wiesn089

If you go for a gen croc check out Kaufmann Straps. Handmade in Germany with various customization options. They make 20/16 and are great value for the money. I have two and am very pleased with both of them.

Cool, I'm researching Cal 89 IWCs at the moment. I love the dial with IWC's company name written out completely. I'm in the market for a SS version with silver dial. Looking at the lugs, this seems to be a pretty early example. Maybe it has been manfactured way earlier than your grandfather bought it, I'm assuming later 40s, early 50s. Edit: I was wrong, here's a vintage catalogue page from 1957. It seems to be a Ref 521 with luminous hands. Gorgeous piece! http://www.iwcforum.com/Catalogs/1957/0000002.jpg

There is a decently priced pair of p302-pushers on VRF atm for anybody who's interested. I'm not affiliated with the seller in any way, but these don't come up very often, so be quick. Imo these are the icing on the cake on any high-end build. http://www.network54.com/Forum/207673/thread/1381314549/FS-%2A%2A+NOS+Daytona+Chrono+Pusher-+P302+for+6263+-+6265+NEW+and+sealed+%2A%2A

Cheers Pete, mine arrived safe and sound.

If you really like it you should buy the gen. In-house helps with resale value, but I doubt you could fully recoup your expenses or close to that if you don't buy second hand or grey market pieces. Well actually, I guess a 20% discount should be possible at Breitlings AD? On a second thought you shouldn't lose too much if you shop around... get the gen and enjoy gen quality.

I know how you feel, I have one of these on my wishlist for years. And since Zenith isn't making anything in the 38-40mm range atm, a 16520 franken would perfectly fit my El Primero watch itch...

Nice! Care to share some info on the case sets? Phong?

I'd definitely be interested! I'm paranoid when it comes to customs so something in EU would be amazing.

Jack, that's a great looking Milsub! Love the lume, care to share who did that, or did you manage to do that yourself? Amazing, can I send you mine for a relume?

Any pictures of matt's bracelet? Sounds interesting, I'd love to see one.

I'd buy a Speedy Pro, great watch with tons of history and not flashy as a Rolex which I personally would not want wear when starting out at a job.

This is my modded MBW with Ingod Dial. Fixed lugbars, gen crown + tube, gen crystal, CWP Insert, modified relumed Omega Hands and a modified ETA 2846 with the date function fully removed. I had someone do the assembly for me and gathered the parts over some time. I also had the back engraved. In total my 5513 SBS set me back about 1200 Euro if I remember correctly. More than I initially planned for, but I'm quite satisfied with the results. Definitely a challenging project, but worth it in the end. Good luck with yours and please post pictures! Here's another pic with a gen bezel insert before I got the one from CWP.

Nice one, congratulations!

Wow, that 1665 dial looks great, any full shots? Damn, I couldn't decide between a 1680 and a 1665 DRSD for a slim case PP, I hope the 1680 will turn out equally amazing. Any chances for another Singer blanks run, when these are done? Soldering feet might damage the print and I don't think I'll be content with a ETA based mf franken when my dial looks that good.

Yup, that seems about right. My V726 6265 which I sold about 1 1/2 year ago was close to 6000 Euro but parts prices have gone up considerably since then. Mine had gen everything (including a black sigma dial) except for the pushers and a Phong case. Gen 6263 service bezel is another 1k at least, plus gen pushers 500 minimum. It'll cost you, but hey, they are worth it.

I'll pay tonight, I'm on the road atm. Sorry for the delay.

Guys, judging from the pictures these are one of the most accurate aftermarket dials so far, let's get this done and build some nice ETA-beater frankens! 1. 1x 1680 red mk 3 - Aero_Dave 2. 1x 5517 2x5514 - torresp 3. 1x 1680 red mk 3 - Wiesn089

1. 1x 1680 red mk 3 - Aero_Dave 2. 1x 5517 2x5514 - torresp 3. 1x 1680 red mk 3 - Wiesn089

I'd keep the Daytona, far more interesting.

Exactly, I prefer the 36k Zenith movement.

I don't think it's really worth it. After you add a gen bracelet you are very near gen 16520 territory even IF you can sell the gold dial, pushers etc. And then you're still stuck with a 16523 franken no RSC will ever touch and you'll have massive issues selling in the future. The main appeal for me in a 16520 franken lies in the 36000 bph el primero movement. If you aren't interested in that and really want something you can pass off as gen with gen movement, I'd stick with saving up some more and getting the real deal, everything else is just a huge waste of money imo.

Wow, that's a stunner, congratulations! What case did you use? Gen?

Great work, thanks for an amazing tutorial!

GS is superior to Rolex in almost every aspect including accuracy and build quality, these watches have nothing in common with standard grade Seiko watches (which are amazing value for money as well).

Quite funny, as I've just recently thought about the car manufacturer - watch brand analogy in order to explain watches to someone not too much into watches. Here's what I came up with. Rolex - Mercedes (I guess that's something we all can easily agree on) Omega - BMW Breitling - Opel Zenith, IWC - Audi JLC - Porsche AP - Ferrari (too many classy watches for Lamborghini imo) VC - Bentley (think Continental GT) Patek - Rolls Royce Lange - Maybach I think that's pretty accurate, Breitling maybe a little bit too harsh...