ubiquitous

Ludo- Very nice! We need pics!!

Very nice! And, excellent pics as always.

Nice thing about this service is it will provide confidence and peace of mind to the potential buyer; no worries about a watch potentially showing up DOA, etc. which I am sure both the buyer AND seller will appreciate!

ryyannon- Just doing what I can to help Hope you don't mind my saying so, but you've got one fantastic timepiece on it's way to you! A very rare and unique example, and not one that you're likely to see very often! Enjoy that beauty! And please post some pics when you receive it! Cheers! R

I believe this is the one Spags has for sale- Cali dial with WM's very unique (and cool) fat hands. Photo is WM's stock photo...

Although he is not in the UK, you can get tubes from Don Ginsler. Or, if you can wait a few days, I might have a pair I can send to you for free (I have to check my parts box).

I'll bet he'll be answering your pm soon (I see him signed on right now...)

Spaghettiman has a nice WM hommage for sale...

Excellent work! Sorry I did not get you the pics to show the process of removing the retaining ring- None the less, it looks like you got it done regardless BTW- Here is what I use to press my rings back on... The case is an old Omega Sea-Master (176.007). Fits the retaining rings and crystal perfect!

Ivanoso- If you have a 1680, then that's a good one to use! I do believe that the dial in question is legitimate, and at a very good price!

You could also make friends with a watchmaking student and 'volunteer' your plain 6498 to be the student's work piece for his/her course I've seen some incredible transformations of UT6497/8 movements, complete with redesigned bridges, decorations, skeletonizing, etc. by students...

I especially like the decorated reshaped bridges and balance with microstella adjustment on tourbillon's 6497/8's! Very nice touch...

Looks much better... But you'll need a vintage 1680 for that dial Keep your eyes on eBay- Every now and then a nice genuine 16610 dial will pop up for bid by a reputible seller...

Here is mine- Retaining ring only. Does this help?

Well, it's the tension from the retaining ring's o.d. and the bezel's i.d. that provides the tension to hold everything together- The washer acts like a spring to provide resistance to keep the bezel from moving too easily- To turn the bezel, one must theoretically press the bezel to the case to flatten the washer to eliminate the tension in order to turn the bezel... Everything prior to disassembly fit fine? Nice and tight? ...Only thing I can think of is that perhaps in the process of removing the bezel, the bezel got bent slightly out of round. If you place the bezel on a flat tabletop, do you notice any high spots where the base of the bezel looks like it might not be level?

Hmmmm. You do indeed have everything accounted for, and present. That bezel should snap right on; the insert should have nothing to do with the actual hard parts going together... Might sound like a dumb question... But, are you pressing the bezel on hard enough? It does take a little effort to make it snap on....

Hmmmm... The bezel assembly should be in 4 parts- -bezel insert -bezel -bezel washer -retaining ring The retaining ring is a very thick ring of metal that is seated around the crystal to create a seal for water resistance. Since you mention flipping it, I'm assuming you mean the bezel washer (very thin metal awsher that is in place to provide enough resistance to the bezel to prevent it from turning easily). The washer is at the lower left. Try fitting the bezel on without the insert.

BTW- I meant to ask... What happens when you try to fit the bezel to the case without the insert? Like this?

The tension from the bezel fitting to the retaining ring is what holds the bezel on. Should be able to press it on with your fingers; the bezel should snap on with a slight bit of effort with a reassuring click. Just to confirm, you only removed material from the bezel insert only, right? i.e. the bezel and retaining ring have not been trimmed in any way?

Fascinating posts gentlemen. I myself have no real preference on the matter... I don't bother paying much attention to the s/n myself, and as long as it's in the correct general range for the proper year/era that it should be, that's all that matters to me. While the above is my general opinion on the subject, I do think it's rather neat when the factories decide to do random numbers for the maltriculation.

Fitting genuine Rolex dials to ETA based watches is no problem. I've done it many a time, and with no problems yet (My MBW 1665, 7928 and 16234 franken projects all have dials meant for genuine 1570's and 3135's fitted to ETAs). BTW... You might want to keep looking for dials. The ones being offered by this eBay seller are terrible.

Finding a watchmaker who will service an Asian 7750 is not an easy task. Best to stick with Ziggy- He's overhauled more than he probably cares to remember, and knows these movements inside and out (literally).

I hear Howie is a bit of a germ-o-phobe?

Ming's photography is also worth checking out. A very talented individual behind the lens... Ming Thein

Worn, hollow link Rolex bracelets tend to look that way. Tight hollow link Jubilees tend to look that way as well.