ubiquitous

Without knowing which actual movement you have inside, I'd hate to hazard a guess. There are several out there, ranging from full functioning 7750 chronographs to faux chronograph asian movements.

The El Primero 400 signed Ebel 134 came NOS, movement only from the factory. Paid around $800 for it a few years back. The El Primero 3019/400 signed Movado came from a donor watch: I had the 3019 serviced by the Zigmeister, as the donor watch was quite old. Dials are gen, as are the bezels, hands, crowns, etc. All assembly on both watches was performed by me on my work 'bench'. Doing the work myself saved a bit of cash in the process I no longer have the black dial Daytona, though it now resides with a good friend of mine. They're a lot of fun to build, and even more fun to wear and enjoy Cheers! //ubi

Indeed, but well worth the price of admission for a Daytona lover!

Good stuff! Looking forward to seeing these projects come to life!

A genuine 116520 dial will not fit any Swiss or A7750 as the hour/minute center pinions for the hands are simply too large for the dial to fit; the gen dial for the 4130 has a much smaller center hole, as the pinions on the 4130 are the same size as a 4030's. The rep dials on these are already quite good as Freddy mentioned, but unless you do the graphite fix or have the plate coated, you stand to risk having a nice looking paper weight. This is why I opted to do the 16520 with El Primero movement instead; less worry and gen parts fit perfect

You can't remove the crystal unless you remove the movement, as the crystal needs to be pressed out from behind/inside the case. At this point, you'd already have the movement out and can remedy the loose hand anyways. Removing the movement shouldn't be too terribly bad. I did it on my wife's old J12; the case should be 3pcs sandwiched together by the case and inner movement ring: Not a terribly difficult job, but if the movement is automatic, you may want to be familiar with the process for releasing the stem on that particular movement (i.e. some movements require the stem to be released in the winding position, while others need to be released in the time setting position). Releasing the stem in the wrong position may botch up the keyless works, which will require removal of the hands, dial etc. to fix, as the keyless works will be underneath these parts.

If you're swapping a dial meant for an Omega 1120/2500, etc (ETA 2892), then the dial feet are in the same position as the 2824/2836. However, one thing you should be aware of is that the gen dials have shorter feet, as the 2892 is a much thinner movement than the 2824/2836. Hence, the dial feet may or may not catch on the dial feet clips. Otherwise, it's a straight swap. Date window, etc are all in the same location. Old- Rep dial/datewheel on an ETA 2824: New- Gen dial and 2892 datewheel on the same movement: Hope this helps...

@dvn- If I ever decide to part with it, you'll be first to know However, I have a feeling that when the gen dial finds it's way into the case, this one will be sticking around for a long while Cheers! //ubi

Perhaps Tony/A7750 should just start taking his own pics? Surely that would be easier than photoshopping someone else's water mark out? If he had his own pics, then there would be no room for bringing details like this to light, as it just wouldn't be an issue. A number of us take our own pics, and that's just to share with others on the forum; if someone's making a business out of this, the least they could do is snap a few pics of their own products that they're selling.

deniz, You nailed it! Indeed... It's all about having fun and learning! The nice thing about building is that you get an inside look at how things go together and work as a whole. Another nice aspect is that parts are usually collected over time, which helps spread out cost. While the grand total for a finished product may seem a bit excessive to some for a franken project, I really look at it in terms of components- $300 here, $200 there... To me it isn't much different than someone who frequently buys reps and doesn't wear them The only difference is that the parts end up aggregated into a single watch as opposed to having several unmodded reps sitting in the watch box. But you are absolutely correct- Our reasons for being on the forum are many, and it's what makes us all unique in our own sense

Lani hit the nail right on the head; it's all a labor of love. The enjoyment factor and fun comes first and foremost for me in this hobby, and the cost factor comes in second. It's great fun chasing down parts and putting them together to see a finished project come to life. The process of building a creation is also a little therapeutic for me as I find that it's a great stress reliever to sit at the 'bench' late at night, when all is quiet and I can get lost in my own little world working on my watch. Personally, I would have a difficult time buying an already completed franken project mostly because all the fun stuff has already been done. However, I don't have any issues with justifying the cost of buying the parts to build my own. Can it get pricey? You bet. However, it's also very rewarding to look down at my wrist to see a watch that I had a hand in putting together. For fun, here's a small breakdown on a few of my projects currently in the watch box: 16520 Daytona- Case $1,200 Dial $800 El Primero 400 $850 Hands $200 Crown/tube $60 Bezel $500 Bracelet $750 9411 Tudor Sub- Case $250 ETA 2783 $75 Dial $550 Hands $250 T-125 $100 Insert $150 Crown/tube $60 Case work $100 78360 links/93150 clasp/580 end links $450 Omega 2201.50 PO Case $230 Bezel $190 Hands $60 Dial $222 Datewheel $30 Bracelet $300 IWC 3714 Case $200 IWC 78350 $700 TWB rubber strap $40 Case work $100 IWC 3717 Case $400 ETA 7750 $250 German Day/Date $30 Dial $350 Hands $150 Crystal AR $60 I know that the logic of building such watches doesn't make sense to some people considering the money invested, but this hobby isn't about the economics to me. Hobbies in general are expensive, and I'm sure I'd be spending just as much, if not more on other hobbies to keep me busy. Some may argue that there is no intrinsic value with a franken when comapred to a gen, but it's not about the resale to me. I don't build my watches with selling them in mind, but rather to keep. However, it should be pointed out that these watches do retain value regardless of what others may say, be it as a franken on the rep market (selling at what the market will allow), or as parts, which hold their value well on the secondary rep and gen markets. Looking back, I could have purchased some nice gens for what I've spent in the past 6 years in this hobby, but I don't think I'd have learned as much as I have, or had as much fun It's absolutely been a labor of love.

It's a relief to know that those marks were on the protective container, and not the dial itself! When I first saw your pics, I wasn't sure if this was the same dial, or if you managed an exchange; your reply confirmed it for me though Looks a beaut, buddy! That is definitely a kepper! :wub:

The old case is a 5513, marked ORIG POLEX DESIGN: This is the case to use for a 5513, or in my case a 9411 Tudor Sub as a gen dial is a drop in solution for these models (a gen 1680 dial needs to be trimmed slightly). The newer 1680 cases aren't quite as nice in my opinion.

That's a beauty, Lani! Is that the dial that made a short stop over in DEN?

Franken 3717 for Saturday Gen movement 3714 for Sunday Have a good weekend!

Beautiful!

Congrats, buddy! I'm glad that you've made RWG your home, and I'm also grateful that we've become good friends over the years! That's what this forum is about for me... Watches are secondary, but the people here are tops!

I have an extra set of the bracelet tools. If you PM your address, I can send them to you.

Glad to see you haven't forgotten us Welcome home!

Wow! 4 raffle wins... You may indeed want to give the lottery a go for your next ticket purchase. Nice lucky streak!

Keeping the Rolex theme going with the franken-Daytona:

I gift my mail carrier $20 every Christmas, and I've always had great service. I don't think it's really the amount that matters, but just the thought that people remember such things that counts. Even the smallest of efforts goes a long ways, methinks

Kurt, Spacer ring #2 just went out this morning. Sorry it's late, but let's hope that we have better luck with this one! Drop me a PM when you receive it! Cheers, R