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The dial feet on the asian dial don't match up with the eta dial feet locations, meaning you'll have to clip the feet and glue the dial to the movement ring and the ring to the movement. And you'll have to glue a Rolex datewheel to the eta movement's datewheel and remove the asian stem and screw in the eta stem to the crown. All in all, it might be easier to order Paul's "Perfect Sub" for $149 plus whatever it costs you to get the money to Paul- WU, bankwire, Moneybookers....

Date mag should be OK. Thanks submariner2005 for the link on the TT bands w/solid gold mid-links. Can't decide if I want to spring for one or not. Right now the brown leather strap w/ the gold Rolex buckle is OK- gives the watch a more dressy look!

The biggest differences between a gen DJ and a rep are going to be small differences in sizes of parts and that they aren't interchangeable. A rep case won't be the exact same size as a gen, typically a mm larger, rep crown is maybe slightly smaller. Gen dials are slightly smaller than rep dials. Stuff like that. But w/o a pair of calipers, who can tell the diff just by looking at a gen and a rep side by side. They're slightly different, but when a reps on your wrist, no one's gonna know for sure without a closer inspection.

Considering that I just spent $500 building a TT Frankenjust and I still don't have a band with solid gold mid-links (I'm currently wearing the watch with a dark brown leather strap), I'd have to figure it's not a bad deal if you want a band with solid gold mid-links. The DJ is a fairly easy watch to copy, so you really shouldn't have any problems there.

Faisal Ali operates at least two stores on ebay (maybe more) and I've found him to be definitely hit or miss on his knock-off Rolex parts. I'm with aclaimsman and would definitely avoid him if you're looking for a 16610 insert (I like the Raymond James inserts better). But when you're only spending $12-13, it's no big deal. This guys somewhere down the street out in the burbs of Houston (Sugar Land), so when I do order from him, I end up having to pay state sales tax.

Nice job, and I like the cg's. What case did you use so that you could fit a gen dial in it?

I'd figure that 90% of the value of that watch is in the original dial- absolutely beautiful. Other interesting details are the folded link bracelet and the old style crown and case tube (24-7020) where the case tube doesn't have the outside gasket like on the later (and still current) case tube (24-7030) does.. finding an acrylic pearl to install in the old bezel insert would certainly be a great find. Thanks for posting, BWL.

www.jewelryandwatch.com/ And this is the guy in Mesa, AZ? Anyway, interesting and thanks for the link. Some of those parts are pretty amazing. You could build a 6263 that would be practically indiscernible from a gen.

I agree with jdavis and would think that a letter from a lawyer on Eddie's behalf would get Paypal off high center. All he's trying to do is refund you your money. I would have to think that legally Paypal has no right to your money. Paypal may have other issues w/ Eddie's account, but that doesn't mean they are the judge, jury and executioneer. The money belongs to you (or Eddie) and not Paypal. BTW, Paypal is invloved in numerous class action lawsuits because of such practices as this. I guess it's time to google "Paypal Lawsuits".

Thanks for the link on Classic Watch Parts. They've added some stuff since I was last there 3-4 months ago. That 5512-13 bezel insert at $50 isn't too bad a price.

I've used the 2836 in my two frankejust projects with the 16013 and 16014 cases. These are the cases for the 80's Datejusts with the 3035 movement and the plastic crystal. The stem on the 2824 was too high, so I used the 2836 and it lined up correctly with the case tube and crown.

All you can do at this point is get with Eddie. Hopefully he will be able to work something out w/ Paypal and get your money back from them and resend it to you in another manner (WU, Moneybookers, check or whatever). Most of the dealers here are having problems with Paypal and are no longer using it. Paypal won't allow payment for counterfeit merchandise and has apparently figured out who some of the replica watch dealers are and is making things hard for them. I figure it's none of Paypals business what we're buying, but I guess they're playing by the Golden Rule. Since they've got your gold, they make the rules. Just one more reason why Paypal sucks!

Very nice Falco. I agree with z80 on trimming the inside bottom edges of the cg's a little and I especially like your bezel insert with the gen pearl. By the way, what is a cwp insert? All in all, a great job resurrecting a bunch of old parts.

There's no doubt that the 2892 is a good movement, but man that's a lot of work to fit it in there. I think I'd be inclined to stick w/ the 2824-2 and a spacer ring. That William Marshall store in Germany had some other nice watches for sale. I especially like the Omega Speedmaster with the modified 7751 triple date movement and white dial.

Here's another link: http://www.redwatches.com/

I'm certainly in for something like this. You'd be able to fit a bevy of gen parts, dial, crown and tube, bezel insert, and w/ an ETA movt, it would be the next best thing to a gen Rolex. Since we can't find TW cases anymore, this would be the cat's meow! Keep us posted. I hope it works out.

You need to find the independent watchmaker in your area that can work on an ETA. If you have a Chinese movement in your watch, you probably just need to buy another watch- the movements aren't worth servicing. Some people don't like working on reps cause they can't get parts if something breaks, but you have to understand that it's a risk you, as the owner of the watch, have to be willing to take. Of course movement parts for an ETA can be found, but crowns, crystals, etc. are hard to come by. Just keep asking around and be honest about what you've got- it ain't that big a deal.

Hopefully you've sent those pictures on to Angel and Jay. I'd love to see the one with the white dial.

I just put the digital calipers on a dial of mine and it came up 27.84mm. Mine is for a 16013/16223 series watch w/ dial feet at 2:30 and 7:30 and I'm getting ready to take off the feet! So , yes yours is full size. BTW, midsize case is around 31mm, so the dial and movement are quite a bit smaller.

I've seen 16610's as low as $3000 and the 14060 can run from $2500 on up. Too bad you have to sell a new watch. As an individual, you'd be lucky to get between $4000 and 4500 for a new one and you have to watch out for the scammers. Good luck.

I think these watches serve a good purpose. With a few gen parts, they'll fool 99.99% of the people and they are great beaters. With a little bit of work, they can even be made waterproof. I'd much rather be wearing one of these when I'm tearing stuff up, than a gen!

Well Falco, obviously you wouldn't be the first or the last person to build a franken... They are nice, but I have a hard time putting a $900-1000 movement in a watch that from a collectors point of view isn't correct. But remember, you can't touch a legitimate 1665 for under $6000 and it might be even more than that these days. And an MBW case is nice, but the engravings suck big time! Polex and an L serial # and the fact that they used laser etching to do the engraving all detract from the final product in my mind. Now, if you could find an original case, then putting a 1570 in it would be a whole different matter in my mind and worth the expense. Otherwise, I'd stick w/ what you did on your 1680, put the gen parts on it and put a 2846 in it. And with the $1000 you save, you could do a 1665 up right also (w/ an ETA, of course)!

Interesting! The movement looks good and the engraving on the case looks good, also, but the Brevet engraved on the case throws me. But it's not a bad looking case or bezel. And it's so old, I guess the RSC isn't going to help you with authenticating it at all. Of course, "all sales are final" means 'go f... yourself, you're too stupid to know it's a fake'.

Definitely on the pricey side. You might keep looking around. Ubi and some of the others know more than I do about the seller- but I've heard his watches are made-up, meaning compiled from parts, which sucks for the unsuspecting collector. I bought a redial from Hong Kong a couple of years ago for $90. Good original dials in the $350 range are OK, but not a redial.

Nice watch Hemicuda! You've done a great job of assembling a nice set of parts into a classic watch. Hope you're able to enjoy it for at least a while. BTW, Falco, I wouldn't think servicing a 1570 even over in Europe would be that expensive. It's a common movement, they're all over the place, were in production for over twenty years, parts are still available and any good independent watchmaker with a microstella balancing tool should be able to handle it. My watchmaker here in the USA charges me under $150 for cleaning and servicing, no parts.