ubiquitous

A small synopsis of the modifications performed to date: Genuine spring bars and Tropic 39: Genuine crown and tube: Genuine insert: Caseback has been stripped of paint; genuine 580 end links added: Hollow aftermarket Oyster bracelet: Ungrooved fliplock added to the MBW clasp: New dial: Singer base: Installed: Old vs. New: And, finally... A slow beat ETA installed to better emulate the 19800bph 1570/5: Slow Beat (link) More modifications to follow. Stay tuned Cheers, Randy

Even Ziggy is at a loss as to what kind of movement/caliber is contained in these watches. It's simply... Unidentified.

Thanks, fellas! XRT- I love this watch, but I don't seem to wear it much. This piece has significant sentimental value to me, as it's one of the first watches I put together. I've had a lot of.... Errrr, shall we say, experience(?) with taking this one apart, refinishing the dial and aging the case, replacement hands, etc. I'd like to add more to this one, but all in due time. Many other projects beckon my attention (and empty wallet) I love your WM hommage! That bezel, and perspex crystal are Replace the hands, if you must, but I like the color of the dial!

Looking good! May I join you in posting some DW enjoyment?

Bob, I'd definitely like to see a side by side! To my knowledge, the subdials should have a very light silver/almost white color to them; in some cases, say at a very short distance, the registers would (in my opinion) appear white (my wife agrees with this in looking at mine). I wouldn't worry too much about it, unless it's an extremely bright white. For what it's worth, I've seen images where the standard black dial appears to have white sub dials, but it could be the photography, lighting, etc.

Thanks, guys! The kind comments are very much appreciated! Nanu- The dial on my DW v1.0 is the same- Silverish subdial registers. I haven't seen a black dialed v2.0 yet, so I am not certain if all have white subdials. Given the changes we've seen with the new 6263's, I wouldn't be surprised if this were indeed the case.

You have TOO MUCH DAMN MONEY!!

I've seen both dial types on pointed guard 1675's. But, if you had to choose one, I'd say gilt all the way! Especially with the small GMT arrow. That would be

I like the one on the left with the pointed guards! Very nice!!

Heehee... I'm working on it! Everytime I'm ready to get my hands on a movement, I find that there are none available. So, I go and spend the money on furniture and stuff, and sure enough, once the funds are gone, a movement turns up (and at a great price I might add). *sigh*

Had some free time today, so I spent a few minutes putting my DateJust frankenstein together. Still ironing out some issues with the watch; the movement needs to be serviced, and I need a new stem for it as well. But for now, here's what I've got: *Genuine 16234 DateJust case *Genuine dial *Genuine WG fluted bezel *Genuine crystal *Genuine tube *Genuine 6mm crown (needs to be replaced) *ETA 2836-2 *Datewheel overlay *Tudor Oyster Prince hands *Aftermarket Jubilee bracelet/endlinks *Replica clasp :comp2: Here's what I started with- $400 worth of parts: Add a run of the mill 2836: And you get this: Cheers, Randy

Hey gang, Hot on the trail of the 'How to identify an MBW vintage' post, I thought I'd do the same for the DW 6263's. I am hoping that this little write up helps better identify some of the clues on how to spot such a piece for those keeping a close eye out on the trading boards and such, should one turn up on the open market. So, here we go.... Starting off first, let's have a look between the lugs. Most DW's have a s/n and ref engraved that look distinctly like this: Note that s/n's can vary, though I am not sure by how much. Perhaps DW's V72 cases carry a different ref than the standard V23 copy cases? Next, we move onto the case details. The case itself is 37mm in diameter. The bezel diameter is dependant on type; you'll be looking at 37mm across for the steel 6265 bezel vs. 38mm for the acrylic 6263 bezel. (I forgot to take pics of the two (actually three) bezel types, but, I'll add them later) 19mm lugs: Asymmetric pushers: Some dial details: Case profile: 78350/19 hollow link Oyster bracelet with 571 endlinks: And, genuine parts fit. Rolex Tropic 21: Genuine springbars: And, of course one other characteristic that sets a DW apart- The slow beat, manual wind mystery movement cased inside (sorry, no pics). The DW's are somewhat similar to the MBW's in the sense that they will accept genuine tubes, crowns, pushers, dials etc. and carry the same basic measurements as a genuine. And, there you have it. I hope that this write up was informative, and will help benefit someone in terms of identifying such a watch should the need arise. Best regards, Randy

With all the talk of MBW's vintage Rolex models, I thought I'd do a small little write up on two popular models (the 1680 and 1665) to outline a few key tell-all characteristics on how to identify a genuine MBW from the others. Starting with an MBW 1680 Red Submariner: Here are the first key characterisctics- s/n L341455: And the Ref. number. Note the purposely mispelled 'POLEX': Now we move on to the actual construction of the bezel assembly. The MBW's bezels are put together just like genuine: *Retaining ring *Bezel washer *Bezel ring *Bezel insert Retaining ring, which holds the crystal down, and keeps things water tight via a gasket underneath the seated lip: The bezel washer, which allows the bezel ring to rotate bi-directionally, but allows enough tension to keep the bezel ring to spin freely: The bezel ring itself: And the bezel insert installed (in this case, a genuine insert): And, of course, one other characteristic- Genuine Rolex parts fit, no muss, no fuss. Genuine Tropic127: And, as mentioned above, the genuine vintage inserts simply snap right in And now the 1665 White Sea-Dweller: The s/n- 5790134 (The DRSD uses s/n 5790358): This time, the Ref is simply stamped 'REGISTERED DESIGN': Bezel assembly is the same as the MBW 1680 and Genuine, except the profile is stepped, and not flat like the 1680's: *Retaining ring *Bezel washer *Bezel ring *Bezel insert Profile is stepped, and thicker. Like the 1680, the retaining ring has a gasket under the seated base: Bezel washer: Bezel ring. Much thicker than the Sub (same profile as genuine): Genuine insert snapped in: Genuine Tropic39 installed (non-superdome): Genuine crown/tube and springbars:

Genuine: DW:

A good friend of mine recently sent me his ExtraExtra 6263 for overall evaluation and study. I received this watch today and immediately took close examination of this subject. In doing so, I noticed many similarities between this watch and the DW 6263! I am a visual kind of guy, so I think pictures do a better job of expressing more than my words could convey. That being the case on with the pics, post haste! Side by side, sunny side up. Backsides: From the side: Clasps: As evidenced by the images above, the case and bracelet are the same, as are the crown, pushers, bezel and even the standard crystal that it comes equipped with. Pushers are asymmetric, and at the same offset and angle as the DW. Now, for the differences. Of course, the movement is not exactly correct as it's an auto 7750, and the subdials are spaced a bit farther than they should be (note the distances of the subdials in comparison). The casebacks are much different as well, most notably in the profile (the EE has a taller caseback to accomodate the winding rotor). Overall, it's a very nice piece, with a lot of potential! So, what do you guys think, now that we have a 7750 based Dayto side by side with the DW? There are some very obvious differences, but the similarities of this watch are quite close! For what it's worth, the ExtraExtra 6263 is the only other rep I've seen that is closest to the DW's and genuine, especially in terms of pusher spacing. If only those subdials were closer on the EE.... Comments and questions are welcome! :happy: Best, R

Today, I received a very modest assortment of crystals from my most recent order. Amongst the assortment was a single Tropic21, to be installed on my friend's ExtraExtra 6263 Dayto: The 'before' image: Crystal profile (stock): Bezel off: Crystal swapped: T-21 profile: Just like the DW's, the EE models will accept genuine crystals with no modifications. Overall, the final product is greatly improved in terms of aesthetics and legibility (no distortion). In my opinion, a nice, low cost mod. Thanks for viewing! Best, Randy **edited for better clarification.

The title says it all. I downshifted the beat of my MBW to a frequency closer to that of a vintage 1570. Some videos to capture the sweep seconds; (3.5M) And one to compare against a 28.800bph ETA 2836-2: (4.6M) (click the images for the videos) The new movement is 100% Swiss. More info to come soon; I want to monitor long term performance a bit before revealing further details on the type of movement used. Cheers, Randy

Glad to be here.

Guess it's never too early to start a GGG thread...