ubiquitous

No big surprise here...

So, is that it on the guesses? Where are the rest of the eagle eyes?

If no one else has any guesses on the recipe list, then I suppose I'll reveal the ingredients. Here is the tale of two watches...

The watch in the above pics started life like this:

The basis is a TW Best from Eddie Lee (but not the Classic). Good case, decent bezel, nice rehaut, and the crystal is VERY well done! There is no visible white gasket ring between the rehaut and the crystal, and the datemag is about right. The crown etching @ 6:00 is so small that at first I thought that maybe perhaps there was NO etching! I caught it in just the right light, and saw something there, so I looked through a magnifying glass, and sure enough, it's there. What's more... It even has the sideways 'S' at the base of the coronet to indicate a 'Service Replacement'. Nice touch. Unfortunately, the bezel insert fitted was pretty bad; the '30' was misaligned and shifted too far to the left, and the dial was no good as it was printed with silver font, and very poor alignment. The rep crown was something that really bugged me for some reason- It had the right height and size to it, but the cut on the ridges was nothing like genuine as it had flat tops on the ridge points, and the tube was typical rep- Small diameter, and soft metal.

So... Next step was to gut the thing, and address the CG's.

Using a hand file, I trimmed the CG's down ever so slightly, as in my opinion, that's all it really needed. Yes... I use the slow, ancient method to handle this task, but in my opinion, it gives better control, allowing for less material to be removed at a time, and a better overall shape.

At this point, I asked a friend of mine to help me with the install of a genuine crown and tube set, as my free time was now being consumed with additional work from the office that I was doing from home (and such is still the case ). In the meantime, I ordered one of TWG's 21J Asian Subs, which arrived quite quickly despite current situations with outbound customs in China. The plan was to use the TWG Sub's excellent dial, and hollow link bracelet in the TW Best case. Since I now had a completely extra case, movement, hands and the old dial from the TW Best watch, I used them all to put together this beauty:

Anyhow... Back to the main project...

Last night, I got the case back with the tube and crown installed. I believe that the case had to be drilled and tapped for the install of the tube, as the rep tube's case threads appear to be much smaller in diameter than the genuine OEM's. The genuine bezel insert was an interesting install- I had to trim quite a lot off of the back, but I managed to get the angle of the cut just right. How do I know it's 'just right'? When the insert snaps in like genuine and holds without the need for glue, I'd say it's about right

....And, yes, for those of you who noticed something wrong with the seconds hand, that's because the original that came with the watch broke when removing it. The hand actually seperated from the tube when it was pulled. As I had exhausted all the sets of white lumed hands in my inventory (remember, I'm more of a vintage guy), I will have to order another set, or get these guys relumed to all match white. Not a huge deal, but kinda annoying when I look at it.

I'm still touching up a couple of areas on the watch, so it's still not quite done just yet. I also have to work on swapping end links between bracelets so that I can use the right one on the TW Best case So... Final run down is like this:

-TW Best case

-ETA 2836 from the TW Best

-TWG 21j datewheel overlay

-Genuine bezel insert (trimmed to fit)

-Genuine crown and tube

-CG's trimmed

-TWG 21j dial

-TWG 21j hollow link Oyster bracelet

-TW Best SEL's

-Old vintage seconds hand (from some other watch I gutted for parts, I'm sure)

I think that about does it.

Like this?

Okay gang... This is a rough 1st draft of my Project 16610. I won't spill the beans on what's been done so far, but I'd like to see how many of you can guess what parts are what

Hmmmmm...

And, yes... Some parts are fitted temporarily as I am waiting to source replacements as the prior pieces either broke, were damaged, are broke AND damaged, etc...

Unfortunately, there are no accurate 16600's. The only worthwhile Sea-Dweller (in my opinion) is the MBW 1665...

Is the vintage Cosmo on the left a replica? If it is, can you PM me who you got it from?

Thanks

Chris

Both are reps... Frankens to be more precise. The 6263 on the left is going in for surgery to have a V23 transplanted; the 16520 is an El Primero 400 based frankenstein, gen case, etc...

It's genuine. There are many other variations... Some Super Oysters, some with the '+' like on the one you linked to... And of course, the ones signed BREVET that we all know and love...

The only good recipe for patina is age. My advice... Just wear it.

Some pics of a 116520 and 16622

(pics and watches are not mine )

New TwoTone 18k WG and SS combo with Oyster bracelet...

No... 18k's have solid mids... And even the vintage models had SELs...

The only ones that have had hollow were SS and 18k/SS two tones

Well, Rolex has been moving towards this direction for some time now. Historically, all solid 18k models have had solid mid links, while the two tone (Rolesium and Rolesor) and most recently, the Daytona have switched to solid mid links. So, if you were to visit an AD that had a 16622 (Rolesium), 116520 (SS), and 116264 (Rolesor), you'd notice that these models all have solid mids on the bracelets.

Now... The question is... How long before Rolex starts implementing this design change across all of their SS lines? Or will they? TT has been for the most part converted... But it will be interesting to see if the SS Sports models like the Sub see the change. Remember... The 14060 no date Sub still has the old style non-SEL bracelet and holes in the lugs while the 16610 and 16600 have seen updates with regards to both. With this in mind, it's difficult to say if this would be an across the board change or not, especially since no one except for the folks behind closed doors in Rolex Geneve knows why they do the often time strange things that they do.

The watch is genuine, no doubt, and the dial came that way from the factory. I have seen both, the serif'd correctly spaced hyphen and the non-serif misaligned hyphen on more than one occassion (one of the non-serif'd dials was at the AD). This is the same situation with the 16610- 2 different dials with 2 different fonts, but both are gen...

Serif and round fonts

Non-serif and fonts are slightly squared

randy!!!

i thought the exotic dial was the only one that was working? and you let it go??? kruzer, i have no idea how much you paid, but you have certainly made out like a bandit.

Indeed. It was a sacrifice I had made; one that I hope will get my black dialed 6263 running again under Swiss motivation. More to come, though I am not sure how soon...

One more...

Thanks for the kind words, kruzer! I believe it is you who is the gentleman... The pleasure was all mine!

I was absolutely sad to see that beauty go... But glad to know it's landed in good hands Kindest regards...

Randy

Nah... It's on me. If I can help another member, that's all that matters...

Indeed... Markers are usually a little more ivory colored.

Fantastic watch! The MBW 1680 is one of the classics in my book...

Used to be auth service for R!chemont... But I don't believe this to be the case any longer. What you see is most likely old stock in his inventory....

Out of the 3, I'd definitely have to recommend the 16610 Submariner Date. Best all around watch; very versatile, comfortable on the wrist and as Mike mentioned, retains it's value quite well.

If possible, however, I would try and find something with a little more vintage appeal- A nice 16800 or 16660 is an excellent choice- All the great characteristics of the old vintage matte dialed models but with a sapphire crystal. These ref's are starting to increase in popularity, but either of those would be my preference these days for genuine...

Ahhhh... Michael/adam-co's usual offerings. Good stuff, and 100% genuine.

You got it. This was 4-5 years ago before the rumors started. They were super nice, but he was a bit shady. Wouldn't surprise me if it was true. I too have been out of that game for a while. Out of curiosity, what cars were you into? I have the Supra, just BPU stuff, 410HP to the rear whells, then a high 10 second AWD 95 Eclipse after that.

Everyone else, thanks for the kind words!

Was always into the usual back then... The EG's with the B series motor swaps, then got into some MR2's and the sort. Never really went for high HP... Mostly just liked a clean, mildly tuned and tweaked car. These days I'm into the Germans... And my son is the resident gear head. Here he is, helping a very good friend of mine dial in his Z32 TT...

Last week he got to sit in his first Ferrari- An F355, red on tan. He seems to have developed a taste for the expensive stuff as of late

That adjustment will not correct 5 - 10 minutes per day; there's something else going on with the watch- Perhaps a tangled hairspring, or maybe no lubrication in the pivots. Probably best to see about getting it serviced as:

1) You'll have a good base line for servicing and a well oiled movement.

2) There's no telling what might be wrong with a replacement.

Just my $0.02 on the matter...

I had been up the previous month to have work done on my 94 Supra Turbo at a big name Supra tuner in Queens.

Hmmmm.. Vinny Ten/PF?

Wasn't he busted for running a chop shop on the side? It's been a long time since my tuning days, but I seem to recall him as being the only tuner on the 2JZ in NYC...?