jmb

Totally mixin' it up!!

I'm astounded at how calm the flight crew remained through the whole thing!

Hair dryer...

+7! The right one needs to go on a diet...

For one thing the dial and pearl-dot look wrong to me (looks like one of the painted on "pearls" found on the $50 cases) so I would be very surprised if any of the rest of it is "real".

My original beater...

I'm wondering if the one on DRSD.com could be replicated with a run-of-the-mill 16610 dial and a decal? Hmmm...

Some dealers are more patient with newbies, some will "kick a newbie to the curb" if they ask too many obvious questions, etc. The dealers that are more patient and offer a bit better service are often a little higher priced than the "curmudgeons" so you need to decide which is more important to you low price or "hand-holding". As Ubi says, look at feedback and reviews and pick the one you think you may feel better with.

Yes, unless TC is really a dealer (or plans on becoming one) this is a sure-fire way for folks to totally burn him out! After a few months he may never want to even hear the word "rep" for the rest of his life!!

Totally incorrect symmetrical Daytona...

Mornin!

I had planned on it!

Can't find my tripod...

Maybe!

Duke - If you are just going for "the look" then I think these (at around $30) are a bargain. If you expect every little detail, stamping, number, etc. to be correct then you will be sorely disappointed. The links are solid, they are a tad thick, and the end-links are the ubiquitous 455b jobbers that seem to come with most reps. A big plus is they have screw in adjustment links instead of having to disassemble links to re-size.

Could also be a burr or some crud in the hole. If you plan on modding and drilling the holes to size not a big worry but if you plan on wearing it OOTB maybe point this out to see if they will address it.

The parts-box builds continue as I continue my rehab! My latest "victim" is one of the newer Explorer dials I had laying around. I kept digging and came up with an a21j that I had lost some sort of spring associated with the date wheel so the rest of the date guts came out and I had an engine. I then pulled out a 2836 DJ case with smooth bezel and popped off the cyclops. I had ordered a few sets of silver Sub hands a while back but had never really looked at them and I discovered they are the "Maxi" hands so I figured it would be way cool so those went into the pile. I finally had everything sorted out and the assembly went off without a hitch and I started scrounging for a bracelet. I discovered I had no Brushed Oyster bracelets and the only 20mm bands I had were Sub, Tudor, or Riveted. I decided that a rivet would give it kind of a cool retro looks so stuck it on. The more I looked at it the more I liked it so I was pretty happy and decided to call it a day. It was dark by the time I locked up the shop and just as soon as I turned the lights out I realized the hands I put on were glowing a really nice shade of blue while the dial was the usual green. I stared at it for a while and decided that it actually looked rather slick so I decided to leave 'em on. Here's my Retro Explorer:

Use clear epoxy?

Lookin' good, R!

Going along with M except in this century!

sea - Case was a "sterile" vintage style Sub case from fleabay seller onlinestorehk. He usually has them on a "Buy It Now" with "Make Offer" option. I bought a couple and they averaged out to $60/ea with shipping...

I've casually followed some of the "SEL Fit Anxiety" lately and wondered why folks didn't build up a SEL "edge" with silver-solder and file to a perfect fit? These are reps after all and I'm sure that tolerances like these are likely deliberate so as to make assembly easier. I've also hypothesized that the plastic "spacer" between the crystal and retention ring on PT Subs was also either deliberate to allow for gross variations in tolerances or to allow out of spec crystals to be used.

Chef, thanks! I for some reason always equated lug holes and plexi with non-SEL. I prefer non-SEL

This was the first Roman dial that ever "spoke" to me! I have a few more of these dials if anybody wants to build one or I may make a couple DG2813 versions...