alligoat

Heh, heh, Steve! Getting the bezel off a noob is a bitch to say the least- took over an hour. Luckily I didn't tear it up- amazing. Cleaned it up and got it back on w/o too much trouble- had to play with the paper clip retainer thingy a little. Should have pulled the one way prongs up a little more- still a very soft click bezel- not bad for a 25 year old watch, so to speak. I'd like to get a better set of lumed hands for the rep- to match Ziggy's awesome lume job. That's the nice thing about the rep- great lume on the dial, fun to look at at nite- can't do that on the gen- the lume is pretty much dead- might be on it's last 1/2 life so to speak- a little left when you hold it under the lamp for a while- a faint glow. The dial on my gen 1680 is in better shape- still white, but the lume is also pretty much gone- don't really know why some turn yellow and some stay white. Next, I'm on to your MBW case- gen crown, gen insert (I hope it fits w/o filing too much), noob dial, eta movt. Should be easy, I hope. Thanks again. Mac

Thanks Stilty, reminds me that I have a 2824 laying around!

I wonder if Chris- Eurotimez- would source you a correct datewheel overlay- like the ones used in the 1680/1665 MBK's? BTW, I plan on hanging on to my gen- it's an investment, of course! You might keep your eye on VFR- I got my 16800 from Ponycar350. Anything under $4500 for a matte dial is a good price. You can still find the later dial w/ WG surrounds for $3500-3700- here in the USA- I've heard prices are slightly higher in the EU.

No, I didn't, but in looking with my +3.50 glasses which is what I use to do watch work, I can't see it there. So maybe it's not a noob crystal.... llsteve80 sent me a noob case w/ bezel, crystal and case back- all of which I used since Omega only sold me just the case itself with the lugholes drilled. What I really should have done is tried out another crystal anyway- trying to get a little more crystal height, but when I got all of the parts together, I just went to building. It wasn't till the watch was complete that I realized Omega hadn't trimmed the cg's- so I had to take it apart and go back and do that a couple of nites ago.

Yeh, but Stephane, yours with the noob case has the shallow rehaut- that makes it a 16800 or 168000. I did see a 16800 on ebay yesterday with 580 end links- it looked all original. I also think I saw another 16800 last week with 501's (no B ). While 580 would be correct for a 1680, 593 for the 16800 and 168000, and 501B's for the early (pre- SEL's) 16610's, it's the same old Rolex story- variations do occur.

Bruce, you were my inspiration for this project! I guess I should have scratched the 16610T and F520117 off the case. I guess with your dial- Swiss- T<25- an early 16610 would be more appropriate- 501B end pieces on a 93150 and you're there. Some of the early R serial 16610's are starting to get that aged tritium effect. I actually think an R serial 16610 would be a good investment- but Rolex prices have gone up so much in the last year, it's driving me crazy. It's much easier to build a $6-700 rep and easier on the wallet, also.

Thanks guys for the compliments. As much as I like the vintages, I guess what I really like about the 16800 is that it is kinda a crossover- and it is becoming a vintage in its own right at this point. Finding the matte dials is getting tougher all the time. Mine was in pretty rough shape, but Zig went above and beyond the call of duty to get it right on the relume- he actually had to infill some of the matte black paint under the markers before he could apply the lume. But it sure glows nicely at night. Finding matte dials these days is just a matter of watching the bay- hoping for a sleeper- anything under $200 would be a good deal. The noob case is probably the best thing out there right now for a 16800 and Bobby's back from vacation- hopefully he'll continue drilling lugholes. MBW/MBK and TWBest cases will work (with lugholes of course) but the rehaut is too deep- geared more towards the 16610- and the two gen cases are different as far as the rehaut (bezel assembly and crown/tube are the same from what I see). I bought a Rolex Comex dial from Mark Greenberg a few years ago (probably aftermarket- but Rolex size and dial feet), I might try a 16800 Comex next. My 16800 rep is WR, good for light swimming, fishing and washing the dog- just like my cheapo noob. BTW, putting a gen or aftermarket case tube in is a PIA- when you countersink, it cuts into the backside of the case slightly, but still WR. Just a slight wallow on the back side.

On the left is a gen 16800, matte dial, early 80's. I bought this watch a couple of months ago because I was so frustrated in trying to build a rep 16800 that I finally went out and bought a gen. The markers have faded to a light yellow. The bezel insert was replaced last week with an old tritium insert which was in a lot better condition than the original insert. Of course I kept the old insert. On the right is my rep. Last month I got lucky and bought the noob case from Omega- he had drilled the lugholes and did an absolutely fantastic job. A month earlier, Stephane had put a gen sub dial in his noob case- suddenly I realized it could be done! I've always liked the noob case for it's shallower rehaut- a key feature for the 16800. Dial is a gen matte dial which was relumed by Ziggy a year and a half ago. Dial is 27.38mm and the inside of the case rehaut is 27.0mm, so you've got .2mm on either side when placing the dial in the case. Gen crown and tube, 2834 w/ the old style datewheel- open 6's and 9's and the noob insert w/ a watchmaterial pearl. I was going to put a gen insert in there, until I realized you have to file it all the way around to make it fit- the noob bezel is slightly smaller than the gen bezel. Like BK, I wasn't too keen on potentially wasting a gen insert- I'll save it for another project later. I might try the Jewelry Outlet insert later- yes, file it down, but the fonts on the numbers might be thinner- the noob bezel fonts are slightly too thick compared to the gen insert on the left. The bracelet is a rep 93150 with hollow mid links (from Paul's DRSD), gen 593 end links and a clasp from Paul's 5513 which has no lines on the safety clasp part- a feature of the older bracelets- both my 1680 and my 16800 have the smooth safety clasps. On the side pic, hopefully you can see the similar rehauts- the gen on the left is slightly more shallow than the noob on the right- but they're close. Typical noob issues are the shallow crystal height, crown is slightly lower and a better bezel insert would look a little better. A better set of lumed hands would also help- Ziggy's lume job lasts thru the night, but the hands fade by 4 or 5am. But a rep with good lume sure is nice- it's the one advantage over the gen- I can't go reluming the gen dial w/o destroying the value of the watch. Thanks to lionsandtigers for the dial, Ziggy, llsteve80 for the extra noob parts, Omega, Stephane, bklm and everyone else- it's the sharing of info on this forum that makes it possible to build these cool watches.

Very nice! BK has been a big help to me w/ my subs. It may take 10 weeks, but it sure looks like it's worth the wait. I figure he must be pretty busy- you don't see him around here that much!

When you pry it out, you risk damaging it, but if your replacing it, I guess it's not a big deal. Since it's glued in, you might be able to apply some heat and loosen the glue. Last week I popped the pearl and then worked the insert up and off from there. X-acto knives and razors can be helpful. Just go slowly and be patient.

I've never seen 558 end links on a bracelet. This watch should have 580's (585's were later), or the earlier 280 or 380 if the bracelet is earlier. I'm not sure about the dial, I'd have to study the DRSD site. But why is a guy from South America selling what would supposedly be a valuable watch on a Dutch ebay site instead of on the main ebay site? Anyway, he pulled the auction. Was he trying to run under the radar (or scam)?

Noob bezel insert is slightly smaller than a gen or the aftermarket ones- so you have to file it down- around and around you go, slowly and carefully. Or get a replacement from Neil (or maybe Chris @ Eurotimez). bklm1234 could make you one w/ a WM pearl, but it would cost you more, but it is an improvement.

I pointed it out to freddy a couple of days ago- his comment was it'll be at 25K in a few days and he figured 40-50K final. It's authentic, no doubt. I'd figure 25-35K myself, but what do I know. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=tab%3DWatching

Congratulations Stephane! And thanks for showing me that you can put a gen Rolex dial in a noobmariner case. I just completed my 16800 with the matte dial and noob case with lugholes drilled by Bobby- oops, I forgot to scratch off the SN and model # between the lugs!

CBR, it would be cool if you had any info on where to send resume, etc. to This is a $500 million company- online wristwatch retailer out of the L.A. area. But Rolex doesn't condone online sales- or at least didn't in the past. Richard Brown says Rolex produces 750,000 watches per year, say at an average wholesale price of $5000, that would be $3.75 billion per year in revenue. So this company's $500 million in sales is $250 million wholesale maybe- that's roughly 6.67% of Rolex's wholesale business- that's a pretty good chunk IMO. I think it's all a crock of caca frankly! I'm off to google online watchretailers out of L.A.

Yep, he's on vacation. and it's been over a week and a half so far- the lucky booger!

Ubi has always been very helpful, like Stephane says, PM him. He's pretty busy these days, especially w/ a new baby, and doesn't hang around as much as he used to.

Off hand, I wouldn't think so. But one possibility would be to remove the bezel insert and file the back side with a file and reset it- reglue, that is. If the insert sits lower in the bezel, maybe the crystal will be higher.

I realize that the SSD v2 has some faults, but I still think it's a damn nice watch. ENJOY!

You could buy a gen, or a bklm1234 jewelry outlet w/ WM pearl. Did you buy the $275 Euromariner or the $475 one w/ ETA? It's all a question of how much do you want to spend.

bklm1234 is a good choice for a bezel insert with the WM pearl. If you tell him which watch case you have, he can probably tell you what you need. Just this week he helped me out with a noob project- a noob bezel is slightly smaller than a gen bezel so you have to shave the insert down to make it fit. Or just put a WM pearl in the noob insert- a cheap fix, but it takes some practice and skill to do it right. The other option is to look on the bay and hope someone sells you a true gen bezel insert. Depending on the bidding, you can expect to pay $70-100. But it helps to know first if a gen insert will fit your sub case- filing them down isn't really worth it IMO.

Try this Slarti! http://www.pc-80108.com/rldv10012-daytona-...7750-p-305.html With a service from Ziggy, it's a dependable little watch- a classic.

Jewelry and Watch- www.jewelryandwatch.com- has the 6236 (or is it the 6036?) and the price is very steep- but it has the V72C movt, correct case and aftermarket dial. Once again, it's manual wind like the original. Buying the parts and sourcing a V72C, you might be able to build one for $3000-4000. Less if you could adapt a DW case. The 6234 and 6238 with the asian 7750 aren't a bad place to start. Josh and a few others have them. Although not correct as far as the pusher spacing, I've certainly enjoyed my 6238- I did spend a couple of hundred dollars to have Ziggy service it. So, for under $500, I have a nice dependable vintage chronograph- and I doubt anyone will ever call you out on it- people just don't know anything about these watches!

Nice job Dizz! It's a beautiful watch. I know what you mean about drilling for the gen tube- both my noobs have that little wallow-out on the backside also. It's the only way to get the tube in there tight enough.

At $150usd, I still figure it's a good deal. That's what I paid for an aftermarket 5513 dial. It's cheaper than an NDTrading dial at $400!