alligoat

Well RS, I'm still working on Photography 101! But I can tell you on the 5513 that the ss ring is L shaped, upside down with the leg sticking out, good friction fit and the bezel ring catches that with the little wire clip in the bezel ring holding it in place. I would assume the DRSD is the same but it's been a long time since I've had it apart. My five dollar CN digital calipers are telling me that the case is 38.5mm and bezel is 39.5, but a gen insert wouldn't fit (can't remember why, maybe the crystal was too thick). I do have a $20 pair of CN calipers at home for the serious work!

Abay=aspire-eshop=wo-mart=Paul! Paul has progressed thru these three names over the last couple of years. @ Ubi, Paul's DRSD and 5513 actually have the outside retaining ring and the bezel snaps onto that. I tried an aftermarket crystal on the 5513 and it was just a tad bigger than the rep crystal, so I stayed w/ the rep crystal, since I was going for WR.

It could be a 727, but not Rolex. Gears are the wrong color, and as mentioned, the bridge is not correct. A few other watch firms used the 727 in the 60's such as Girard Perregaux, or it could just be a good engraving job. www.doubleredseadweller.com/ has a blurb on the fake Daytonas, of which this is clearly one. But at least the guy tells you aftermarket case, dial, etc. so you can decide if it's worth it to you to bid. You'd spend at least $1000-1500 and up putting one of these together yourself.

Here's a 5513 with Explorer dial from Paul. It's not an MBW/WM, but it ain't bad. I shaped the crown guards, greased the o-rings and it's WR to 4ATM. It won't take a gen bezel insert w/o a lot of work- filing down to fit and I opted not to put in a gen crown and tube. But it is 1/3 the price of a MBW, has a plastic crystal, great dial- c. 1963 when Rolex started using tritium and was adding the T<25 on each side of the Swiss at the bottom of the dial. If you had an original of this watch in good condition, it would be worth $20K and up! A few years ago, on another forum, a guy, Saabin, took a DRSD from Paul and ended up putting in a 1575 Rolex movement along w/ some other upgrades. You can buy the same DRSD for $150 or so from Paul still. People like the MBW/WM's cause they take gen inserts and crystals w/o any mods and that's a whole lot easier than filing stuff down to fit! I don't know which 1680 you have, but I have heard of someone putting a gen T127 crystal on a TWG red sub. If the crystal fits, the bezel insert just might also.

Replacing the rep crown and tube w/ gen is a pretty popular upgrade. The advantage is that the gen should function more smoothly than a rep and hold up better over the long run. Sometimes rep crowns are too big, sometimes they're the same size, it varies. But if you're rep crown and tube are working properly, and you grease the o-rings w/ silicone, you can achieve a certain degree of WR in a rep, no problem. I have a few watches which I'm not gonna put in gen crowns and tubes, because I don't think it's cost effective, from my point of view, and the rep stuff is doing just fine.

That's it in a nutshell. The other thing is, if you have rep case tube and it comes out OK, I wouldn't even run the tap into the hole, if you're going to reuse the rep tube. I'd just put some glue on the tube threads and reinsert it, (not putting in a gen or generic tube). Last time, while shaping the cg's, I tapped the hole before putting the rep tube back in, but the rep tube didn't have enough threads to grab after tapping the hole, so I ended up epoxying it back in the hole- which is a real no-no in my mind. Luckily, it worked and the watch pressure tested to 4ATM after that. I didn't have any other case tubes to use at the time and I wanted the watch back together.

You can get a tap at Jules Borel, Ofrei, or try Heywood's place Jewelers Supply.

My last two ETA's that went south on me did so because one of the tabs which holds the movement in place broke and the little piece was lodging in the movement. On my GMT, it got under the rotor and basically jammed up the movement. It took the watchmaker 3-4 minutes to take off the rotor and fish out the piece, check it out and put in a new tab and close 'er up. No charge Last week my WM 1680 was acting up, had been for a week or two intermittantly. Popped the case back and there was the broken tab again- this time it was on the side, but I'm sure it had been bouncing all over the place inside and stopping the movement from time to time. Fished it out, put a new tab in from a donor watch and the watch has been running fine since then. I asked my watchmaker about broken tabs and he said it was pretty common. He said Rolex uses stainless steel tabs, less prone to breaking. And after EMS or whoever gets finished playing football with your package, it's amazing that your watch ran for even a day or two! If you have the tool for taking the case back off, it's worth taking a looksey. It's a simple fix, if you can find the broken part and get it out of there.

I'm with Ziggy on using the rat tail file. I use the three sided one. I did buy the A&F tool from Holiday, and the tool is only so-so, IMO. I would think the guy would come thru for you, unless the package got lost in shipping, at which point, you might be outta luck. The funny thing is, these rep case tubes have no grooves on them on the inside (at least the ones I've dealt with) so it's always a challenge getting them out. It's kinda like a friction fit, and as Ziggy says, put some glue on the threads when reinserting- GS Hypo-cement, contact cement, or loc-tite. I use epoxy only as a last resort. If you're using gen tubes or generic, you might look at springing for the proper tool at Ofrei or Jules Borel, or Cousins over in the EU.

If you knock the pearl out of a Lee Raymond aftermarket military insert, you'd have about the same thing. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...;category=10363 And for a whole lot less money!

Too bad EL doesn't have anymore of the old TW cases w/ the lugholes!

First of all, if you were to find a genuine dial for a 14060, I doubt it would fit in a rep case. A year ago I tried to put a gen 16610 dial in a CN case, no bueno. 27mm vs 28mm. And a 14060 is slightly smaller than a 16610, from what I can gather looking at dimensions at the reference section on Watchtrader.cc/. Bezel insert is smaller than a 16610 bezel insert... It has been my experience that rep dials are typically at least 1mm bigger than the gens, except, as Randy will tell you , in the case of the MBW/WM 1680/5513 case! Which gives me an idea, maybe you could build a 5513. Of course, that would be tantamount to sacrilege, cause you'd be using a MBW/WM case to start. And expensive to boot.

I'm pretty happy with my TTK sub, but I think the one from Paul is also a great deal. With that ETA powerplant in it, that watch can last for a long time, since it can be serviced. And I'm like everyone else, I'd swear all these watches come from the same factory- TTK, TWG, EL and Paul, even tho Neil says they don't. These subs have come a long way, Baby!

I've received a couple of dials from dealers, one of them, I was ordering another watch and he shipped the extra dial along with the watch at the same time. On the second, I had bought a watch earlier from that dealer and he sold me the other dial so that I could change dials. Just remember: 1. It never hurts to ask 2. It helps if you purchased from them in the past and it's a good idea to mention that, like how much you're enjoying the watch. And don't be disappointed if the dial doesn't work out. I've had date windows not line up, and other problems. Chalk it up to experience and be thankful they sent you the dial in the first place.

Give us a little more information, please. Model of watch, type of band (oyster, presidential, jubilee). It's hard to guess on secret projects, but certainly you've tried Timezone and the bay.

That's the Valjoux 7751 movement, running seconds at 9, w/ a 24 hr hand, chrono main seconds hand, with 30 min register at 12, and hour register at 6 and moon phase. Day, date and month. Le Grand Complication, sil vous plait. And not a bad price at $1800, I might add, and it's automatic. Don't look for a rep of the 7751 movement anytime soon!

Dbce55a is the bit. It is smaller than 1/16th, which is .0625". I have all this stuff at work and was writing last night at home, CRS disease. 3/64ths is .046875, so the .0520 is between the two sizes. Nanug's wad of duct tape has worked for me in the past, but it's not the greatest for getting the case back on tight for WR purposes- maybe one of those cheap Indian dies would fit! But who wants to spend the money to find out. One guy talked about buying the rubber end for maybe a set of crutches, or something like that and using it as a suction tool. It definitely going to call for an inventive mind. I'd give the Home Depot drill press thing a try. Look at all the experience you'll gain, but don't forget to try on a cheap rep first. I've got 3 or 4 of those $50-60 reps, they're great for learning and experimenting. I even bought one CN Datejust last year for $60 and it's such a good watch, that I haven't even opened it up or torn it apart. Hell, it's even WR. Maybe I should lube the o-rings and get it pressure tested. I wear it alll the time for doing my "[censored]" work.

A vintage would be ss, titanium just wasn't around in the late 60's and 70's like it is today. And of course, the earlier 1665 HE valves were of a much simpler design than the modern ones, we've come a long way, Baby!

Chief, clearly you are obsessed, or is it possessed? Don't forget Rule#1, a rep is only a rep. What about two valiums and a stiff Martini? It's certainly cheaper than buying a gen!

Snap-On has a number 55 bit that works, it's cobalt and you can order it online. The freight will kill you, but the bits are only $3.25 each. Best to order a few. If your a mechanic, just call your salesman. I think a drill press is the only way to go and as Joe says, you need something to hold the watch, a jig or whatever while you're drilling. Use the slowest speed possible- 550 rpm maybe. Some use oil but I didn't and the cobalt bits cut like butter, but go slowly cause their little bits and very wobbly. Don't want to snap one off! Oh, the dies usually work, 29.5 is the right size, but I have one rep that's a bastard and the Bergeon die doesn't quite fit it. I don't know what WatchPrince sells, but I did have a cheap set from India and it was a POS. FWIW, TWG has some oddball cases, esp. when you get the asian 21j movt.

@ Ubi and Tribal, 1. It's past Neil's bedtime (Bangkok) 2. I don't think all of the Asian 21j's come from the same factory Seagull, w/ a W/O by the balance- I have two w/ the gold movt I have an ABC Watch Co- China- silver TTK's movement has the fake colored gears and a different symbol by the balance wheel, also silver. But It's all Chinese, so to speak, so who can be sure. I also was under the impression that TTK's, TWG"s and EL's were from the same factory- I also suspected Paul's, but of course, I'd have to defer to TTK, since he's closer to the source. And TWG and EL have the ETA movts, as does Paul.

Well today I just happen to be wearing my TTK sub. And I just looked at the bracelet and I sure have scratched the heck out of it already- I've had it one month and it took almost a month to get here. It's a beater for me as you can tell by the scratches. Someday I'll work on the cg's, but that may be about it. Otherwise, I'm perfectly happy with it, and don't feel the need to put in an original crown and case tube or a genuine bezel- it's just a great beater for around $100. But I may order a few of these for my nephews for xmas- what a great gift for a little over $100.

If you thread the stem into the crown with glue and you have a problem with, say the crown screwing down on the case tube later on, you could end up having to get a new crown and stem, if they won't come apart. Recently, the crown on my 1680 gen kept coming off of the stem when I'd set the time. When I took it to my watchmaker, he played w/ it and it kept happening. I asked him if he could glue the stem to the crown and his reply was, "No, you wouldn't want to do that." So I ended up w/ the old Rolex update, a new 24-7030-0 tube and a 24-7030 crown. If you're going to use glue, I would think that it would be wise to start w/ the weakest, say Loc-tite blue and work your way up, if you have to, to red and then maybe contact cement, or GS hypo-cement. I avoid Superglue and epoxy, unless I'm gluing it together forever and don't care.

Certainly Skeet and Urul is one of my favorite books. The 5514 Comex has the gas escape valve and dates from 1967- thin bezel and crystal. The SRSD is introduced in 1966 (and has the gas escape valve) and the thicker bezel and domed crystal. The Comex 1665 w/ 2000ft=600m is introduced, Followed by the white SD w/ 2000ft=610m. All great watches from the late 60's, w/ the exception of the WSD, maybe later into the 70's after the DRSD- in fact, the cover pic on Vintage Rolex Sport Models is of a DRSD, case # 5067418- late 70's.

I got a non-branded oyster band from Hong Kong. It wasn't really SEL, but the latest variation- let's call it quasi SEL, where the end pieces are integral to the band, and appear from the outside to be SEL, but are really hollow. Go to ebay, type in rolex band in search and look thru what's there- I paid under $20. Screw links, safety clasp.