alligoat

I had my dial and hands relumed by PBdad out in LA- wonder if he's still around. They turned out great. If you were going to do a watch like this these days, you'd have to start with a BP 16600 but I understand they're pretty good.

I've always had good results with Josh. I also have done business with Andrew and Angus and they've also been good.

That's interesting! I went to NDTradingcorp.com and their site is up and running. I thought they were gone. Certainly would be easier ordering from them since before they were in California/CONUS.

What you need to do is run thru 10-20 116610s on ebay. A few are flush fit but on most there's an ever so slight recess to the SELs and slight is the key word- maybe like 1/64th or 1/128th". Also, I just noticed that the outside links of the SELs are slightly shorter than the lugs themselves- that's more of a tell than the SELs being flush with the lugs IMO. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2016-Rolex-Submariner-Date-116610-LN-Stainless-Black-Dive-Ceramic-40mm-Watch-/263191209083?epid=574703912&hash=item3d476b247b:g:u5IAAOSw7L1ZvEKK But this may be a problem on all of the 116610s, so you may need to chose another model! Or, as I understand it, there's drugs you can take these days to help keep your OCD in check!

That's one of the characteristics of the small Ladies DJ.

Looking good! In the first post, it looks like the case on top is slightly thinner- which case is that? A couple of 2846-2s and you'd be in fat city!

WOW! That's some kind of custom watchmaking!

I still like the date font for a 26mm ladies DJ

Beautiful job KS, you're getting quite good at changing out those Rolex crown emblems! You've a got fantastic watch there- congrats!

The 1655 Explorer case has been used for 1675 builds and can also be used for a 6542 build http://www.pf-818.com/0-00rlex00104-vintage-explorer-ii-1655-ss-ss-blk-asian-2813.html You have to shave off the crown guards and then come up with a bezel. It will take the correct Tropic crystal also- a 116. The Asian movement is actually a DG3804 and has worked out well in these builds. Rafflesdials also has the small GMT hand and the Mercedes hands.

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&2uswk&Felsa_4007 11.5 ligne is ok, H @ 5.6 is probably too high

The problem with the old Swatch watches is they are cheaply made with some plastic parts. Going to 21,600 bph is close- close as you can get at 6 bps. Rolex is 5.5 bps- and the etas are reliable movements which you can still get parts for. My old etas are holding up much better than my Rollies with 1500 series movements, cheaper to repair also. Getting Rolex parts for 1500 series movements is tough these days- Rolex doesn't support the vintage movements and if your movement is in a rep, you can't take it to Rolex anyway.

If you didn't spend too much on the case, you could still build a decent 5508 and put an eta movement in there. Movement- $100-200- either a 2824-2 or a 2846-2- don't know which one will work dial- say from Yuki- looks like they don't have a 5508 dial right now- might be able to use a 6536 dial and knock off the dial feet- $113 http://www.yukiwatch.com/catalog/item/8677972/9954496.htm Set of gold submariner hands from Clarks- $15 or so. Movement ring- #2 rafflestime or Helenarou- $15 a sympathetic watchmaker could put it all together for $50-100- it's worth at least $40! You'd need a bracelet or a strap- another $20-40, more if you go with a Yuki rivet. I built a 5508 in 2008 with an NDT case and dial ($1080 or slightly more) a 1520 movement- $880 plus $200 to service- a 1530 would be correct, but I bought a gold Air King and didn't want to steal the 1530 out of it. 6mm crown- $30-40 Clark gold hands for Rolex 1500 movt. rivet bracelet that I had WSO bezel insert- $35 with a decent acrylic pearl T-16 crystal- $75- can't touch em for that these days! Watchmaker put it together- under $100, maybe $75 So I have close to $2,500 in it Sorry for the crappy pic, but you get the idea. I don't really call this a franken because the only Rolex parts are the movement, crown and crystal.

Yep, looks like the Silix insert with a better pearl

Christoph posted the watch on August 5th at 10:21am (from my timezone- central daylight time)

I'd agree, I don't like the engravings either- the printing is too thick. But I don't know who's case it would be. Bracelet is a 78360, not a 93150. Can't tell if the end pieces are 501Bs, but should be 580s. Not that big a deal, but the case is!

The case doesn't look too bad, but it's obviously not a 60 year old case- there's no wear and tear and no one's going to sell you a pristine 5508 case- they just don't exist. The lugs not being sharp doesn't make sense to me- the bevels on the lugs look nice, but once again you won't find a pristine case in the wild. As for being able to differentiate- you're going to have to study 5508 cases and then compare. Also, if you want to find a decent vintage case, you're going to have to deal with reputable sellers. A web auction won't do in all likelihood. It would probably be easier to buy a complete 5508, but prices will run $10K usd for a questionable example and up and a good example could easily be $20-30K. Keep studying!

The problem with these watches is the center SELs- are they wrapped with gold down the sides? Possibly the more expensive one is, the less expensive one maybe not- or maybe both aren't which is a dead giveaway that the watch is a rep. Maybe you could check the QC pics, or try asking Andrew. Better yet, as BT says, just get a plain SS model.

thanks for sharing, always nice to have another option

Here's a rolex replacement case from Star Time Supply http://www.startimesupply.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=1&Product_Code=RSCSS&Category_Code=1_07_1D_Rolex_Case only problem is buying from Star Time- they can be snooty and not sell to you if you're not a watchmaker. Also, you'd need a crystal, bezel, click spring and washer. Also insert, case tube and crown. Buying a TC case would be probably cheaper but Tc is on hiatus at this point.

I doubt it will work. You need a case with gen-like construction and the Silix ain't it. Old WM9s, very late model MBKs, Sean, TC, WM1-3s are the cases you need. Even the BP 16610 has to be modified (in a lathe) to accept a gen crystal and retention ring.

Polished center links are a must! The 118200 case is all polished and the outside links are brushed

I bought a 118208 recently- mainly because it has the oyster bracelet- the president's bracelet just doesn't do anything for me. I'd post a pic, but Photobucket has me all screwed up!

Nice tutorial- thanks J!

If you have a dg2813, you could try that- it closely approximates a 2836-2