alligoat

Welcome aboard! 1. The black marker surounds are correct for a late model Explorer II white dial. 2. The date alignment in the date window is a little trickier- it probably entails removing the movement from the case, and could mean removing the hands and dial and re-positioning the datewheel overlay- if it has one. But considering you only paid $80 for the watch, it may be just an asian 21j movement w/ an asian DW. So then you are pretty much stuck w/ what you have.... 3. I don't know about the DW clicking, but the date and GMT hand moving by turning CW or CCW in the second position is OK. Enjoy your watch, enjoy the forum, there's a shitpot here to learn and keep reading and use the search function- it's so-so but sometimes it performs OK. You've come to the right place! And maybe after a while you'll be able to spend more than $80 on a rep. But heck, there's decent reps out there for $80-120, you just have to know where to look.

My theory, delta, is that John just wanted to flip this quickly and make his money. I agree that he could have fixed it up, but then he might have had to be truthful about it. This way he can say, "I just sold this watch, I didn't do anything to it." A lot of places try to say a watch is 100% original Rolex, but on a 40 year old watch, that's very very rare. And even Rolex will put new parts in- sure they're genuine Rolex parts, but they're not the original parts, those have been replaced.

Very nice watcher. I especially like the crown position on this and hope we will see this case in a regular 16610 soon. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful. I'm a big fan of the dark brown croc/alligator straps on Subs. Also, on my O&W MkIII, my MKII 3-6-9 Explorer, and my TT DJ!

The insert is not original either. Without seeing the case tube, I can't tell if it's a 702 or 703 crown, but the crown does look more like a 703, IMO. I'm not sure about overpriced these days, Mark Greenberg also has a red sub up for sale w/ B&P for $14,500! And it's a MkIV dial, not a III. I would think there is some frankenizing going on these days- buy a good MkIII red sub (the value is in the dial)at $7800 and fix the bad parts- DW, crown and tube, insert, put it on a 9315 and you've easily added $2K of value....

I agree, the clasp isn't correct- should be a smooth fliplock, but more importantly, the date font is wrong on the 3- should be the flat top 3. But then again, I'm never sure about those things, Rolex could give a shite about datewheels and could have replaced it, or maybe it's original. But chances are good it isn't original, IMO.

I think it's fine. I also wouldn't suspect Jeffrey Hess of knowingly selling a fake. But like everyone else, the people working for him may not be that knowledgeable. But this watch looks fine, it's gen! Don't forget the 14060 is a slightly smaller case, maybe a shallower rehaut...

Yep, JJ, I missed your signature underline! I was reading about 1030's being in watches in the early 60's earlier this week, I believe it was the Explorers- cant'remember the ref. #'s - 6650, 6653... I even took notes on my desk pad because I can't remember these early #'s! Same old Rolex story- they used whatever they had back in the old days...

Absolutely Beautiful, JoJo. That dial and case are certainly pristine! But I am surprised that it has a 1030 in it from 1964. I recently bought a gold shell Air-King from 1959 w/ a 1530 in it.

I take the bezel off, use GS Hypo-cement and clamp it for an hour or so. GS hypo-cement isn't the strongest, but it's OK- if you decide to remove the insert you can do so easily. Epoxy would be better, but it's more permanent.

Yes, at that point you either glue it or loose it eventually. I glued my gen insert to my Euromariner bezel- it snapped in, but kept popping out when knocked or tapped too hard.

Unless you've got a watchmaker who has an assortment of crystals, I'd just order another cheap sub and start over. I don't think the chinese use anything standard on these reps, they just build them from the ground up, so matching parts is next to impossible. But I will measure the crystal of one of my no cg subs tonite- ID and OD, since I need to glue the crystal back on and try to resurrect the watch- maybe like JMB says, you could get a crystal from Ofrei.

Congrats! Sounds like you've a very nice sub there.

You can always take the polished finish off the the center links- might want to mask the side links w/ tape, use something like 320/400/600 grit wet/dry sandpaper to brush w/ or a fiberglass type pencil. Just keep working in the same direction.

Cool! Thanks to Arthur and By-Tor for the run down on the transitional GMT's. But those numbers do get confusing. Depending on price, it looks like a good deal.

Beautiful watch and great pics, Stephane. Here in Texas, the TT DJ's are de rigueur. Last weekend at a Wal-Mart store in Uvalde, Texas, I saw a young hunter wearing a TT DJ, it went well w/ his camo! He looked to be about 35-40 to me. I do like my TT frankenjust for dress occasions, but I must admit, it doesn't get alot of wrist time. But you made a good trade for a white Explorer II- a very nice no bling sportsman's type of watch! Thanks for sharing. And look forward to seeing the EXP II when you get it.

A pic of the movement would seal the deal! The dial is gen, I've not seen a fake one w/ the Swiss- T<25. $2500 USD would be great w/o the bracelet- you can buy gen jubilees for $200 and up on the bay. Might want to figure a couple hundred dollars extra for a service.

I'm thinking 16750 also, but ask the seller. Open 6 on the date would be correct on the 16750. Movement, 3085? just my guess, GMT's aren't my strong suite. Swiss- T<25 dial would be OK, as well as Oyster Perpetual Date.

here's one from Silix w/ a 35mm case, only drawback is the automatic eta movt, which translated means 'asian clone' http://www.silix-prime.com/rols006-p-1474.html

Congratulations. Although Daytona4Me hangs out on RWI primarily, I'm glad it worked out for you. Between here, RWI and RepGeek, you've pretty much covered the most popular rep sites. The nice thing is there's a great selection of reputable dealers between the 3 sites.

There are smaller Explorer I's out there- like the old model 5500 from Rolex which was a 34mm case, basically an Air-King w/ the Explorer dial- usually marked Precision under the center. Powered by a 1520 movement typically. This is a smaller watch which might be nice for a lady. Air-Kings and Rolex Dates use the smaller 34mm case.

Excellent!

Congratulations. They both look great. FrankenJusts are a great way to go, good value for the money.

I put the hole for the click spring at the 5 minute position also, end of spring at twelve o'clock. Then I position the insert with the pearl at twelve and press down towards six with bezel assembly. That way as you're pressing the bezel into place, you're keeping the click spring in place. I've been able to press my bezels on w/ my thumbs, including my gen 16800.

Right, Freddy, and didn't it sell for some ungodly amount in a recent Antiquorum auction? BTW, here's a 6202 Turn-o-graph I ran across- maybe these had A296 automatic movements. Looks like new bezel, service dial, new hands... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350280933285&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT