Ronin

FWIW: I am seeing a lot of new "GEN Weight - Weight ADDED" options on the TD sites for things like Precious Metal versions of Daytona, Subs, Yachtmasters. The new VSF Bond NTTD V5 Titanium comes in almost spot on, a touch overweight actually. However, that can be rectified by removing the decorations on the movement, or swapping a GEN 2824, that you can't see anyways through the solid caseback. I also did a KT-22 Mod to my V5 to silence the Rotor. It might as well be 1:1 in weight, appearance, and now 'rotor sound'.

FYI: It appears Ruby is deceased and that vintagewatchpart[.]net is a suspicious clone site. FYI.

Yes, Ali..... is probably your best shot, but most are SA's. Search VR/VS or Dandong. Andrew/Trusty attempted to sell "parts" but that side business never really happened. That said, you could reach out to TD's as well. .... or just buy a REP, on the cheaper side, with the movement you require. For the ~$180 movement price alone, you might end up with extra parts (Bracelets, Hands....)

LOL. I think I might actually know the who-- from being in this scene since for like 15yrs. If I am correct, this person in the "Western Hemisphere" ???

Price? Sorry, thought this was a FS post. Great looking watch!

How does one find this Darklord? I've been around since 2008 and first I am hearing unless he goes/went by something else?

👍🏻👍🏻

Looks good. If it resonates with you go for it and take it to a reputable watchmaker for service. Budget $300+ if all it needs is a clean and oil. Or factor a spare/replacement movement from lesser known model with same. Alternatively. Don't service it and wear it on those non critical time keeping days. 👍🏻 Edit to add the 330 movement isnt the greatest. You may want to steer towards ETA based Tudors imstead if serviceablity/reliability are your thing.

Fun! Id maybe sand down the bezel edges a bit too. My eye is immediately drawn to the bezel profile for some reason. Looks good though.

Storm

@freddy333is your dial real/relief GILT, or Printed GILT? Hard to tell from the photos... Also, out of curiosity. Did you self-service your 1030? If YES, how does servicing that compare to a ETA 28xx? (Harder/Easier) and what kind of accuracy are you getting out that vintage movement? Thanks

So here is a follow on. (I have not seen a 1675(3/8) Rootbeer/Nipple in person). Those were "Printed" Gilt correct, as are all the later/current Two-Tone models. "Relief" stopped in the mid-60's all together? Jumping over to Tudor. Were those early 7922, 7923 Relief or Printed. (Again never saw one in person) But I have always been under the impression Tudor was always Pad-Printed pseudo-Gilt. ????

I had caught rumbling of Yuki shuttering in 2023 and the aforementioned yukiwatch.com domain was 404'd. However, Yuki does appear 'back' under the s-timeasia domain and regained control over yukiwatch domain. The Ruby "alternative" site however seems sketchy. It feels like it is running on someones old Pentium in a closet somewhere. LOL. I am always skeptical of copy-cats, etc. The fact Ruby's original site is still accessible but not "Login-able" nor responding to emails gives me pause, especially on the new copy-cat site. 🤷‍♂️

DD = Dangdong and are now considered the best option. SH less quality. Noob is usually poor quality and less compatible with Gen parts. That is my experience with their 32xx movements anyways. I'll defer to Freddy333 w/r/t the 4130. Here is a good comparison of the 3xxx's which I am guessing translates to 41xx to some degree:

Yep, sites are still online in both Ruby/Minh's cases, but zero comm's or order fulfillment's. 🤷‍♂️

Anyone know if there has been similar crack downs with the trusted parts suppliers? Another end-of-an-era??? -Ruby, site login disabled and “suspect” replacement site— well…seems suspect. -MinhQ , unresponsive as well. -Yuki retired. -Phong still up/around from US, but selection is hit or miss and $$$$.

Nice. Did you make those? I reached out to MQ/Minh who seems to list/differentiate print gilt from ‘depth’ gilt. Assuming by depth they mean ‘relief/real’.

Anyone?

Don't get me wrong, my GEN Rolex collection (5) outshines my Rep's. But in the "modern" era, its easier these days to live with, and get away with the super reps coming out of VSF, Clean, ZF, PPF, 3KF.... Like you, I can fix the issues, and for those who can't you can pick up a 'backup' VSF for example and still be WAY ahead.

Anyone know when Rolex went from RELIEF/(real)GILT to Printed? About what year / model? (Subs, GMTs) Anyone know of a source of replica/redial vintage dials using the relief vs pad printed gilt? (PM Me if you don't want to share openly). Thanks!

I still have a handful. 🙂

That is fantastic. Amazing how far these have come. My VSF 126610 has been held up next to the real thing, and honestly, $500 vs $12,000-- I see no reason to buy the real thing...

There are two versions of DG3804 out there. The majority have "Rolex (1575) Aligned" datewheels. I built a 1575 with the straight out of the box movement, the font was close enough. LOL, I see this is a response to 9yrs ago. About the same time I built a 1675/3804.

Thanks for posting this. This is amazing. Keep these coming! I've had great luck with ZF (quality control) in the past, but APS looks real good here.

Mods, I think this has been asked before, but does the Forum software support a toggle between a LIGHT/DARK Mode. While "Dark Mode" became all the rage 5yrs ago-- more and more studies are showing it is awful for aging eyes/older folks. I for one am struggling to read longer posts here with my vision situation. The researchers put this down to the fact that when we look at a bright background, our pupils constrict and increase acuity while scanning text. When looking at a black background, the opposite effect occurs, and dilated pupils make it harder to focus on the text. Much appreciated if this feature could be explored. Toggling to Dark Mode for those reading in bed might be nice, but then again this isn't a 'feed' and should encourage more contributions. Dark mode encourages consumption, not necessarily contribution 🤔 I can change arbitrary backdrops, but there isn't even a basic white to get the pupils to constrict... -Thanks!