ubiquitous

I was just thinking the other day about how far things have come in the past few years for our hobby; how much the landscape has changed for rep watches and building projects, and of all the things I've had the pleasure of owning and putting together. What a wild ride it’s been. This doesn’t include all of the Rolex pieces I’ve done… But it does represent a fair amount of what I've owned and built over the past few years… I have found that my tastes haven't really evolved much over time, but my focus has narrowed. Franken DW 6265: Modified MBW 1665: Franken 16520: Franken 14270: Franken 16234: Franken 9411: Modified WM9 16610: WM9 16622: 1675: Franken 7032: Franken 5500: Franken 5514: Franken 6265: DW 6263: Franken 16520: A few to come... And a few recent ones that I’ve done for others: To my fellow Rolex loving nuts and crazies- Please feel free to post some of your past, present and futures as well! I think it would be fun and interesting to see where we've been, where we are, and where we will be Regards, //ubi

S- You should be able to press the tube out fairly easily. It's not threaded in or anything...

Thanks, Andy! Gotta go all the way, or not at all!

In the past, I've just held the crystal to a burner on the stove. You can actually watch the glue break down from the back side while it's heating up and then simply slide the cyclops off.

Looks great! Very well done

Because they're easy to obtain and readily available... And because they sell

For ETA based reps that I've put together for others, I usually use the 2846 or the 2783. Both are slow beat and fit as a perfect replacement to the 2836 high beat calibers.

BTW, it should come as no surprise that your fantastic builds are a source of inspiration! When watches look as god as yours, it's easy for others to desire the same. In fact, there are many amazing projects here on the forum; it's hard not to find inspiration from my fellow frankenbuilders

LOLLERS! Chi- If you mean the one from Quebec... I can assure you that I paid no where near $1500 for my dial! My target budget for this build is around $2k... Which I am on target, if not maybe projected a little under...

Thanks for the kind words, gang. This project just kind of spun up from out of no where... Another result of an impulse buy when the gen dial turned up for sale. When I saw the dial, I couldn't think of anything except LHOOQ's 1601 based Space-Dweller and thus I felt compelled to give a vintage Explorer one more try (my prior experience was with putting together a 33mm 5500 using the donor case that originally housed the Rolex 1520 residing in my 5514 Submariner). This build somehow took over as priority focus while the 1665 project has taken the secondary... I guess the sooner I get this done, the sooner I'll get back to the Sea-Dweller. So far, the project has been moving forward at a nice pace. I'm working on procurring a movement now... And a few other finishing touches. For a bracelet, I'll probably just stick with a gen 78360. Case and crystal will be making one more small trip to receive something special in the meantime. Will post updates as they are available... Thanks for looking! //ubi

That little watch of Mrs. Ubi's needs more gen dial action!

Fantastic build! The ladies' models don't get a lot of air time on the forums... Mrs. Ubi's DJ has been collecting some dust in the project drawer. It's been a sort of long-term-and-forgotten project that I've set on the side lines. One day I'll get around to it...

Along side my 1665 Sea-dweller project, I decided to kick off 2011 with a 1016 project as well, largely inspired by LHOOQ's 1016 builds. 1st step was to procure a dial. Happened upon this gen frog foot coronet dial: And a 1601 case (lug holes drilled for gen 2mm springbars): Gen 24-600 Test fit: And crystal fitted: More to come... Cheers, //ubi

Yikes @ 19% tax!

In my opinion... chief's is best. Not accurate to the gen's AR... But better. If I had purchased the gen, I would have had the gen crystal chief AR'd as well...

Crystal must be pressed out from inside the case; the movement must be removed in order to do so.

$600 USD at current rates seems about right for a 78360; that would put it at around $500 a few years back with 10% annual increases.

I used 589's with mine...

Or bring them just the 1675 head...

Drat... Such a shame as it's a great looking vehicle! Ah well... Money saved! Thanks, gents!

How are they in terms of maintenance and reliability? I've been looking at one, but a friend of mine cautions against.

You are correct- The profile of the final link is definitely different. The gen has a rounded end whereas the rep on this one has a flat top which meets at a point and then transitions into a sort of hump to accomodate the springbar. However, I should also note that the shape of the last mid link is not necessarily a good indication of rep or gen either, as I've seen reps with rounded ends as well. Typically from my experience, the rep bracelets rarely have as nice or as noticable of a taper in shape/width as the links transition towards the clasp. I don't think I have that rep bracelet any longer (I may have given it away), but I'll check. If I do, I'll do a photo comparison between rep and gen.

Hike- An easy solution would be to just have another GTG during the Summer! Always nice to get together with friends to talk watch stuffs