Heywood

Looking forward to your report on how this stuff works. I have been using jewelers epoxy and it works ok, but it is more work than a one part glue.

I bought a couple of bracelets and a dial a la carte from Josh. He was a pleasure to deal with. The price was right too

That's a beautiful piece. Wear it well!

Thanks for the replies guys. I have an old 1603 case that I've thought I mivht use. but it's a bit beat up and I'd like to have something that's nicer looking.

Stilty, I just finished up a modern Exp 1 based on a genuine 16200 case, rep dial from Josh and powered with an eta 2836. Will get around to posting some pics soon.

I'd like to pick up one of these 1016 cases, but don't want to pay a fortune for it. Anybody know where these are coming from?

Explorer 1 case auction

How are you supposed to remove the Cyclops on a crystal? I have a really neat trick, but I want to see if anyone else knows it.

I finally found out the best way to do the lugs - I use a cobalt fluted reamer. Unlike the drill bits you buy for a couple of bucks, these are about thirty bucks each. They are tough and whip thru a lug like butter leaving a nicely finished hole.

Bill

Hey Bill,

I took one off of a genuine Rolex 16200 crystal last week with a razor blade. I researched this some before I tried it and ran across several suggestions-among them were soldering iron on the cyclops, blow torch on the cyclops and a quick blow from a hammer to a sharp wood chisel held against the cyclops. These all sounded a tad extreme to me so I just used a single blade razor and a little pressure and mine just popped off.

What's your secret?

Bill, best wishes for a happy 50th and many, many more!

Nice work alligoat! That turned out great. As Ubi mentioned this one of the easiest and most affordable of the Rolex franken projects. Everybody should have a Datejust. I've got one in the pipeline right now along with an Explorer 1, both with modern saphire Datejust cases.

My first was a '75 Volvo 164E-4 speed manual with overdrive, black leather and electric windows. It was pretty quick for a heavy, safe car. Loved it. Good thing it was well built, I ended up rolling it-my friends started calling me the "Volvo crash dummy". Looked just like this one, except mine had metallic rust color paint.

I saw the original post on the other forum regarding this watch. It's a shame that anyone would try to pass off a franken as genuine. Like Ubi said it gives those of us who enjoy building franken watches a bad rap. This would have been a very expensive mistake, as I believe I read that the asking price was 13k. This sort of scam really irritates me.

I'm with Thomasng on this one, both look legit to me too.

Just thought I'd add my 2 cents worth. Movement, dial and hands look OK to me. From the pics it's hard to make a call on the crystal, but I'm leaning toward aftermarket/MBW. It does not look like a beveled tropic 19 at all to me. IMHO the case is aftermarket-heres why-if you look directly across from the crown at the 9 o'clock position there should be a divot in the case to allow for the case screws on the movement to fit into the case. When the movement is being installed in the case one movement screw clears the case where the crown tube hole is machined and the other clears at the 9 o'clock position in the divot that is machined in to the case. Unless I'm seeing things this divot is not present. Maybe from a different angle things would look different, but I don't think so.

I will most likely NEVER order from Ofrei again, even if they happen to be the only store that carrys a certain product I need very very much!

But thanks for the tip, I have a soldering Iron here and I can give that a try (sounds more lasting than glue)

Only question is, how do I find the spot where the feet should be located at? The dial is a mystery movement dial and is supposed to be converted to a Valjoux 72 dial!

I want to use it on a Valjoux 72 and I'd like to give the repositioning a try before I use glue, because its not for me, its for a friend of mine. Since he invested a lot into this watch, I want to do it right for him!

Please don't try to solder the feet, the heat will likely bake the paint and destroy your dial.

That Zenith in Ubi's gen Daytona case is pretty damn hard to beat. (Ubi, please stop sending me those subliminal "You need a Zenith Daytona" messages with those pictures. I'm broke enough already!)

I'm also partial to this Polex 5513 that houses a calibre 1520. I think they're pretty reliable.

My Rolex parts book lists the 1570 simply as 28.5mm diameter and 5.75mm height. No reference is made to Do or Dm. If you have a specific fitment in mind I have some spare Rolex cases that take this movement and will be happy to check one with calipers.

I was planning on doctoring up an Air King 5500 with an explorer dial, but have decided that the 5500 case is just too little to suit me. I've wanted a 1016 for a long time, but the prices have always been too high to suit my frugal nature. I tried a 1603 case and was dissatisfied with heft of the case-it is just not substantial enough to make me happy. Has anybody ever seen an Explorer 1016 from MBW. The quality of their cases seems pretty good and I think would be the perfect platform for a franken 1016. Any hope here? Thanks for any input.

WOW! that is awesome! well stolen! haha

just one question, isn't that a relative modern movement for that old vintage watch? I have seen these bond subs with another rolex in it....correct me if i'm wrong...

=)

Like Ubi mentioned, the 1530 is correct for this watch. I think that this vintage probably was originally equipped with one of the "butterfly" style rotors. May have been replaced with more modern one at a service, or perhaps the whole movement is a later vintage. Either way that watch is still awesome!

Wow! You really scored a diamond in the rough. A little time cleaning that baby up and a few new parts and you'll have a true classic. The dial, hands and movement look to be in amazing condition in comparison to the rest of the watch. I've been wanting one of those forever but never found one at the right price. Best of luck with your restoration efforts.

Most of the Mini-Subs I've seen have sold in the 800-1000 USD range. They seem to be in lower demand and sell for considerably less than their full size counterparts.

Wow! That turned out very nicely. Great job.

Heywood,

may i ask what you did to both the Seamaste 300 and the Gold airking?

thanks!

they look fantastic!

They are both assembled mostly from genuine parts. The Seamaster was a case kit from Watchco and the Oyster was built from parts from all over the place-incorrect but genuine movement that was put together, refinished dial and aftermarket hands.

By the way that's quite a collection of modern Seamasters you have. Nice!

Here are a few of mine.

And a few more in the pipeline

That's a beautiful piece Ubi. You do some excellent work!

The spacer ring from mbw watches has the correct outer and inner dimensions. Or you could buy some of this tubing http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?p...mp;showunits=mm and cut a spacer ring out of it. The dimensions are almost perfect and should require very little modification other than cutting a notch for the stem. The diameter of the 2824 is 25.6mm and the inside diameter of a spare rolex case that I just measured is 28.57. I've been meaning to order some of this tubing and haven't ever gotten around to it.

Funny... I think I spent 10 minutes this morning standing at my watch box debating if I should wear mine as well...

I love that patina. Wish mine had some.