alligoat

Back in 08 I built a 5508 using an NDT case and dial. The lugs are a little thick and need to be slimmed down. But the 1520 Rolex movement fit in there just fine. A 1530 would have been correct but I never swapped out movements- they are the same size, 18,000 bph vs 19800 on the newer 1520. you could also look at Yuki- he has a 5508- used to be cheaper than NDT. http://www.yukiwatch.com/catalog/item/6924997/7464494.htm Otherwise, you're on to Phong and it will cost you more

Option #3 is your best bet. ST3035 case isn't around anymore as I understand. 1680 case won't take a 27.3mm 16800/16610 dial. 16610 case has deeper rehaut, but there are a bunch of similarities between 16610 and 16800 same bezel aassembly and insert can be used same dial same crystal same crown and tube both used the same bracelet- 93150 until 2000 or so when the 93250 came out

Looking good! I'd beat up the original insert before I installed a gen!

This gold DJ case came from Matt- it's very nice. Yuki gen DJ dial, 2836-2 clone w/ a nice white DWO, Clark hands and a luxurydeals jubilee (I think!) with 455B end pieces. I'm actually thinking about redoing this watch- smooth bezel and an oyster bracelet

The guys over at RWI were discussing gold reps recently- the gold DDs http://www.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php?t=180771 you might check it out

Can't see the pearl in the pic, but the package looks ok. Looks like the modern insert- 2004-to present.

"All 3 sitcks from the "E"s are the same lenghts. It´s never the case on rolex engravings." I think you're taking a minor Rolex idiosyncrasy and trying to make it apply to all engravings- that's not the case. especially with vintage Rolex. Also, the engravings are done by hand on this case. I'm not sure what a Minerva stamp is- Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom. If you're referring to the 18kt stamp, I will admit that it's hard to see from the photo. The caseback stampings all look good to me.

Classic Watch Parts over in Hong Kong would be another possibility- you'd probably be sending a Yuki dial and asking for it to be refinished in white.

The Day-Date is a 1555 or a 1556 movement (of this era) so it would be the 1575 with the added Day feature- somewhat similar to the 1575 GMT movement. It's a day-date movement but it shares many of the same parts with the 1575 date movement.

Yes, that is a luminova service dial, c. 1998. Hands are luminova also, but at least they glow. Even tho it's still 100% Rolex, service dial and hands will detract 10-20% from the price- maybe more than if the watch is all original. but it's still a nice watch for everyday wear.

What makes you think the DD case is a fake? The only thing I see is that the case is over polished, engravings look fine to me. I'm not sure about the movement plate saying 1570, it should say 1556, but there's probably no difference between those two plates anyway.

Rolex took the Zenith movement and numbered it 4030, engraved the plates and rotor w/ Rolex and changed the beat from 36,000 to 28,800. Also, as was indicated, the date function was removed. So yes, this guy is a clown trying to sell a franken as a real Rolex. And like was said above, he's trying to sell four 16610s with the same four pics- the guys a scammer!

This is precisely why I never drilled mine out. No room for error and the lugs are already thin enough after 40+ years.

I guess that makes him the king of frankens!

I'm another one of those 1601 case/1016 build folks! 24-600 crown relumed yuki dial courtesy of LHOOQ, jmb bezel, 2824-2 Swiss eta stilty space ring Clark T-22 and hands I think these are cool builds- yours looks good with the white lume

After pushing the crown in to engage the tube threads, it was 2 turns on my gen 16800.

Nice looking 16800! You're seeing more of them with the 'Swiss Made' dials and SL hands these days. If you're trying to hang on to an old Tritium dial before going in for service, you'd need to get a sacrificial dial and install it on your watch first. Look forward to seeing your franken build.

A late model BK with gen like construction and earlier TCs are all comparable to the TC V6, so then it's just a matter of how the watches have been massaged and what gen parts they have.

Actually the watch doesn't look too bad. The movement is ok and yes it has a 5 line chrono bridge, but that could be a later replacement. Other good things are the ROW on the balance bridge- stands for Rolex Werks, the screw in the coupling clutch bridge indicates it's early. The 72 with the Valjoux trademark insignia is fine- these are V72 movements that Rolex used. Movement is anchored to the case in the correct Rolex positions. I have no problems with the movement whatsoever. The dial is an obvious replacement- it's a 6239 dial. Don't know if this was done by Rolex. If the dial and 5 line bridge are Rolex service parts, the watch is 100%. I couldn't tell from the pic, but the engraving at 12 must say 6234 which is consistent with the movement. Bracelet is 78350 w/ 571 ends- ok for a later replacement. the big question would be do you want to pay $20K for a watch with some updated parts. I certainly think it has a base value of $15K, IMO.

I agree with what Freddy says. I might start by offering $3500 and the only thing I don't like is the minute hand losing lume- that could be a problem at some point. But the less you change, the more valuable the watch is- it's a classic. Bob Ridley up in the DFW area would be a good person to work on it, but he's not cheap. Maybe he could fix the minute hand.

You're losing me- what is a non franken used 16610? Would that be something like a cartel 16610 with non gen construction?

Guys, the Rolex tap is 3.0mm x .35. This is for the 6mm and 7mm tubes. .35 is a somewhat oddball thread pitch BTW. Also, old GMTs took the smaller crown and tube- the 5.3 mm crown- those holes are 2.5mm x .25. Ofrei and Jules Borel sell these tools and well as the wrench to install the 7 mm tubes.

If that Explorer dial is 27mm, it would be fairly easy to build a 5500 type Explorer. If the eta movement was a 2846-2 that would be cool- it or a 2836-2 will fit in that case with the #2 rafflestime spacer Set of Clark hands, service the eta and add a stem and it could be a nice build for not too much money provided you got the case and dial for a good price

I've always used a crystal press to put the crystal retaining ring on- it should be fairly tight and you have to make sure the gasket on the bottom is correctly positioned. The bezel usually will go on by hand- thumbs that is. But I have pressed the bezel and the insert on before with the press.

I hadn't heard that he quit making them, but maybe there was too much competition from TC. You can do the same stuff with a TC case- gen dial and gen movement and it's cheaper