alligoat

I'm not aware of Ziggy being able to machine the case of an MBW, but it never hurts to ask. The price you paid for the dial is OK, but I can't tell from the pic if there is a scratch between 7 and 8- Ziggy might be able to fix that. I guess you keep looking for someone w/ lathe/machining capabilities, cause the NDT case runs $1K and a 1575 will go for another grand plus and insert, crown tube, and hands will easily put you up in the $2.5K range- $3K total, but then you'd have a very nice franken.

I'd sure love to see the copy 3135, EPZ. I keep waiting for that one to start showing up, I'd love to see it, buy it, install it in a rep/franken!

I looked at the pics and it looks like the SSD with the asian 2813. For $98 plus s&h, what do you have to loose? I couldn't tell if it was a PTS Resources 2813 with the WO symbol under the balance, or the NN 2813- is that the Nanking watch works... I'm partial to the PTS Resources movement myself, but a CN movt is a CN movt! You take your chances. If you have a watchmaker, hopefully you'll survive. You do need to get a WM pearl though, cause the pearl in Trusty's pic is a zit!

I agree with Freddy, you might want to have it serviced or checked out to make sure the tritium from the seconds hand didn't land in the movement. Considering the condition of the watch, a service is probably due. I have seen where watchesandparts over in Hong Kong has had some of the vintage tritium pearls for sale lately that would fit that bezel insert- the nice and brown aged ones! BTW, that looks like a 24-702 crown- the earlier style prior to the 24-703- no gasket on the outside of the case tube.

I doubt it really has anything to do with the painted infill on the caseback. I have the same problem when I get hot and sweaty- here in Houston, that's all summer long. The black is the oxidation of the stainless steel on your skin. I don't wear a Sea-Dweller, but all my subs do the same thing. Soap and water will work. As for getting it on your clothes, I would think it would come out in the wash with a little pre-soak like Spray and Wash or Oxy-Clean. I wear short sleeves 9 months out of the year myself. I'm off to the gym to sweat it out.

Pretty interesting about the 2836-1. One of my first CN reps has the same movement (4 yrs old). Back then it would be surplus, and I guess it's the same these days- surplus or recycled. The '79-'82 dates of manufacture would make it almost 30 yrs old.

I have the V72 Wittnauer, it looks almost identical to yours, except with the 3rd subdial. I was going to use it in a franken, but could never come to tearing it apart. So I just wear it from time to time instead.

Cool trip, thanks for sharing it with us, Flex.

The stem should typically screw into the crown, so you should be able to unscrew it. Hold the stem w/ a pair of pliers on the threads close to the crown and turn the crown counterclockwise. You might have to heat it up a little if glue was used (which they shouldn't have). The new crown should screw right on also. If this isn't the case, you've got a different knid of movement than the typical eta/cn movts I've worked with.

Wow! I didn't realize that the DSSD was that big. That's quite a comparison photo.

I'm going to say this is a clone. The reason is, if you look at the hole where you release the stem, it's not very well machined. On a true eta, it's a round circle with slot and it's well machined- on yours it's not well machined, IMO. I ran into this on another movement which turned out to be a clone indeed. The rotor would be the second strike against it. Of course, having a watchmaker look at it is really the best option.

Certainly, PTS Resources makes some of the best movements in terms of quality, as far as CN movements go. Ofrei and Cousins sell them and they can be identified by the "WO" symbol under the balance- movements like the DG2813, etc. Of course, other CN companies make basically the same movement- all of which are derived from the Miyota. I do have a clone ETA in my noob sub which has been doing fine for a couple of years now- maybe it's from Hangzhou. But the problem with the eta copies is that parts aren't necessarily interchangeable with true eta parts and regulating them can be difficult sometimes. But heck, it's worth a try. I consider a $60-70 investment small potatoes in the scheme of things. But my nephew just had to scrap a clone in his SSD and replace it w/ a true eta for $100 plus $40 to change it over- good news is, hand sizes were the same.

Good job and very nice pics. It just goes to show that this stuff isn't all that hard and if you keep reading around here, buy the essential tools, get down to it and practice, modding isn't that big a deal. I've made my share of mistakes- heck, I'm still making them, but I am able to mod my own watches at this point and I learned it all here. And if you run into a problem, there's people here to help you out- that's the great thing about this forum. Congratulations.

Chris at Eurotimez sells the vintage MBW watches these days. Don't know if he sells the cases alone. Fitting a gen movement in a MBW case may require some mods to the case.

It may be as simple as taking the watch apart again and readjusting the dial position slightly. Or as cableguy says, it may only be during certain days of the month.

315-16800. The same insert fits the 16800 and the 16610. One of my gen inserts is numbered 315-16800-181. The last three digits may mean something like the SL used for the pearl. Older inserts, pre 2000, had tritium pearls.

You might want to check River- he had an ExplorerII with black dial w/ the 2893-2. Doing it yourself is not something I would recommend. Crown position will be different from the CN movement- you might be able to make it work w/ a spacer ring from Stilty- he's here on the forum. But it's a lot of work and if you have to ask, well, it's probably something you're not ready for. Why frustrate yourself and waste money? You'll end up with a bunch of parts and no watch. For around maybe $250+ you can buy a decent non branded ExplorerII w/ an eta (2836-2 modified)- is it Homer out of UK that sells them? They're a good deal also, if you want a knock-off.

Silicone is OK, I also like contact cement or rubber cement. Both are easily reversible. I haven't had good luck with GS Hypo-cement either, but I love their pinpoint applicator. Epoxy is the glue of last resort, but I did use it on one particularly pesky bezel insert- you just have to be careful not to get it on the bezel so that it won't turn!

Definitely some gaps in the story. As freddy and rolex001 say too many inconsistencies. This is not a 31 jewel movement- that's the 3135, not the 1575 (25 jewels) this watch should have. 200m WR, not 300m like on the 16800/16610's. You'd certainly want to check out the paperwork from Rolex in person to make sure it looks authentic and probably then confirm w/ Rolex themselves. And who dreamt up the 90K price tag? Pie in the sky???

Looks like Watchmaterial is low on the deal. I just found one at nostalgia2000- Clark's Watch supply on ebay- $9.00 plus $2.50 s&h. But if you order from WM, you need to get a spare pearl, so it'll end up costing you as much as wholesaleoutlet or Clark's in the long run!

Check out wholesaleoutlet990 for a click spring- you might have to go to his online ebay store- $8.00 with free shipping?? I ordered one for my 16800 gen last week- hoping it arrives today.

I don't remember how I got the bezel off on my WM 1680 (which is the same as a MBW). Sometimes I use a razor and tap it w/ a small hammer to remove bezels. If it snaps right back on, great, if not you, need the crystal press.

That's a very nice watch and Watch-Navi is a respected seller in Hong Kong. IMO, a 7.2 serial dates to 1982, not 1980, but that's no big deal. I would think this watch will go for $4000+. Shipping to EU would be the only other issue- do you get to pay customs duty on it?

The gen inserts can be pressed in with a crystal press w/o glue. But you might want to use glue to keep yours in- contact cement or rubber cement are ok and easy to remove should you need to. GS Hypocement is also a possibility, but it has failed on me a couple of times. I only use epoxy as a last resort. It never hurts to glue the insert into the bezel first and then after it has dried press the assembly back on the watch- this way you don't glue the insert and bezel to the case.

Gold is OK for occaisional wear- once a month, maybe. If you wear it too much, it will inevitably show signs of wear. But some guys around here have done OK with FG reps. You can get your 80's Rolex cleaned/polished BTW. It's prone to tarnishing, especially when not worn and stored away.