alligoat

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.

First of all let me tell you this- the original 702 Rolex tube didn't have any internal splines. So one way to install an OEM tube is to prep the case hole- run the tap thru there- then screw the tube in by hand and tighten it in there with the 702 crown. If you're using a glue like loc-tite and you get the tube screwed in tightly you're good to go. If you're not happy with that, you can stick the rat tail file in there and try additional tightening. As for Adrian's tube- if he says a torx bit, I'd try one of those. You can buy them fairly cheaply and I'd figure T-15, T-20 or T-25 would be the size. And remember to use loc-tite or something to give you a waterproof seal. You may need to chamfer the top of the case hole to seat the tube correctly, but it's been over a year since I installed a 702 copy tube in my 5513 and I can't remember but I'm pretty sure I chamfered the top of the hole- I know I do that on the 703 tubes.

That's a tricky deal. As I recall, the DW pushers are like a .20 pitch- 2.5mm and the Ofrei pushers are .25 pitch. So you'd have to retap the case with a 2.5mm x .25 tap (Rolex standard) if you use the Ofrei pushers. And of course you can't get DW pushers these days. Good luck

Certainly the crown guards are all wrong, don't know what's up with the hands- look like they came off a 6694 or and Air King- can't tell by the pic if it's an opaque MBW pearl. But why would anyone use a replica on their website? I love the fact that this Tim Strong character goes into a legal spiel about not dealing in replicas on his website- trying to scare others with smoke and mirrors! But at least he's now been outed on the Rolex forum. I guess if you're trying to buy a vintage Rolex, you need to stick to guys like Jacek and Andrew Shear who know their stuff or run it by the VRF before you buy.

A 16030 case would have originally had a SN in the 5.8mil range to the 9 mil range. But the engravings on that case look good so I'd figure 4.39mil is close enough to be a Rolex replacement case. As automatico says, the case in a DJ franken isn't that big a deal, the WG bezel looks good , dial is original, DWO is correct and if it's got a good eta movement, it's still an excellent watch.

Here's a 1665 bezel from tonnywatches http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Vintage-Rolex-Submariner-Sea-Dweller-1665-Bezel-Insert-and-Bezel-Ring-/262509949684?hash=item3d1ecff2f4:g:E7QAAOSwbYZXecu2

Eight years ago I built a 5508. Case and dial was from NDTrading- Natalie who is no longer around. I put a 1520 movement in there which isn't correct- should be a 1530, but it fit and of course they're basically the same except for the beat rate- 18k vs 19.8. This build ran me around $2,500. The only thing I need to do is maybe have some bevels put on the case and maybe then soften them to give the case some age. You don't say where the dial feet are on your dial- 1030 dial feet are different from the 1530 dial feet. If you go with the 6536-1, you might try to put a 2846-2 in there- parts for 1030s are getting scarce and it's a 60 year old movement. Even the 1520 parts are getting hard to come by- Rolex hasn't made that movement in 26 years. Also, I don't think I've ever seen a 5508 watch with the red depth rating.

I think the 702 is correct for the DRSD- especially one from the 70s. For an early 60s 5513/2 build the 700 would be correct, but I believe the 702 dates from the late 60s and was in use until around 1980 at least.

That's a pretty nice mod Big D! You've certainly made that Invicta look better, congrats!

I left my 5508 dial on the windowsill on the south side of the house on the second floor for a month or two and it mellowed out quite nicely. A light tea wash might also give it some age, or I've used acrylic paint- a light brown wash- in the past.

OK, I see what you mean. Thanks for the clarification. EDIT: I just found a III 1958 on the bay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-ROLEX-SUBMARINER-REF-5508-TROPICAL-DIAL-ca-1958-JAMES-BOND-WATCH-/371544544939?hash=item5681c7d6ab:g:DmAAAOSwL7VWrf0V But does radium still glow after 50+ years?

There's nothing wrong with a 1958 stamp on the 5510 or the 5508- that's when they first came out. The 1530 movement came out in 1957. Rolex was producing the 6538 and the 5510 concurrently at that time. It's a beautiful build. But I'd love to see the hands recolored to more closely match the dial.

If that's a hallmark on the 5 o'clock lug, it could be a 18/14kt gold case. Dial looks nice also- can't tell if it's a redial, but given it's age, it's not the big a deal IMO.

Actually I would figure the Oyster Precision is ok, but you'd be lucky to get $750usd for it. It's a manual wind movement, watch looks to be from the late 50s, but it probably needs a service. Retail you might get $1000-1200usd. It would be worth taking it to a watchmaker for a looksey.

Is it a Valjoux 71 or a 72? The 71 is 14 ligne and the 72 is 13 ligne. On first glance, your movement appears to be a V71 and they won't fit in a DW case or any other case made for the V72. So get the calipers out and measure! BTW, the very early V72s looked like V71s with the same detent bridge, but once again they were smaller- the 13 ligne size.

If you have a white dial in a '69 sub, it stands to reason that it's a service replacement dial.

Looks good! I think the under $500 builds are the best!

This was a budget build- hands are stock, movement is the a21j. Drilled the lugholes, trimmed the cgs and filed down the case between the cgs and then installed the 702 tube and crown

+1- with the flat top 3s and open 6/9s it's correct for a serviced/late 1680

Looks like a nice beater. Did the Miyota come with the watch or did you pick it up separately? Looking at the neck of the case, it looks like the bezel assembly is the paper clip snap on variety. Also, that dial is a fantasy version, but who will know!

Actually the old 5500 Air King hands have pointed ends and I don't know where you can find them. If you used a set of DJ hands, I doubt anyone would notice