ubiquitous

Indeed! Waiting with baited breath!

Holy moly... Now, THAT is what I call a tear down! Good stuff, Rob! Looking forward to seeing more!

Hmmmm... To me, this sounds like the perfect justification to have the dial SuperLumed by Ziggy!

Oooh! Nice! Finally finished?

$85 for the flat 39 is fair market value.

Already got him taken care of for a bracelet....

Montres Rolex owns all points of production in their manufacturing, with the exception being balance springs (nivarox). With everything being in house and proprietary, they have no need to outsource elsewhere for production. Everything stays in Geneva, Switzerland.

Standard wear for me...

Rob- Found some items which may be of interest Let me know what you think...

Wow... I am at a complete loss of words! What a difference from start to finish! The sympathetic restoration of this piece is a true work of art. Excellent, as always! BTW- I am on the hunt for your bracelet... And a bezel insert as well. I'll let you know what comes of the search Enjoy that beauty! Best, R

Depends... Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Typically, as chieftang mentioned, the situation is no, especially when the watch in question is a replica 16610. The more difficult task, however, is usually finding the genuine 295C.

Ahhhh... Back in town, and 50's here today in the city. Not bad... But my wife and I agree- Just a bit warmer (all winter long), and it would be perfect here

Merry belated Christmas! Happy Holidays! Just got back from the family cabin in the mountains... Nice to be with family, but nice to be home as well... All the best to my friends and family here at RWG...

No college. No degree.

Hmmmm... Looks like they're still using the Sub based case; a 16600 SD has a crystal and dial that is almost a full 1mm smaller than a 16610 Sub...

At $25, it's an aftermarket tube. But, very high quality. The threaded portion is a slight bit shorter than gen (perhaps by a few threads) but I have never had a problem with them. They function and feel just like gen... Which I stopped buying some time ago. I can still get genuines... $60 to $70 per for 7030.

Finding gen crowns with tubes is not a difficult task. At times, I'll purchase a small lot of 10 to 20, depending on what my supplier has. They typically run $25 ea; a tube will run another $25. To install, you'll need to extract the old tube, and usually all that's left is to run the proper sized tap through the case threads; in some (most) cases you'll need to counter sink the case hole slightly for the base of the tube to seat flush. Once this is done, simply thread the gen tube in with a bit of threadlock, and you're done. Worst case scenario... You have to either drill the case hole bigger for the tube, or the case hole will be too large (though these instances seldom come up; most have the correct sized casehole with enough meat to run the tap). Ziggy has a great write up in his section that outlines this very swap. Great pics and absolutely worth checking out to get a better grasp with visuals Hope this helps. R EDIT to clarify that tubes are not gen at this price. Also want to mention that I have none in stock anyways

12-22: Cosmo 12-23: Vintage 12-24: Haute 12-25: More vintage Cheers, R

There were a few COMEX pieces that were built as Destro by request of the divers... But these were one offs.

I don't think it would be too much of a problem; you'll have to cut the dial feet and reposition the datewheel so that it lines up straight at the 9:00 position, but that's really all you should need to do.

Looks to be a very typical Sub rep; perhaps using an old TW Best case, or similar with the deep rehaut (which is good). Of course, as with most any Rolex reps, it will need some work, modifications and parts to make it better. Here's why: 1) Bezel insert is incorrect; fonts are a bit too short; pearl is no good. Typically, the color on rep inserts is not right either. Yes... Even with black, there can be differences in color Swap to a gen insert... Requires a little work, but the result is worth it. 2) Crown is too tall, too thick. A genuine crown is around 1/4th shorter in profile. A swap to a genuine crown and tube will improve the appearance, but more importantly, improve the function. 3) CG's will need to be shaped and filed down. They are too thick and chunky. Better to have this problem, however... Some replicas have the CG's too thin and spikey. Better to start with too much than too little. 4) Crystal looks alright, but I'd like to see a side angle to see how tall it is, and perhaps get a better idea of that rehaut depth. This would also reveal if the crystal gasket is visible at a 3/4 angle, which is something you don't want. 5) Cyclops looks to be in the right position inboard of the edge, but looks to be slightly crooked/offcenter. This can be repositioned on the sapphire crystals. 6) Dial printing is too large and looks silver. Fonts on the 16610 dial should be white, and the printing should be crisp. 7) The SELs look okay, but not great. They look like they sit flush with the lugs, which is good, but the middle link looks a bit too rounded on the edges (common problem with reps). A different angle on this one would tell me if they're the right size on the outer links and shaped right as wel. These are a few things off the top of my head. I am sure others can point out some additional flaws as well... As mentioned prior, other angles of the watch would help identify issues with the case profile, back, etc. Hope this helps!

James Dowling had this one custom made... Basically a 5513 bead blasted, PVD'd and Destro'd... Is this the one you recall seeing? For what it's worth, this is a great project, and the results will be quite nice with that list of ingredients. How do I know?

Well, I do think that the very long production span of the 5513 has something to do with it's value; it's not exactly a rare watch, per se. But, I do feel that early serial models should carry a higher premium, which I believe the market reflects accordingly. On a side note... I have seen some very interesting things done with 5513's; everything from professional conversions to 5514's to extensive reworkings to 5517 specs. The right watch, in the wrong hands could be a very scary thing...

When it comes to FM... Arch is my go to guy...