSD, but I like it. It sure is easy to scratch though- need to order some polywatch! I spent around $400 on my watch and I'm very happy with it. It's not perfect, but it's a cool beater for the price.

First pic is the PT 1665 with the MBW dial and 27 is slighly off position- last third of the month. Second pic on right is original PT1665 w/ original dial- the 5 is perfectly positioned- but the first third of the month is also perfectly positioned with the MBW dial. My 18 looks about like yours- too close to the left of the window!

I ran into a slight DW alignment problem w/ my PT1665 when I swapped over to an MBW dial. The first 1/3 of the month is fine, the second third is a little left but the last third is somewhat more noticeable. I never really checked out the PT dial because I swapped immediately I think it's in the printing of the DW because some days are up in the window and some are down. I just quit worrying about it- the watch is WR and I'm swimming and wadefishing w/ it just fine Here's an old pic of the PT on the right w/ PT dial, old CN DRSD on the left- but it's the 5th of the month and the date lines up just fine- first 1/3 of the month!

Here you go Teejay- a couple of Invictas with YM bezels- both were retrofitted although Invicta does have a few watches w/ the YM bezel still around These are both $100 Divers- the gold one has the new Miyota 8216- which is an update of the 8215, I guess. It's hard to find YM bezel inserts these days! I had to buy a $50 gold YM from Silix to take the insert off of it- tried to fit the coin edge bezel on also but couldn't make it work on the Invicta. The Invicta gold bezel reminds me of the noob bezel sort of- tough to get off and with the same three prong click ring on the bottom.

I kinda like the 1655 Explorer II w/ the asian 21j movement- too bad they can't do that w/ the project X- you can't beat $128!

I'm pretty sure they're functional. Therefore, to insure maximum WR, you can take the movement out and epoxy the back of the valve on the inside of the case. Or you could have the watch checked for WR- 4-5 atms say, no leaks and you're good in the swimming pool or for light snorkeling work. Generally, SSD's do fairly well when it comes to WR. Typical leaks are 1. Crystal and crystal gasket 2. Crown and case tube and gaskets 3. Case back and gasket 4. HE Valve

The watch looks OK, but I don't see how it could be a Swiss eta- they engrave the plates, color the gears- this one doesn't have the typical 3135 balance bridge, but it sure seems like a clone to me and then you get to pay the premium price for it. I prefer swiss, but I could care less about the engravings and colored gears- just give me a clone and charge me $80 less.

If you enlarge the pic in the top right hand corner of Josh's ad, you see the 'E' in Date just in the corner of the cyclops. By now you'd think they could get rid of the 'Date' and just make it Oyster Perpetual- instead they try to hide it with the hour hand!

Enjoy it A, it just doesn't get any better! Beautiful.

That grey dial looks interesting, always nice to see a change of pace. 3-4 years ago I built this white sub The dial was from a replicafactory rep- one of my first purchases before I found these forums. The watch has since been dismantled- the YM bezel is on a white dialed Invicta sub- a $100 beater. I've thought about getting the white sub dial relumed but haven't got around to it. When I get home Sunday evening, I'll see if I can't shoot a pic of the Invicta.

I couldn't tell from the pics if this model has the gold plating on the sides of the SEL center links or not. The movement is the asian 2813 automatic, hence the low price. It's not a quartz (i.e. battery). But asian 21j movements are hit or miss- if you get a good one, great, but if it putzes out on you- well you got what you paid for. Swapping in another movement would run you maybe $75 at a decent watchmakers. But for $88 you haven't lost a great deal of money. TT noobmariners are supposed to have good SEL's w/ correct gold plating on the sides of the center links. I don't know if BK still sells them- he's reputable and in the CONUS if that helps you. Andrew and Paul also carry noobs, but maybe not in the TT variety.

Same movement- stay away from it End links- SEL's on the bracelet next to the watch case show that the gold plating doesn't extend down the sides of the center link- this is a dead giveaway that it's plated gold- not solid gold like on a real Rolex. Looks like all of josh's TT's have this flaw. Might try Andrew- Trustytime, or one of the other dealers.

well, this is not a Submariner, it's a GMTIIC- GMT's have the 24 hour hand for telling time in a second timezone. So you need to keep looking! Clone movements are chinese copies of the swiss eta. In this case it's made to look like a Rolex 3135 movement with a modified bridge, but it's really like who cares. If you're going to get a clone movement, just stick with a plain one and save yourself some money. Decorating the movement to look like a Rolex movement is a waste of money and the movements aren't that reliable. Can't help you on boxsets, I never fool with them. Welcome aboard and keep reading and try the search feature- every so often it works if you speak nicely to it!

I would think there is more than one manufacturer of the modern ExpI, but I really don't know. I would doubt that the noobfactory produces this model, but that's just my educated guess. generally these are fairly decent reps because they're so simple. Get a few pics of the gen and then check them out against what our collectors have to offer. Good luck

You might try google or Bing. Basically the Explorer has been around since the early 50's when Hillary and Norgay climbed Everest, morphing into models like the 6610 and 1016. More modern models are the 14000 and 14200. The one you'll see around here the most is the 1016 which had a long run from the early 60's thru the 80's and is revered by the vintage fans around here. Good luck.

I think so. Old Daytonas at 19mm have holes the next size smaller as do Dates and Air Kings, etc. My 6238/9 took a gen 78350 w/ 571 ends from a gen AK and gen springbars w/o a hitch- they fit perfectly. I realize a 7835 w/ 271 ends would be more correct, or even a 7205 or 6635, but the modern bracelet sure fits nicely!

Nice job Dizzy- looks like a well worn 45 year old watch!

Nice comparison, LH. I think they both look pretty good!

Andrew confirmed that it is a Twinlock. He didn't know how it got on there- either a service item or possibly an odd part from the factory. Bear in mind, highoey, 7206 is very early 60's and 9315 is late 60's, early 70's. 93150's came out in the mid to late 70's. For an 80's 5513, 93150/580 is correct- Shear's 5513 bracelet was a 93150/501B. 501B's are most appropriate for a 16610, but this stuff gets mixed around all the time.

Just ran across this '83 matte dial 5513 on VRM- looks like the 702 crown to me http://www.network54.com/Forum/207673/message/1282826033/FS-+ It's from Andrew Shear if the link doesn't work. By '83 you would figure that Rolex would have upgraded to the 703, but then again, maybe not Edit: On closer inspection, there are no dots under the crown emblem! Both 702's and 703's have the 3 dots- for trip lock, as I recall. 700 crowns had no dots.

Thanks Chi and TBP for the kind words. Chi, I ordered the Patrizzi book, thanks for the lead. It's funny how with vintage Rolex the rules don't always apply. Now days they've become much more anal about these things- stuff they wouldn't have worried about 40-50 years ago.

Thanks, LH. You and I share a love for the 6238 and I appreciated your sharing the pic of your DW 6238 case last week. Luckily my 6239 case is a few years old and didn't have the 'tuma' at three o'clock. It's always a shame when the rep mfrs take a step back!