alligoat

Very cool. Congrats on your new gen!

Very nice, Shundi! With a 1560 and alpha hands, I'd date it to the early 60's. I kinda like the oyster band myself. Maybe you could pick up one of those old flimsy C&I bands- I wouldn't think those would be too expensive, maybe a couple of hundred dollars. I just bought a 5506 Air King w/ a 1530 movt, gold shell case. It went straight to the watchmaker for servicing and a light polish. I figure it's around 1957-8. These vintage oysters aren't cheap, but they're still somewhat reasonable.

I think the 8mm crown on the 6536 is misinformation- just like the 16800 coming out in 1982 w/ an 8mm crown- we all know it was a 7mm crown, Part#24-703. That little write-up on TRF was interesting, but we don't even know where it came from. I just don't put any stock in it. If you look at the pic posted on Strong's blurb of the 6536 with the T-17 dome, you'll see the crown with a bar under the Rolex crown- not Brevet- looks like a standard 6mm to me. And of course, if the 6536 had an 8mm crown, it would stand to reason it would have a 200m depth rating, not 100m.

I'm with you on this Freddy. Small crown on the 6536 and 6536-1 which later were replaced by the 5508. Big crowns on the 6538 and 5510. WR on 6536 and 5508 of 100m, 200m on the 6538 and 5510. Here's an article: http://www.bjsonline.com/watches/articles/0018_1.shtml BTW, Comex, I read about the Kingston project just a couple of weeks ago- sold out on pre-sales. Looks like a cool watch. But I still think the MBW 6538 is a cool watch in it's own right, sure it's got some flaws, but with an eta it ought to be a really cool beater and reliable. And few people know what a James Bond sub is anyway.

I think that's really a silver dial. Something probably got lost in the translation from Chinese to English- right around white gold. Nevertheless, it's a beautiful watch. But I don't know if it's really any better than this one from Josh, even tho the dials are slightly different: http://www.jpc8118.com/rdjms10010-silver-t...8362-p-714.html As ByTor says, you're just paying extra money.

I read somewhere the other day that hand sizes for the asian 7750 and the swiss 7750 were different. If that is indeed the case, you'll need gen hands. As far as the case, maybe get one w/ AR, since that's probably the only difference, otherwise, they're all made in China!

First, the etched crown on a gen Rolex is NOT visible to the naked eye. Certainly with magnification, it can be seen- sometimes even in photos which are magnified. So a rep etched crown which is visible to the naked eye- is it s good thing? Most people think not. That's why people buy the Clark's crystal w/o the etched crown. As for mag, if you buy a watch w/ 1.5 mag, it's a problem. Typically, these are the inexpensive CN reps. As Fakey says, you can replace the cyclops. Or maybe check out the rep a little closer before you buy it. Watches like noobs are said to have 2.3 mag- at that point it's best to quit obsessing. MBW's can have 3.0 mag- oops over magged. But I promise you Rolex themselves doesn't worry about it as much as the people here on the rep forums do. But then again, Rolex can say who cares, it's 100% gen Rolex! And most people looking at your watch aren't going to notice date mag anyway.

Good to see you back Chris and I really like your new webstore. I really like that MBK 5513 case only, but darn, I can't keep buying stuff. My wife might just kill me! Hope to see more of you in the months to come.

Options for the 6538 are somewhat slim. The economy option starts with the Silix watches with the chinese movements. Around $100, maybe less. Next is the watches with the eta clones- vintage no crown guard subs- Silix again, Paul, Josh and Andrew all have them. These are OK, but not as accurate as say the MBW. With some modding they can be fine- few people really know what a no cg "Bond" sub looks like anyway! MBW is really mid-range- don't know if you get a real swiss eta or a clone- but that's the rep industry as a whole, not any specific dealer- althought Eurotimez does guarantee you will get a 'swiss' if you pay the extra cartage. This watch is definitely a step above the low cost options, IMO. Finally, there are the pricey NDTrading and Jewelry and Watch models- these can run over a couple of thousand dollars and are powered by a gen Rolex movement- typically taken from a less expensive older donor watch.

Hopefully the 1.8mm spring bars wll work. The rep bracelets often times are smaller than the Rolex bracelets in that respect. As ciborgman says, you can drill them and enlarge them that way. But you need a vice and a drill press. Since no one sees the spring bars on a late model sub, i'd stick with the smaller ones and skip the drilling. The drilling isn't easy, IMO.

I love that gilt dial and those gilt hands- beautifully matching, too.

I agree with tomhorn 100% on this. This puts the monkey on the sellers back and it's not your responsiblility to do anything until you receive the item. The seller may not like being out the money, but you're already out the money anyway- it's just that Paypal is holding on to it and earning the interest. The seller just needs to do right- ship the item and quit fooling around- just part of being in business. If they don't like Paypal/ebay, they can always go somewhere else.

Buying a refurbished WM9 comes down to one question. How good are you at dealing with some slight imperfections. If you're doing mods, etc, it's a good deal. Otherwise, you might be better off with a new WM9 v2 from some one like BK. Then you know it will be perfect.

Great job, SC! I'm thinking it's an MBW case, of course, with the gelena shiterand on the case back, but in addition, the fact that you can get a gen dial in there. Usually the gen dial is too small for the CN cases. A watchmaterial pearl would be an easy $10 investment- maybe just enlarge the hole slightly with an x-acto knife and put in a drop of glue. But the no pearl look does give it the battle worn look.

You don't just oil a movement. If it needs to be serviced, you need a watchmaker. Your best bet is going to be to find a rep friendly watchmaker. If you could tell us where you are in NE, maybe someone in your area could point you in the right direction.

Very nice stilty! I really like the tritium dial on your euromariner and the strap looks cool to boot. I broke down and ordered a 20mm RAF last week- just couldn't resist.

I think a smooth ss bezel and a ss crown and you'd have a great double take. A cross between an Explorer and a Sub. Looks pretty cool.

I've heard some good things recently about the Yuki cases. Essentially, they are the same quality as the NDT and Phong cases but at a reasonable price. They are for a 1520, etc. Rolex movement. The first thing is to decide what motor you are going to use. If it's eta, it's probably best to stick with the MBW/MBK and hope you can find a decent case. Like Kruzer says, for under $1000 you can put together a very nice watch, and you can do it in stages to fit your budget. If you're going with a gen rolex movement, maybe a Yuki case- I figure it would run around $1750 give or take when all's said and done. With the NDT or Phong cases, it'll run over $2K.

Key to a noobmariner is the SN- maybe M092117? The key is the last three digits- 117. You can see it on the rehaut and between the lugs at 6 o'clock.

All of these CN subs vary slightly from the gens. As everyone says, you can try, but it probably won't work. A few people have gotten lucky on these- mostly 1680 reps taking a 127 crystal. On the 5512 from Josh, your best bet is to put a better pearl on the insert (try the illumines dot from Ofrei), age it, drill the lugholes, age the dial, you could put a gen crown and tube on there (or not), age it some more, beat the heck out of it and enjoy it for what it is- an inexpensive rep that looks great.

You realize nothing will fit flush, I hope. Military bars are welded in and then polished on the outside- you'd just need to get another case, unless you're a welder. Gen springbars are available on the bay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ROLEX-PART-23-9291-GEN...Q2em118Q2el1247 There's also the aftermarket bars out of Hong Kong, etc. for a little less- timeholder comes to mind as a seller of these.

Sounds to me like a 3.10mm x .35 tap would work- might not even need to drill the hole.

I was looking at taps this afternoon. If 3.0mm x .35 is the standard, the next size larger is 3.5mm x .35. Then you'd use a 3.15mm drill bit to drill the hole and then tap it. With the 3mm x .35 you drill the hole with the 2.65mm drill bit- subtract the thread pitch from the diameter of the tap- 3.00mm - .35mm = 2.65mm. This is all conjecture, but I can't see where Rolex would be using a non-standard sized tap.

This might fit in an MBW 5513/5512 case. Movement would be an old eta like a 2483, or possibly a 390 (which isn't an eta, as I recall). Time to start googling Tudor submariner! Good luck.

I ordered a YM with white dial and asian 21j movement from Andrew a couple of weeks ago. It was Dead On Arrival. I emailed Andrew and asked what to do. He said he would reship. The second watch arrived today and it's doing fine. You should email Andrew the youtube video- I don't know what's wrong, but it surely isn't right.