alligoat

A gold plated replica really shouldn't go in the water. Certainly not saltwater and probably not even a pool with chemicals in it. You might be OK washing the dishes if you have it checked for WR. If you want a watch for swimming, etc, get an SS Sub or something like that. I have a Zodiac dive watch that I put a TT oyster band on and went wadefishing in the saltwater with it. The gold on the band was gone in no time. Luckily the watch itself did fine. Don't even wear a gold plated rep to the gym- sweat and oils from your skin.... These gold plated watches are really just for show- the movies, the concert, dinner at eight... And probably not everyday wear. Also, there's no display back on these Rolex reps- you can't see the movement w/o removing the case back.

Since I assume you're using an ETA movement, you'll have to cut the dial feet off the Rolex dial. The Datejust dial will measure 28mm plus some. First step would be to uncase the Tudor Prince and measure the dial. If it's the same as the datejust dial, you're in luck. Too much bigger or smaller and you're SOL. You'll also need a datewheel overlay since the ETA datewheel sits outside of the Rolex datewheel. Might also need a cannon pinion change if the overlay doesn't have clearance under the dial and you have to use spacers like dial dots. Minute and second hands also have to clear the markers on the DJ dial.

There's no right answer at this point. You just have to make a decision and go with it. The 2836 and 2836-2 are one and the same. Whether or not you get a Swiss 2836-2, you won't know until you get the watch and at that point you're going to have to have a watchmaker look at it to tell you. You could end up with a clone asian 2836-2 which would be unfortunate if you paid for a Swiss. But is it worth sending the watch back to China and waiting another 1-2 months, probably not, IMO. Just chalk it up to experience. Carl's movement pic is an asian 21j movement (DG2813), but it is marked 2836-2! There's just no telling what the asians will do! But you need to just make a decsion, buy a watch and start enjoying the hobby- in a few months you'll know 10-20 times more than you do now.

The 'J' watch with the moon phase, maybe a Valjoux 730. First there was the V72C, then the V723 and finally the V730. It sure is a funky case- round and fat! 'H' looks like a V72, or possibly a later variant. 1976 is late in the V72 life, maybe a V726 w/ the 21.6k bph. The 7750 debuted in the middle to late 70's. But Rolex kept making the Daytonas until 87. Those prices are to die for! Thanks B for sharing- some cool history.

There is only one thing, the bracelet is modern, not original. Probably came on a 7836 folded link back in '72. But it does say 'serviced', so that saves a couple hundred dollars. Anything under $4K US would be a very good deal, IMO.

I would think over $4K- US, maybe more because it's in France/Europe- watches seem to command more over there. my guess is $4-5000 US.

Closed 6 on the 26 on the date is also correct- should be the flat top 3's on the date wheel, also. It's a beautiful watch.

Yesterday when I saw this, bidding was at $1200 or so. The sum of the parts is worth the $6100 it's at today depending on what you'd pay for the 18k case, etc. Ok, for you noobs, when I look at the movement, the first thing I always look at is the balance bridge. And this one is a dead giveaway with the pointer on the bridge- Rolex didn't do that on this model. Anything after a 6234 will not have a pointer on the balance bridge. Rolex uses the microstella screws for adjusting the movement. The 727 has been added- maybe by Phong. The wheel gears do look good- the gold color is a Rolex trademark. I'm am with Pete on this, it's a good looking rep. And I do think all of the bidders do know that for the most part. But if the bidding goes too much higher, that means there are a couple of idiots in there.

You have some very nice reps, but I think one gen would be in order. As for which one, I tend towards the older 'vintage' subs, although I must admit a new 16610 would be nice. However, if I were to buy a 16610, it would probably be an R serial- c. 1988-9- these are almost vintage in their own right. I do prefer the 16800/16610's over the 1680 for everyday wear as a beater because I'm always scratching the plastic crystals on older watches. But if you buy a new 16610, it wouldn't be a beater, I would think, but more of a dress watch. Also, a 16800 or an early 16610 might be found for $3000-3500. Add a service in there for around $200 aand you're still a couple of grand under a 1680 or new 16610.

I thought someone told me Spin Master was in Singapore. His specialty is vintage Daytonas (6263 & 6265's) with serviced 7760 movements, but I would think he could mod a red sub, it's really pretty simple.

It would help if you told us where you live. EU, USA, asia, Australia, etc.

Changing out SEL's is not a simple task. The SEL is comprised of three pieces and you have to separate them with something like a razor, remove them and then put the bracelet back together with the new SEL's. Ubi showed a quick brief pictorial a year ago or so- it's not for the feint of heart. Also, I'm not sure that it can be done on all SEL's.

Darn! I'm sorry to hear that the price is outrageous. I guess the other alternative is to buy a donor movement. But at that point you'd pay at least $500 for a non-working movement and $750 or so for a working one- possibly less if you could 'steal' one. Maybe a v23 would work as a donor- might get one of those for $300-500??? It would be cool if the Chinese or the Vietnamese would copy the V72 movt, but I doubt it will happen. The Swiss quit making the V72 30 years ago and the tooling for the parts is long gone.

WM9v2 (and probably v1 for that matter) will take a gen bezel assembly. Also, the Euromariner 16610 and the latest MBW 16610 should also take a gen assembly. For a franken TT, the hands won't work unless you use a 3135 Rolex movement, but the movement won't fit in the case w/o a spacer. You might search around for JoJo's TT franken sub- very nice w/ lots of gen parts, bezel, insert, dial, crown and tube, as I recall.

Try Blake Scott for vintage valjoux 72 parts: www.scotchwatch.com This came up a few years ago when someone was trying to locate a tap 10 stem for the Rolex crown.

Gioarmani was the one that was inpainting the ceramic rep bezel- he did a review on the GMTIIc- you might want to search for that. Like Polexpete says, you don't see parts for the GMTIIc for sale on places like ebay basically because it's too new. I'm not even sure if a watchmaker w/ a Rolex parts account could get you a replacement insert, although I guess he could use the story that the customer bumped/hit his watch and the insert popped out- into the ocean/lake/sewer, etc. But you don't even know if a gen insert would fit in a rep GMTIIc w/o mods.

I'd go with what BK is telling you. Although a C-2 gasket is technically correct for a 16610/16800 Rolex sub, you have to remember you're dealing with a WM9v1 (which isn't a real Rolex case, but a very good copy) and no one knows more than BK about this particular mod.

These watches aren't much. I guess you'd call then fantasy models- Rolex never made anything like them. 100m=330ft, not 220ft, so the first dial is wrong. There's never been a black dial sub with a blue bezel. There was a 1680 in the 70's with a blue dial and blue bezel, but that's about it. But at $60-70 plus shipping you're not spending too much money, So if you like them, who cares. They're just not very accurate as reps go.

The V72 movement looks nice also! I'd love to hear what all Yuki did. It's a beautiful watch.

Dial feet were at 2:30 and 7:30- that's correct also for the 3035 and 3135 movts.

The basic A7750 movement is a good movement, but typically they come somewhat dirty. After a servicing ($200) they should do fine for 4-5 years.

If you pay for Swiss, it would be nice if you got Swiss, but I would figure these days maybe you have a 50-50 chance of getting Swiss. Maybe less- especially from the cartel dealers like Josh and Andrew, etc. And I don't think the factories really care. Some dealers like Chris might still be true to their word. But you have to have on-site QC, drop shipping is an invitation to trouble. As for the clones, hasn't Ziggy stopped working on them? Too hard to adjust. My watchmaker won't work on them- made my nephew go out and buy an old ETA and installed it instead. And the SSD from Silix was supposed to be Swiss! I just hope the quality of clones improves, but luckily I have quite a few old Swiss etas from watches I no longer wear. My preference is definitely Swiss for the long haul, but I still buy asian 21j's for beating around. I've even bought a couple of Miyota powered knock-offs lately- they're very nice, keep good time and are WR!

Thanks for a great account of your trip to GZ, OS. Looking forward to the follow-up conclusion, it's been a great read.

Freezing means the running seconds at 6 is immobilized. Ziggy has done this on occasion with the Daytona seconds at 6 and the same principal would hold for the 3714. On a typical 7750, the running seconds is at 9 and thru a series of added gears it is moved to 6. But this bogs down the movement and is problematic for the watch. By disabling the running seconds, the rest of the watch can still function- the center chrono seconds hand and the 30 minute counter at 12 are still able to function just fine. Concepta had some gen movements for the 3714 for sale a while back. avitt had some success with some kind of coating (teflon? can't remember) on one of the bridges of the 7750 movement which reduced friction and allowed it to operate w/ the running seconds moved to 6. Keep searching and you should find the old posts- probably 6 mos to a year old. Try "IWC 3714".

At $200 x 250 each, you're actually talking about $50,000.00! BK is coming out with the 2824 in a YM case- correct crown position, pretty close to 1:1. WM9v2 has gotten pretty close on the sub case. If you took it to the next level w/ a 2824-2 movt, you'd almost be there. Sean at etaswiss has the 16610 case, supposedly accepts a gen movt. 1:1, I don't know, we haven't seen anyone with it yet here and it is too expensive ($600). But at what point do you piss off the rlx cops?