alligoat

Gens, frankens and reps. It just depends. If I don't want to risk being called out, I wear a gen. Need a beater- how about the noob- it did pretty well this weekend pushing the boat off an oyster reef- under water more than once. Want an inconspicous watch- I like the Sinn 303 Silber, the Heuer Carrera 1964 Re-Edition, or even the Rolex 6238 rep. I do wear a lot of Subs, but once again, if people do notice, they don't say anything. I'd figure over 95% of the people don't even pay attention to what you're wearing. I probably wear 5 different watches every week. But like everyone else, some get more wrist time than others.

For a recase and a refinished dial, and say it should be a 1080M, that's a lot of money for a Franken. The bracelet looked OK to me! But it's only worth $500-1000.

One quick clarification- "Saabin used a non-MBW 1680 from ebay". Actually it was a 1680 from aBay- which was Paul's old company from 3-4 years ago. Of course, I don't know if he still sells the same 1680 or not- stuff has changed a lot in 4 years-heck, you can hardly find a case with lug holes these days. And of course, grinding off the cg's isn't for the faint hearted either.

I used an Air King with a 1520 movement for my NDT 5508. And even though a 5508 should have a 1530 movt, I used the 1520 (it is essentially the same movement, but later). And if I wanted to resurrect the Air King, it would be easy to do- no parts were destroyed in building the 5508. I did have the movement serviced in the building process. I think building a 5517 or a 5513 is the perfect use for a 1520 movement. It's just a shame the NDT parts are so expensive and going up all the time.

Last nite a gen 1675 dial from shear-time on the bay sold for $175 plus or minus. Then you'd have to find a case to fit it in. The later transitional GMT Master (is it 16710?) would be another option- by then I believe it said Date on the dial, but the case had a sapphire crystal, old style matte dial and markers. 3055 movement.They're becoming the next vintage watches like the 16800 and the SD 16660. Take a vintage dial and put it in the newer case, but still w/ lugholes. Just thinking out loud.

A Noobpart is a part that comes off a noobmariner- the submariner, or the yachtmaster, or it could even be off the GMT from the noob factory. The noob factory bracelet is a very good rep bracelet- correct because it has the hollow center links like the gen Rolex bracelet. Prior to the noob factory bracelet, most of the rep bracelets had solid mid-links- in fact a lot still do, this is not correct for a true Rolex bracelet. And parts aren't available separately from the factory, so they only come off a watch. Date magnification has been discussed around here ad nausem. From the pics, IMO, your Explorer II might be slightly larger than 2.5, sub may be OK and I can't see the yachtmaster. I wouldn't worry about the Explorer though, it's not enough to worry about.

Just another 5 and dime cheap old chinese rep case, cheap old CN movement- good old Canal St junk.

I don't think we've seen one yet. You could get a gen dial, but then typically it's too small for the rep case.

It's hard to believe the noob's been around for two years. And, of course, Eddie Lee threw in the towel shortly thereafter. There's a certain amount of variation in the noobs- don't you wonder how many millions are out there? Remember Josh's beginmariner with the thick date font, some had the zit pearls, and there were slight variations in rehaut depth. Most of the collectors carry it, TTK, Josh, Andrew, Paul, EL (he always had good quality watches from what I've read), and now Eurotimez, etc. It certainly has been a successful watch- no doubt about it. I love wearing mine, a great beater and who cares if you tear it up- it's a 'down in the trenches' working watch for me.

Different design? And don't forget, the asian idea of clean and serviced ain't the same as the Swiss. You could service a $15 movement for $50-100, but does it make economic sense?

That's the rotor and it's noisy, but not a big deal. The ETA's and Rolex automatics are certainly quieter, but I have a Sinn with the modified Swiss 7750 and it has a supercharged rotor, but it's the most accurate watch I have, including my gen Rolexes! Don't sweat the noisy rotor!

Yeh, and NDT has the 6542 case, but at $1350, it's like ouch! The dial is $600, ouch again!

G-S Supplies up in Rochester NY sells a plastic aftermarket crystal for the 6542- PA-462-17E, OD of 30.1. They also sell a Rolex T-116 Cyclop PA-462-19K, OD 30.28. SternKreuz (from the Cousins catalog) has two T-116 crystals- XS 300.158 and XS 302.450. But none of this may be any good if you're using a rep case! I guess you already have a dial which would be the biggest hurdle- but is it a 6542, or a 1675? I would think either one would work, if the diameters are close. And it fits in a rep case, but the problem with a rep case is it usually take a bigger dial than the corresponding gen! Today I'm wearing my 5508 (NDT) and I often wonder if the two cases aren't the same- 6542 and 5508, but it looks like the NDT 5508 case is closer to 38mm (I don't really trust my Harbor Freight $5 calipers here at work). But I wouldn't be surprised if Rolex used the same case.

I don't know if they are Solid as in SEL, but they are attached to the bracelet, and the numbering is correct. 592/93160. The earlier 1665 would have had the 585/93150 (or 93160?) and it was available into the early 80's. The 16800 Submariner from the same time would have 593/93150 w/ the detachable end pieces. A very nice watch, but definitely a 'retail' price. Don't know if you could still find one for around $5K usd- say 3200 Euros or not. Rolex prices have been going up as fast as oil lately- or the dollar is going down that fast!

I kinda like it, too B-T. I'd never split up a couple of gens, but might swap in an Explorer II dial if I had one. I just ordered the Alpha GMT which is very similar, as a play watch: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...A:IT&ih=020 And as you say, my dream would be to build the 6542 with the white desk pilots dial and the black bezel for now the Alpha's as close as I can get!

LOL, I'm with Freddy on this, 6538, or possibly a 5510. Definitely a big crown, no crown guards, Submariner. The ironic thing is this has been debated on the Bond sites, but the truth is, only Cubby Broccoli's family knows the answer since they have the actual watch and I guess they're not talking. Talk about a million dollar Rolex watch- can you imagine what would happen if that watch were auctioned off by Antiquorum. The 5513 didn't show up till later in one of the Roger Moore Bond films.

Beautiful watch addingwatch. I love those v72's.

I wouldn't go any further. Basically, I think you're there. A smaller crown would be next on the agenda. But that's a whole nother lesson. I actually think a Rolex crown is smaller than the noob crown in width, as well as height, so I'd leave it like it is.

Look at TMG's two pics in post #31- those are gens, but maybe aftermarket bezels- look at the dial- "Oyster Perpetual", not "Oyster Perpetuall Date" like in the rep dials. thats the main flaw in the rep dials- wrong wording w/ the addition of "Date". Flat-top three is anpther telll in the date window- rarely copied by reps.

I sure like the pearl on that new SD- it looks just like one of CN's best!

This is pretty cool. I was on vacation last week and I'm just getting caught up. Drilling lug holes is certainly something us vintage guys are always looking for since the new cases aren't coming with them. I'm like Sir Lancelot, to build a 16800, I need a case w/ lug holes!

Looks good! I agree with Ziggy, a lot of times the pearl is darker than the dial, so I'd leave it like it is.

Next possibility- a Silix no cg sub- 38mm x 12mm http://www.silix-prime.com/images/upfile/rols174-1.jpg But the bezel won't be correct, like the notched bezel on the 6542. And I think these are thin cases w/ 29mm dials, as I recall.

Like Tribal says, this Silix 1675 w/ the crappy dial- 28mm to boot, and shave the cg's http://www.silix-prime.com/product.asp?id=1494 If the dial didn't say DATE, it would be halfway decent

Good old NDT has the 6542 case for $1350! http://ndtradingcorp.com/zen/index.php?mai...products_id=102 Takes a 1030 or 1065 GMT movement. Don't know of anything cheaper- like a Silix no cg case and an asian GMT movt, with a ??? dial