alligoat

I bought my needle files at Harbor Freight for $5.99. I love using Chinese tools for working on my Chinese watches!

Collectors will accept replacement parts as far as servicing the movement is concerned (gen parts w/ a RSC service invoice are best), but especially like original dial, bezel insert, silver datewheel, crown and case tube (early case tubes did not have the outside o-ring), and correct bracelet and end pieces. With all of that and a good provenance (like "I bought this watch 30 years ago and I'm the original owner") and like ubi says you're over the $5K mark and going up.

I wish my fast eta 2836-1 sub and my slow asian 21j Datejust would mate so I could have a watch that keeps good time. Otherwise, the rest of my eta's and asian 21j's keep great time! So do my Asian 7750's for that matter.

UH, I really like that white dial with the gold subdials and gold bezel. And is that a dark browm alligator/crocodile strap? Reminds me of the older Cosmonauts. Beautiful watches, Eddie! I cannot buy another watch I cannot buy another watch I cannot buy another watch I cannot buy another watch "Hi my name is Mac D and I'm a watchaholic."

I've bought some stuff from Helfands, so I went back to ebay to look 'em up and they are no longer a registered user! Company name is Florida Watch and Jewelers Supply, LLC and phone is 727-327-1100. They're in Florida. Over 2400 sales and 100% positive rating, but they drug up and quit! go figure.

http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showto...;hl=GS+crystals Try this for GS crystals

What is Tropic 29 for? Tropic 19 is for the 5513 series, 5512, 5514,5517. Tropic 39 is for the 1665 sea-dweller. Someone managed to put a 127C on a red sub of Andrews, amazed me. Ofrei.com has lots of T-19's, T-39, and the generic 127C, and a good selection of the rest of the plastic crystals. Good prices, too. Great for experimenting. Go to www.watchtrader.cc/ and check out the reference section for a bunch of other esoteric measurements on Rolex stuff. What about Cousins over in the UK? Maybe they have plastic crystals- leave it to the ol' Brits. I've seen the various size sapphire crystals around, just can't remember where. So much of this stuff is by trial and error! I think you're in uncharted waters. These rep makers don't stick to the gen dimensions, they just tool up and make their own.

Well offshore, I didn't realize the board was in such bad shape. My apologies. And I do think you should explain your little bird offer, it's really poor form to lead people on.

Here's a good starter set- I've had mine for a year now and I'm still using it: EDIT REMOVED http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0007VDN6K/re...4052484-8367302 These aren't the greatest tools, but they're a good starting place Then you can buy the good screw drivers, Bergeon Rolex case back opener, etc. as you need them

How about a shot of the cg's from the top? What's important is to see the vertical nature of the inside edge of the guards. The rep guards wrap around the crown too much, you need some verticality on the inside edges. Although the dealers are improving the cg's these days.

Keep in mind that the bezel insert for the 1680 is a different size than the insert for the 16800 and 16610. Watchtrader has the sizes in their reference section. I just paid a watchmaker $65 to replace the bezel insert on my gen 1680, and it's a gen bezel insert from what I can tell (or a damn good generic!), so you might want to try to source a gen.

Thanks Chris, that Revel Night Color looks like a better deal than the luminova that I got from Ofrei last month for a touch-up project on a dial. Can't wait to get after that DRSD dial that's too yellow.

Yep, I ordered TTK's asian Sub and am patiently waiting for it's arrival as we speak!

Mine protrudes maybe .50mm above the bezel insert. Not very much, but maybe 1/3 of the total thickness. This sub came from Replica Factory in Ghangzhou, China over 1-1/2 years ago. Has good date mag but not very good rehaut. No lug holes, no etched crown. Certainly a dated model when compared to the what is coming out of Ghangzhou, etc. these days.

Mine measured 30.5mm x 1.5mm, but there are no guarantees that that is what yours measures. One of my best purchases was the 6" digital calipers from Harbor Freight for $19.99. Yesterday, I picked up a second pair for $5.99 w/ a preferred customer coupon. They're not the same quality as the first set, but I keep them at work for playing around. The second purchase was the Harbor Freight watch case/crystal press w/ nylon dies. It's now on sale for $7.49. You gotta have it for pressing on crystals and bezels. And before you order anything, I strongly recommend that you take your crystal out and measure it. One time, I inadvertantly dropped my 16610 on the garage floor and the crystal popped out. However, I wouldn't recommend trying this on your sub. Luckily I only had a small nick on one of the lugs, but I was afraid my sub might have bit the dust for a few seconds.

Very interesting! The one thing I can say about collecting replica watches is that it has made me very aware of how, now days, so much of the manufacturing has moved to China. So much of what we use in our everyday lives is "Made in China".

Thanks Infinitime. As they say, it's all Chinese to me!

Thanks, Ubi, now I understand what a washer is! On my 5513, I ran a small bead of GS hypocement around the base of the inside ring, pressed on the crystal and the outside ring and water tested it to 5' at the swimming pool! Should have taken it down to 90 feet last weekend scuba diving, but I wore another watch, instead! I realize that cementing the crystal might not be technically correct, but what the heck!

I couldn't figure out the part about Guangdong, because I've always read about Guangzhou as the watch capital of China, but Paul apparently lives in Guangdong and his bank's in Guangzhou. I guess Guangdong is a suburb of Guangzhou, maybe.

Cool job, Chris. And yes we need a tutorial. I've got one of those too yellow dials that is just crying out for help!

Good job, and a fine looking watch! One question, what did you mean by "also put an o-ring from an old crummy rep in under the washer"?

I've had zero luck buying other cases on ebay like from x-jewelry (Datejust). Screwball sizes, etc. Your best bet might be to buy a good sub w/ asian movt. from one of the dealers and use the case. Or just go the extra expense and buy a good sub w/ the ETA. Finding a good Rolex case is tough and could be expensive. Gen cases are a rare find.

When you pulled the rep tube out, that was the time to go to filing the crown guards down. Now you get to pull the gen tube out and do it. Guess you can heat up the glue and go for it. Your file should work fine on shaping the cg's, then I use 320, 400, 600 and 1000 wet/dry sandpaper and polishing compound to polish the cg's back to pretty. That Dremel is just too fast for me! A 1.2mm screw in the slot will keep you from messing up the keyless works, and gently push down the button. Chamfering the case tube hole will seat the tube in there a little more, but then you might need the 6mm tap to clean out the hole/threads. $39 at ofrei.com! But just tell your wife that it beats you being out in a honky-tonk, getting drunk!

The blurb at Furman said 34mm, so that's the same size as the Date case. And ancient folklore says the Date model was developed for the Asian market where people are smaller. Maybe the same holds for the Air King.

My guess would be a Seiko quartz chronograph! Guess you'll have to google it! Seiko makes gazillions of watches.