alligoat

You're not going to find rose gold parts, so your best chance is to find a rose gold rep- try trustytime.

You don't say which Submariner crown and tube you have. If you're looking for a 703, TC has a decent rep crown that will fit on the 7030 tube.

Thomas (TC) has come the closest with his upgraded 2824-2 clone. But he's got an in with the Chinese obviously. As for upgrades to the Seaull or the Hangzhou clones, I don't know what to tell you. Depending on what you're going to do, probably getting a Swiss eta is still your best bet. Getting a clone serviced would be my second choice. Last would just be taking your chances with a Seagull. I have heard a couple of people say the Seagulls are the best of the clones. Swiss-http://www.ebay.com/itm/GENUINE-SWISS-MADE-ETA-2836-2-AUTOMATIC-MOVEMENT-NICKEL-NEW-WHITE-OR-BLACK/222063625217?_trksid=p2045573.c100505.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555014%26algo%3DPL.DEFAULT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D38530%26meid%3D138876d3d4584e55a79f26a687d386ee%26pid%3D100505%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26 Seagull- http://www.ebay.com/itm/SEAGULL-ST2100-CLONE-ETA-2836-2-SELLITA-SW-220-AUTOMATIC-MOVEMENT-GOLD-WHITE/221980531211?_trksid=p2045573.c100506.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555014%26algo%3DPL.DEFAULT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D38530%26meid%3D35efe87a56714be4950b15878e9059df%26pid%3D100506%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26 So take your pick!

The 295 crystal actually has a bottom diameter of 29.5 mm and the top diameter is 30.5. But I don't know anything about the more modern crystals.

You're right about Rolex not telling, but my gut feeling is that the Datejust is the biggest seller maybe followed by the Submariner. Day Dates, Daytonas and maybe YMs follow. If you look at ebay and count how many of each model are for sale at any given time, maybe that would be an accurate indication of just what Rolex is producing.

"She explained that the entire UK dealer allocation was for 15 submariners. I said I'd wait and take a look at one at the airport, but she said Rolex tend not to push subs to airports. She then cheekily suggest that my best option was to choose from what they had in stock!" Certainly the allocation for the whole UK wasn't just 15 subs- that would be crazy! Maybe the AD you went to was a small dealer and didn't rate a better selection. I'm with QueTip- dealers talk caca.

Well it sold in 12 hours or so. Guess the buyer liked the bleach job.

Yes the same movement ring will work- the movements are the same size- 11.5 ligne.

It looks better under the crystal. Now you just have to age the case and crystal some.

Nice job- I like that flat 4 insert to go with the lugholes. Hope the SA3135 holds up.

If your watch guy doesn't know that it's an eta or an eta clone, you probably ought to get a better watch guy!

Check out a gen and compare it that- I think the correct model number is 218238 http://www.chrono24.com/en/rolex/41mm-day-date-ll-18k-yellow-gold-white-arabic-dial-218238--id4059058.htm The font on your DW is off- serifs are too pronounced- replacing with a TC DW would be a good start. I don't think the bracelet is too bad, and it's hard to find rep replacement bracelets. You could get a 6mm crown and replace it- hopefully it would fit on the case tube.

Darn! But thanks for the picture.

That's a black dial with blue lume. The blue dial doesn't appear to be sunburst, but I'm not sure the gen does either http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rolex-Submariner-C-116613-SS-18k-Blue-Dial-New-Style-/121423310002?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

It all looks good, but what about a side shot of the center SEL link- does the gold wrap around the sides like it should?

I thought this one was interesting http://www.pf-818.com/-p-20113.html?image=0

Can't tell about those pearls, looks like they have the metal surrounds, but maybe it would be an easy fix to put an all acrylic pearl in there. That 6536-1 should be relabeled a 6204. But, heck, it's still a step in the right direction.

Trusty has it- 43mm so it's big. I got a Tag Heuer 1887 the other day from Josh and it's 43mm- it's big too and I have a 7-1/2" wrist and I'm 6' tall, but I'm used to wearing 36mm and 40 mm watches. http://www.trustytime01.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=228&products_id=14986 If you get the rep, you can always move it on if you don't like it

I'm wondering if these guys have been around for a while- but the swisstime.sr throws me off- where is .sr? At any rate, a "swiss made clone Rolex 3135" certainly doesn't exist- the Swiss would shut them down in a heartbeat. So it's just another rep company operating out of the far east- maybe they are using something like the Yuki 3135- who knows. Back in the early days there used to be some sites which sold higher priced reps- maybe half scam, half semi legitimate- I remember ubi talking about buying one of those $1000 reps before he caught on, but that was way back pre-2005 or so. Luckily, the most I ever paid was $400 for a submariner with a 2836-1 movement in it- the movement is in another watch these days and the case etc is on the parts drawer.

That blue lume looks pretty cool- enjoy your new watch!

Yes, flat top 3s only came on the 1575 movement. Early 3035s had a silver date wheel but with round top 3s and open 6/9. Early 16610s still had the open 6/9 DW, but those only lasted for a few years and were replaced by the closed 6/9 maybe around 1990 or so. This is an R serial 16610 with the open 6/9 DW. R serial was the first year of the 16610- 1988. 16800, and 168000 were also produced during the R serial timeframe.

Looks ok to me. The most important thing I look for on these TT reps is are the sides of the middle SELs gold plated- that's my biggest complaint- nothing spoils a bracelet more than seeing steel on the center side of the gold SELs.

I'm all for bringing Spin back. The DW fiasco which went down a few years back was unfortunate- I know quite a few people were burned and if Spin was one of them, I'm not surprised, and certainly wouldn't hold it against him. Back in the days Spin's work was highly praised from what I saw.

Right, the 702 crown is not compatible with the 703 tube. 703 crown and tube and the 704 crown are interchangeable- difference being the 703 crown is a wrapped crown and the 704 crown is solid SS. Both 702 and 703 assemblies are triplock. The 702 assembly has two gaskets in the tube and one inside the crown at the base of the stem. The 703 assembly actually has four gaskets- two in the tube, one in the crown and the fourth one is on the outside of the tube.

If you go with the Ofrei pushers, it's certainly worth a go with the Rolex tap- 2.5mm x .25 and see if it works.