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My '66 Date has the later stick hands, the pointed hands went away around 1965 from what I can tell. JoJo, you certainly seem to be stuck in the 60's, these days!

Chef's got a pretty good formula. If you could find an older SD case with the drilled lugholes, maybe you could start with that. But I don't know if the NDT dial would fit an older rep case. This NDT dial looks very nice: http://ndtradingcorp.com/zen/index.php?mai...;products_id=90 If you could make it work, it would certainly be a beautiful franken!

A very beautiful watch. Love those alpha hands. I'd figure circa 1963-65 and it's a perfect example of Rolex understatement. Great two tone looks with the silver dial with gold stick markers, dark brown croc (alligator?) strap and the earlier 1560 chronometer movement. I can certainly understand why you couldn't tear that watch apart.

If you can wear only one watch, my hats off to you. If I was to pick a grail watch, I'd have to say it's the Submariner for me- but heck, I already have three gens, three frankens and who knows how many reps. So obviously I can't wear only one watch. Besides that, I have another 20 or so watches of various types. I'm big on variety. But if you really like the Yacht-Master (and I'm assuming it's the Rolesium), I think you owe it to yourself to buy a gen. Since you already have a noob YM, it's perfect, you can wear the noob for the dangerous stuff and save the gen for dress up, etc. I do try not to wear my gens doing yard work, etc. And if you never buy another watch, my hats off to you.

Thanks for the update, Justasgood. This morning I can read the III 63 on the caseback! Good luck on your 5513 project, look forward to seeing more on it.

Beautiful job, RS! And great to see you back. Quick question here, is the case for this project an MBW 1680? I'm thinking the T-125 would be the same as the T-127 except for the cyclops being positioned slightly out board of the 127's position to accommodate the eta datewheel.

A 5508 used the 6mm crown and was rated to 100m/330ft. The 5510 used the larger crown and I believe was rated to 200m/660ft. W/o spending a wad of money to buy an 8mm crown and tube, maybe you could go w/ a 7mm crown. You could first try the 7mm rep crown on the 6mm case tube, but I doubt it would work. So that leaves you installing an aftermarket 24-7030 case tube and a Rolex 24-703-0 crown. If you have all the tools, the parts would run you $50-75 and it would look better. If you had to pay someone to do it, I'd figure parts and labor would run at least $150- more than you spent on the watch to begin with. Good luck.

Wouldn't it be cool if the blue lume really shined brightly and the black paint didn't scratch easily! But w/ no cyclops, you don't have to worry about the date mag being off!

AMAZING! 1963-64, I guess, I can't read the case back. But from the SN, that's where I put it. I love how the bezel is so smoothly worn. Triangular 4 on the bezel insert- interesting- is that the thicker earlier font? Is that a gold hour hand and a silver minute hand, or is it the picture? Hey Freddy, did you notice how narrow the 3, 6, and 9 markers are on the dial? Old 700-701 twinlock crown. Great early 60's Rolex bracelet- flimsy as all get out! The movement SN- beautiful, that's early. According to John Brozek's little reference guide, the 1530 came out in 1957, but the 5513 didn't appear until the early 60's. Early 5508's date from 57-58 with the 1530 movement, but with the butterfly rotor. I can't tell, but is the underline below "Oyster Perpetual"? Oh, and Swiss at 6 o'clock- before tritium. It certainly is a beautiful watch.

I've never been able to make that connection- looks like probably higher quality merchandise and a slightly better approval rating. But I haven't ordered from them either.

This is Faisal Ali down here in Sugar Land, TX. Freddy and I are not too fond of him. The only part I bought from him that I had any luck with was a 24-7030 Rolex case tube. Now BK buys the bezel inserts from him from his other store- jewelryoutlet555. I bought an $8 click spring from him for my 16800 gen and it was trash. Ended up buying a gen one from my watchmaker for $15. I've noticed another seller here in Houston, I believe, watchbandman50. He has the bezels: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/WATCHBANDMAN50..._fsubZ230261018 I haven't tried him yet, but I'm thinking about it. Maybe he has the retaining ring, also. Also, check out Clark's- nostalgia2000 on the bay, might even email Gary Clark, and see what he has. Then again, you could try Faisal and if it doesn't work, send the parts back to him- you'd hopefully only be out the postage.

Here's a 6234 that has the pointer on the balance and it's correct: http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Rolex-Oyster-C...1QQcmdZViewItem Also, notice the ROW on the balance bridge- 'Rolex Werks' This appears sometimes and sometimes not. After the 6234, I've not seen the pointer on the balance- not on the 6238, 6239 and anything later.

All I've ever done is press the noob crystal back on- popped it out from the back. But mine is WR, no problem. Like you say, the top end of the nylon gasket isn't supported by the the tension ring, but if the bottom is tight, it should work. The problem with the MBK/Euro is the variation in tolerances, IMO.

Thanks. I was just reading about the 7750, Rolex 3135 and the ETA 2892-2A over on TZ. The reviewer thought pretty highly of the 7750 as far as being robust. Once you service an asian 7750, you should be good to go for the next 5 or so years.

That's why I like those Invictas and the Charles Hubert- the Miyota 8215. It's too bad the Miyota isn't in more of our reps- the only place I see Japanese automatic movements mentioned is on the replica scam sites. None of our dealers have them from what I've seen.

I thinned (sanded down) the top of the retaining ring on my Euro V3. When I had it water tested the crystal popped off. I've thought about a new gasket, but haven't done anything yet. Based on Stilty's pictorial comparison of the Euro bezel and gen, I kinda figure I'd need to upgrade some of the parts. I already have a gen retaining ring but would need a better bezel and possibly a flat washer. I've got other subs that are WR so the Euro is relagated to doing yard work and other beater activities, no water invloved. I don't think the ruber gasket under the retaining ring is the culprit, frankly.

Congrats on your Explorer I. I don't think you can go wrong for $108. Last night I ordered a $98 Yacht-Master from Andrew- just couldn't resist. I've had good luck with the asian 21j movts. lately- they're all still workinbg fine. Enjoy your addiction.

Hey B, isn't that a 6265? I thought the 6263 was the black plastic bezel and the 6265 was the silver metal bezel. Not that it's a big deal. FWIW, I prefer the silver dials. Somehow the PN's just don't do it for me. The assymetrical pushers look good. Which movement do you have in there? It's a good looking watch.

The second one is DW, David Wang. Any serious collector knows a correct 6263 in ss goes for $20K plus. An 18K gold one for $40-50K and up. Not so correct models will bring less, of course. That being said, these watches are aimed at the franken market. The gold one is similar in price to Phong's gold cased 6263 (doesn't Phong's gold 6263 run $9500?) Bach's comparison photo with a gen movement shows a different balance wheel- note no microstella screws on the wheel on the rep movt. Also, the gen has a couple of hold down screws at 1:30 and 9:00- these are also missing on the rep. DW's movement has the pointer on the balance bridge- this would be ok on a 6234, but not the later 6263. Both movements have been modified to look like 727's with copy bridges and engraving. When you consider the cost of building a franken 6263, I don't think these prices are all that outrageous- especially with the bridges and engraving- that's what runs up the cost. But I must say, the gold 6263 is a little rough- bad dial, rough case and the movt needs a service.

Heck, if Paul will send you a couple of crystals, that's cool. Most dealers don't like to fool with parts orders, but Paul did send me an extra dial when I ordered another watch.

I've never been able to figure it out. Jules Borel lists hand sizes of 150/100/17 and Ofrei lists 165/100/17 on the Miyota. Jules Borel lists the DG2813 at 152/100/17. So, to say the least, hand sizes could be a problem. Last week I did buy a Charles Hubert 3514GW with the Miyota movt just to see what it's like- so far so good. Just another $170 knock-off!

Very nice Highoe! For $400 you've got a great deal. Enjoy your new beater, but save that noob for the nasty chores!

I agree with Rolexman, but would like to add that there are varying qualities of the dg2813. I particularly like the one from PTS Resources- it has the WO symbol under the balance- Ofrei sells it for instance. As I understand it, they are all copies of the Miyota 8215 from Japan, which is better than the chinese 2813's in terms of quality and reliability.

There is no correct answer. It's like shooting craps, pick a color/number and hope for the best. If you're looking to hang on to the watch for a while, buy an asian 2836- worse comes to worse, you can buy a swiss eta and have a watchmaker do a swap out. Or you buy a DG 2813 and if worse comes to worse, you buy another DG2813 movement and have a watchmaker do a swap out. So maybe it's a question of how much money you want to spend- good luck.

It's a crap shoot! Somewhere in the 30-30.5m range, I believe. The crystal is glued on as I recall- not exactly a copy of the gen Rolex construction of old. You'd be lucky if a T-19 fit- it's been my experience that CN crystals are unique unto themselves. I just looked at one of my Silix early subs- crystal ID is 28.5. OD is 30.5 and it sits inside the case ring- glued in. The case is marked 16610, SN R863698, but it is w/o cg's! R863698 is a very common SN on rep Rolex cases- these are older CN cases. A watchmaker with a selection of cases is one option, or order a cheap 6538 from Silix's cheap site- watchsilix.com, as I recall, and mix and match parts. Edit: oops, just noticed it's a Paul sub, oh well, it still comes from China!