alligoat

That's pretty nice! Hope you got a good deal on the 3135. I'd love to see a side shot w/ the lugholes and the TC bracelet.

I do think a low beat eta like the 2846-2 would be nice, but swapping in a 702 crown and tube for the 703 assembly isn't that big a deal in my mind- even my gen 1680 has a 703 assembly. But if you did do the 702 assembly, I saw last week where Athaya has a killer price for his 702 rep assembly.

I've quit doing Rolex movements in reps/frankens- you just end up with an expensive franken. I think some of the best reps are the ones where people build a nice watch using an eta movement. A 5500 Explorer w/ an eta will still be a very nice watch

With that L342,xxx SN, I was thinking it's a later model MBW/MBK. early MBWs had the L serial- 341, or 342, but were marked 5513 since that's what the case is- a copy of a late model 5513 Looks like a decent watch to me, especially if you have gen like bezel construction like the MBWs do.

WOW! That's a nice write-up and great watch! Congrats.

You have to remove the Prohunter crystal and measure it- is it 30.5mm? Then you can swap in another crystal off of a Chinese sub rep that measures the same- maybe 30.5mm. Hopefully the Cyclops will line up ok. If the Cyclops doesn't line up, you have to pop it and reglue with uv glue in the right place.

We've looked at this watch or others similar to it recently and it's NOT GEN LIKE CONSTRUCTION. But as Nightwatch says, for the price, it's a good inexpensive rep and you can't go wrong.

It can happen on a gen Rolex, but it's not that common. The datewheel is a wear item and is sometimes changed when serviced by Rolex. My gen 16800 came with a newer datewheel and the font was smaller than the original DW and it had closed 6s and 9s. Luckily I was able to find and NOS DW and have it installed- now I'm back to the larger font and open 6/9s. My 16800 is 30 yrs old and doing fine- testament to the fact that the gens are well built watches and when serviced regularly, they will last indefinitely.

If you have gen like bezel construction, it will fit, but I'm guessing you don't! To get gen like bezel construction, it's got to be WM9, Euromariner/MBK, late model BK/TWB, TC sub or a Sean 16610 case. Me thinks Prohunter is none of those! We'd all love to find a 16610 case w/ gen bezel construction in a rep watch for $250!

Being that your GMT is '63-65 or so, a 7206 riveted bracelet w/ 80 end pieces would go well. After that a 7836 w/ 280 ends would work. A 78360 w/ 580 ends would be like a later replacement and 62510 w/ 550 ends would be the jubilee part #.

Nice job! Next to the dial, coming up with the 16660 case would be also quite a coup! Congrats!

Can't say much- fuzzy pic and we can't see the pushers or the crown..

I'm pretty happy with my 1601 to 1016 build- it was fairly easy, but I don't know if you could get jmb to turn you bezel like I did 5 years ago. 1601 case jmb bezel Clark's crystal T-22 and hands Old Yuki dial relumed by goins 24-600 crown 2824-2 movement & stilty space ring If you had a 1601 case with a smooth bezel you'd be good to go

Certainly a TC bracelet would be a good choice- great for everyday wear and it beats tearing up a gen bracelet.

I figure the case will do just fine and that leaves the bracelet- maybe you buy a spare and then you have it for later. If a GP bracelet makes it a year, I'd figure that's pretty good.

Good luck and enjoy your new watch. If you wear it every day, I wonder how long it'll last?

There's no doubt the ST lugs are too tall (and fat to boot), but like panerai says, the insides and bezel assembly work pretty well. Since you already have a TC V5, getting PBdad to drill the lugholes sure would be easy. I recently picked up a gen R serial 16610- the earliest 16610 from 1988 and I was amazed at how the lugs are very short height-wise. I compared it to my Euromariner (MBW) 16610 with lugholes and there's a big difference. There's no rep cases out there that can match those early 16610 cases.

I think those Sean cases run around $600. But they're made for a gen movement (or Yuki/PT).

They were tough to find back in the old days (5 yrs ago or so) and they're tougher now with the arrival of the 116570, The pre-2000 model you have pictured has an old tritium dial, lugholes and a 93150 bracelet w/ the hollow end links (580s would be correct, I believe). Dials were the biggest challenge on these- the hour marker surrounds should be black on the 16570. The early noob cases would take a gen dial, but the later noob cases wouldn't. Hand stack is typically incorrect, but most people don't worry about that.

Happy Birthday, M! Now hurry up and graduate so you can gather up some scratch and start building cool watches again!

I see nothing wrong with reluming if the AD will give you back the old dial and hands. I agree that flaking lume is a problem. With a service dial and hands, you should be good for the next 30 years or so!

@6now, I went and looked at my gen assemblies and no, the stem shouldn't be exposed, but the big tell is that the case tube is thinner than the gen tube. That's because the gen crown's sides are thinner than the rep crowns sides and the gen case tube is fatter. JJ may put a nice bevel on the bottom of the crown, making it look more like a 702 crown, but it's still a rep crown.

A modern day James Bond! Looks good!

That is a good looking watch! The matching patina on the markers and the pearl are beautiful. The only thing I don't like is the case tube- looks like a rep to me!

Just saw a nice K serial sub for $4,250 from Ashley Bowler on VRM- looks good and that's a pretty good price, no box or papers, but even if you have to service it, it's still a good deal