lhooq

Really great job, especially on the weathering. The depth, texture, and color of the lume is amazing, but I guess that's to be expected! Shame about the Tropic 22, though. If it's too big, you might want to give an aftermarket T19 a try for a taller crystal. The trick is finding one with the same profile as an old T22. I haven't, so far, but there are one or two sold on Ofrei that come close.

Update, and a couple of notes about endlink fit at the end: I handed my 7205 over to my watchmaker last week to see if there was anything he could do about the endlinks. Faster than expected, he was able to produce a rather good mutt by swapping the mangled 57s with a 60 and a 357. All other links are intact, so the bracelet is still an expander all around. Incorrect for a 6263, but still handsome. Maybe if I had those funky early pushers, I could turn it into a 6240? Best keep it for a 6238 or 6239, I think! I've often read that the 357 is the best alternative to an x71 (mostly in Freddy's posts!), and it's easy to see why. It fits pretty snugly against the case and its profile nearly matches the curve of the lugs. However, there is a gap between endlink and case, and it's particularly noticeable at the endlink's middle. This could be an issue if the wide, Daytona bezel isn't there to hide it. The 60, on the other hand, hugs the case closely--sometimes. Off the wrist it pivots on the springbar and moves about half a millimeter against the case. It's also about 2/3 the thickness of the 6263's lugs.

My GST, now with ETA day- and date-wheels. Unfortunately, I was sent the English day-wheel, rather than the German one I ordered. (Not that anyone can tell today!) However, when I pointed the error out to the good people at WatchPart.co.uk, they immediately sent out a replacement. Sure, it's a few more weeks of waiting for me, but that's pretty good service.

Gee whiz... I try to do my homework and still agonize over purchases worth $150. To drop 100x that amount on an impulse is unthinkable.

Listen to Offshore, and do read his epic missives from Guangzhou. Heck, read them even if you aren't planning a trip to China. They're very entertaining and provide you with a good taste of what to expect when you get there. I made prior arrangements with one of the dealers here, but made the mistake of not pre-ordering any watches, thinking that I could just shop around once I got there. Mind you, I was only in Guangzhou for a day, but the selection available to me that afternoon consisted of mountains of assorted crap (lots of cheap Chanel J12s, incidentally). It didn't take long before someone offered to take me upstairs to view reps in some locked room upstairs, but it was hardly an Aladdin's Cave of replicas. Much better than the stuff downstairs, but not much in the way of quality pieces. Those that were available were usually outdated models, too i.e. a V1 SOH. Oddly, there were a lot of new Aquaracer reps (this was in January). Nice cases, but the weird-looking date fonts hinted at budget movements within. Although I didn't buy a single watch in Guangzhou, it was a rewarding day trip to a not-particularly-attractive city. Great selection of tools and parts, and the roomful of fake watch boxes and manuals was impressive. (I think Offshore described it well in one of his posts.) The dealer I met with kept saying how much nicer Shenzhen is, so maybe that's a better bet for you. You'll definitely save yourself four hours spent on a train.

A T19 on a 1016 is a bit excessive, perhaps about half a millimeter thicker than the old-style Tropic 22 on a genuine. I do like the profile a lot, though!

Mellus: Beautiful Sky Chief! I'm still not sure what the 4/8/12 minute markings mean, though. I think the 6234 has the same on its dial. I've got a folded-link bracelet for this one, but it's much more distinctive on a Tropic: Recently, I found this 6240 listed on an Italian seller's website:

Awesome pair! All you need is an Eagle-Weslake to go with that Lotus 49!

No, those are the stock DW units, and w.r.t. your thread, they needed a bit of Loctite to stay in place. Plans for genuine crown/tube/pushers are on hold as I try to get my parts spending under control!

I made a mistake in my original thread by misidentifying the bracelet as a 7836. (I'd like to say it was a typo, but I think I was genuinely confused!) It's a 7835, and 19mm wide at the lugs; the 7836 is 20mm. The 7835 is also distinguished by its severe taper to an almost lady-like 12mm at the clasp. Perfect if you've got small wrists like me, but it can look top-heavy for others. As for endlinks: The ones on mine are marked 361, which, based on their dimensions, suggests the bracelet came from an Oyster Precision. They're about 1mm short of reaching the tips of the lugs, leave a 1/2mm gap to the case (hidden by the bezel in most angles), and leave the top half of the "STAINLESS STEEL" etching exposed. Despite all that, I think it looks pretty good! A better option would be 357 endlinks, which you can see on freddy's Daytonas. Not perfect, but they fill out the spaces between the lugs a lot better. The best choice would be 571s, but be prepared to pay through the nose for those.

Thanks, freddy. I think it looks good in the photos, but it's hard to capture the swirling, shimmering ring of light you see when you twist the wrist. It's mesmerizing!

Got my genuine Tropic 21 installed today. Before: After: The difference is exceedingly subtle, but this is why we do what we do! I'm a happy camper.

Two packages arrived yesterday. One contained a genuine Tropic 21. The other package was from Otto Frei. Among other things, it contained a Sternkreuz XS 306.449 T21 replacement (as seen in Skeet & Urul's "Vintage Rolex Sports Models"!). I still have the Clark T21 that was previously installed in my DW 6263, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to compare the three. Note that the Clark T21 is heavily scuffed around the base, since it had to be trimmed to fit in the DW bezel. It was also used for several weeks. The Rolex and Sternkreuz are straight out of their paper packets. The Rolex Tropic 21 is the newer type, with a beveled edge. The Clark and Sternkreuz imitate the older T21 with a pronounced dome. Aftermarket versions of the new-style T21 exist, but I don't know where they can be ordered from. Rolex, Clark, Sternkreuz: Rolex and Clark: Clark and Sternkreuz: I wish I'd placed a white sheet of paper in the background for that last couple of shots. In case you can't see it, the Clark is slightly taller, but the Sternkreuz profile begins curving at a lower elevation.

Yes, he does. Check out recent threads by gplracer and HikeUSA.

Thanks for the quick reply, freddy. I'll be trawling ebay for broken bracelets, then! I suppose I could also wait for Yukiwatch to release their own version of the 7205, then see if they'd sell me a couple of links.

I recently purchased a 7205 expander in anticipation of a future early- or pre-Daytona project. It's in fairly good condition, considering the "3 60" stamp on the clasp. The links are tight and springy, while dings and scratches are few. Other than some bending around the upper links and a couple of askew endplates, the alignment is straight. So far so good? The right photo shows the problem clearly: That's a lot of daylight coming through the lugs! Sometime in the bracelet's fifty years, the endlinks were trimmed to fit 18mm lugs. (WHY?!) You can see the damage from behind. Note the truncated '57s': I would like to toss the cut endlinks, but I'm not sure how to do it or where to source replacements. There are a couple of riveted 19mm reps on eBay (one for $10 and a $50 bracelet from the beloved WholesaleOutlet), but I don't know if they're constructed like the genuine item. I was set to order the cheaper one, until I noticed the endlinks are attached to the bracelet with springbars, not pins. Any ideas? I don't want to give up on an otherwise good bracelet, but this one might have to go into the spare parts drawer.

Anyway, I'll start off with the presence of the 12 o'clock lume dot, and the wrong '3' on the minute counter that freddy always mentions!

For that much money and that little seller feedback, you'd expect the pictures to be massive.

If I had to swallow a Rolex, I'd choose an Explorer I. It's small, and crown guards are painful on the way out.

Thanks, TeeJay (and swdivad)! It's usually on a folded-link bracelet, but I thought this would be a good alternative for casual Fridays. I was originally looking at getting a genuine Rolex ostrich strap in light brown, but the Tropic is just about a perfect fit, especially with those curved ends. I'm still not sure if Rolex ever sold Daytonas with Tropic straps already fitted, like they did the Submariners. Anyhow, it's a good thing the lugholes make the strap changes so easy! How much longer are you going to give your 1655? I think it looks great, but I've never seen anyone want to like a watch as much as you!

If "rare" means I want one but can't find anyone selling it, my choices are the VCO described above and the rep of the Vulcain Cricket. I wish I'd bought the latter a year ago, when they were selling for ~$100. I don't have a mechanical alarm watch, and I recall the Vulcains looked pretty nice and had few glaring errors.

My default watch is a gen Speedmaster Pro, but I'd definitely be up for a good rep. Vintage Daytona lovers have it pretty good with DW's selection of dials/cases, but imagine if you could buy Moon Watch variants for a few hundred bucks a pop: I'll take a 1957 Reissue, a blue-dialled Gemini, a panda Mitsukoshi Edition &c. &c. It's nice to daydream.

Obi-Wan believes these are not the Explorers you are looking for... But I'm posting them anyway!

Gorilladame, I don't want to misrepresent myself as some kind of insider. I just happened to exchange a lot of emails with DW in the last month. After a while, you end up talking about more than, "Where's my Daytona dial?"! The only other information I know at this point is that the April batch will include a 1655 (see below). I was looking into getting a 1016 case but, like the Yuki cases, DW's would only take a genuine movement. (Any way around that?) No pics of the 1016 available, unfortunately. Would love to hear feedback on the Explorer II, since it's a watch I'm starting to really like, but have a lot to learn about.