lhooq

So DW is back, eh? Should I even bother contacting him or does my $200 in cash (plus $1-200 in parts) remain a writeoff? Great-looking watch, though. Note that the 'gen' pic is actually a DW that belongs to Silverspeed ( I think).

These appear to be the same pictures that Yuki uses for its Daytona handsets.

I had a feeling that the red Daytona could be scratched off!

Good stuff, J! As I noted in my recent thread, you can find examples of gen 7032s with sharp, boxy CGs, and examples with noticeably concave surfaces, like yours. I'm partial to the latter.

A black 6238 dial in near-NOS condition went up on eBay last year. Winning bid was above $30,000. So... Should I put it in a DW case, or do I spring for a Phong?

Exploring the garden.

But it's for the kids!

Thanks for the nice comments, everyone! V2 represents my wishlist of 7032 mods, and I hope it can serve as a sort of "concept watch" from which others can pick and choose ideas for their own builds. For example, shorten the case and reshape the lugs if you can, but forget about that stupid shield swap on the dial! As for shaving the rehaut, I think the second time should be much easier for Justin, now that knows how to set it up. I still think the 7032 is the perfect watch for the Rebel Alliance! Correct colors, and it has that Death Star indicator in the 3 o'clock subdial. You've only had your MC for a few weeks, and you've already got it in good shape. Don't stop! Likewise, I'm constantly amazed that you have the patience to deal with my niggly details, and always deliver as promised. Thanks, and here's to more on the way. Donerix posted in RG to say that the tolerances of DW's cases are wide. I agree with him. E used a Phong 7031 bezel and a Phong crystal on his DW case, and he didn't report any problems fitting the first two on the last. Not only that, but he had a small gap between the orange numerals on his dial and the (unmodded) rehaut. ChiMan also has (had?) an early DW 7032 case that was very different from mine, but I'm not sure if it could take a genuine crystal. I was thinking of that thread you started recently, which asked why some guys build big collections of essentially the same watch. I wasn't able to respond to it directly, but my answer is in the title of this thread: Iteration, and the slow, methodical (and expensive!) improvement of a replication over time. But I do like variety! In fact, V1 may be fitted with a black dial one of these days... In 2010, I bought V1 as a complete watch head from DW. It was horribly put-together, and contained a 7734 that's been problematic since the day I first wound it. But it did have that datewheel, which appears to be a dead-ringer for the Tudor fonts of the time. I later asked DW if he had any more of them, but he didn't. I think it must have come with the donor movement, and that the datewheel bears standard Valjoux fonts for the era.

Wow! Now that's a clean 6240!

This Tudor 7032 is my longest rep build. It started last August and ended two days ago, give or take an additional tweak or two. My first DW 7032 was put together in September 2010, and I wrote about it here. I called the thread a "Work-in-progress" since, for various reasons, it never really felt as if the project was completed. Considering that my last update in that thread is dated December 2010, it maybe sorta was... In August 2011 I had the good fortune to compare my DW 7032 side-by-side with a friend's genuine Tudor 7149. (That friend, funnily enough, was inspired to search for a 1970s-era Tudor chronograph by my first 7032 build.) The DW acquitted itself well, but a lot of differences became apparent to me that day. I resolved to do better, and my 7032 V2 project began. I contacted "The Talent" (i.e. jmb), and we set to figuring out how to improve the case. A series of delays (including a wrong order sent by DW--what a surprise) meant that I wouldn't receive the modded case until January 2012. That's when I got the bright idea that I needed even MORE work done, and sent the case on a second trip across the ocean. By the time everything was finished, I had involved justasgood (caseback mods), Pbdad (dial and hands), and siesta181 (movement). But it was Justin who did the lion's share of the work, including a months-long headache of figuring out how to fit a genuine crystal onto the case (without resorting to glue). So nine months later, and the difference between V1 and V2 ought to be like night and day, right? No, actually. Unlike the immediately obvious benefit you would get from, say, a Yuki handset or a genuine crystal, the V2's improvements are so subtle that you likely won't notice them unless you have a DW 7032 of your own. And even then, you'll probably blink a few times before it sinks in. That's my kind of project! Anyone who has a DW 7032 can see how extensively the mid-case has been reshaped: Lugs were blunted, reducing total length to match measurements taken from the genuine 7149. Chamfers were widened from lug-tip to lug-tip. Lugholes were drilled out to accept Submariner-size springbars. Note the genuine 7mm Twinlock crown, with a gob of solder above the coronet. I have another 700 in much better condition, but I found that this crown better matched the condition of the rest of the watch. It would also be an oblique homage to the Triplock I crushed when I dropped V1 onto an Italian sidewalk two years ago Crownguards were reshaped to match the smoother look of some genuine examples. (There are also gens with boxy CGs, so an unmodded DW case isn't necessarily wrong.) Note the chamfers that end on diagonal edges on the CGs. Also, see all the untouched dots on the bezel. Justin did a great job of shaving the inner diameter, but that isn't all he did on the bezel. I asked for, and got, a rolled edge on the bezel, and a polished underside. As with my FAP 6239 build, I requested a worn look to the entire case. Edges are smoother throughout, including those of the inner lugs. As mentioned earlier, Justin was only able to fit the genuine Cyclope 128 on the case after months of experimenting. The basic problem was that the C128 is significantly wider than the rehaut lip, so material had to be added to fill the gap. What ended up working was a careful application of very thin steel tape to the base of the lip. Many, many other ideas were tried without success. I admire J for his doggedness. Several things to notice in the head-on view: Here we see the other major surgery that Justin performed on the 7032: The rehaut was trimmed to add more air between the steel circumference and the orange numerals on the dial. Not easy. This is my first time using Pbdad, and he did a great job luming and matting the dial. His surface treatment is subtle -almost invisibly so- but I hope to make it more obvious in subsequent shots. Dumbest mod: I bought a cheap Tudor Oysterdate dial, just so I could cannibalize its shield at 12 and transplant it onto the 7032. I CANNOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE. Yuki/CWP hands were carried over from V1. Pbdad superlumed a pair of Yuki hands, but I couldn't use these on V2. When he shortened the minute hand (per my request), its tip turned yellow. Similarly, see the partly-yellowed metal centers of the subdial hands. I asked Pbdad to strip the black paint off the circles, but that thin layer of zinc didn't survive the process. Datewheel was carried over from V1. I was able to source another 7734 datewheel in black, but its font is too wide and angular. Justin initially had a satin finish for the bezel surface. I found it too smooth, and asked him to give it a bit more "character". That ended up being too rough, so I went around the bezel with finer-grit sandpaper. justasgood worked his Dremel magic on the shallow etchings of the caseback. Unmodified, it's the least-convincing part of the DW 7032 case. Now I'm convinced! You can also see that DW's pushers seem to be falling apart. (Did he take his Daytona pushers and fill the groove on the barrel?) These pushers were a huge headache to deal with, and would disassemble themselves at the slightest provocation. Thanks to some patient work by my watchsmith, and parts from another set of DW pushers, they seem to be holding together for now. Some comparison shots ought to clarify the results of these past nine months. V1 is on the lef. It now has my Pbdad-lumed hour/minute hands, a Yuki sweep, and the newer datewheel. You can really see the difference between the rehauts and the bezels. The gap between the bezel's inner edge and the outer edge of the dial is resolved much more cleanly (and correctly) on V2. Finally, the shortened case lines up better with the endlinks and makes for a cleaner silhouette. I previously mentioned Pbdad's matte surface treatment. Here are the two watches photographed under identical lighting and from similar angles. V1 is on top, and you can see the tell-tale reflection from the glossy gray field. V2 looks better under direct light. Additionally, the black areas on the V2 dial look even darker after being matted. Unfortunately, you can see also see the yellowed metal on V2's subdial hands, and on the tip of the minute hand on V1. Very visible differences in profile. Another look at K's awesome caseback work. I'm using Watch International/cartel 7836 bracelets on both watches. The V1 has the standard rep 358s, while V2 has period-correct genuine 282 endlinks. These are not flush against the lugs like 589s or 605s (assuming you can get those to work on a DW case), but the fitment compares well with genuine pieces. On the V2, the bracelet's final midlinks were opened up substantially. Not only did they have to take 2mm springbars, but there needed to be sufficient clearance between the endlinks and the adjacent links. Evolution Yech. The glue holding the shield looks very obvious in this shot. Flaws like this, the lumpy paint on the sweep hand, or the brassy metal, are far less obvious on the wrist than they are in these macros. That sounds stupidly obvious, but it's easy to get your priorities jumbled when all you look at are extreme close-ups. Nevertheless, I may still attempt to fix these in the future. I'm doomed. Big thanks to everyone involved in this long build!

I could use a few good hands, but otherwise, V2 is a go:

luigi: My personal favorite is the LIP-Blancpain that I bought aka "FF795". The TR-900 I mentioned corresponds with FF21, which is the strongest replication, in my opinion. That said, it's hard to go wrong with any of the No-Rads variants, and I love the fonts of the "U.S. NAVY" (FF20). Go with whichever dial/bezel combination you prefer. None is an especially close replication of the original, nor is any of them glaringly wrong. (Sheesh, that was an awkward sentence.)

Thanks, everyone! I got the Wakmann many months ago, but only received the Gallet recently. It's what prompted me to write this post. red: I like gold about as much as William Jennings Bryan. Other than this Wakmann, the only other gold watch I own is a hand-me-down, manual-wind Girard-Perregaux that looks VERY 1970s. C: Thankfully, I have a fugly, late-70s Jules-Jurgensen that's on its way. I will rip it apart with pleasure. woof/shogun: Yes, both watches were from eBay. Every now and then, I'll get something from a local collector, but it's mostly me poring over hundreds of vintage watch listings on a regular basis. (Possibly during work hours...) Despite the claim and a signed letter from a Ford engineer, I've yet to see a picture of Jim Clark wearing the Gallet. I've got my fingers crossed this isn't a 1655 "Steve McQueen" situation, but it's a great watch, nonetheless--provenance be damned.

Good stuff! All I remember was that any Polish Navy FF with pierced lugs were considered suspect. Of course, given the points raised by luigi22, that might be moot. The reason why I would choose the TR-900 option is the thick bezel the gen shares with the DSN rep. The later Bund and Polish Navy FFs also had thick bezels, but these were shaped differently. (The Precista PRS-50 is a good visual match for those later watches, I think.) Most of the "classic" FFs of the 50s and 60s had thin, fragile, bezels that no rep or homage has ever tried to copy. I do wish the old version of watchdeco was still up, or that I'd saved more of its photos. Whatever happened to that comprehensive chart it used to have on its last page?

Thanks, guys! It has a Valjoux 72 that isn't going anywhere. Read about it here.

You just read "Valjoux 72" and "Valjoux 7734" in the title. Quick! What did you just picture in your head? Given where we are, you've likely imagined a manual-wind Daytona and a Tudor 7032, two of the hottest frankens that can be built. I can't think of a time when so many of these projects have been simultaneously underway, but Frankensteiners have been driving up the prices of these two movements in recent years. I'm one of them. Ideally, I would want a clean, serviced movement housed in a hideous timepiece with no aesthetic or historical value whatsoever. Everyone has a limit of what's acceptable for salvage operations. I love a lot of vintage watches in addition to those two aforementioned chronographs. For example, it breaks my heart to see someone selling a gutted Heuer Camaro case, hands from a Longines diving chronograph, or the dial off of a Benrus Sky-Chief. Yet I wouldn't blink an eye scavenging the V72 from an unremarkable Clebar, or the V7734 from any number of ugly, 70s-era chronographs. I thought I had the lines clearly drawn in my head, but here are a couple of recent acquisitions that gave me "Huntsman's Hesitation" moments. (Ooh, timely movie reference!) Both were purchased for their movements, but when the time came to send them to watch heaven... Well... I just couldn't do it! Now quick, Snow White: Run! Hide! Never come back! Gallet MultiChron 12 (late 50s to early 60s?) I won this Gallet at open auction, and intended to use it for a second Daytona 6239 build. Although the movement (see the top of this post) appeared to be in excellent shape, the exterior looked very well worn in the listing. The crystal was a thicket of scratches, while grime had built up on every surface and lined every edge of the case. The hands looked as if they'd been replaced, and were lumed with an unappealing shade of dull green. Also not helping matters was the icky Speidel Twist-O-Flex, which featured a ropey calendar window. As I was busy finishing off another 7032 (read about it soon), I didn't have time to work on the 6239 project. In the meantime, I made the mistake of wearing the Gallet, tacky expander bracelet and all. Guess what? It grew on me. I started to see past the scuffed surface of the acrylic crystal, and realized what a beautiful dial it had. Busy, in the 1950s style, but crisply printed like a 1960s dial. Chapter, telemeter, and tachymeter rings were all present, while the subdials were remarkably clear. And those hands that I thought were replacements? I saw that they were the perfect length for the inner ring, and they were blued. Not painted or anodized blue, but actually flame-blued. No, these were original hands that had been relumed some time in the past. I was still on the fence about using it for a 6239 build when I made the final mistake of researching the Gallet brand. Interesting read, until I got to the part about a certain racer wearing a Gallet at the Indy 500. It was Jim Clark who sported a black-dialed MultiChron 12. Ah, crap... Jim Clark is one of my racing heroes, and my second-favorite driver of the 1960s. (#1: Dan Gurney.) That earned the Gallet its life. Now the first order of business was to liberate the MultiChron from its ugly Speidel shackles, and mount it on a nice, "vintage brown" Stowa strap. (These are cheaply bought directly from Stowa, and I highly recommend them.) Next, I had the case cleaned... ...and the crystal polished. All the better to see that wonderful dial and those lovely hands: The Valjoux 72, incidentally, is running very strongly. I'm sure it would have made a fine Daytona. Wakmann Chronograph (early 1970s) This one started out as a mistake, but what a mistake! Again, it was an unremarkable watch in the listing, with a similar design to Breitling Datoras of the same era, but I had ID'd this Wakmann's V7734 movement and its precious 45-minute counter. For some reason, the price wasn't making a break from the $100 mark with less than thirty minutes left. I was distracted by a long telephone call when the auction ended, so I wasn't able to do my usual research on either the watch or the seller. Nevertheless, I bid $150 with 5 minutes to go. Twenty minutes later, I suddenly remembered the auction and saw that I'd won. That's when I started reading the description: "This Is A Very Good Looking Watch It Seems To Be Not Working. " What does Charlie Brown say? Oh, right: "AAUGH!" I wasn't looking forward to getting the package. When I did, I ripped it open to find a gold, tonneau-case chronograph in extremely good condition. I wouldn't call it NOS, but it wasn’t far off. There was barely a mark on the crystal, dial, or caseback. The dial looked as good as anything Singer had made in the 1960s, but with the added benefit of looking like it had been printed yesterday. Ditto the gold, blacked-out hands. The crown wouldn't wind the watch, but my watchsmith fixed it in less than five minutes. (Sorry for going fuzzy on the technical details, but I was ecstatic that it was actually working, and working well.) There was no dithering like with the Gallet; I decided right there to keep the Wakmann as-is. Besides, I could really use a gold watch in the collection. The Wakmann came on a cheap, brown leather strap. I rooted through my Tropic collection, found a blue 18mm, and combined it with a rare, golden Tropic buckle. This turned out to be a tricky color combination to pull off, so I chickened out and went with black rubber, instead. Chronographs... I love 'em. As someone who already has frankens of the 6239 and the 7032, it's a lot easier for me to go into historical preservation mode than someone who is aching to have that "Grail Daytona" on his wrist. I understand, and I'm not going to be the one to tut-tut and say, "How could you?" But if you appreciate the beauty of vintage designs, or care about the history of watches at all, please take a long look at the shell of your donor movement. Sometimes we could be a bit more superficial!

Multichron 12:

Apples and oranges, unfortunately, as they replica different models of the Fifty Fathoms. The DSN is more of a "composite" replication of the Fifty Fathoms from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. It generally tries to copy styling cues from FFs with thick/tall bezels, and small dials. In my opinion, the model the DSN case most closely resembles is the Tornek-Rayville TR-900. The early "No-Radiations" dial and the '53 LIP-Blancpain dial are good choices for DSN. The Phong replicates the Aqua Lung, which is a smaller and slimmer watch, with a thinner bezel. Positives for the Phong BP include the period AS movement and the three-piece caseback. Negatives are the price, and the unconvincing bezel. It's too much money, in my opinion, for a watch that won't fool any Blancpain expert. You think vintage Rolex guys are paranoid? Any vintage Fifty Fathoms is presumed fake until proved otherwise!

You should be OK with Valjoux 72s from the early 1960s and later. I know some guys who have had issues fitting 1950s-era V72s into Daytona cases, due to thicker plates. And, no, I'm not confusing these movements with the Valjoux 71. If you're a real stickler for detail, use an 18000bph movement for a 6239/6241 build, and find a 21600bph movement for the later 6263/6265s.

Almost there...

Almost done... Here's a V2 Preview:

When I bought my case in late 2010, it was just under GBP 500. Now, I can't find the case on Cousins, but it's ~$1300 on Ofrei. Thanks a lot, Omega. With Yuki no longer carrying the Vietnam case, I can only think of Phong as a possible, lower cost option. Assuming they've got any in stock. Stefan: Would you have your SM300 thread from RG saved somewhere? I was referring some people to it, forgetting that RG was down!

Left is gen. Pointy 'A' told me.

"I expect you lazy sonsabitches to work like hell and give me 120%!"