ubiquitous

Maybe you mean MKV? MBW dial looks nothing like the MKIV... Gen (MKIV): MBW: Then again, it looks nothing like the MKV either... Great white (genuine): MBW: Neither are super accurate, but the white looks much closer to me in terms of font and font spacing. Coronets on both are off, and neither has fonts that are crisp enough. Speaking of having both, I also happened to have both in hand very recently. Guess which one I ended up parting with?

What you'll need: -2836-2 -Datewheel overlay -ETA hands (90/150/25) You'll have to snip the dial feet off of the dial to fit the ETA, but aside from that, it's more or less swapping over parts, adding the new hands, casing and fitting the crown to the ETA stem. You may want to take this opportunity to swap to a genuine crown/tube as these parts provide a huge functional (as well as aesthetic) improvement.

Ahhh.. Yes. The backs are very different between DR and Great White... DRSD- Great White-

Hmmm... Good coronet placement, but the fonts in general look to be a step backwards- Too bold/thick. Most notably, the ROLEX OYSTER Cosmograph Looks to me that they are far too thick, and the wrong font type used... V1.0 and 2.0 (2.0 to memory) looked better in this regard.

Nice design! And the pics look great!

My daily beater... Built to be worn... Gazed upon frequently without looking at the time, and loved always.

Indeed- You are correct. The script on the back of the DRSD's have the 'ROLEX' text going straight across, while the white's have the text following the curve of the caseback, along with two coronets on either side vs. the single coronet on the red. It's always possible to see great whites with the DRSD back, as service centers may have replaced a DR dial with a white, however, one should be more suspiscious about a DR with a white caseback, as that would indicate a conversion to DR has taken place (which happens fairly frequently due to the DRSD's rising value). For what it's worth- There are fewer great whites than there are DRSD's; production span for the DRSD's was much longer in terms of years, and many great whites have also fallen victim to DRSD conversions. In addition, it seems that certain dial variants within the great white production have been especially sought after by collectors (a la rail dials).

Cracks me up how all of the sets are listed as 'Vintage'.

Indeed... Had heard about this some months ago, and have been waiting to see it since. Lots of good detail and info inside (the pages shown don't even scratch the surface...)

Except for the fact that the white is more accurate.

Holy smokes that's a thick strap!! As always... VERY nice, Kostas!

Indeed. Out of the box, they leave a lot to be desired. Lots of work and parts swapping involved to attain better aesthetic accuracy. But once they're done... They're done!

Ehhh... Seen these, but not a big fan. One of the reasons why I like to wear my 16520 EP is that it's very low profile for what it is; I can wear it for days before anyone notices it, unlike my Sub. I definitely don't need a shirt to call attention to what's on my wrist, that's for sure! If I did wear a watch related shirt of any sort, it would probably be an Audemars Piguet polo shirt with a small AP logo on the chest (a la classic Ralph Lauren Polo). Understated and low profile... Just the way I like it!

Indeed... 1655 Orange Hand (or Yellow Hand) would be VERY nice to have!

Looking at the gen dial and the rep case, the dial definitely looks like it might be a bit too large. However, since the bulk of the excess is outside of the minute chapter, it should be possible to trim the dial if it is indeed too large to fit. It's always better to have a dial that's slightly too large than too small as it can be trimmed to fit if it's all within reason. Unfortunately, this is somewhat uncharted territory as it's a dial for a doppel going into a rep Flieger case. Sometimes one just can't say if it will work or not until someone gives it a try But, since I believe both use a 7750 for the base movement, the spacing of it all looks like it's very possible (comparing distance and spacing of subdials to markers, chapter in relation to the rehaut etc). In my opinion, since you have the dial in hand, there's not a lot to lose at this point; just order up the watch, test fit the dial to the case, and if everything jives (or will work with slight work), you can proceed. If not, then you still have a nice Flieger and you can probably flip the dial and break even...

I bet Neil's PM inbox is overflowing by now!!

Open the flood gates!! I have a feeling that there will be quite a few members putting Rob's new drill press set up to use!

Tons of genuine and redialed DJ dials on eBay, and the web in general...

Inbox was all fulled up! Have been a bit lazy in maintaining. Just cleaned a bunch of old PMs out... And so now you have PM, Neil!

Neil... That watch looks very familiar... Famous for being sourced from Thailand by a certain individual known by a three letter acronym. Is this the same?

Mine's an MBW... Fitted with gen insert, T-39, crown, tube, springbars, 580 ends, 78360 bracelet on 93150 clasp... Still woking on the datewheels... Waiting on the latest prototype to be delivered...

My advice... Go for the white font 1665- Better dial, and more realistic for a vintage...

Quick pic of above mentioned bezel construction. Here you see the retaining ring holding the crystal in place, and to the side, the washer spring, and bezel with insert.

I must say... Yes, you can build yourself a very nice watch from parts, but starting with an MBW or WM will save you a lot of time and hassle, at least with the vintages. There is one major advantage that the vintages have, and that's their bezel assembly. MBW and WM's bezels are constructed in the same manner as genuine, i.e. you have the case, the crystal, a retaining ring, washer spring and then the bezel and insert. I have yet to see any other rep out there with a retaining ring like genuine, except for MBW/WM's. This is what makes the biggest difference with regards to quality, as genuine crystals fit the case (as they do with some other reps), but they are held to the case in the same manner as genuine. For what it's worth, the bezel assembly can be purchased a la carte from other sources, but by the time you've purchased those items as well as the rep watch, you've spent a bit more than what the MBW would have cost in the first place. So, in my opinion, it's much more cost effective to go the MBW route...