alligoat

The 50th GMT has the 7mm triplock crown and WR was increased from 100m to 200m, I believe. The old GMT II's have the 6mm crown (twinlock) and WR 0f 100m. You could go back w/ a 6mm tube and crown, or make up a story about it being the 2006 edition- who's going really know?

The other end of mine says Orig Rolex Design, 16610T. As I recall that was the same as the TWG 16610. I don't know what the T stands for, I would assume that a 16610 LV would have that (16610LV) between the lugs. Of course, being a rep, who says the engraving's going to be correct. I agree that we'll never know for sure, but the similarities between the two watches, like bezel inserts, cases, etc, would lead you to surmise that they were put together in the same factory.

Yep, I noticed it this morning on my weekly Valjoux run thru ebay! So it was no longer available last week and now it's up there again! Yuk, yuk, yuk.

http://www.steinhartwatches.com/faq/index.php?link_id=f9 I don't know how long Steinhart's been around. They're a high priced Invicta w/ Swiss movements. Sub and GMT knock-offs and some other watches. I would think the Rolex lawyers would be all over their butts for copying...

Last week someone posted a shot fo the TWG noobmariner w/ the asian 21j with the serial number: F520117 A little light bulb went off in my head, or a brain cell backfired... anyway, I wrote it down and today I removed the bracelet on my TTK noobmariner and lo and behold, the SN was F520117! It would be interesting if someone w/ the ETA subs from Paul, TWG and EL were to check the SN's. Are they the same and are they all coming out of the same factory?

This is the white dial CN sub from Replica Factory.

Here's the white sub with the Yachtmaster bezel insert. Replica Factory is in Guangzhou, as is Paul (Wo-Mart), or in the burbs around there. I don't know where Angel and Jay are, but both A & J and Paul have been very helpful to me, and being in China, are close to the source, so to speak. This dial is white, with silver marker surrounds and white lume (poor lume quality) and nice printing. I have the standard sub hands on this watch (silver w/ white lume).

Well, LOL! gio, I have that watch! Only last month I popped the silver bezel off and put on a Yachtmaster silver bezel. The white dial came on a sub from the Replica Factory a couple of years ago. Then I took it off the Replica Factory sub and put a maxi-dial on that sub. Six months ago I put the white dial on a CN case (C-omex) and put on an aftermarket tube and crown and the silver bezel insert from one of these guys on ebay. It looked ok, but I just wasn't happy w/ the silver bezel insert on the ss case, so I swapped out for the Yachtmaster bezel insert. I'll see if I can post a pic tonite when I get home.

Good job on the insert and nice pic. I'm beginning to think that a TW classic would nice to have for building a Frankenwatch! Especially if you could fit a gen dial in there.

To put the new tube in you can buy the $40 tool that Zig shows you in his post, the file, or maybe a Torx screwdriver. Also, the pin vise comes in that $49.95 watchmaker tool kit that you see advertised at the top of the page here- from Amazon.com. I still maintain that cheap-ass tool kit will pay for itself, if you like to fool around w/ watches. Of course, you'll still have to spend another $200 on other tools not in that kit!

OK, I kinda figured WM/MBW case, one, because of the bezel pearl, and two, that's the only case that I figured a gen dial would fit in. I would assume that the old Tudors were the same case/dial sizes as the 5513/1680 subs, around 38.5mm as opposed to the 16800/16610 cases at closer to 40mm. And you're talking plastic crystal, not sapphire. A Frankenwatch! Perfect for Halloween!

The flat ring and prongs sounds kinda like Kings setup. My click pins and springs have been on CN cases- older ones. Guess I'll have to pop the bezel on the TTK noobmariner tonite.

Yep, Speedy, I'd call you out if I saw that watch. I'd say, "Nice Tudor!" But help me out here. Is this a rep, or should I say Frankenwatch? Did you start out w/ a dial, hands, and case (MBW?) and build a Tudor sub? I'd love to know more. BTW, the cg's and crown look great, I'm with you and prefer the smaller vintage crowns.

It's the Seagull movment out of China. But how the hell do you order it from China. There use to be some watches on ebay, Paul Newman like reps w/ that movement in them, ran about $100. Alpha watches. I noticed yesterday that Jules Borel had Chinese watch movements for sale, around $20 plus or minus. Look under mechanical movements. I didn't stop to look cause I was blowing thru to the ETA's.

That's a pretty common part. I would figure most subs with the (120) click bezel have it (except King). Every time I remove a bezel, I end up hunting around for the click pin and spring on the carpet! They have a habit of popping out.

Yep, 7mm crown on the GMT 50th, and I believe the depth rating was increased from 100m to maybe 200m. But heck, I can't remember every little bit of trivia that I read! And I do like that watch, even if it is a fantasy, but I've been thinking black bezel/black dial- kinda stealth-like- people would need sharp eyes to see the green date, green GMT hand and the green GMT Master II writing on the dial. And I love the universal serial number- F437091!

This ebay guy sells alot of Rolex stuff that's very questionable, or should we just say aftermarket. I guess he has a Chinese connection!

The 2824 and the 2836 are the same diameter (maybe 25.6mm) and the 2824 is like 4.6mm thick and the 2836 is maybe 5.3mm thick. The big issue is going to be how the stem/crown line up with the casetube when you put it together. Since the majority of these watches use the 2836, you should start there. If you have a stem, you can put it in a pin vise and unscrew it from the crown, and then screw it into a Rolex crown, rep or gen should be the same threads. If you don't have a stem, it's www.ofrei.com/ or www.julesborel.com/ for the part. I would think you could reuse the crown from the noobmariner, if it matches up w/ the case tube on the TW case. One of my gripes w/ the noobmariner is the big crown- it's at least 1mm taller than the gens that I have. Or you could go w/ the gen crown and tube for an upgrade. Watch hands are on ebay- look for Tudor hands, because Tudor uses an ETA movt. Aftermarket bezels are everywhere- type in Rolex bezel in search. I put a Lee Raymond aftermarket bezel on a CN sub and was happy w/ the results, it ain't gen, but it's not bad at all.

That's the problem with some of the replica casebacks. I have one that's not a good fit either. The tool that L&T pointed out is adjustable, so it might work. Problem is, it's tricky to use and prone to slipping, scratching the caseback in the process. One guy mentioned putting ice in a baggie and holding it on the caseback- the idea being that the cold metal will shrink and then you can open the watch. I tried it but it didn't really work for me.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...p;rd=1&rd=1 Here's the Frankentona from last week- the guy withdrew the item because it was no longer available- meaning, I guess he already sold it to someone else- it wasn't removed by ebay!

I would think the whole idea is for some unscrupulous type to take a V72 movement and reassemble it on this frame, put it in an aftermarket case, and build a 6263/5 and sell it on ebay for $5000, or maybe more. This is what happened to the Franken Daytona we were watching last week. No microstella balance, no correctly colored gears, admitted aftermarket case.... even if it costs you $2000 to build a Franken Daytona- Frankentona, and you sell it for $5000, that's a good weeks work in my mind!

I had a hell of a time opening my WM 1680. I finally put it in a movement holder and then clamped the movement holder in the vice in my workshop. Then I was finally able to press down on the Bergeon tool with enough pressure to get the caseback to turn to open- turning counterclockwise, of course. My only other thought would be to take a flat piece of duct tape and press it on the caseback and then put the bergeon tool on that and try to turn it. That way you wouldn't be scratching the caseback and the added stick-um of the duct tape might help. And make sure you can get up on it so you can put some pressure on it. Ofrei or Jules Borel sell the watch press tool for opening Rolex casebacks- $70-80 as I recall.

Looks good picture-wise. Now position the watch better and you'll be there. Did you use a flash?

Yep, Phil isn't wearing a Daytona when he plays! I figure it's a Datejust on a leather strap.

Good comparison between the 14060 and TW best. I think this is why we don't have a good 14060 rep, because it's not the same watch as the 16610 and there isn't the demand for it, so the rep mfrs haven't made much of an effort to copy it.