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You've come a long way, Baby PloProf! Superb!

I missed that last batch of photos. Those are some sexy springbars!

As Andy said, it's a huge list of watches, and a big list for just the movements. Here are a few common 3/6/9 chrono movements: Valjoux 71 Valjoux 72 Valjoux 7736 Venus 178 Lemania 2310 (Omega c.321) Lemania 1873 (Omega c.861) Piguet 1185 (Omega c.3313) Universal 281 Zenith El Primero By common, I mean they're used by multiple manufacturers, not that I have a pile of them sitting in a drawer!

Not only did he get my watch repaired, but he was also a huge help in getting ME fixed up! I was down in Naples with a respiratory infection and in need of first aid, and M was able to recommend a good hospital in Rome. ("Ah, Napoli is not famous for its medical services," he said over the phone.) I lost an afternoon in the waiting room, but everything -including medicine- was paid for by the government of Lazio. Also, he bought me a cappuccino. Terrific guy!

Those Yuki hands look good from here, K! New crystal for me:

I had hoped that this update would be the debut of my DW 7031 with genuine Cyclope 128. Unfortunately, due to concerns about the latter, I had to drop my plans for the former: At the end of September, I was consulting ubiquitous for some advice on this build. At some point I asked him what had happened to the bezel he used on his NDT Monte Carlo, as I liked the visual effect of the black, concentric circles. Well, anyone who knows ubi won't be surprised by what happened next, as he offered to send the bezel to me, free of charge. The man is a legend for a reason! The bezel arrived earlier this week, shortly after I received the gen crystal from Rosnik's source. I had hoped that the 7031 bezel would fit the crystal without modification, but this was not so. In fact, the black bezel was a near-perfect fit for DW's crystal. For the gen C128, a substantial amount of metal would have to be trimmed from the bezel's inner diameter. It looked to be a close thing on the NDT bezel, so I decided to fall back on the steel DW unit. Despite the photos I've seen of gen crystals on the DW case, I was still surprised by the difference between gen and DW crystal dimensions. It's not just the outer diameters; the ID of the gen is a tiny bit larger. This results in a minuscule, but nevertheless disconcerting, amount of play between crystal and rehaut. I am guessing that this is due to production variation on the case, as I felt more of a wobble on some axes. My watchsmith sanded the ID of the DW bezel until the crystal could fit. Unfortunately, not all the markings made it through unscathed, and some of them lost their black paint in the process. I've decided to leave these unpainted. (File it under 'vintagizing'.) I don't know how justasgood did it (and in 20 minutes!), but his bezel trim job is the best I've seen on any DW 7032. Was it worth upgrading? Definitely. In terms of accuracy, I still believe that there must have been a domed Cyclope 128 for the earliest Monte Carlos. I've found photos on VRF that show smooth refractions around the edges, which suggest the absence of a hard transition. However, I've yet to see a close-up, side view of such a domed C128, so I can't prove it. Anyhow, nearly every MC photo out there shows a beveled-edge C128, so it's safe to go with the majority. I find that the biggest benefit of switching to a gen crystal is clarity. To be blunt, the optics on DW's crystals are not good. The cyclops, in particular, produces a bit of a "funhouse mirrors" effect on the date window. That's gone on the gen, as are other distortions on the rest of the crystal. Contrast is increased, and it's easier to make out fine details on the dial surface. It should be noted that the gen crystal lowers the watch's profile significantly. By significant, I mean 1mm lower at the center of the crystal, more than 1mm lower at the top of the cyclops. The cyclops on the DW crystal stuck out like a chimney. Note the damage to the crown and pusher, courtesy of Bolognese pavement. Next step: New hands, slowly making their way from Hong Kong. I'll try to have a direct comparison between Yuki, this CWP set, and the stock DW units.

Wow! I like to say that my collection has big, Sub-sized, holes in it. I think that 6538 would fill one very nicely! dieselpower: The Tropic/Daytona combo was sheer providence. At the time, I was searching for an OEM Rolex ostrich strap for my 6263, as an alternate to the folded-links. I just happened to have a 19mm Tropic that I had bought for no other reason but that it was grossly underpriced. For a mass-produced strap, the curved ends fit the Daytona lugs surprisingly well! Later, I found an Italian dealer who was selling a silver-dialed 6240 on a Tropic strap. I don't think it was original to the watch, though, (for one thing, I'm fairly certain it was a Hong Kong Tropic) and I'm still not sure if Daytonas were ever sold on rubber.

Thanks, all! I think I have a rubber fetish, but only on the wrist! donerix: The fascination started out with the Fifty Fathoms. Back then, I didn't even know who made these straps, and it took a lot of research just to find a few bits of information about them. There isn't a lot of new knowledge on Tropics now, but the demand is definitely there. Silver strap on the Tudor sounds good; unfortunately, it's a 22mm strap that I'm unable to squeeze into the 20mm gap between the lugs. There's a 20mm silver "Big Hole" Tropic on eBay--for $189. Yikes! "I like when we touch heads."

This is the 'Lite' version of my Tropic Thunder post, focusing on the Rolex/Tudor family. While Tropic straps were available on purchase for the Submariner (and were stocked by some Rolex ADs until the late 1990s), I don't know if the same was true for either the Daytona or the Tudor Oysterdate. Nevertheless, they are period-correct, and the curved ends are a particularly good fit on the Daytonas.

Through the 60s and 70s, the Swiss-made Tropic rubber strap was the default option for practically any watch that had intentions of getting wet. Wanted a Submariner, but couldn't afford a bracelet to go with it? No problem--let's just slap these things on so you can wear it while you save up for an Oyster. Rolex, Tudor, Blancpain, Bulova, Enicar, and many other manufacturers sold divers wearing the iconic Tropic basket-weave. These used to be cheap straps that a friendly AD might provide, free, following a service. Today, they're rare vintage items sold for exorbitant, extortionate prices. But they're still good straps that look totally right on certain watches. I've accumulated a fair number of them over the past couple of years, and I was fortunate enough to pay an average of $15-25 for almost all of them. The only outlier was the very rare black 22mm, for which I had to pay top-dollar to "squinky". Amusingly, I was able to snag the super-duper rare -and rather ugly- silver 22mm for $10. The Buy-It-Now price for that one is currently at $195, but I've seen them list for as much as $350. Sheesh! I honestly can't think of a watch on which it might look good (a hideous Heuer, perhaps?), but de gustibus... The collection continues to grow, so if you think you've found a good auction for some straps, then you're most likely bidding against me. (How could you? I thought we were friends?) Let's see your vintage Tropics if you've got them!

There's only one other picture I've ever seen of this type of dial, which we are assured (by no less than Kamal 'the Highlander'!) is the only correct 3-color Newman with screwdowns. The photo is shamelessly lifted from Stefano Mazzariol's blog: Freddy's tail is intact on this one. If the standard Daytona is an E-Type, and the Newman a D-, then this is more of an XJ13! EDIT: Whoops! I forgot about another photo of an RCO dial, found here on the adult website BJsOnline .

I'm not sure if I follow you. The 6238 on the left (and at the bottom of paired photos) is a rep.

Well, how much would you pay to have the Cosmograph above the Oyster? Doesn't seem so expensive now, does it?!

Thanks for the input, guys. I was wondering if there was any new info contained in those pages, but it sounds like it's old knowledge from the forums.

I was in Osaka last week and picked up an issue of this magazine, WatchFan. I can't read a single word, but... Ooh, pretty pictures! I bought this magazine, because one of its first articles was about the cartel's 7750-powered Daytona and Pre-Daytona reps. The pictures below link to larger scans. Is anyone here literate in the language, and would like to take a crack at summing up what they're saying about these reps? What's Japanese for "Take that [censored] off your wrist?"

I agree with donerix about the context and the compelte image. Perversely, it may be wishful thinking on our part to extrapolate the average level of knowledge in this sub-forum to the general public. In my experience, most people didn't notice that you were wearing a watch. Of that small subset that did and expressed an interest in watches, an even smaller number is into vintage pieces. Continue whittling that pool down until you reach that one person in ten thousand (and that's being kind) who spotted the wrong font used on 'COSMOGRAPH'. Your friend wasn't lucky. The odds were heavily in his favor. To look at it another way: If someone shoved a $98 Graham rep in my face and asked me what I thought, I would probably say, "Nice watch. Heh, that crown guard is really something!" Why? Because I know absolutely nothing about Grahams, other than that stupid crown guard.

There's a lot of bezel variants for the Daytona. The rounded 'S' is not a tell, as it can be found on both genuine steel bezels and plastic inserts. I do love the way the flat 'S' looks, though!

It isn't Thanksgiving here, but I am thankful for not being materialistic and vain. Now check out my 6263 on vintage Tropic rubber:

Yep, that's the one. I have two spare dials like that, each with chipped paint in a subdial, and both with text that was applied with a carved potato. Also, I don't think there are no crappy $100 vintage Daytona reps that will suit your needs. Their dials won't fit on a 7750, and they often look even worse than the one in that photo.

If you're willing to wait a bit longer, I suggest you give DW a few weeks to source a better dial for you. His default 'Big Red' 7750 dial is a nasty one (I assume the photo you received was similar to the one that arrived with my 6263), but he does get the good stuff eventually.

Unfortunately, the superiority of this bezel is not a clear-cut thing. The 110 spacing is good, but the high-rising hash marks and the missing serifs on the sevens are not so good. (Compare with the 300 UPH bezel on alligoat's 6238/9 to see what I mean.) In fact, I seem to remember that DW's old 200 UPH bezels didn't have these problems, so these may be new issues. Of course, this could be just another gen bezel variant, so start leafing through that Patrizzi guide!

Bye bye, love. Hallo, Space-Dweller:

I know I keep saying it, but I especially love the way the subdials turned out. The whole watch is a winner. One more albino amigo for your collection!

I appreciate the thread revival, especially since I'm wearing the Space-Dweller right now! It's my favorite rep, completely dependable, and the 2472 has been a solid timekeeper. The movement also feels nicer than the Seagull 2824 clone in my 1016 Project 4, though I'm not sure why that is. Incidentally, it's not a genuine Tudor, but likely a genuine ETA. (Can you shed any light, Chi?) I have a proper tripod and considered getting a full-on lightbox, but it's hard to beat my current setup for cost and speed!

Shame about the Prince Oyster, but this looks really good, J, especially for a parts-bin special! There are several members on RWG whose spare parts drawers I'd love to see. Justin's is definitely on that list!