jonsydney

That is drop dead gorgeous - nice build, db.

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I am SO glad I'm not the only one who is driven crazy by this end link fitting business lol. I'm a big fan of fitting different straps to my Rollie's and getting bracelets back on just right is such a pain in this [censored].

Matt's recommended method has worked for a bunch of my pieces pretty well so far.

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Many thanks. Any members willing to share would be appreciated!

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Amazing work, dBane. Did anyone end up doing a 16800 project, in the end?

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Verrrry nice, Proj. I was just salivating over one on Watchrecon, thought it'd be wonderful to build a franken example, jumped onto the rep forum searches and only to stumble across this thread. Looks like I'm following in your footsteps after that 16750! Lol

Would love one of these subs with the aged tritium/wg dials.

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Spend some time researching and reading. There are many worthwhile threads on the multiple gen forums which will prove to be more useful than the pulling teeth approach you have now with this new thread.

The WatchuSeek vintage watch forum and associated stickies have proven invaluable to me in the past.

For what it's worth I concur with bwhite. Dial looks refinished at best - too clean. Movement...... Lol.

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I've been a member on the various fora since 08 and dealt with all levels of dealers, modders and members. Whilst Matt's love of replying to emails in separate new threads drives me nuts (lol) he is by far the most stand up vendor I've worked with. I include Bert (who fixed an issue with a franken piece he created for a former customer whom I bought from for FREE) and PBDad within that group of high esteem. The three of them are super solid and an absolute invaluable asset to our little community. The way I see it, there are three levels of rep collectors - the noobs who bounce in and out of the forum only after the "best sub" and end up leaving with a stock $300 rep never to be seen again, the lingerers who are satisfied with their stock rep collection, and then the "lean forward" more engaged crowd who explore builds and the various nuances of the rep world blurred into the gen world. I'd like to think I'm slowly moving into that third stage and am grateful for the friends I've made within these forums and their advice and support. J

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Good looking piece, mate. Surprised you found a beauty like that in a NSW pawn shop!

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And here's mine. Lol. If you can live with the crown guards for the money you're spending then the RA route is a decent one. Good luck!

@ogladio I haven't seen many gen 1675s at that price range, let alone good examples. Maybe I was looking in the wrong spots! Agreed though, I couldn't bring myself to sink over 1k into what is essentially a poor representation of a franken. There are plenty of watch models we can do this with. Unfortunately the gmt isn't one of them.

If going for a birth year watch, why not go gen? A 70s 1675 is still fairly "cheap" if you can use that word with vintage Rolex. Otherwise it looks as you got it covered - use the cartel 1675 base and either mod yourself or have JJ put his magic touch to it. Just remember, the gen isn't that much more expensive.

... You're kidding, right? Lol

JJ (rolexaddict) was playing around with laser/metal welding to add to the cartel cg for awhile, there are some cool photos posted here or rwi outlining this work but I don't believe he offers this service currently due to issues in France with securing the required metal materials.

I looked into building a franken 1675 or 16750 for ages but simply couldn't get over the inaccurate cg issue. Once you're aware of it you see it in every single cartel case based franken photo. :/ I ended up having to go gen lol

Fantastic review, thanks for putting this together. I think this 512 is a fun, nifty little rep for the money. I like mine a lot

Congrats on the new purchase, looks amazing. Very interesting re the patina facts too.

Glad you got it sorted (in a way) Matt. And hope everything goes well over on RG, too.

Thanks for the info, Mimi. Does he work on actual rep watches in terms of mods etc?

Awesome, thanks for sharing mate

Beautiful! Prdubis, I meant ballpark costs all in per piece. Would love to know if you don't mind.

Thanks for sharing, PR. What's the damage on a build like those? Look amazing.

This is a fantastic little project, JMB - thanks for sharing!

Mate thanks for sharing this project in such detail. Beautiful piece and very interesting to follow such a build.

The Italian day wheel is a straight giveaway. Gorgeous gen!

Just had a glass of Yamazaki single malt by Suntory.

I would say that this Japanese whiskey can stand up to most scotches out there.

The Japanese scotch scene has exploded in the past decade. Their whiskey bars are full of energy, tightly packed with amazing selections on their shelves. Really doing great things over there, especially in Tokyo and inner Kyoto.

If you want to sample some other Japanese fare, I highly recommend the 15 yo Nikka Yoichi. Alternatively if you prefer peat, the 12yo Hakushu is a stand out.

I'm in the same boat mate. AFAIK there aren't any super rep level productions of the 40 or 42mm pams. Would love to get my hands on the new 42mm piece. Maybe they'll rep it soon!