alligoat

Timezone has an online school- two courses that you could take. But like anything else, it requires a commitment of time and money- maybe $500-700 for tools and courses. I found a watchmaker instead who will work on my reps and build my frankens.

I looked at your other post and I think your watch movement is an ETA- balance jewel looks good, engraved rotor, engraving of 2824-2 on the plate, general fit and finish. I question Ziggy's statement above since all of my ETA's in reps are gold- but I do agree that they are surplus as Rob says. Gold ones also come from asia no doubt- just not in sealed packages. The majority of clones that I've seen are also gold, but there are also nickel colored ones out there, too. One last note, jcmiro, your last pic of the ETA movement- it has a little piece over the rotor that says Rolex- 25 jewels- it's just a little glue on metallic sticker- you can pop it off with a knife or razor. It would be interesting to do that so that you can see if your rotor underneath is engraved. Over tha last year or so we've seen an increasing number of clones in the marketplace. They are not bad movements and I agree with Pix, if you get one in a watch that was supposed to have an ETA, about the best you can do is try to get a price adjustment from your dealer- it's not the end of the world. Asian 21j, clone or ETA- anyone of them could need to be serviced at some point- sooner or later- there are no guarantees.

My internet is driving me crazy- I tried to respond but it ain't working- maybe tomorrow it'll be better. Heck maybe it's working now, but I got to go out.

Wow rodwc, you seem to be getting kinda upset. I happen to agree with Chris- Eurotimez, that the first three pics are probably a clone movement- first clue is that the rotor doesn't have "Twenty-Five Jewels 25 Swiss Made" on it. Of course, the pic isn't the best, and you can't tell if it says 2836-2 under the balance, but that is no guarantee these days anyway. The clones are typically gold (that I've seen). Chris wasn't being derogatory, he was just giving his educated opinion. I happen to agree with him and John G who said- asian, asian, and ETA. I'm not putting Josh down, just giving my opinion.

Check the sales corner at Timezone- there are some guys who sell leather straps for reasonable prices there. There was a seller on ebay- Rich Crumpton, who used to sell Rolex buckles- silver or gold for around $18. You might have to email him cause last time I saw his stuff he didn't have any buckles listed, maybe the Rolex dogs are getting after him. The strap has to be 19 x 16- 19mm at the lugs, 16 at the buckle. The buckles have little springbars so they are easy to remove.

A noob case won't work. A 26mm Tudor dial is too small. The noob dial is 28+mm. One of the inexpensive 5513 reps would work like this one above: Paul, Silix and Andrew all carry it. It's a smaller case- like 38mm and I just recently put a gen (aftermarket Vietnamese?) dial in it- worked fine. Heck, with a Tudor dial, the dial feet might even work. On the Rolex dial you have to cut the feet and glue the dial to the top movement ring.

It just depends. If the watch stops because it's just dirty, a cleaning and servicing will get it up and running again typically. But if parts are worn out or damaged, they probably will have to be replaced. On an asian 21j, it's not cost effective and parts aren't available so you put a new movement in there. With an ETA, you can get parts so you can repair it. If you have an ETA and you wear it alot, it might not be a bad investment to service it (around $100) if you want to keep wearing it for 3-5 years. But I still just service mine when they stop- ETA or asian. I did have Ziggy service a asian 7750 rep that I really like- $200! But now I should be good for 3-5 years with that watch.

In addition to the yucky crown position and bottom of the case on the MBW, it looks like the inside of the bezel insert's been shaved to fit the crystal.

Yep, Pussy was wearing a GMT in the film- the 'pilot's watch'. Don't know if it was a 6542 or a 1675 which came out in the early 60's- about the time of Goldfinger (1963, I believe). Can't tell from the pic.

I just got the same message- says I haven't made a post in 180 days! Must be a system error.

Thanks Mike. That's a cool way to test for not a whole lot of money. I already have an air compressor, so I don't need a bike pump. 85 psi looks like a good stopping point- plenty of test for swimming/snorkling.

Stilty, aren't you thinking of the 5.3mm case tube which goes with the latest 6mm crown- the 24-603-0? Case size for a 6541- maybe 38mm. OD of a T-16 is 30mm or so, and the bezel and insert- forget the OD of the insert but it's basically the same as the 5513- maybe 36.5mm.

Interesing! Most of the old 5508's that I see on the bay- or at least alot of them- don't even have a pearl in them. Lost long ago, I suspect. Kinda like the old story about the people who used to do the dial painting with radium- they'd lick their paint brush with their tongue to get a fine point- needless to say- they are long dead and gone.

Yes But you could also use a 24-602 crown and tube- don't know how hard the early crown and tube are to find these days. T-16's are scarce and getting expensive- quite often $200-300.

Might want to check out the Euromariner- Chris w/ Eurotimez is coming out with it- there was a post here a few days ago. MBW case with slightly less datemag. Supposed to be less than an MBW

usual suspects: Michael Young- classicwatchparts.com in Hong Kong ndtradingcorp.com- Natalie, don't know if she'll sell an insert separately jewelryandwatch.com- don't know if Phong has this part And you'll have to see if they are the correct insert- we noticed yesterday that NDTrading was selling a 5508 insert which had a little metal ring around the pearl- whereas the correct 5508 insert would be an all acrylic pearl.

Just keep reminding yourself that you got five great watches. You couldn't even buy one gen Pam for $2200.

I went to NDTrading's site and the bezel insert they're showing on the 5508 now has a small metal ring around the pearl. The one that I got from them 3-4 months ago was just an acrylic pearl- no metal surround. This is also a NDT 5508 with a 1520 movement, 6mm Rolex crown, and gilt hands not quite yet 'aged' to match the dial lume- it's still a work in progress. Also, I still need to age the pearl which will just be a little staining to darken it- easier than messing with the hands which entails pulling the movement and taking off the hands.

I used a credit card for a purchase from Josh. I had to call the cc company to find out why it was declined. They said it was because I didn't have a history of making those kinda purchases (from China). I told him it was OK and it went thru ($200-300). Ironically, a couple of weeks later I bought a Sinn watch from Watchbuys for $1500 and it went thru- no problem. Of course, Watchbuys is here in the US. Moral is: Call your credit card company and tell them to do it!

I got the Sinn 303 with the Silver dial- really off-white. WR to 200m, it's the most accurate of any of my watches- keep it on a winder when I'm not wearing it and haven't had to adjust it in I don't know how long. It's a damn well fine tuned 7750! I'd have to agree, you can't go wrong w/ Sinn.

Is that a TT or gold DJ? I'm thinking an ss DJ would have been under $200, I guess.

That's a beautiful watch, Uncle Jay! The color of the hands and the dial lume matches perfectly. Are these gold or silver hands? I can't tell from the pic.

I remember looking at a 5513 in a jewelry store window around 1965- the time of Thunderball- $210. Ironically, as a kid, I had the money but I couldn't justify the cost. Bought a Tissot for around $50 instead. At that time a TT Datejust would have run around $160, a gold one probably $400.

Looks good, quiet elegance- I especially like the gold case w/ the white dial. Hirsch strap based on the buckle?

I kinda like the date mag on the noob. But I like the rehaut on the Euromariner, also. The Euro could use a trimming of the cg's, but that's no big deal. Look forward to seeing more of this new Euro watch.