alligoat

Darn, B-T! You sent me scrambling to the bay to check out dials. Timeholder has a gen dial for $279, buy it now. Then I looked at Watch-Navi http://cgi.ebay.com/1985-Rolex-Explorer-II...1QQcmdZViewItem This old cream dial has silver surrounds- of course, I realize it's old- so's the tritium- nice and yellow. I couldn't get anywhere on WatchEdens site today, slow, slow ...., now it's down. $108 for the watch, was it and $20 off w/ the promotion. But you're right, the seconds are a little too long- but if the marker surrounds are black...

The crystal is plastic, aka plexiglass. My watchmaker has a machine- you just stick the watch in there, crystal up, and it polishes it in about 10-20 seconds. you can also polish it by hand with some polishing compound and maybe a buffing wheel. Polywatch maybe is the name of the plasitic polishing compound for watch crystals- I've just used toothpaste for small scratches.

I wouldn't worry about painting the bezel numbers- it's a sign of age and perfectly OK. The T-21 is correct for the gen 6239's, whether it will fit your case, you can only try. I would buy an aftermarket T-21 from nostalgia2000 (Clark Watch Supply) on ebay for around $15 or so. That way you're not out much money if it doesn't work. A watchmaker can polish the crystal and maybe then you just leave it alone w/ the cracks- heck, you're not going swimming with it. Just more legitmate signs of age. This is a very rare watch, as you say- maybe you just leave it alone and cherish it as a collectors item. I haven't seen Poljot movements in reps around in 4-5 years.

Probably not. The stem will in all likelihood be too high. These cases are engineered for the eta 2836-2 and the asian 21j's like the DG 2813. But BK is coming out with a WM9 Yacht-Master w/ the 2824-2 and it will have the crown positioned properly so it will look just like the gen. As is the case on rep YM's and subs, the crowns are positioned a little bit too low- this is something us anal compulsive rep fans notice, but something the other 99.99% of the world could care less about. Oh, and BTW, hands are different sizes and the dial feet are in different places for eta and asian movements.

I'm happy with the color of the gold on my watch- but I don't have a gen to compare it to. http://rxwtime.net/index.php?main_page=pro...;products_id=37 I went the cheap route because Andrew and Josh have the same watch with the purported ETA, but who can be certain these days. So far the asian 21j has be right on. Haven't opened up the case back yet to look at the movement. My preference for asian 21j's is the one from PTS Resources with the WO symbol under the balance wheel- same one that Ofrei and Cousins sell. This sight is Andrew's economy site- run by a guy named Andy. Good service and they take credit cards which is easy. The watch is fairly accurate, IMO. It has the yellow datewheel, and the gens that I've looked at recently had the white datewheel. Other than that, everything else looks good to me.

With gold plate, you have to be careful. Best thing is for occasional wear only, avoid sweating, certainly stay out of salt water. Best for light usage, like dress occasions. As I recall, Allergy Doc has had good results with his FG Rolex rep. Also, gold does tarnish, but polishing gold plate is also a no-no. But I did just buy a FG Yacht-Master with the white dial and black markers- I just had to have some BLING! Some of the dealers used to offer full gold reps, maybe in the $3-4K range. Paul, and Josh come to mind. But heck, that's kinda like Russian Roulette- spend that kinda money and have it get confiscated by Customs- ouch. Another thought, buy the FG rep and maybe replace the bracelet when it shows the wear. I'm figuring the bracelet will take 95% of the wear and tear.

Building a franken is tough because the gen dial won't fit in the rep case- the dial is too small or the case is too big- take your pick. Rep dials are wrong- they say "Oyster Perpetual Date". The example you show looks very nice, maybe it's time to consider a gen!

Or, buy it for the dial and then get a noob Explorer II and mix and match. I don't know which movement this watcheden has, but I'm thinking Asian 21j.

Certainly a very nice set of watches. I particularly like the 16014 and the 16013TT with the leather strap- I have a similar pair like that myself. I just prefer the dials with the stick markers- so clean and understated.

Great write-up, Rob. These are always a pleasure to read and very informative. Thanks.

It used to be that most people around here were building Datejusts from gen cases and dials. You could pick up a case and dial from roling on ebay for a couple of hundred dollars, add an eta movement, crown, set of hands, maybe a datewheel, and a bracelet and have a pretty nice franken for around $400-500. But I haven't seen those cases around recently. WM9 puts out a nice product, but everyone's buying the subs and YMs. Eddie Lee is retired from the business. Datejust reps aren't bad for the most part- generally they vary slightly in size from the gen- not noticeable, but you can't always swap out for gen parts. So you can spend $100+ for a good one with a CN movement, $200-300 for one w/ an eta or copy eta, or $500 for one from WM9. It all boils down to how much you want to spend, but I would think that you can do OK buying a $200-300 DJ rep from Josh or Andrew- hopefully it would be a real eta, but that's probably getting scarcer all the time.

Pretty cool avitt. Obviously this stuff doesn't react with stainless steel. Francisco, my Spanish dictionary refers to the Spanish word as 'alumbre'

The noobmariner is a good watch, but it has been superceded in terms of accuracy by the Euromariner and the WM9v.2. Keep looking and see if WM9 or Eurotimez has the SubLV- it's a little more expensive but more accurate.

It's not 1:1- those crown guards suck, and crown position has to be wrong if it's a 2836-2 movement. The dial is the flat 'S'- same a WM9/PT. You'd have to see the bezel assembly to see if it's 1:1- could be a decent copy like the Euro and WM9. Sean at ETA Swiss may have a 1:1 copy, but I don't know that anyone around here's bought one. bklm is getting the closest w/ his WM9 Yacht-Master w/ the 2824-2 movement- at that point, he's able to get the correct crown position.

Yes, my 1680 and three 16800 dials are all a nice white white- no grey. 16610 is the same- actually the same dial is used for the 16800 and the 16610- dial feet are in the same place, date window, etc. Bezel assembly and insert are also the same for 16800 and 16610. Rolex quit using tritium in around 1999 and switched to luminova in 2000 for about one year- denoted by Swiss at the bottom of the dial. Since then they've used super luminove, denoted by 'Swiss Made' on the dial.

Boy, if Chris could come up with the white dial Exp II with the black surrounds it would be out of sight- he could sell a gazillion of them. Unfortunately, the black dialed Explorer II does nothing for me.

Well, like you say JJ, Rolex has released the 116619- blue dial and blue ceramic bezel, case in white gold and yes, the price I saw in the Rolex book was like $27,900 plus tax! The salesman said 4 weeks- they could order it. I think the rep of this is around- there was some discussion a month or so ago. It's kinda ironic- a $200-300 rep of a $30,000 watch. But the new case is coming- this year the TT's are supposed to hit the market and in 2010 the 116610 is supposed to arrive. Like B-T says, I'll miss the old 16610- but it's been around for over 20 years. I guess things gotta change.

Beautiful, Freddy! That dial is incredible.

Removing the bezel on my Euro (MBK) was always a bitch, also. I'd take a razor and put it in there between the bezel and the case and pound on it. The retention ring, the crystal and bezel would all pop off. Then you have to press the crystal back on, then the retention ring, don't loose the click spring- and install it, flat washer on top and finally snap the bezel on. Tolerances on these copy pieces isn't the greatest. You can try taking yours apart- check the flat friction washer for flatness, check the click spring. You may or may not be able to fix it. Those are the breaks Swapping out for a gen assembly would be another option, but finding the parts is tough- stay away from whoesaleoutlet990 down in Sugar Land, Texas- his aftermarket parts aren't that good. As FM says, these problems aren't uncommon. the good news is, you're the only one playing with your bezel I wonder if BKLM could maybe help you out???

White

I've seen the early white dialed Explorer II's with silver/gunmetal surrounds. These would be from the early 80's and the dial would still say 'Swiss- T<25'. These are the same dials that turned the cream color and are so expensive these days because they are such a collectors item.

Tell us which PT sub you have. Like the WM9 v1.5 with the copy bezel assembly like the gen Sub, or one of the others.

Is a crown reamer a readily available tool?

Amazing! That's pretty cool information- the anatomy of a crown. Muchas Gracias, Freddy!

Clark's Watch Supply on ebay, aka nostalgia2000 is a good place. You'll have to buy the whole handset- but it's only like $15.00 or so. Sometimes referred to as Tudor hands which use ETA movements. A watchmaker might have a spare, size is 25 or 26- that's .25mm...