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Nice shots Miguel, I especially like your "Bible" under your watches- Skeet and Urul's "Vintage Rolex Sport Models". I also got the Beginmariner a few weeks ago from Josh, but I haven't even done anything to it, other than wind it, set the time and put it on the watchwinder. Haven't even taken the plastic off of the bracelet. But sooner or later, I'll take the movement out, straighten up the cg's and check out the movement. I'm hoping it's the "WO" Seagull movement, the same as is in my TWG 5512. Is that the other sub in your pic, the TWG 5513?

If it's a rep tube, you can use the file to screw it back in there, but use some kinda glue for waterproofing, or you can use a torx screwdriver, or I use the A/F tool that I bought on ebay. The rep tubes I've seen, don't have any grooves, so it's kinda like a friction fit. If you have a gen tube, you can buy the tools for installing the tubes at julesborel.com or ofrei.com. Don't forget to remove the inside o-rings first.

Here's my 16014 Frankenjust. Gen case with the plastic crystal, gen crown and tube, gen dial in silver, but aged to a light beige, off-white color, tudor hands, Luenfat overlay and a 2836 movt. I ended up having to go to my watchmaker finally and he wasn't too excited about this project, but in the end, even he was pretty excited about the outcome. He fabricated a spacer to hold the movement in place. I haven't popped the back to look , but may do that later this week. The oyster band is vintage solid mid link w/ the safety clasp from my WM 1680. Can't remember what band I put on the WM, but it was a while ago. Thanks to Ubi and nfs060 over at RWI for their help.

Here's Ofrei http://www.ofrei.com/page576.html You could also check out www.julesborel.com/

Well Ubi, what about telling us what you think about this watch? And of course, we'd all like to know what forum it came off of.

I'm thinking that the bezel insert is all wrong. Much later, wrong font, no red triangle at 12. Is the dial from a later 5513? An original 6538 would have had gilt printing, esp. Rolex and Oyster Perpetual, and possibly white depth rating and a gilt Submariner, but dials did vary, but this doesn't look like any of the originals that I'm looking at. Case back- no date, like IV 58. But I'm not keen on the case either, although the engravings between the lugs look OK to me. I also don't know about the hands. Movement looks OK.

Oh well, it was a neat idea. Thanks for setting me straight RS. I knew the Rolex datewheel sat inboard of the ETA, just hadn't got that far in the actual.... like I said, it was a neat idea!

Yep, they work great, they're just not cheap at $30-40 each. Even that guy down in Sugar Land, TX is proud of his. Outlet whatever he calls himself. And ofrei and julesborel have em too as I recall. Luckily for my older Datejust, a Luenfat overlay from Hong Kong with open 6's and 9's works well and for under $15. But somone was having trouble getting stuff from Luenfat, was that you, Tribal? I keep wondering if the Chinese will ever make an ETA/Rolex datewheel. Pop out the stock ETA datewheel and pop in the Rolex datewheel that lines up w/ the window on the dial like for a 3135 movt. Probably wishful thinking.

Josh is great, but I've also had good results w/ all of the other dealers here on this forum that I've purchased from. My only regret is that I haven't purchased from all of them yet!

Yep Joe, Dan has almost $30 invested in this watch at the exchange rate of one pound to $1.9552... Kinda like TTK who takes pounds for his watches. He's tired of getting beat up by the dollar!

I cretainly figure $100 per month at the watchmakers is no big deal. Heck, I've got a CN Datejust that just stopped and I'm thinking that I'm going to see if the watchmaker can get it up and running for $30 or less. After that, it could become disposable, or heck, I might buy a CN movement from Ofrei and play w/ it myself. Of course I've got a v72 that also needs service and I know that won't be cheap, but it's all part of the hobby- I enjoy it and I can afford it, so it's no big deal. But I can certainly understand the addictive nature of this beast! But it's just like drugs or alcohol, you've got to control your habits!

Hey Neil, excuse my thread crapping, but is there any significance to you using Jacques Louis David's picture of Napoleon crossing the Alps as your new avatar? And BTW, Seltea, Now that you've apparently screwed up your watch, hopefully you'll be able to find a watchmaker that'll fix it. I've been there and done that, and it was a $30 lesson- screwed up the keyless works! Finding a good watchmaker is the key to the continued enjoyment of this hobby.

Remember that earthquake over by Taiwan last week? It messed up the fiber optic cables on the ocean floor upsetting communications with the mainland (China) and the rest of the Far East. BTW, I ordered a watch from Josh on the 22nd and received it on the 28th. That's pretty fast- PDF in my book.

You just never know until you try, but on my older CN subs, the crystal diameter is 30.5mm. I haven't messed w/ the CN2006's since the date mag is OK. The 295C is 29.5mm. And it will fit a gen Sub, GMT or Datejust with the sapphire crystal, so all you need is one of those and you're in business!

Well Two Tone, if it's at TZ, I would have to think that it's gen. The cgs look ok to me, it's just the angle of the picture. Also, the gap between the crown and the base of the case looks ok- like the old triplock crown and the tube that had no exterior o-ring (24-7020). Of course, if the RSC put in a new dial, you'd think they'd change out the crown and tube to the 24-7030 assembly. I just had that done on my 1680 and it closed the gap bet. the crown and the base of the case.The pearl doesn't look too good, so figure a new insert. And the lugs look fatter than RBJ's and mine, which I happen to be wearing today, but we all know that fitting a 1575 movement in an MBW/WM case takes some serious machining. You might ask the guy some questions, like SN and approx date. Also, what about the bracelet- is it a 93150 w/ 580 or 593 end pieces. Early bands would be 9315. And like ebay, these guys over at TZ have references- hell some of them trade Rolexes all day long- like Ponycar 350- Jared. Also, when buying a vintage, or any used Rolex, figure in the cost of a service, because it probably needs it- it's a 30 year old watch, give or take a few years.

Thanks, ryaku, I'm heaed to Josh's as we speak! I got the beginmariner from him last, it sure was very quick and very easy since I was able to use Paypal.

My question is, When are we going to see this in a rep with the new improved 28800 bph asian 7750? And I'd really love to see this TT model with the silver dial: http://www.authenticwatches.com/tag-heuer-...050-bd0789.html Cuz I already know I can't afford the original!

Yep, from some previous posts, I've gathered it's a bear to remove. Not like the older CN subs where a gentle knife or razor under the bezel ring and it pops off. I haven't tried yet on the noob or the beginmariner since I don't see a whole lot of point in spending alot of money fixing up a $100 watch. Maybe one of those bezel remover tools from ofrei or jules borel is the way to go.

Well MechWatch, you might try placing a bid on an Astorlive watch (preferably early on, on a NR watch that you know will sell for alot more than you're bidding) and see what happens. It would be interesting to see if they just ignored you or if they also banned you. Or you could try placing a bid on a cheap item. I was just trying to buy a $49 Rolex crystal for my 1500 Date so I'd have a spare when I found out that I'd been banned. Of course, I emailed them, but received no reply. Needless to say, I consider their reputation less than 100% sterling.

Isn't the II and the ll thing a legitimate Rolex change where they changed the serif on the dials- of course, I can't tell you which came first, but how many WIS do you run into? And w/ lug holes, it's an older watch, in excellent condition! They look good and I'm w/ Submariner 2005- enjoy!

Interesting RS, your reply didn't show up on my computer until just before I posted mine, even though it was posted 30 minutes prior, and I had just logged on. So much for my high speed internet connection! The point is, this is a pretty suspicious watch from what we would perceive to be a reputable seller. I see some of their watches as reasonably priced from time to time, esp. the vintage, more common models like early Dates and Datejusts. But I'm afraid they don't always do their homework. The kids in the back are running the show and making mistakes, maybe. Or, the owners bought a bill of goods and don't realize it. And they probably don't want to get this watch authenticated by Rolex (if Rolex would do it) because Rolex probably doesn't like the post consumer market running up the prices on these vintage models over which they have no control. Another thing is, I see Astorlive and Interwatches saying watches are 100% Rolex on 40 year old watches. But alot of times these watches have noticable flaws. Just like an original SRSD, or a DRSD, for that matter, there just aren't that many around and you better have a pretty damn good provenance before you plunk down way too much money for such a watch.

Interwatches makes alot of mistakes and the first one is, that does not look like a 1939 watch. The hands are wrong- they would have been alpha hands, unless they've been replaced. Also, the movement bridge, which states "Montres Rolex SA, Geneva Swiss..." is a later bridge. Granted, it could have been changed during servicing, but then where are the service papers? And how come this watch is on ebay Canada? I guess I'll check ebay.com in the good ole US of A next! And the serial number for a watch manufactured in 1939 would be c. 71224. Come to think of it, was the 6234 even made in 1939? I would think it's a post WWII watch- more like 1949 or realistically, 1959. And the more I think of it, the worse it smells. The dial looks like a 6238 dial to me- the early 6234 dials would have had "alpha hour markers" not the bar markers shown, and alpha hands. This is definitely a watch that needsto be verified by Rolex!

Wow! Ordered Josh's Beginmariner on the 22nd and it arrived today, the 28th. That's pretty good service. And it looks just like the noobmariner, but it should, since it's the same case and dial. Can't wait to get home and pop the back off, to take a look at movement. Thanks Josh.

A gen Rolex 295C is 29.5mm. A typical CN rep crystal is 30.5mm. But your best bet is to pop the crystal out and measure it to be sure. You can find 30.5mm crystals on ebay (search "rolex crystal") for around $30 plus s+h. But there is no guarantee that the cyclops placement will line up with your date window. Have you tried polishing your cyclops to get the scratch out?

Well, Dan, I think you just picked out the three best deals for under $150. Of course, Paul's will run a little more depending on how you pay for it, since you got to get the money over to him, but it is an ETA. I just ordered Josh's Beginmariner myself because, as far as I can tell, it has the Seagull 2813 movement (see the WO under the balance wheel). I'm giving it to a nephew as a late xmas present of sorts. I do also have the noobmariner and, BTW, Paul's, TTK's, Josh's and TWG's all have the same case with the ubquitous serial # F520117. Oops, don't forget EL. Really, the only real decision is whether or not you get the ETA movement.