ubiquitous

It is a great watch! But I do have plans for it... Someday None the less it's certainly a great piece as-is! Thank you for the kind comments! I guess it's no secret that the bulk f my time is spent in the Rolex sub forum The non-Rolex pieces are all a result of those days where I get the urge to try something new. Seems I tend to wander off from Rolex for a while to adventure into a different brand or offering. In the end, I always come back to Rolex! I think my anti-tier stance on different franken-watch grades is more of a result of not feeling the need to try and pump up my builds as something more special or more spectacular than someone else's build. I respect the time and effort that others have put into their watches and I think it's that genuine effort that makes every build special. It's not the watch, per se... It's the love that goes into it Thanks for the kind word, B. You know, I thought the 1016 would be a bit too small for my liking as well, but I gave it a try anyways. I am delighted to discover that it wears great, despite being a mere 36mm in diameter. It's got good presence on the wrist, and it's very comfortable. Plus, it's good to have some versatility in the watch box. And no... No prequel to thinning the collection out at this time. They will all likely be staying put Cheers! //ubi

Good stuff! I think that watch building (as with most hobbies and the sort) is really one of those things that you have to dive right into with both feet and just get messy with. It's definitely a learning experience, but once you've got the basics down, it's not so bad As for the 6541 Milly- That might be a tough one to do. Genuine dials and hands are out there somewhere... But likely to cost dearly. In this case, using an NDT dial and hands for a build might be your best solution as far as cost goes. Or, you can start with a rep to see how you like the watch and design... See if this is really the style you are after. If it is... You can build upon that to start. If you want to take it to the next level after that, then you can look into doing something a little more... Be prepared... This hobby can pull you in. It can become quite addicting.

In some cases, the ring may be tight, especially when combining an MBW retention ring with a gen crystal. You can try sanding some of the matrial away, checking the fit regularly to ensure you don't take off too much material. Or, you can also try the hot/cold technique that Ronin recently posted a tutorial on. One thing is for sure- You definitely want to get that ring seated flush with the case, as that is what will provide the water resistance at the crystal. Best of luck, //ubi

First and foremost- Welcome to the forum Your ambition and enthusiasm will carry you a long way in your project; I think the learning curve will be fairly little considering your history with learning/playing/repairing and building guitars and finding your way around car repairs and mechanical expertise. You'll have the fundamentals down in no time. The important aspect to building, and this applies to almost any kind of hobby or interest, is to have the right tools to do the job. To get a good head start on this, you can pick up the basics that you think you will need a la carte (i.e. set of watchmaker's screw drivers in various sizes, #2 tweezers, rodico, pith wood, hand/gear removers, hand setter, movement cushion, caseback wrench, etc), or you can pick up ready made kits that may likely contain everything that you will need (and sometimes more than you need). I would suggest starting off with a low dollar watch or replica to get familiar with. You can practice things like casing and uncasing movements, releasing winding stems from the keyless works, removing and setting hands, removing dials etc. As you become more and more familiar, you can take the next step of building your own watch With regards to building your own watch- It's best to start with a rough idea for budget and go from there. Projects can range from inexpensive to moderate to very expensive depending on the content used in the build and it's easy to go overbudget if you're not careful. Definitely a good idea to get a battle plan in order first before embarking on anything (and this is where the forum can help steer you ). As far as the definition of what is a franken and what is not- That is a subjective term, in my opinion. To me, a franken is a watch put together from parts, be it genuine parts, aftermarket parts or flat out replica parts. In order for a watch to really qualify as a franken (to me), the build must consist of a genuine dial among other things like hands and movement being a big plus (but not always necessary). If the watch is comprised of mostly aftermarket parts, or a non-genuine dial, to me that is what I would term as a 'build'. But again, the term is whatever you want to make of it. There's nothing set in stone, and nomenclature is a very subjective thing Also, please have a look around the forum archives; the search function in the upper right hand corner can be somewhat fussy to use at times, but it should work to hopefully help with answering some questions be it technical, or if you want to see other similar builds that may have been completed prior (we have a lot of knowledge and history here). Take an evening or so to check the place out. I think you'll like it here as there are many friendly faces, several of which have quite a bit of experience in this type of stuff! Cheers, //ubi

Superb! I know the level of quality that you've owned in past watches, and so I have to say that if guys like you and TK are pleased with this piece, then that says everything I need to know!

The King of Limbs, I think... right?

Congrats, TK! Looks stunning!

Currently listening to: Radiohead- Nude

How long has the watch been sitting with the dead battery in it? If the watch sat with the dead battery for an extended period of time, you might also want to check the contacts and what not for corrosion.

I'd say between $450 and $500, depending on condition, etc. That's usually what I see these selling for. Sometimes I see them for as little as $290 for the case minus bezel and dial...

Thanks, gents! The collection of builds and frankensteins is always evolving in some shape or manner. Kinda funny thinking about it, as at times I'll tend to get to a point where it feels or seems as though there's nothing more that I really want to build. But then let's face it, there's always something that needs to be done, right? Lately, it seems as though the planning and initiation of the last few projects have somehow managed to get going off the ground before the current projects in progress had even come close to being finished. Usually I try to focus on one at a time, but this year is off to an odd sort of start

That's some old-school marketing throw back right there...

Looking sharp!

A few more oddities to add... Perhaps the worst...

Thanks everyone for the kind words! I do appreciate it! I’m currently sporting it on a NATO for the time being. A 78360 is in transit now, so as soon as it arrives, I’ll likely make the transition Unfortunately, the 5500 and 14270 are long gone… No group pic opportunity this time I thought about maybe doing another 14270, except with a gen Rolex 3000 movement, but the cost : build ratio just doesn't add up. Pre-owned gens go for less than what it would cost to put one together You are correct, sir; the 1601 DateJust has smaller lug holes for the springbars. The 1016 Explorer has the larger 2mm springbars that you would normally find in the 1680, 1665 etc (i.e. the same as most of the Sport models excluding the Daytona 62xx). I know Couldn't have done this without you, jmb, LHOOQ and stilty! Here's how my RWG collection looks as of current My RWG collection is comprised largely of pieces I've built as a result of my addiction here on this forum I've included a couple of my gens in this mix as well since these are the ones that I usually wear and share with the forum, post in wrist shots, etc. Thanks as always for looking //ubi

Looks pretty good, M! Especially if that's your first go at luming!

Once you go 15xx, it's hard to go back. If only because they're so simple and easy to work with. Everything just fits right...

Chi- I am at exactly 10 for the collection; when my next two projects finish up, I'm going to have to either cut a few loose from the watch box, or break my self imposed rule. Or maybe transfer some to Mrs. Ubi's ownership...

Congrats on the 10k milestone! And thanks for all you do for RWG! This place wouldn't be the same without you!

The thought has crossed my mind... But not ready to abandon it just yet...

Crunched for time with the sun going down. I may work from home tomorrow, so if I do, I will snap a better pic.

As with dials, there are variations with hands depending on the supplier. Not all of the hour hands had the lume strip on the neck extending completely to the center. example 1 example 2 example 3 example 4 The ones that I would likely find more questionable are aftermarket examples like this:

Interesting 'gilt' effect the aging has achieved on the dial...

Some fantastic pieces adorning the wrists today, gents! Great taste!

Tight!!