alligoat

@ 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.

And a genuine dial won't fit a replica watch case. A genuine 1665 dial will be 26mm and a rep dial probably 27-28mm.

Too much money! You need to try to get a genuine Rolex insert for a 5513- make friends with a watchmaker and have him order you one- it won't cost that much.

Two minutes a day is when it's time to go see your watchmaker and see if he can't regulate the watch for you and get it back w/in 10 seconds per day- hopefully without having to do a complete service. Maybe it would be something simple like cleaning the hairspring, or maybe putting it on the Vibragraph and making an adjustment or two. The big question w/ the ETA's is just what kind of shape are they in (particularly in reps) when we receive them. Since these movements are more than likely assembled in factories over in the far east, the question remains, how well are they oiled and caliberated. The rep manufacturers aren't going to spend much time checking them, but some of the dealers like Josh, and TWG do service their ETA's on the "Perfect " line and I read this week where Josh offers servicing as an option on his watches. But if you get a rep that doesn't keep very good time- especially an ETA, it's time to see the watchmaker- esp. if you like the watch and want to wear it and keep it for the long haul.

Start with the Rolex case opener- Bergeon makes one w/ 6 caseback dies and the wrench. Of course, you'll probably only use the largest die. You need some screwdrivers, esp. the 1.2mm to release the crown on an ETA. On an asian 21j, you just have to depress a button, right next to the stem, about the same location as ETA release. I always remove the movement. A case knife is good for removing the bezel. I like to remove the case tube, it makes it easier to file w/o tearing up the threads on the case tube. I bought the AF tool from Hong Kong on ebay to remove the case tube, or the end of a three sided file may work- take out the inside o-ring first and unscrew the case tube- sometimes you have to jam the tool or file in there to get enough torque to unscrew it. This is probably the toughest part. A set of needle files (cheap at Harbor Freight), I use wet/dry sandpaper after filing and then polishing compound. A Dremel can be used for the final polishing, but I do OK just by hand. Clean up the case, put the case tube back in- might want to glue it or use loc-tite if you're trying to WP, snap on the bezel, clean-up the inside and put in the movement and crown, silicone the o-rings and put the caseback on. With any luck, you'll be WP and have a nice set of cg's. You might look around for the tool kit that I saw on Amazon last month for $60- 30 tools or so in a fold-up case. They're not the greatest, but I still use mine all the time. And of course buying a good set of screwdrivers is well worth the money. Good Luck.

That looks pretty damn close to me. You can see where the sapphire on the gen is a little thicker.Otherwise, the diff is negligible. I would think that josh's perfect would have the same rehaut as his regular sub, isn't it just a regular sub that's been fine tuned?

24-703 for the crown and 24-7030 for the case tube, I believe.

The Rolex is a total fabrication, as in 100% FAKE. HE valve writing on the back- I don't think so. Four chrono pushers- no way. These guys have taken an early movement like a triple date 6236 and completely bastardized it and then put a late model POS band on it. Undoubtably, it has a 21j asian movement with a few mods so you can move the subdials when you hit the pushers- commonly referred to as "working chronos" LOL

That bridge isn't even close to the correct shape! And you can see the 727 below the balance wheel- I read yesterday that Girrard Perregaux used the 727 movement in their chronos during the 60's, also. I don't like the fat hands on the subdials, either. And the guy has admitted that it's a replacement case. We all know that you can build a replica 6263 for $1000-1500. And this guy wants to start the bidding at $3000! Not a bad little profit. I like http://doubleredseadweller.com/ for their article on the Daytona counterfeits- very helpful.

Well, I just looked at three 16610's at bernardwatch.com, not LV's, but a 2003, 2005 and one BNIB and the Swiss Made in three ticks varies- sometimes the outside ticks (4&5) are longer and sometimes they're shorter. Just goes to show, you can count on Rolex to mix things up. Look at the "4" on the bezel insert- the new one is pointed, the old one just a couple of years back was blocky.

The watch doesn't look too bad, although the video isn't the greatest. Notice he said 27 jewel ETA. Oops! And he didn't mention price- I wonder if it has a grade 1 swiss price to go with it! Reminds me of Richard Brown's blurb on the three Rolex reps.

I guess you've been to Chuck Maddox's blog site on the V72? I've seen the 72B, which is pretty common, it's the movement in my Wittnauer and alot of the other chronos from that period (60's) 72R doesn't mean Registered, as in like copyright does it? Or my last guess would be R for Rolex- an early 72 that was modified by Rolex, prior to the 722 and 727. Rolex ran the 72 in the 6238 and I believe the 6234- the 6234 dates from the late 40's to the early 60's, so it had a fairly long production run and went thru a number a variations/changes like hands, dials and even cases. The more I think about it, I'm inclined to lean towards "Registered". You'd think it would fit in a DW case, but you won't know till you try!

OK, your case is WR w/o the movement. Now you have to put the movement in and test it again. Good Luck!

Actually, UV (ultraviolet) glue is what you're supposed to use. It's clear when it dries. To cure UV glue, you can either put it in the sunlight, or a UV light will cure it. To remove the cyclops, you might try heating up the crystal first, and then try popping the cyclops. There was a discussion over at TRC, happy searching!

Reps are constantly changing. When will the next generation be here? Maybe it's already here! And the next generation after that isn't far behind. I've got the new 2006 sub and w/ a few mods, it's practically indiscernable from the gen. And even as a base watch out of the box, it ain't bad to begin with. Few people other than experts are going to be able to tell that it ain't real. Of course, if you hang out here, you might just become an expert if you're not careful. At the very least, hopefully, you won't get called out wearing a "bad" rep. And maybe have some fun at the same time!

That's pretty cool, and now your watch glows in the dark?? The one thing I don't like about my WM 1680 is the dead lume, hands and all, except the bezel pearl- one little glowing dot in the nite. Guess I'll have to talk to Ziggy sooner or later!

Their 4 is boxy like the old model bezel insert- pre 2005 or so. But I was happy w/ the pearl and it was an improvement over what I had.

I keep going back to www.watchtrader.cc/forums and check Wristwatch's post under the reference section. He lists a bezel insert: 315-5513 as fitting the 5513, 5512, 1665, 1680 and 9401. Outside diameter 36.55mm and ID of 30.3mm. If you take off your bezel, you could measure the inside of the insert and see if you have 30.3mm. If you do, then pop it out and check the OD. I got a 16610 insert from Raymond Lee and really liked it on my CN sub. Maybe they have a nice 5513 bezel insert.

I guess we all have the same serial number- F437091! LOL. Mine has a skinny minute hand, black datewheel w/ open 6's and 9's, a green bezel w/ the old skinny font, which I changed to black and, as soon as I get it, I'm changing the dial to black also. I just can't handle the green dial anymore. At least mine has the ETA!

You need to get Skeet and Urul's book, "Vintage Rolex Sport Models" or vice versa, "Rolex Vintage Sport Models", which I don't have here at work, but there was the 5514 Comex and then the 1665 Comex. I believe the 5514 was equipped w/ the HE valve. The SRSD used a sub case and had the HE valve and was a pre-production model (less depth rating), followed by the 1665 DRSD, c. 1967. The Comex models came out around the same time and were also equipped w/ the HE valve. I'm not aware of any 1680 sub w/ a HE valve.

I bought the 16610 bezel insert from Lee Raymond Jewelers for $17.95 last month and put it in my CN 16610 rep and almost got it to press fit in. It was just a tad too big, but rather than try to file it down, I glued it in w/ contact cement and just clamped it while it dried. Half the price of Ofrei's!