devilva

I think the T-17 is worth it if you can afford to put in a little more money. The insert is Yuki's and have to say they are much nicer than the cartel ones. The only thing is if your heart is set on sourcing a 1030 movement and you went to yuki, you would have to get the 6538 case which is really wokky. Which means you're better off with NDT or phong for the case but they are again into another price bracket. Its up to you how much you're wanting to put into it but remember even after $4000 its still going to be a rep and if someday you do need to resell, you're going to take a massive hit. Like 50%. You could probably get something like mine for about $2.5K. Less without the gen parts. If you break what you are looking at down, the movement will be something like $1-$1.5K + service, NDT/phong caseset arent they something like $1.2K. Then you've got to get a nice dial,hands,bracelet etc.... will be interesting anyway whichever direction you look to go. Goodluck

This is my 6538 Tropical, Also have a 4 liner 'safe queen' but havent got around to snapping a photo yet. For my cases I used Yuki's 5510 (A lot less wokky than their 6538's) and sourced a couple of gen parts on Ebay and VRM (Gen 8mm crown and tubes, tropic 17's) ETA 2824's and NDT dials. For me the dials are everything and NDT's really take them to the next level. Yuki has adapter set's which will save you money using an ETA instead of trying to buy a vintage movement on the Bay and servicing it. And Yuki's 7206 bracelet comes highly recommended. All in all its going to cost some $$$ but the end result should be a nice big crown sub with a lot less flaws than straight out modding a cartel piece.

Thanks TeeJay. Sounds like a bit of a challenge but unfortunately they cant be left as is. This is going to be interesting...

6538 Tropical Gen Tropic 17 Gen 8mm Brevet crown and tube NDT Dial Yuki Case and 7206 bracelet Swiss ETA 2824 Gen 14060M non COSC

The old and the new... Just wanted to say thanks for the help that I received on the forum in regards to the vintage builds that PB did for me. I have 4 in total but still have some minor adjusting going on with them (found the 7206 sizing to be annoying) so here is one with the insert done and popped in. Is there any way to do some micro positioning with dials? Ive found a few to be a couple of millimeters lopsided and I know PB said he had to re position the dial feet to accommodate the NDT dials with the ETA's.. but looking at a slanted dial is starting to bug me. Just wondering if they can be straightened or im pretty much screwed?

How about Yuki's 6536/5508 case and use an ETA adaptor for a 2824-2 movement. From the pics there doesnt seem to have the wok that their 6538 case has.

Thanks for the help guys... so many pro's over here. I'll pass this info on and if all goes well, give you guys a look at the end result. Ive got 3 big crowns and 1 5508 being done. Gen tropics and crown/tubes, yuki cases with eta's and ndt dials modded by the great man himself. Its been quite an adventure already, a lot of ups and downs but the project contiunes... Thanks again!

Im having PB mod a couple of big crowns for me (7924, 6538) and I bought a couple of gen parts for them, Brevet 8mm Crown 800/0 and what I thought was the matching tube, the 24-8000. He's opened up one of the tubes and basically said the tubes are too small for the crown. But he tested Yuki's tube and it fits the gen crown. I guess ive f**ked up but could anyone tell me what tube's fit the gen 8mm brevet crowns? Heres a couple of quotes from PB, if anyone could help out it would be appreciated. "...the prob. It's the tubes... They don't mate up with the gen crowns. The holes inside the tubes are too small for the thick crowns. I'm not sure what model is needed..." "Here's the prob. The ID of the tube is too small to accommodate the tube section of the crown. However, it appears on the surface that the thread sections of both mate up." Thanks guys...

Heres mine, excuse the dust wm9 dial, gen crystal insert and crown.

Yuki's case strikes again.

Yes its for a single dial but look how much stock there is. Could be quite a few auctions coming up.

Let the builds begin! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROLEX-6538-MILITARY-SUBMARINER-N-O-S-T-SERVICE-DIAL-/140529645658 Been trying to make heads and tails of it all, that T looks quite dodgy.