alligoat

I'm thinking that the dial that you copied is a 1963 dial where they put the registration line under the printing and then added the T's either side of the Swiss at the bottom. So it would be at the point when they first started using tritium. Around that time they were also switching from gilt lettering to white. Pretty good for something you just whipped up!

Although Josh and Andrew do sell the same watches, these two are different. Andrew's is the older version w/o the rehaut engraving and Josh's is the more recent one with the rehaut engraving. What will you get? Well you won't know til it arrives. But at least you know it won't be as nice as the BK WM9 Yachtmaster, but you're not spending $600+ for it either. With these $100 reps, it's like rolling the dice. Take your chances and hope you'll be happy.

One little correction, it's a 1500 Date which is different from a 1600 Datejust.

Looks great J! Now you just need to file down those cgs to a point and run another dial in gold. Here's a 7924

I doubt Josh has one and last month I tried to order that watch from Silix and it's out of stock. I was trying to get the $70 cheapy to use the case. There are a couple of other oysterdate type of models and they also were a no go. It's a good case, takes a gen t-12 and worked out well when I built a MK II Explorer. If you can get one, I wouldn't worry about the fit of the end links on the bracelet. On old Rolex watches the end links never fit worth a hoot either! And I used the bracelet on another project, it was fairly decent- 78350 w/ non rep end pieces- no cut outs on the back side.

Beautiful job R! And the fact that it took a year to build is a good lesson for some of the new guys. Patience is what it takes. You just have to keep looking and working on getting parts, slowly but surely. And I agree, you've built it for 1/3 of what a gen would cost these days. Great job.

I just noticed that Andrew has come out with bracelet options, rivetted and folded oyster in addition to the jubilee http://www.yourtrustytime.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=1675

I guess it stands to reason that the Jets QB would be wearing something in LV green!

The old 1680 is looking good, J! Scratches, and dings and all!

Here's a pair of crowns from jewelerstools Notice how the inside is thinner than LH's MBW

Yep, I can't see it screwing on a gen (or decent aftermarket) tube either. When you look at the pic of the inside, it's too thick. Gen crowns are thinner on the inside.

Great write-up Chi. Isn't chinese engineering great! One step forward, two steps back.

crappy iPhone pic, but a new 16660 w/ holes by jmb and a relumed dial by PBdad- at least I'm liking the watch. Now I need to learn to take iPhone pics

Sure beats my crappy iPhone pic This is my new 16660 SD with a PBdad relume, I like it more than my phone!

Looks great but you've got to do something with the crown. It's way too tall. Maybe a gen crown would fit on the existing tube, or like you said, file down the crown that's on there. But it's a good deal for what you've spent, now you just have to hope that the a21j holds up.

Stay away from the DRSD. The gens go for $15K and up. You'd do better sticking with a 5513 which runs in the $4-5K for a gen. Much more plausible. Keep reading about how to age these vintage reps, people are doing it all the time around here. Just keep searching and reading and welcome aboard.

Not quite 90 degrees, need to keep a little slope but print some photos of gens and copy those Ebay is always a good place to look.

Very impressive list of parts and a super build! Congrats. Here's a 116 to keep your eyes on http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rolex-100-original-GMT-116-crystal-1675-1655-6542-/270809011468?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0d79950c

You do have a noob, it's v2 w/ the M092117 SN. Noisy rotors are par for the course w/ the asian 21j, but you should be able to put the screw back in if you can find where it came from. At that point, if it's running you should be ok. The bezel just isn't catching the stops when you turn clockwise. You could take the bezel off and bend the stops up a little more to fix it, or just don't worry about it, since you probably won't be scuba diving with it.

Me thinks an MBW case, gen insert and dial- relumed dial and hands. Looks good Bobbie. T-19 looks good also.

I agree, it's a 5508 and it's an exclamation point dial. It says 'swiss' so it could be original. Don't clean it up, it could be worth a decent amount of money- $12K-15K. The jubilee is older also- folded link. This should have a 1530 inside. Nice find. The insert is a newer replacement.

here's a gen for comparison The '2's' on the bezel are slightly different, date mag may be a little large, swiss made looks closer to the marker. Dial print on the gen is a little finer. But all in all, your rep's not too bad.

My guess is that the pearl is exposed more to salt water, etc. whereas the dial/case is sealed.

A year or two ago you could pick up matte dial 16800's for less than $4k. Maybe not anymore. Here's one in a pawnshop in Washington which has a better case http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1981-Rolex-SS-Gents-Submariner-16800-/280730821997?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item415cdc656d Can't tell about the dial w/ a description of 'scuffs', but it looks ok from the pics- which aren't great. But you don't know where the bidding will end up, or it might not go anywhere.

The story that I read about the ST-19 was that the equipment went to the Russians and then they sold it to the Chinese.