madmex

This is one of the first watches I remember seeing in the 1990s in magazines (the titanium tantalum and rose gold version), and really thinking "wow." Well the rep is pretty fantastic as we all know. This is the rep out of the box. I got it in 2008 from Ms. King. I think my pearl was chipped and I put a drop of clear UV glue on it--the results speak for themselves. Check out these pics I took, trying to resemble the original ad I saw in the 1990s. This one has had it's share of mishaps. Of course it has the wrong date disc font. But more tragically it came with the center chronograph seconds post bent at the tip. So the seconds hand is tilted on its axis. You can see it in the pics. Yet, this was purely aesthetic. I later replaced that post with a spare part Daytona seconds at 6 movement that was dead. And then I replaced the date disc with gen (not pictured here). Is the new red wording version as good as THIS? Please chime in. Unfortunately the 2nd wheel on this broke, and the Swiss version does not fit (well it does fit but has the wrong number of teeth). So I need a replacement 7750. If I go gen, I have to buy the hands which are pricey and of course the movement.

So my watch can't hold a winding, because it self-unwinds. I opened it and found a tiny wire. Figured out it was the click-spring. The part is so darn small and I only have half of it, that I can't figure out how long to make a replacement. Also what is the official name of this tiny wire if anyone knows, so that I can inquire with our dealers to see if they can source it. Something so simple... yet so tough to fix. Thanks all for reading!

The biggest flaw I see with this one is the old Asian 7750 [7751] base with 21,600 bph. The gen runs at 28,800 bph. I saw the pics (and movement frequency) at King's site. PS AWESOME reference, By-Tor. Thanks!!!

I would leave it and get a watch without the cyclops--like a seadweller. How do u plan to take the cyclops off?

I wanted to point out that the bezel teeth are longer on the gen, because the crystal and dial on the no-date Sub are smaller in diameter than the Date model. I prefer the no-date myself, but haven't found a really good one. Where does one get a gen dial? sounds like it would be a few hundred bux.

ahhh I hadn't read the description... the watch pictured is a midsize 36mm, between the "I didn't take these pictures" and the "new automatic movement"... I vote fake too! good catch!

That's real. It's a midsize.

I received this beauty from king. This watch is like a toy.... it's super thick and it is amazingly detailed. Observations: The crown screw-threads are inside the tube--as on the gen. Tip: shine a black light and the orange indicators look like they're floating--this is a different paint than on the tip of the Seamaster Pro basic seconds hand. The waves are glossy as on the gen as well. Very happy with this purchase!

It's not bad if it's all stainless steel. If it's chrome plated brass... well then it will be short lived--unless you don't wear it much.

Excellent review! Too bad about the misaligned pearl. I'm waiting for mine to arrive!

The subdial spacing is correct on that DAY TONA

The little hands for the sub-dials should also be white.

I like the 3rd and 4th one (same one)! Do they have a deployment buckle?

I had it's twin, a day-date version that I added moonphases to.... feast your eyes on this! BEFORE. AFTER. The fit and finish on the movement is awesome... The Project

THe non-reduced version, is 1:1 with the gen when it comes to case size. The stats on the webpage may be wrong. I owned one and it's pretty big--much bigger than the gen reduced I owned too.

eBay 2002-Rolex-SS-Stainless-Steel-Submariner-16610-SEL Z260041934593 This is a real 16610... but that aftermarket crystal makes it look like a replica. Too bad we can't fit gen crystals on most of our reps, as I think they make a big difference.

Nope. I think you're getting the "reduced" confused with the "moonwatch." Look at the crown on the reduced ("latest one" in your post), it sticks out... it also has the numbers on the hour indices... that's from the reduced only. The subdial spacing is correct on the reduced, but the word "Professional" should not be on there. Look at the hands too--they're correct for both versions (being different in each case--look at the seconds hand). By-Tor wrote a review of his "Speedmaster reduced" check it out.

The UV cement works great. It is designed to cement watch crystals in place. It hardens very well. Model glue sounds good too, as was suggested. What I like about the UV Cement is that it's designed for watches and does not solidify until it is exposed to a UV source. It is semi-liquid, and you can clean up and restart if you make a mistake. When it looks good, then u go outside for 3 minutes in the sun. THen u reapply the bubble, and repeat. After a long UV application (wear it out in the sun or somehting), you wash it with soap and water and can polish it with your shirt, to give it a good shine.

By adding some clear U-V crystal cement, and then curing it with the sun for a couple of minutes, you can fill the little voids and give it that gloss-over look as on the GEN. I just received this beauty from EL, by the way. The procedure was done in 2 steps. First to fill the void, I added a small drop. I cured it with the sunlight (or UV lamp if you keep a spare around the garage--I don't). Then I added another drop on top to give it the round pearl look. The pictures were taken prior to polishing it with a cotton shirt. before the procedure, the pearl looked good, but was a little small, and favored one side more than the other.

I guess you missed the boat. It's genuine. The owner just admitted it. It looks genuine too. There may be a little bit of variety in the finishing of the same Rolex gen watches, explaining your observation. One word: if it looks "harmonious," then it's likely a gen.

Correction: the beat is 36,000 bph not 360,000.. if it beat that fast the friction would cause heat that would crack the spring and wear the gears very fast. That's an El Primero movement. Tag was purchased by the same umbrella group that purchased Zenith. It's the same movement that was used on the Daytona subseconds @9. Except Rolex modified the escapement with their microstella and took the beat down to 28,800. The reason some are jerkyer than others, for instance the Daytona Reps w subseconds @6, is a question of direct vs. indirect drive. Most of today's watches are direct drive, meaning the gear that moves at that rate is the one attached directly to the hand. In the case of the Daytona rep with Subseconds @ 6, there are a few gears that transition the beat, each one of them adding a little bit of play in the gearing, so the end result is jerky and irregular. This is not the watch ticking like that, but the second hand being indirectly driven by auxillary wheels adding in the little play between gears. Old watches had indirect seconds. I think the Miyota autos have indirect seconds too, because if a certain spring is not tight on them, their second hand looks like it's crazy... it jerks.. then stops until the gears catch up then jumps back etc. Regarding the quest for sweep seconds, it has been done! The Bulova Accutron and the Omega electric watches of the 60s and early 70s had electric (not quartz) movements. In a quartz movement, we know a quartz crystal oscillates at exactly that 32727(?) Hz when current is run through it. Always. So a little stepping motor, sends power to the seconds hand at that rate, to 1 second. The old electric watches had a tuning fork inside that was "excited" and the stepping motors were regulated by that. The approximate rate was 300Hz... their second hand is beautiful! It just sweeps. Unfortunately they were expensive to maintain and if something attached to the tuning fork (dirt or debris) it would change the frequency and thus the accuracy.... so they left them for Quartz which are very simple to make now.

These are great pictures! I've always been fond of both models, and like you, I was curious to see what they were like side by side.

Wow. Absolutely stunning! I was wondering if this was ever going to come out. Beautiful watch and what gorgeous pictures Neil! You earn a Pulitzer for these. Will be my next watch... I bet it's huge.

It was posted by someone likely from this or another rep forum. They only posted once on Timezone. It's unfortunate that they linked directly to Eddie's pics on his album. I hope this does not jeopardize him.

That is awesome! Congratulations on your devotion and hard work to create this beauty. I really like your story about the AD. Did they not have a gen to compare it side by side, and weigh them, etc? I always heard stories about someone *typically a Cartier AD, getting a customer in for a change of battery or whatever, and the dealer taking the watch to the back and coming back with a hammer and destroying it to the horror and dismay of the owner! Probably an urban myth, lol. Seriously, congratulations! Hey so how is EL's ss band? I read you used Andrew's. Does EL's have hollow middle links? The crown you have on there (from Josh, I read) is really a stunner. You really did take the best of the pack and created a masterpiece. Maybe you can create a few frankens from the leftover parts and sell them to recoup your investment. You're my new hero on here! Enjoy it in good health.