alligoat

'State of flux' pretty accurately describes the chinese watch industry, JB! Sometimes things improve for the better and sometimes they don't. As close as those 1665's and 1680's are to being right on, it's a shame they can't get them right. If they did it right, it couldn't cost them $5 more!

SEL's come attached to the bracelet, 92350 in the case of a modern 16610 sub- so you'd just need to buy a complete bracelet- Silix sells them as I recall.

They're just a cheap pair of rep end pieces- worth maybe $5. They hopefully would fit a 93150 oyster bracelet which is correct for early subs (5513, 5512, 1680, 1665) on to the early 16610's thru around 2000 when the 93250 came out with SEL's.

My wife had the TT DJ rep but it was a while back and it had the swiss eta, worked fine. Then she bought a gen TT DJ and had it serviced- it was a quickset date as I recall. Well, she couldn't keep it wound because she took it off every nite before bed. The next morning it would have stopped. Took it back to the watchmaker, but he said everything was OK. I've run into other women who've had the same problem. Apparently women don't move their wrists as much as their jaws! Now my wife wears a nice 14K quartz dress watch and I think quartz watches are just about right for most women.

If this is the Trusty 5513 you have in mind: http://www.trustywatchguy.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_11&products_id=216 I'd stay away. I agree with pyrite, crystal is wrong, case is wrong, dial is too yellow, can't drill the lugholes- they're poorly placed. Now, Paul has a 3-6-9 5513 which isn't too bad http://www.prowatch888.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_56_72&products_id=1199 Better crystal, you can pop out the metal surround pearl and put in a vintage acrylic dot, drilling the lugs is fine, I even put in a "gen" dial and it fit. Trimmed the cg's and made it WR. Nice little beater with a true swiss eta. Sorry about the pic, but you get the idea Of course, an MBW is still the way to go if you're serious although you could swap in a gen type 5513 dial into a PT 1665 and have a nice watch (with an HE valve to boot!) Maybe in the next few months someone will come out with a PT type 5513, like the 1665 and 1680's out now.

I would have figured something like that as earlier, pre ETA. As I recall the original Valjoux 7750's were only 17 jewels. At any rate, it's a cool find, congrats.

Your Newman dial would have to be for a 7750 movt and even then it might not fit in a 40mm 16520 case. Pull the dial out of your 16520 rep and measure it. But my guess is the vintage dials are probably still going to be smaller.

Gen.

Pearl looks good! CG's look decent. keep trying on better pics!

Those are good choices, folkert. I think you'll be happy with them.

Looks great freddy! You are definitely 'franken builder' of the year!

That white 1665 might be the chinese copy of the MBW 1665. The flat white pearl in the bezel insert looks like MBW. If it takes gen parts- crystal, and bezel insert, that would be good. The clone 2836 is a minus when compared to the 2846 swiss eta. Bracelet and end pieces look correct- 93150 and 580 (585 would be best, but 580 is ok). Now there is a white 1665 which the collectors have with correct datewheel, correct lugholes and springbars and a better bezel insert- don't know if Trusty (Andrew) carries that particular model. Josh and Puretime have it for sure. For now, I'd stick with the 1680- in white. But bear in mind, these are reps- every one of them has a few shortcomings in this price range.

I agree with what Andy said. It's ironic, but I don't believe Andrew's claims in regards to this 5512. Certainly the bracelet and the bezel insert aren't that good. The 2846 is preferable over the 2836 when it comes movements that mimic the vintage rolex because the 2846 beat is 21600 and it's closer to the old 18000/19800 bph Rolex movements. The 2836 is more modern and has 28800bph. It's not a big deal, just another quirk of the serious rep fans. But the 5512 could certainly be a good beater- not too expensive and should give you good service.

I think the 1680 is the better watch of the two and certainly a good buy. I don't know if the collectors like Andrew, Puretime or Josh will come out with a 5512 of similar quality as the 1680 any time soon. But it would be cool if they did. Until then, either pay more for an MBW 5512 or go for the one andrew is selling.

Nice job, Shawn! Interesting combination of MBW and PT parts.

Not bad. Now days it's hard to find a Swiss ETA for $100 and swapping it out is certainly worth $40, IMO.

I agree with redwatch, that's some pretty awesome custom work. Great job, Joey!

Nice find LH. Hopefully some of the other dealers will start carrying it soon.

It just looks to me like age darkened brass from the pic. dial feet are at 6 and 11:30 which is correct for the 1530 or 1520 movement. Feet first 5513 dial, early 70's on to early 80's but I can't tell much more because of the pics You need to set your camera on macro and crop your pics to 1064 x 764 or something like that or smaller It does look like the 'I' in Submariner has been scratched.

Very nice job! I like the red datewheel, it's cool that the 2893-2 worked out for you and the dial itself is quite an accomplishment. Congrats on an excellent job.

5513

I'm partial to the first one myself, #305 which is a silver dialed 6238. The last one is also fine (306)if you like the black dialed 6238, but the gen is fairly rare in the real world 524 and 525 are also OK but the dials are a little more off from the gens- they're 6234's. 418 has a bezel which is too wide, IMO. Like freddy says, when serviced, all should do fine. So it really come down to which one you like the best. Just remember they are reps and aren't perfect, but very few people will pick up on it in the wild, if any!

You could go to the MBK Mall in Bangkok, but that might be a little expensive. Next best bet is to keep your eyes peeled in the sales sections of the rep forums http://www.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/real-deal-mbw-mbk-5513-54938.html This one's a good deal and won't last long.

Yes, the rehaut engraving is fine on the newer models- it's just that old farts and other vintage aficionados are slow to except change! The 16610 has been around for 20+ years. Started with a tritium dial and hands and a 93150 bracelet and 501B ends, with lugholes in the case. Changed to luminous and then super lume on the dial and hands, 92350 bracelet and SEL's and finally lost the luholes 2003-4 or so and rehaut engraving starting w/ the M serial. Now we're up to the V serial. Also, the 3135 movement has been improved along the way. The only other Sub w/ a longer history is the 5513 which was produced from the early 60's to around 1990 (L serial).

The pearl looks pretty good. If you keep your eyes open, you might be able to pick up a gen insert over a VRF or on ebay for $80 or so. I've picked up gen tritium inserts, slightly used for $60. Patience is the key. I didn't realize that the WM9V2 had the RolexRolex engraving on the rehaut. But it's certainly a good watch, enjoy it.