alligoat

BK never fails to amaze me. He just keeps turning out great subs. I remember the early noobs which he modded to a high level. That was 4-5 years ago. Then the WM9 came along and now we're onto the TW Best. The only thing I'd do to this present model is install a gen insert. Granted these watches aren't cheap, but the level of quality is superb. And 82KUBA, given the fact that they copy the gen construction so well, I'd figure they're WR for swimming, etc. But it's always a good idea to get it tested first by a watchmaker.

1,500 x $200 = $300,000. Cost would be more like 1500 x $50 = $75,000. Almost $1million! Media hype/Customs hype

This is true, but I wasn't going to get into a discussion on the differences between the 16550 and the newer 16570. The older 16550s are tritium dials and there's no decent rep of that watch either- tritum- Swiss T < 25 -dial and lugholes in the case. Here's a late model gen w/ black hour surrounds, it's a 16570- no lugholes in the case Here's a cream dialed rep w/ lugholes but the dial says 'Swiss Made'- oops, this would be a 16550 but the dial is incorrect

What I'm talking about is the hour marker surrounds. On the Explorer II, the metal around the hour markers should be black, not silver. This is the metal surrounding the luminous material at each hour marker. This is the problem with even the noob factory Explorers- the wrong color metal surrounds. keep looking and maybe you can find one with the correct black surrounds. Maybe Trevor over at RG has them.

I picked up that model 4-5 months ago. Angus was out of the SSDv2 as are most of the other dealers that I know of. This watch is an SSDv2 with the correct SN- Z549117, and I've been happy with it so far. But I modded mine. First off, I had jmb drill the lugholes and bracelet for 2mm springbars. When I got the watch back I realized that it was a solid mid link bracelet, the earlier SSDs had the correct hollow mid link bracelet, but things are always changing over in China. Also, the bracelet has polished sides, but I'll brush those out some day. The Rolex emblem on the clasp sucks, but for now I'm just wearing it. I might swap in a noob bracelet at some point. Mine came with the asian 2836 which was working fine, but I swapped in a swiss 2836 which came out of an old Paul's DRSD. The cool thing about the movement was that it has a silver datewheel w/ open 6's and 9's. I've seen early 16800s which had the silver DW, kind of a carry over from the old 1680s, so I figured it would work for my 16660 which is what I'm trying to build. This week I installed a matte dial from Yuki. I'll probably get the dial and hands relumed- to a less yellow color, install a gen bezel insert, trim the cgs some more and install a gen crown and tube. But it's a work in progress so for right now I'm just enjoying the watch. I don't know if it's WR, but I'll get it tested at some point. I'll probably epoxy the HE valve as a safety precaution anyway.

At first I didn't think that was Josh's site, but I went there myself and got the same picture. But that dial looks to me like it has the silver hour surrounds and not the black ones like on a gen. The guys over at RG have a source for the Explorer II with the correct black surrounds, you might try over there.

The gen three line S&L dial on the left has gilt hands now that I look closely. I'd love to know how Chi got a nice pearl into the MBW insert, it looks great.

ditto on the dial- aftermarket yuki dial also fit easily- cut off the dial feet and glue to the movement ring. I'm just ignoring my LEC, nothing else to do as far as I can see.

You know Paul at Pam111 sells the old style DD- here it is w/ a 2813 movt. http://www.prowatch888.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_56_77&products_id=2526 I bought one of these 4-5 years ago for a little bit more money and it came w/ a swiss 2836 (w/ the chinese mod to make it a DD). Now days you spend $300 and get an automatic eta 2836 http://www.prowatch888.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_56_77&products_id=462 That translates to asian eta to me, but what can you do? I've bought a number of watches from Paul over the years and always had good luck. In fact the DD arrived with a marker falling off the dial and Paul sent me a spare dial which my watchmaker installed for free or next to nothing. You just have to go gently w/ these dealers and they'll take care of you. Andrew and Josh are other dealers that might have the 36 mm DD.

M, your attention to detail and persistence are amazing. To say nothing of the level of quality you achieve in building these franken reps. This watch is truly a work of art. Congrats on a job well done. I did notice one thing. The gilt hands are gone, replaced by silver. Did this happen in the conversion over to the 2451?

This is a work in progress- 16660 SD, yuki dial, lugholes by jmb and a silver DW from my old DRSD from ages back that I got from Paul in 2005/6. Oh, the silver DW came with a swiss eta, ah for the good old days- all for $139. Sorry for the crappy iPhone pic- maybe some day I'll learn to take pcs. I may need to do something about the yellow lume- the dial sat in the window sill in the sun for two months but it didn't fade like one of the other dials. BTW, LHOOQ, I'm liking the 5512 and how did I know you were going to put it on a Tropic?

I have a few gold reps and the color is OK. It's the same as some of my gold gens basically. Of course, I don't have a gold sub, but I have an older gold Date and a few other gold watches. The biggest problem w/ gold is you have to have the panache (i.e. balls) to carry it off. When you're in your 20's and 30's that's hard to do. Also, GP may or may not wear well, it's not for everyday wear.

Yes. Easy on the water though and wipe the paint off of the sides of the hands gently. It's not the best in that if you get water in the case it could be a problem, but at that point you have other problems and the stuff does dry and cure so to speak. And it is cheap!

You don't know until you try. Aftermarket parts vary, so all you can do is try. I put the gen crystal retaining ring on my ETZ 16610 and it stopped the leaking immediately. So then I had to find an aftermarket bezel that fit. When I did, the gen insert that I had no longer fit, but a decent aftermarket insert snapped right in there. Some day I'll file down a gen insert to fit in there, but first I'll tear up the aftermarket one. Swam with the watch last week end, a WR watch is always nice. Just remember to rinse them with fresh water afterwards if you're swimming in saltwater.

JB, What about some of the cheap acrylic yellow paint (water it down) and some light tea to stain it? It's hard to tell which color you have from the pic, but you have to be your own Picasso when it comes to matching colors. I was happy with the yellow acrylic and a little bit of brown mixed in on one set of hands for one of my watches. The lume glows thru the acrylic paint, BTW.

1. Keep looking. I bought mine on ebay for $70. 2. Try the aftermarket part on the WM9 v3 to see if it works 3. Try other aftermarket crystal rings to see if they work-like this one from Mr. Slimeball http://cgi.ebay.com/RETAINING-BEZEL-INSERT-ROLEX-SUBMARINER-16610-16800-/310304841634?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item483f9c1fa2 If it doesn't work, send it back, tell him it didn't work. At least you should get your $99 back and it cost you $7 plus return postage to try it out. AandEwatches on the bay also sells aftermarket 16610 parts as do other sellers. Keep looking. Your results may vary! Changing this stuff out requires the basic tools like a case knife and a crystal press for instance.

Nice job JB! Reminds me of the old coral snake rhyme: Red and yellow, kill a fellow Red and black, friend of Jack Good luck on getting a set of yellow hands on there.

Two ways to go- one, is get with Narikaa about a WM9 v1.5, or get with bklm1234 about the new TW Best sub that he has. These are the two best ways to go these days. To find used v1 or v2s, you'll need to keep an eye on the for sale section.

Good points! Your springbars aren't bent that badly in the first place, I've seen much worse. You might pick up a pair of late model (aftermarket) 2mm springbars for the no lughole sub/SDs and see if jmb couldn't drill your bracelet ends and enlarge your lughole holes. But check with jmb first if you're interested in the upgrade.

Boy donerix, now you have me going again! Since I had the white 6542 serviced, it's been just sitting in the watch box. I've thought of trying the Josh 1655 case and removing the cg's, installing a bezel- that NDT one would work I would think, and going that route. But I really like your results- looks a lot like my grail go by watch I really like what you did with the rehaut- no more wok!

I got the PT GWSD when it first came out and I've been very happy with the watch. I did some mods to it, gen crown and aftermarket tube, MBW great white dial, jmb retaining ring, a G-S T-39 crystal, and trimming of the cg's. Watch is WR and a great beater, all for around $400. Here's a fuuzy pic of it Recently I've been looking at the white 1680 sub he has and may get it. These watches are OK for the beginner also, if you don't do the mods, it's still a decent rep out of the box. Although I would want to trim the cg's at the very least and maybe age the case some http://www.puretimewatch.com/product/vintage-white-submariner-1680/ The nice thing about these watches is that they have the low beat 2846-2 motor inside and the correct silver DW w/ correct flat top 3's and open 6's and 9's. But you might have to get the 2846-2 serviced, but that is the case with all rep movements as far as I'm concerned.

Tudor did to eta movements what Rolex did to Valjoux movements- took the best quality movement and improved upon it. And of course, even today ETA has four grades of quality in their watch movements. The ones we see are probably the standard grade.

Both movements have also been cloned by the asians, so don't be surprised if you get a clone. George at WM9 used to use the 2892-2 clone in some of his watches 3-4 years ago (not the subs though). Might even be Seagull who cloned the 2892-2.

I'm hoping to make it. A weekend off from fishing could be kinda nice!

The 2836-2 is fine, correct beat, 28,800. Only question is if you get a 'swiss' eta or an asian clone- my guess is you'd get an asian clone, which is ok as long as you don't pay for 'swiss'. The hand stack will be wrong, but nobody really worries about that. Movements w/ the correct handstack have proven to be unreliable.