alligoat

The 168000 was only produced for 9 months or so. It's a 3035 movement in a 904 ss case. The dials at that time were all the same- 16800, 168000 and 16610- all w/ gloss dials, wg surrounds and 'Swiss-T<25' at the bottom. The same dial can be used with the 3035 or 3135 movement. Same hands also.

Well all of us mature guys are certainly lamenting the fact that he was actually on the young side- what a shame. It would be interesting to know what he died of.

We'd certainly love to see your 16800 come together. With a gen 16800 case, you could certainly go for a 3035 movement. We do know a 2836-2 will fit with a #2 spacer ring from rafflestime. As for the yuki 3135, it would be interesting to see if it works. Good luck!

+1 Look forward to seeing that insert with a pearl. You also might think about trying to recess the insert in the bezel if it's possible. Great job so far!

Looking good! Which case did you use? My 16800 says hi

Remember the 1655 is a plastic crystal watch. You can always start with the rep from Josh and see how you like it. More expensive options exist like yuki, NDT and Phong but they will require more money. Some nice frankens have been built- you might try searching and see if you can find a few of them.

Sometimes it's even more- like when you put it on a president's bracelet other times it's just subtle, or maybe elegant, even a workhorse, It is the most popular watch in the Rolex line up.

That's a pretty good line up of parts and the two coaches are fantastic. Seems like I saw somewhere where someone was able to skinny up a 1680 dial- maybe turning it on a drill and filing the edge. The edge of the dial fits under the chapter ring so you couldn't tell it had been modded.

Looking good M! Now get back to the books!

Has anyone tried the Yukiwatch 16610 dial? http://www.yukiwatch.com/catalog/item/6380817/9247346.htm Only drawback that I can see is the swiss-T<25 when you using it on a newer sub, and maybe weak lume...

I like the Chrono-tac for $79! But certainly the best one is the Josh 1655 which everyone turns into a 1675

Looking good A! That gen spec case looks nice- I like the flatter area between the lugs- just like the Rolex 18K cases

For the deep stuff, I cut a hole in a 1/8" piece of plywood with a Forestner bit and used it as a spacer- it may have been a 35mm bit which is what all the European hinges use- can't remember!

Looks aftermarket to me

Can't you just buy a crystal press from Harbor Freight for $10-15?

What makes you so sure it's fake? Diamond dials are quite often aftermarket. The size looks more like the mid size to me. Date mag is a little small, but frankly Rolex could care less about date mag. Fit of the end pieces isn't the greatest, but on older watches it used to be atrocious. Without seeing the movement, I would just let this one ride. It's covered by paypal anyway.

You might ask Narikaa if he can possibly get a MBW 5517.

This is my idea of a great rep! Great parts list and a 2846-2 engine. I think a watch like this is every bit as good as the original watch that Rolex put out 30-40 years ago. Congrats. That 702 crown and tube is cool too!

The $67 DJ still runs, looks ok on a leather strap, but I really only bought it for the case and then I changed horses and didn't use the case for the project. But the movement ain't much- it's not even a dg2813. The bracelet is ok, I just couldn't get the end links to fit on the 16013 case and the end pieces are marked 455B

What do you mean by 'thicker DS case'? The best case would be an MBW case with the fixed lugs, but I don't know if it's available. Second would be the Josh case with the stubby crown guards, but the caseback is wrong and it might have an HE valve http://www.1-pc8838.com/rlsv01002-vintage-5517-military-submariner-asia-2836-p-7699.html

John Holbrook says the 16803 debuted in 1984. http://luxurytyme.com/en/rolex-reviews/comparative-review-the-rolex-submariner-16613-vs-the-rolex-submariner-116613/ I saw one 16803 in Antiquorum that was dated to 1983.

My 1803 DD has a 16013 case and I couldn't get the rep president's bracelet on it. The bracelet came from a Silix special DJ which I paid around $67 for I got the Josh folded link 7836 with 455B ends to fit perfectly I'm also going to try a jubilee w/ the 455B ends which is currently on my 16014 DJ franken- it should fit fine also. KBH saif he had a presidents that fit the 16000 DJ cases.

There was a dealer a few years back that had a vintage cream dialed Explorer II- prowatch-polo. Don't know what happened to Polo, he's no longer a TD here and his website is gone. The watch had a few flaws- but I don't recall what they were. The white gold surrounds in the pic are ok for a 16550 model as well as the steel hands. Later Rolex switched to black surrounds and black hands- maybe when the 16570 came out. These days drilling lugholes would be a job for PBdad or jmb. None of the cases have them since Rolex did away with them 5-7 years ago- even the rep makers are keeping up with the times!

This is my way around the bling of yellow gold- the 1803 DD in stainless Low key

If the gen is 2.5, I'd say it's 2.3 maybe- it's pretty close. And frankly, I don't think Rolex really cares about it too much. My gen 16800 came from Rolex service w/ a new DW and the mag was puny. Then I put in a NOS DW and all my problems were solved!