alligoat

And of course you can buy hands from Clark's Watch Supply for something like $15 or so. 1520/1530/1560/1570 are all the same.

I would figure a completed 6538 is going to be expensive- at least $3500. Phong would want $4500 plus. If you do it yourself, yuki case and dial $850 movement and service $1200-1700 hands, say $200 Install 50-100 So a rough estimate is $2300-2850, say. you might do it for less if you get a deal on the 1030 movt. I spent somewhere between $2200-2500 building a 5508 a year ago from NDTrading. I quit keeping trade at some point!

Michael Young could probably get you a set of relatively unaged hands. But you might need someone like Ziggy to color match the hands and dial. I don't know anything about the pearl, but once again, you might have to go to Michael Young for a better insert and pearl. You won't know till you have the yuki insert in hand.

There's two 1575 movements, the 1575 w/ date and the 1575GMT(also w/ date, of course). Hour, minute and second hand are the same for either. The GMT hand on the 1575GMT is on the bottom for that movement.

It doesn't have the oversized, visible Rolex crown on it. Good date mag, also.

OK, looking thru ebay, here's an OYSTER PERPETUAL watch w/ the 1030 movt. So far it's reasonably priced: http://cgi.ebay.com/A-1956-GENTS-S-S-ROLEX-OYSTER-PERPETUAL-WRISTWATCH_W0QQitemZ320438545603QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Jewelery_Watches_Watches_MensWatches_GL?hash=item4a9ba02cc3 Then it's off to the watchmaker for a service and let him install the dial and hands (check Yuki for hands, if not, try Michael Young @ Classic Watch Parts), put the crown on the stem, install the movement, etc in the case. He may have to supply a few holddown tabs or a couple of screws, but it shouldn't be any big deal. Looks like Yuki's case come w/ the crown, bezel and insert and crystal. Should be fairly simple and pretty easy for any competent watchmaker.

Get yourself a Rolex 1030 movement and you're ready to go. I would check ebay for one of these- probably in a vintage watch. But expect to spend $1000-1500 and a couple of hundred to service it. Yuki can probably get you a hand set also. If you're going to try to fit an ETA movement in there, buy an MBW/MBK 6538 instead and just do some mods. I agree w/ Freddy, if you're going the Yuki route, spend the money to build a correct franken.

Thanks for the tropic/cyclops list, LHOOQ. It's very helpful. I doubt your watch is the same size as a 1610. Heck, I'm not even sure if a 1610 is a Datejust. There is no replica of the 1600 series DJ's that I'm aware of. I doubt there are any replicas of the later 16013/16014/16030 DJ's. My thinking is that the printing on Hont's case is a misprint, probably. I saw a partial list of cyclops to tropic conversions yesterday: Cyclops to tropic 25-100 switches to 25-3 25-108 " " 25-12 25-121 " " 25-33 25-122 " " 25-2 25-135 " " 25-29 25-144 " " 25-19 25-246-c " " 25-246 Nothing for a Tropic 118 though You may be better off just leaving your plastic crystal on there- it looks fine to me.

A Euromariner is an MBK with a noobmariner dial. So therefore what you're looking for is an MBK 16610 case. But Chris is the omly one selling cases that I know of.

Very nice, Marty. I've had my eye on Bill's stuff for about 9 months now- I'm really impressed with it. Finally getting ready to get an Explorer I dial and hands. Congrats.

I'd be interested in the Rolex Forums list that matches crystals w/ model #'s. The problem you run into w/ reps is that they may not match any standard Rolex plastic crystal. You need to buy a $10-15 pair of calipers from a place like Harbor Freight. Then you can measure the outside of the inside lip of the case which the crystal fits over and the inside lip of the retaining ring (bezel). I do know that a 5500 Explorer would take a T-12. Don't know about a 1016. Another possibility might be the T-21- it went on the 6234/6238/6239/40/42/42/6263/6235. These were all 36-37mm cases from the 60-70's.

I must admit, lani, I really like that Explorer on the dark brown gator strap. With a little bit of aging, it would look just fine, IMO.

Heck guys, let's face it, we're all cheap bastards, or we wouldn't be here in the first place! But LHOOQ did a fine job nevertheless and sometimes you have to spend a little more money to get the right look. It's just ironic that the bracelet costs almost as much as the watch itself.

Good job, and an excellent franken. As Demsey says, no one will ever know. I don't even think the datewheel matters- I think if Rolex were to put a new datewheel in a 16014 during service these days, it would have the closed 6's and 9's (i.e. modern). They did that on my 16800 when it was serviced- it even had smaller font , hence bad date mag. Luckily, i was able to pick up an old datewheel and install it- fixed the problem. Some things, Rolex just doesn't care about, I believe. Like Freddy says, the 2836 is correct for your watch w/ the 28.8K beat. here's mine form 3 years back

Very nice. I especially like the job your specialist did on the lugholes. But I don't know about cheap bastard, jmb, by the time you buy the Yuki bracelet, drill the lugs and pay for the watch, you're easily over $200. But it's well worth the expense- there's just no easy way to get a cheap 1016 that looks worth a hoot. next step would be to have a watchmaker regulate the movement- maybe get it a little closer- a $15-20 expense.

sounds like you boogered up the keyless works- which movement is it, BTW. You can try turning the crown/stem whille gently pushing it in, but you may be due for a trip to the watchmaker.

You actually might be able to put a Rolex 3035 movement in there, but my guess is that the stem position on a 3135 would be too high. I did see a noobmariner case (F520117) that someone put a 3035 in. But all I would ever do is put a 2836-2 in there- I don't think it's worth it to put a Rolex movement in a rep like that.

Been there, done that. Can you get the rat tail file in there and keep trying to unscrew whats left of the case tube out? A small ease-out also might work. If you can do that, then just clean out the hole with the tap- 3.0mm x .35. If you were to drill the hole, you'd need to use a 2.65mm drill bit and then retap the hole w/ the 3.0mm x .35 tap. I've broke my share of case tubes, but I've always been able to back out the broken end w/ the file.

It's worth a try. Another option might be to ask Chris at Eurotimez if he could get the old MBW datewheel w/ open 6/9's- not the new older one w/ flat-top 3's and open 6/9's. The open 6/9's, round top 3's was used for 16800's, 16014's, 16013's and 16030's- all the models from the 80's that used the 3035 movt. Freddy's rules are generally true, but even Rolex doesn't always follow them! For example, the FG YM 16628 with the white dial and black onyx markers usually has a white datewheel. But trying to figure out Rolex can be tough.

What you have to do is find the rep friendly watchmaker in your area. This is a small independent repair guy typically. Also, if you tell us where you are, maybe someone can help you out. From the GTG's here in Houston, I know there are 3-4 watchmakers that'll work on reps- certainly makes the hobby much more enjoyable.

The 'old' datewheels from Cubic Works w/ the open 6's and 9's are a thing of the past, I believe. For the last 2-3 years it's been the modern datewheels. Kinda like lugholes in Sub cases, they've all but disappeared. China is going modern!

Yep, I've done that- brushed the crystal of my WM 1680 along a concrete bench at the gun range a couple of weeks ago. Boogered up the cyclops pretty good. Lots of polishing to do. Beautiful watch. I've got it's little brother, c. 1966, C&I flimsy bracelet, silver dial aged to a creamy tan, stick hands and a 1570. I think of it as classic understatement.

It's pretty amazing what the chinese will do! Take a 2836 clone and decorate it w/ Rolex markings and then modify the balance bridge to make it look like a 3100 series Rolex movement. Look at the keyless works above the stem, the stem release slot, the click wheels, etc, all classic 2836 features. Like Freddy says, these just showed up this week, so no one's got one yet. But being that it's a clone, I figure it at so-so. Probably not worth the extra bucks.

7-63 on the C&I bracelet. Early 1500 w/ alpha hands, 1560 movt and a smudged datewheel?

Better yet, get all three! But seriously, you can't go wrong with any of the three, so it just comes down to personal preference- which one speaks to you?