alligoat

I've paid by credit card in the past with them. Last order on line, they automatically charged it to my c.c. which they have on file. You might give them a call Friday to follow up. I would think the 7750 stem would screw into the Rolex crown- it's worked for me on the eta and asian stems, just never tried on a 7750 stem.

Interesting theory, B. Since everything else is gen, I would think you could walk into a Rolex AD and order a new set of 593 EL's. Hopefully it wouldn't be too expensive. Just don't let them touch anything else. The reluming wouldn't surprise me, even Rolex used to do it back in the old days. Now they just replace stuff with new- quicker and easier and who cares if it costs more.

When you're removing a rep tube, a rat tail file works OK, just jam it up there and turn counterclockwise. Sometimes it's a good idea to heat up the case first to loosen the glue- yep, they are gluing those babies in there now days. I've never seen a rep tube which had the grooves where you could use a Rolex tool. Sometimes it's necessary to turn it out of there with a pair of pliers- trashes out the rep tube, but it's only going in the trash can anyways. http://www.julesborel.com/horological/page202.htm Here's the tool for installing the new tube- 6mm gents- new style. It's a good idea to clean out the threads with a tap also before you install the new tube- the 3mm x 3.5 is correct size for the Sub case tubes. A little bit of blue loc-tite on the tube threads is also a good idea.

$75 is a fair price. $50 is low and $100 is high. Since this movement is what is referred to as 'surplus', it came out of a rep and you don't know if it's clean or has been serviced, it's best not to get too greedy, it could backfire in your face. And as Omega points out, you can find this movement in Swiss watches for even less.

Good eye, Tribal! The end links are the correct #, but the don't have the little circular ends on the case side to keep them from rotating. But the watch is gen.

Looks good. The pearl is certainly turning brown- it's aging faster than your markers. A very nice 16800, indeed.

Might check out www.watchmaterial.com/ also. And BKLM likes jewelryoutlet555 on ebay- he takes the pearl from WM and uses the insert from JO. Of course, a GMTII insert doesn't have a pearl- the pearl's are for subs.

It's a misprint, I believe. 37.5 w/ 3.5mm ea side is correct.

A couple of things here. First, even though you got a 2836-2 ETA, these movements are what is referred to as 'surplus'. They don't come in a sealed package, spanking brand new, direct from Switzerland. So it kinda comes down to the luck of the draw. Your movement could be dirty and in need of a service. It also could be a copy ETA- just because the dealer claims it's a true Swiss ETA doesn't mean it's true. If you continue to have problems with it, you can either send it back, or have it serviced. The second thing to remember is that you should try to keep winding of your 2836 to a minimum. It's an automatic movement and wearing it is the best way to keep it wound. If you do have to wind it, do so slowly and carefully. It is definitely the weak link in the movement and is prone to breaking.

Those crown guards look pretty good for out of the box- just a few laps with some 320 wet dry sandpaper and you should be good to go. A WM pearl is the only other thing I can think of. Enjoy your new watch, it looks good.

Beautiful watch, RS. You certainly have a nice pair of watches from WM9. Happy Holidays!

I kinda like FxrAndy's idea- buy the eta copy watch. Then you have the right size hands, dial feet in the right place and might even be able to swap over the datewheel and overlay with no fuss. And I'd run the copy movt as long as I could first. I've got a copy movt that's two years old and going great.

The Cal. 72 is an interesting movement- I'd like to see what it is- looks like GMT hand is on the bottom. 17 jewels derived from an early ETA ebauche kinda like our CN guys are doing with the 2836-2 maybe? The Sea Chron is beautiful- I'd sure hate to see someone use it for a Daytona project, but I can't afford another watch right now.

I just went back and looked at stility's crown chart. It was published in 2003- long before the GMTIIC came out. Also, there is a 16610 and a 16610T. I don't know what the T designation signifies- it could be the no lugholes case- that happened around that time. As much as you study this stuff, there's just some information that only Rolex knows and they don't share much- kinda like US intelligence- 'only on a need to know basis'.

There was some discussion around here about a change in the 16610 case, but I don't think it had anything to do with the lugholes. Other Rolex watches like the DJ have also lost their lugholes- heck it was bound to happen. But a case change to the 16610 would be minor, I would think, since the bezel assembly still fits- heck, the 16800 bezel assembly is what's used on the 16610- so it's 30 years old, almost. Most of the other Rolexes have been updated- GMTIIc, Deepsea Sea-Dweller, Datejust. But not the Day-Date, I believe. The Sub is in the process- at Basel 2008, the new 18KYG and 18KWG subs with blue dials and bezels were introduced. http://www.rolex.com/en/index.jsp#/en/xml/...ubmariner/index Certainly the Basel 2008 case is different from the standard sub case: http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ROLEX-SS-BLACK-MEN...%3A2%7C294%3A50 This regular 2008 M serial is the old case, whereas Basel 2008 is a new case design. Basel 2008 is a different watch, whereas the M serial is just an old 16610 with some superficial updates.

Although I would think it's a reliable movement, the first thing you need to think about is the stem position and will it line up. And, yes, this is a hand wind movement. So it's really not a good candidate for a swap since you have an automatic movement in there already. If you have a DG 2813, you know that you can swap a DG 4813 w/o too much trouble. Probably also a 2836 could be used- clone or gen. A 2824 will have a higher stem position and probably won't work.

Haven't heard that. There is a new Rolex 7mm crown out- the 24-704-0. It may fit a 24-7030-0 case tube, but I don't know. Here's the chart showing it on the 14060M, 116520, etc. Look on the second page, far right column. http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=66457 I would figure as a 30 year old watch, the 16610 is due for a revamping. But I expect the new model to be a 116610 and then the upgrades will be made. I don't know if the two new Submariners out- one's white gold with a blue dial and bezel- maybe the other was YG and black dial and bezel- fatter cases, maybe those are 116610's.

I'm with smc, take a pic w/ rotor turned 180 degrees. But so far so good. You could pop the little metallic piece off the rotor (that says Rolex) and see what the rotor says underneath. Rotors are unmarked these days, but I'm not sure if that is proof that it's a copy movement.

This is the only place I've found: http://www.silix-prime.com/product.asp?id=1504 Your other option would be to buy the generic band and swap out the clasp from your rep band, but it doesn't always work- I've tried and had limited success.

Well Pho, I went to Josh's site and looked at a Prohunter SD- which Josh refers to as an SSD- from the same factory (which is also the noob factory...). At any rate, the SSD has the tall crystal and hopefully that's tall enough for you. 80's DD had a plastic crystal- and that won't fit on a PH SSD. The tallest crystal is the SSD. Maybe you could get an extra little bit by sanding/filing down the backside of the insert a la BK and gluing it back in- recessed and all. Just my 2 cents. BTW, the HE valve wasn't black on Josh's model- bummer IMO.

BK had mentioned installing a 2836 if you furnished it, in lieu of the 2678, so crown position has to be the same- i.e., too low. But who the heck is ever going to notice?

Wow! I didn't realize the 6542 had gotten up to $50K-100K. At that point, $4250 for a case makes sense!

If you can find a gen crown for $25 used, it's a good deal IMO. If you just swap the crown out, it's pretty easy. Remove the crown and stem from the watch, grasp the stem at the top close to the crown and turn the crown counterclockwise to unscrew it. Then you just screw the gen crown onto where the rep crown was before- you could mark the threads, just to be sure everything is the same, maybe. Part # is 24-703-0 for the crown

The biggest problem with not getting what you ordered is that it may no longer be available. However, although Datejust cases have changed, I was not aware of the DD cases being updated. But if the dealer can't get the model you wanted, all he could do is refund you your money and they hate doing that. He might swap it out for another watch, but that may not really solve your problem. As far as the watch being flimsy- that's a Rolex trait also, especially the bracelets. And if you ordered gold, well it's plated, so you really can't expect too much. Gold reps are very much a hit or miss proposition- not recommended here for the most part. A pic of the watch would help, as welll as the dealer- we could check his pics on his website.

A couple of things here, Freddy. This a vintage piece, but it seems to me that the appeal is to the franken builders. Who would collect a case alone? I'm figuring this case will show up again as a recreated 6542. And possibily some collector may be duped into believing it 's 'all original'. That's unfortunate, IMO. I do believe the top end vintage market will probably hold up better than the market in general thru this downturn. But there will be good buying oppurtunities for the people out there that are ready to take advantage of them.