alligoat

The price isn't all that bad. I built a 5508 a few years ago, case and dial from NDT, and I spent around $2,500 putting it together myself. But darn, the lugs are too fat, IMO. I guess I have to get around to thinning them down! Like Nanuq says, there's always shortcomings to these frankens. It say,'Movement is in good condition'- was it serviced or is it just working? The bezel pearl needs to go- no metal on the vintage pearls! There's always something- but heck, it's a rep franken, it'll never be perfect. Seems like Yuki had a 7922 or 7924 Tudor big crown for around $1100. If you like Tudors, that could be a less expensive alternative.

I agree with KBH, just buy yourself a swiss eta noobmariner and save the extra money. Noobs are generally pretty WR right out of the box, but get it checked out by your watchmaker and go from there.

+1

My preference is the matte dial w/ maxi markers! Gloss dial with WG surrounds came in around 1984, same as the 16800 and 16660.

The dial is fine, I just don't know if it would command a premium price or not. I wouldn't bother changing it.

It's a plastic crystal and can be polished or replaced fairly easily. Can't remember if it's a 135 or 145 crystal.

VRF- vintage rolex forum is a good place- they have a marketplace for sales. I figure this watch is worth $1500US give or take. It looks fine, don't know if the dial would help get a better price or not. Retail price could run $2000-2250. Service in 2005 means it could be due again for another service.

The dial is worth $50 or so. The case appears to be chinese, somewhat wokky rehaut, maybe $50-75 with the bracelet.

Here's an 80-81 5513 that I ran across on VRF with a 702 tube/crown

Interesting LH. The Dw 6238 case certainly does have an unsightly growth at the case tube area. I just looked at a 6239/7750 case on the bay from DW and it appears to have the same crown area bulge http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230512529983&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT I'm off to see my watchmaker today and will check the older 6239 DW case which I have- hope there's no bulge! My watchmaker says he can fit the Wittnauer V72 in there, so I hope to be proceeding with my 6238/9 transitional.

Some of the dealers like Josh and Puretime (I believe) have a new model of the 1655 which is pretty nice. It comes in eta and asian 21j movements, yellowed or white markers (I prefer white myself), folded link bracelet and is a very nice watch for the price. http://www.1-pc8838.com/00rlex00104-vintage-explorer-1655-ssss-asian-2813-p-8989.html This looks like a very nice watch out of the box and might not even require mods. 5512's are a little tougher. To get a decent one, you're probably going to have to get an MBW and then you are looking at some mods to make it better. Drill the lugholes trim the crown guards install a better bezel insert Other mods can also be done, gen crown and tube, correct bracelet (93150 w/ 580 ends), and some gentle aging to make it look like a 40 year old watch. But first step is to get the watch and then you can proceed with the mods from there. And above all, keep reading and learning- it doesn't happen overnight!

I've got the cartel 6238 from Josh and one from Angus-Puretime- the Angus one was more accurate. Both have the asian 7750 and the 36-37mm case. Haven't seen the 6238 from DW yet- but with assymetric pushers and a cartel dial and an asian 7750, it could be pretty decent. If DW has the smooth 6238 bezel, you could mate that with the 6239 V72 case and make a nice V72 6238. So far, this is about as close as I can come- a transitional 6238/6239 with the 6238 dial and 6239 case However, I haven't built this watch yet because I can't fit the V72 in the 6239 case- this is a common problem with the DW cases.

Bending the click spring sounds like a good idea to me. The gen 16800 I'm wearing today has no play- it clicks forward, with no back play.

With the case back opener- 29.5mm size, a screwdriver and a spare case clamp, it should be an easy fix. You shouldn't even have to remove the crown and stem, just remove the case back and install the new case clamp- hopefully you still have the screw, check to make sure the dial is centered and tight in the case and close it back up. Oh, you might want to loosen up the other case clamp and then tighten them both up once the dial is centered. It's an easy fix if you have a spare case clamp.

Nice review, M! Thanks.

I think the pearl looks pretty good myself. Metal pearl surrounds came around with the 16800 and 16660SD. The first 16800's and 16660's had matte dials w/ no metal surrounds. Around 1984 the dials where changed from matte dials to the modern style with white gold surrounds and gloss dials- which is the current dial also.

I agree with this as does freddy- in fact freddy was the one that pointed out watchbandman to me as being in the Faisel group a few years ago. There is another seller on ebay who sells these TT bracelets- unmarked. Around $350-400, can't find them right now, maybe used to go by the name Miss Caroline, or something like that. Like BT says, maybe a decent plated bracelet from BK.

I would think around 1980. But you see 1665's into the early 80's- late as 83- but the 16800 always had the 703 crown and it came out late 79/early 80, AFAIK. Don't know if those late 1665's and 5513's had 702's or 703's- but you would think 703's since it's a logical upgrade and we know they are used in servicing.

You might search around- I recall seeing this watch posted last month, maybe runs around $1100US. But I think it should be a 390 movement to be correct. Still it's not a bad franken. Could definitely use some aging though.

I'm with chefcook on this, it works. I did glue the insert in to the bezel though.

I agree Andy, you've got to set a budget and try to live with it! I guess that's what I liked about my PT 1665- decent watch for around $400 w/ the mods, which I did myself, and it's WR to boot.

Andy, marsupilami is doing, or did a batch of the 702 tubes and he's over in the EU- Germany. They were in the $30-35 range as I recall. Moelarrycu- Mark Greenberg- on ebay has the 702 crowns for $69-79 from time to time. So you could put together a 702 crown and tube setup for a little over $100. Kinda like the PMWF insert and Ofrei pearl- another $100! But I bought a used 5513 service insert from Italy for $80- keep your eyes peeled on the VRF market. Watch looks good!

RM88 is correct, it looks like you have a gen SD insert which is around 1mm smaller than the Sub insert. Also, the 14060 sub insert is smaller- don't know if it and the SD inserts are the same or not. They both take a smaller crystal than the gen sub- the 286- not the 295-C2 that goes on the 16800/16610 subs. This is where the rep mfrs kinda screw things up cause they use the std submariner sizes when making the SD and the 14060 reps. It helps to have a set of calipers so you can measure this stuff!

Looking good! That's a beautiful dial.

Cool, looks like you're on your way! Too bad you have to drill the lugs and the bracelet ends- I was hoping the rep makers were getting that one down like on the PT1665 and the new 1680 subs. look forward to seeing more.