alligoat

Michael Young over in Hong Kong- www.classicwatchparts.com Everest Watchworks used to do redials but now they only do relumes.

Just out of curiosity, what year is W? My reference books at work! It's got to be 90's- tritium dial, 93150 bracelet.

I've been seeing the flat 'S' dials on 16800's and maybe early 16610's- from the late 80's and very early 90's. Of course T<25, tritium, went away around 2000. And 16800 prices continue to escalate- especially the early transitional matte dials- they're up over $5K if they're in good shape.

I had tried a month or so ago. Like you say, NDTrading type dials which aren't my favorite. But the cases could be another matter if they are reasonably priced. But I did notice that Phong has expanded his selection recently- like a 6238 dial.

WOW! 100K! That makes torresp's franken look even better. He can refer to it as his $100,000 watch!

The watches that I've seen on the bay with the rehaut engraving are the new M serial #'s- the 2008 model.

Hey freddy, have you ever contacted this guy? http://www.vintagewatchesmq.com/wrist_watches.html I've never got any response from him.

There's no doubt that the stuff at Jewelry and Watch is not gen, but it is some of the nicest stuff around- high end replica stuff, so to speak. Look at torresp's Comex SD. I'm sure it cost him over $4K to build, but the gen could easily run $20K, if you could find one for sale. Same with the early Daytonas- the real stuff is expensive, so you build a first class rep- something good enough to fool 99.99% of the people.

Paul's 'so called Perfect Submariner' is the ETA noobmariner. Also comes in the green LV edition. An excellent choice if you want the ETA. I also got the Submariner from River with the asian copy ETA- going for $119 last I checked- this is also a noob. I've been very happy with that watch, keeps good time, put a gen crown and aftermarket tube in it, trimmed the cg's and it even had a watchmaterial pearl in there until I busted it out- now it's got a Raymond Lee pearl. Great beater.

Like Poopy says, stainless is very close weight wise. And it's a common recommendation around here to stick to the ss. W/ TT and full gold (both plated) you run the risk of wearing off the gold- a dead giveaway. The Datejust reps are pretty decent- and good beaters with the ETA movement inside.

That dial is a nice upgrade over the MBW dial- thinner font on the 660ft=200m. Pointed crown guards are a nice touch also- MBW's are too thick on the outside. Good job!

Wow! That's more Franken than Frankenstein! You've taken it to the highest level no doubt. Very nice!

Freddy, the back side of the crown guards looking bad is because the picture sucks! The tops just got blacked out. And my cut-out on my 78 gen is off center also- can't remember which way. Other than the bad pearl and the confusing last picture, i'd figure the watch is basically OK.

Interesting. I'm fixing to transplant a 2846 w/ ubi overlay into my WM 1680- hope my local watchmaker can do it! If not, I guess I'll just keep the 2836 and the stock overlay which really doesn't bother me all that much. There actually are Rolex 1575's w/ the other two datewheels out there- open 6's and 9's and round top 3's and closed 6's and 9's and round top 3's. Rolex just didn't pay that much attention to the details in the 60's and 70's. Nevertheless, the flat top 3's, open 6's and 9's (except 26) were the predominate style of datewheel in those days.

I agree, the last pic looks different than the rest. I wrote Rob a couple of weeks ago and told him his insert was crap- the pearl that is- and how could he expect to get $12.5K w/ a crappy pearl- the least he could do is spend $100 and get the correct insert. No reply. At the time he was selling a 5512 for about the same price and it had the correct pearl in the insert. These guys are a reputable high end watch place. If you were really interested, I guess you'd have to spend the next $500 or so and fly out to LA and see the watch in person (of course that won't work for EU types). Maybe they'd send you some better photos. I can always tell their photos- I don't like them that much- you see alot of better photos here on RWG

Yeah, I like amber shellac. I use it on my woodworking projects. Of course, at $10 a quart, it helps if you have it laying around. Plan B would be coffee or tea and your wife's nail polish- it's always around and free!

I ran across this watch last night looking at jmryshi's site on ebay. Buy it now for $2195 (gen of course, lightly used) http://cgi.ebay.com/OMEGA-SPEEDMASTER-NEW-...1QQcmdZViewItem Item #220186178142 if the link doesn't work. It looks to me like an Omega modified 7750- it's referred to as an cal. Omega 1164. Omega cal. 1151 is a Valjoux 7751- automatic triple date. This new one looks like the standard 7750 layout to me. And that would make getting the subdial spacing right a whole lot easier! Kinda like the Tag Heuers which also use the 7750 in the new Carrera chronos- great to rep.

When you check the currency conversion today, the Euro is up over $1.47 on the exchange. So 80K Euro is almost $120K US. And this year we've seen the Canadian dollar come back up to the US dollar. I sure hate to see you over in Paris for any extended time Ziggy, I need you to fix my watches!

Lonnie, I remember seeing someone advertising a 24-702 tube- Helfands, I believe. Didn't look like the tube out of my gen, but if it works, what the heck. As wight says, the 702 and 703 are not compatible. Also, check Clark's- I just can't remember since I don't need one. That joker down here in Sugar Land, Tx might also have them- he just started carrying the 703 tube, as I recall. He's the one that sells all the bezel inserts on the bay.

There's a few differences, Silix has the silver eta movt, Josh the gold- both have the GMT hand on the bottom of the stack- which is the most reliable, movt wise, but not like the gen where the GMT hand is above the hour hand. Date window appears right on both models. Silix's clasp is the long Submariner type, whereas Josh has the correct short GMT/Explorer clasp. I would think the two come from different factories but don't know for sure.

I don't know if an old style 6mm tube will fit the 24-600-0 crown or not, but I would think it's worth a try. But you have to buy the tube wrench to go w/ the $6 tube. The new tube should fit the 24-603-0 crown w/o any problems and it is basically the same as the 600 crown in looks. The only difference I notice is that older crowns are a little more beveled on the inside edge than the modern crowns which are flatter.

How about a little stain and maybe a clear sealer over it? If you look at 16800's, some of the bezel pearls have really turned almost brown. I'm not one of those that likes the really untouched original brown stuff- but you do see it from time to time. Obviously, Rolex would replace the bezel during routine service, but some people like their watches all original. Here's a 16800 original for $9K! http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-1982-Rolex-Sub...ksid=p1638.m122 It's item # 350009721238 if the link doesn't work. Also a nice original matte dial, 6 mil serial

The guys at it again- only this time he got the model right- at least he learns from his mistakes! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...bayphotohosting item # 150199673340 if the link doesn't work. Crown guards are wrong, too big a crown, TW Best of MBW probably

A 24-600-0 is an old part number. You might do better with a newer part# like the 24-602-0 and then you could go to Ofrei and get the case tube for something like $6.00. They have two case tubes- old style 6mm and new style 6mm. Of course, you need the correct wrench for installing the case tube also- new style or old. I wish there was an easier source than ebay, but if you find one, it will more than likely cost you more money. Ebay is hit or miss, but what can you do? This guy, jewelerstools, has a crown and tube: http://cgi.ebay.com/Rolex-Date-or-GMT-Stai...7QQcmdZViewItem If the link doesn't work- it's item 230206442947 Oh and I almost forgot- you need to tap the hole in the case so you'll need a tap for that- ofrei or julesborel. The first time you change out a crown and tube, it's expensive, but the second and third times the price comes down since you already have all of the tools.

Genuine inserts- the black part- are friction fit and they are pressed into the bezel itself. If the bezel itself- the ss (or gold) part came off, it snaps on also- you just need to make sure you don't lose any of the miscellaneous parts that go with it. But if you have a rep and the insert fell off, you're probably going to have to glue it back on to the bezel- a few drops of GS Hypo-cement or epoxy to the metal bezel and press the insert on- just make sure the bezel still turns and you don't glue it to the case.