This one on my wrist: This one in my pocket. In process of rebuilding my Dad's DJ; ditched the ETA 2824 inside that I had built it with prior and have replaced it with a Y3135 which JMB was gracious enough to help me with. Picked up the dial from StoneP, had the hands and everything else sitting in my parts bin.
Probably have to either separate or cut some of the permanent links out. It will likely mess up the taper of the band, but that's really the only way to shorten if the micro adjust at the clasp is already at it's minimum and all of the removable links have been taken out...
My take on it... Rolex will be manufacturing current catalog references every day/every month/every year for years to come. Vintage pieces aren't being made any longer... As you've discovered, finding that grail vintage piece for you has become quite difficult and will only continue to become more and more elusive; 10 years from now, I bet you'll still be able to get a 116710 BLNR for a decent price... I say keep up the hunt and find that needle in the haystack!