alligoat

I noticed watchcrusher on the bay a few years ago, but he was mostly buying Rolexes. He certainly has a good eye, buys gen stuff, usually at a wholesale price- if it goes over his limit, he's out. But he'd pick up a lot of stuff at a good price. I'd love to know what his MO is- I assumed he had a retail outlet, or was a buyer for a retail outlet. I always was reassured when I saw him bidding on a watch, because he knows his stuff. A while back I noticed he was selling some stuff. I figure it's legit- heck a 127 crystal is cheap if you have the right connection.

Yep, the whole thing was put together. I guess it's just a question of when!

The one thing I like about the watch is the case freddy! I'm looking at my NDT 5508 and the fat lugs are bumming me out! I guess I need to think about thinning them out and adding an arris along the edges. Phong has a 5510 case- same thick lugs. http://ndtradingcorp.com/zen/index.php?mai...8Sub_03_LRG.jpg The more I look at that dial, the more I realize it's all wrong- Certainly it's later with the Swiss T<25, as well as the SCOC. HK redial works for me. And of course, it's in no way a Submariner dial!

There is the chinese watch movt mfr Hangzhou- making the eta clones- that was written up on TZ- UK. Ming zhou sounds like a scam fabrication to me- just like the 31j Italian movts!

Welcome aboard Stretch! Hopefully the additional info avaiable to you as a supporter will help you out. But be careful, this can be addicting.

I ran across this watch this morning on the bay: http://cgi.ebay.com/SS-RARE-1958-ROLEX-OYS...1QQcmdZViewItem It just doesn't add up for me. 1. Movement should be a 1530 2. No mercedes hands 3. Never seen a chronometer dial on a 5508 Just curious what the other vintage guys think

But at least now, Yachtmaster, you know that you have the later 24-703 crown- which really is fine, IMO, for your franken.

Very nice, Pete. Almost as good as a gen at 1/3 of the price. congrats

1. A verified eta hopefully means it is a true eta. The copy should run about $50 less in a watch. Most of the dealers, such as the cartel, etc are probably sending you a copy movement these days. 2. The only way to tell a copy is to open the case and examine the movement. There are posts around here showing some of the noted differences- use the search feature. But it's very tricky- even experienced watch makers can be fooled. 3. Pics are all around- search. The Japanese Miyota is very rare in reps. I've bought Invictas and Charles Huberts to get that movement in a watch- the 8215. Rep dealers who tell you it has a japanese movt, are probably scam dealers, IMO. They ship you an asian 21j (which is a copy of the Miyota 8215) and figure you won't know the difference. To give you an example, my nephew bought the SSD last year- Super Sea-Dweller w/ purported eta. After 4-6 months he had trouble w/ it. I looked at it- little slot to depress button and remove stem was badly formed- oh- oh. Watchmaker confirms- copy movt. Nephew buys an older swiss eta on ebay and has watchmaker install it- $100 for movt, $40 to install. Watch is running fine now There are no guarantees.

That's not all that bad, B. I had thought they ran $150 or more. I wonder if it's a rep!

Hollow is correct, AFAIK. Solid is an invention of the rep mfrs.

OK, I'm seeing it now. The pic that Omega has is of the earlier 24-703 crown with the vintage coronet- it's taller and thinner. YM's 24-703 crown is the later one- shorter and fatter, so to speak. All three of my gen subs (1-1680, 2-16800's) have the vintage 24-703 crowns. My reps with the gen crown and tube mod have the later 24-703 crowns- shorter and fatter. A year and a half ago I had to update the crown and tube on my 1680. The threads on the crown holding the stem had stripped out. My watchmaker put in the 24-703 assembly. Since then I picked up a 24-702 crown and could put the 24-702 assembly back in there, but for now i'm happy with the 24-703 assembly. One of our members is working on building a 24-7020 case tube- keep your fingers crossed, if it works, it will be very cool.

We've found a few here in Houston. These guys are independents, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc. I'm sure there must be some like-minded types in your area- just happy for the work.

Gold Day-Dates are all around- plated that is: http://www.jpc8118.com/rlddf10030-full-gol...836-p-1006.html But gold plating is not for everyday wear- eventually it will wear thru. A couple of weeks ago a friend did tell me that Yuki Watch over in Hong Kong can get solid gold cases and bracelets- in 18K, and even in 10K. I haven't gotten any further than that. Price was in the $1000 plus range for the cheaper 10K for a case, maybe $1200 for a bracelet. Case can be made to fit eiither a Rolex movt, or an eta. You'd have to come up with the movt, dial, hands and possibly crown and tube. Like I said, I haven't gotten any further.

Copies of the gen 24-703 crown have been around for about a year now (heck, maybe longer for all I know- it's hard to tell on a lot of this stuff). But if your crown fits your 703 case tube, I'd figure you're good to go. BTW, one of the big differences between the 702 case tube and the 703 case tube is the presence of the outside o-ring- the 702 assembly doesn't have it. It's still considered trip-lock because it has two gaskets inside the case tube and one at the base of the crown. Your end links look fine- about par for the course on the older models. It look like you're going to have a very nice 1680 when you're done. Congrats!

Right you are T, I bought my first v72 with the idea in mind of building a Pre-Daytona. I've since decided to keep it as a collectible and have bought three others since then, two are for my collection and one as the donor for my project (still moving slowly). There is no doubt that the fact that Rolex used this movement in its watches has helped the popularity of the v72. @ the playful eyes, one thing you might want to consider is going the route that gplracer has recently gone- he purchased a DW 6263 with the modified asian 7750 movement (rotor removed, manual wind, thinner caseback). This is a very viable option IMO, because you can buy this watch and have it serviced for the about the cost of a v72 alone. It has the assymetrical pushers and correct case. I saw a similar watch last week and was very impressed. Add a few gen parts- T-21 crystal, gen crown and tube, and you have a very good rep for a lot less than building a v72 rep. Here's the post: http://www.rwg.cc/members/DW-6263-dial-question-t97103.html

It depends on the rep, sure you can add some gen parts to some reps, but MBW's are known for taking gen parts like crystals, bezels and inserts. Heck, you can put a gen tube and crown in any Rolex rep, but other things like crystals or bezel inserts can be hit or miss.

A v72 will run $700-1000 on the bay. And it may still need to be serviced- add $300. And that is the cheapest game in town. You could pay retail, but that would be more money. There's only two types of people buying v72's these days- honest watch collectors and Daytona builders. And the Daytona builders are driving the prices up and might out number the honest watch collectors!

There are two trip lock crowns for the 1680 Submariner. The original 24-702-0 and the later 24-703-0. The first came originally on subs from the 70's til around 1980. At that point, Rolex went to the 24-703-0 crown (the last-0 denotes stainless steel). The 24-703 crown is basically an upgrade or service replacement for the 1680 and is used by Rolex when servicing old 1680's. It is of course standard on later 16800, 168000 and 16610 subs. So the big question is which case tube do you have since the 702 crown and the 703 crown aren't interchangeable. If you have a 702 crown and tube, you're good to go. Or likewise a 703 crown and tube. So if you crown fits the case tube, you're OK. But, I'm not sure if your crown is gen in the first place, the crown logo looks pretty suspect, IMO. If it doesn't fit your case tube, I'd keep looking for a gen crown. Clark's and Helfands sell aftermarket case tubes- the 24-7030-0 part #. Gen case tubes and crown can be found on the bay for around $50 each. Finding 24-7020 case tubes is tough, so in your case, I'd recommend the 24-703 assembly. http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Rolex-16610-Su...1QQcmdZViewItem This guy has what looks to be a 24-703 crown, but I make no guarantees- the guy is a little flaky IMO. But Suissetime also has a bunch of crowns but they use the same picture of a broken crown w/o the stem sleeve- it's a jungle out there. This guy in Israel has what you're looking for, but his price is ridiculous: http://cgi.ebay.com/Genuine-Rolex-Daytona-...1QQcmdZViewItem Good luck, hope this helps.

Price is the key here. Noobs run from just over $100 w/ asian 21j movt to $250-300 w/ so-called swiss eta (asian eta is 50 dollars less or so) Euromariners run high $200's for asian movt and $475 plus for swiss eta.

Thanks.

Yes, Teejay, Eurotimez does sell noobmariners. He also sells the Euromariner, which is basically an MBW case with the noob dial.

No, a Euro is a different case, basically an MBW case, takes gen crystal, and bezel parts. The Euro is definitely a step above the noob in quality. The good news is that it looks like your noob has the updated crown and tube, which is a copy of the gen assembly, fatter tube and inside of crown is thinner like gen. @ automatico, I thought the noob crystal was 30.5mm and basically the same as a lot of other rep crystals- just wouldn't work on a gen, or you couldn't swap it for a gen.

A euromariner is in no way related to a noobmariner except that it uses a noob dial! The watch pictured looks like a euro (with a bad pearl!). Check the serial number between the lugs- F520117 is the old noob, Mxxx117 is the new M serial noob with the engraved rehaut. The crown and tube look better, closer copy to the gen, but the SN is the true test, short of taking the bezel off. The euro bezel is a copy of the gen, noob bezel is very difficult to remove at best, w/o damaging it.

Well, B, first let me apologize, that comment didn't exactly come out right. I was thinking of the old Ronnie Millsap song, "Lost in the 50's Tonight". And I probably should have googled it first to get on the right track. But obviously , like all great collections, you have to have an underlying theme and yours is certainly the 60's with these four beautiful watches. Like Stilty, I kinda like the 1016 the most, but the other three are great too. Congrats on a beautiful collection.