dieselpower

I bought an Asian 'seconds at six' Daytona for a friend. I saw him yesterday and he told me it had stopped working. He got about 2 years decent wear out of it. Just a word of warning. Good luck.

Lukes, I was aware that putting that quote might have been taken wrongly. I was not implying anything about you, or anyone else being 'poor' just thought it was a great saying and wanted to share it. Of course, i agree value for money is vital, that is why I recommend the MBW. I have one and feel that even at the higher price it is well worth the money. Let us know what you decide to buy, and don't forget if you get an MBW it opens up a whole world of modding possibilities! Cheers, Dieselpower

Great stories, thanks for sharing.

Now dry as a bone here is a photo especially for Repaustria so they can see the pink lettering, maybe I should call Old Faithfull a DPSD?

"When you're poor, you can't afford to buy cheap"

MBW - Correct answer.

Emmzy's is the greatest. No question. Totally hiarious, I have watched is time and time again, as an ex-rugy fan I just crack up when Batman does that sidestep. Then just look at the overall image - a man, in a fancy dress costume running through the streets with a bomb straight out of the Roadrunner cartoon :lol: :lol: :lol:

Not changed the glass yet. Maybe I'll just keep the beaten up look. Sorry to be of no use but I was not really aware that there was much difference between the entry level DRSD's. I must admit I haven't looked at them for 5 years so maybe times have changed but when I was buying they all seemed the same. Adapted sub cases with different dials made to look aged and that was about it! Just for the record it was discovering that the case was an adapted sub case that made me want to buy an MBW. This I did and am awaiting its return from modding in the USA. So be warned, you may very well fall in love with this watch (does a better divers watch exist?) and end up, like I did, shelling out even more cash on an MBW for the sake of the case and its ability to accept genuine parts. If you think about it after modding if I can buy a gen movement I will almost have the genuine article at a fraction of the market value! Its all a question of $ versus desire and that is obviously your call. Hope this is of some use and that you chose wisely and above all enjoy your watch!

Spend that little bit extra and get the ETA version. Read my thread on 'Old Faithful' you can't get better than that! It's on my wrist right now keeping perfect time, as usual.

Repaustria, I have put the watch on my wrist and it is streaming up again. I will continue to wear it today and give it the salt treatment again tonight. Thanks again for help. Will take better photos so you can see the dial when the glass clears.

Pug, Damn! You noticed this thread and my photos. I actually took the pictures with my wifes camera which was lurking around when I was going to use my phone so that explains the amazing quality helped in no small part by my Baileyesque skills behind the lens . Repaustria, I have now retrieved the watch from its little bed of salt and I can confirm that all the water has vanished - you are a genius! Many thanks. I will post pics when I get a spare minute (and some daylight). Lonnie, I was thinking of 'flushing' the watch somehow but the idea of drenching the thing again fills me with dread. Does anybody have any experience of this? (The flushing I mean). All, Thanks again for your help but just to bug you all again I am still no closer to getting the glass replaced! Anyone got ant bright ideas? Regards Dieselpower

Old faithful is now resting in a bed of table salt. Lets see what tomorrow brings. We are both grateful for your advice and help.

So you've taken a load of photos of your MBW's. Sorry to be a party pooper but is there a point to this?

Repaustria, If you think that is a lot of water you should have seen it when I was in Sardinia! Believe me the thing was swimming. I could turn the watch over and move the water around the glass by shaking it left to right, in fact after day one I could not even read the time because the glass was so covered in water droplets the time was illegible! I have just looked at the old boy and the water is now nearly gone so I think I will just leave him alone and take some more photos when he is completely dry and see if I can get one of you experts to replace the glass. Otherwise I will just carry on wearing him and see how long he lasts. This whole saga is reminding me of those old RLX adverts where somebody is digging in his garden and unearths a 40 year old watch and finds that it is still working - well all I can say is that it is a great testament to our far eastern friends that they can produce an item of such durability at a fraction of the cost of their European counterparts. It's funny how we all become so obsessed with accuracy and closeness to the gen piece and yet this (relatively) cheap rep with all its flaws and shortcomings can command such a place in my watch loving heart that I would not part with it for all the reps in China. Excuse me I am welling up........... Well, as always the saga continues. Thanks for all your interest, Old faithful and i are really touched.

Did the red writing actually fade to a pink like i ngenuine Mark I dials?? Sure did! Pretty cool huh ! To Nanuq: Sorry to be stupid but don't know what you mean by using a roll of tape to get the back off.

Lonnie, If I ever want to sell it! You must be joking , would a loving parent sell his children? Would a man sell his loyal dog? Old faithful and I go back a long way and he has not failed me yet, the least I can do is repay that loyalty with a little in return I will send Tribal a PM and see what can be done. My God, its like facing vet bills for an old pet that you just can't face putting to sleep.

Found the wife's camera and used that. Apologies for lack of photo skills. Battery ran out of camera am recharging it now.

Ok chaps. All I have to take photos is a telephone. Pug, please ignore this thread I suspect it will cause you too much pain to look at. I am also erm... how should I put it.... not quite the most computer literate of people. But, you asked for it so here goes.... this may take some time.

As there is a lot of talk at the moment about 1665's I thought I would share with you my experiences with a basic (non-MBW) 1665 ETA that I have had for about 5 years. I do alot of building work and therefore did not want to wear a 'work watch' that was of great value so I opted for a basic 1665 (the type with an adapted sub case). Well I have abused this thing in all manner of ways, it has been immersed in plaster, bashed with hammers, scraped on walls, dropped etc etc. I found that the weak point was the springbars as they are so thin the watch comes away from the strap (NATO) when bashed so I had my step father drill the lugs for 2mm springbars. This done the watch is now solid as a rock, I hasten to add it has always been waterproof (at least good enough to snorkel with anyway). The movement never misses a beat and keeps excellent time. Unfortunately a slight error crept in. I was holidaying recently in Sardinia and I took 'old faithful' with me. A few days into the hols I confidently leapt into the pool for a swim. I wasn't in for long as the pool was not heated and after I got out I noticed - shock horror - that old faithful had let in a little water! Salt water to boot!! I also noticed that the glass of the watch was cracked in about 6 different places, I am talking hair line cracks that at first were not very noticeable. I was thrown into a deep depression as the movement had stopped working also. I couldn't believe it, this watch had been so good to me and I abused it so badly that the final drenching was just too much for the poor soul. I was bored and heartbroken by the pool so decided to persevere with the piece, I felt a little coaxing was the least I could do. I therefore opened the crown and placed the watch face down so gravity might draw the water to the glass rather than the dial/movement. After an hour or so the glass was covered in droplets of water - some quite large! I then manually wound the watch and lo and behold it started again - a miracle! I have now been wearing this watch for two weeks in the hope that the heat from my wrist will evaporate the water inside and I am happy to report that it has nearly all gone, about three more days should do it. But now to the point of this thread, I feel I owe it to 'old faithful' to replace the glass. Does anyone know where to get just the glass? I am no longer in contact with the supplier of the watch as he sent me a few duds and I stopped using him. Also, I have never done any work on a watch and have no specialist tools so was wondering if replacing the glass was practical for a rank amateur. I have of course smashed the bezel off 'old faithful' a few times but have just snapped it back in place and carried on with my work - that is about the extent of my watch repairing skills! Many thanks for taking the time to share my experiences and I hope that someone can help this piece receive the TLC it truly deserves.

Just to reminisce about all things Daytona for a second, a friend of mine who used to be a watch dealer (some of you may be familiar with him - N. Urul) tells me that the Val 72 movement was not popular about twenty five years ago and he remembers dealers having trays of them for sale at

Superb review. Thanks for the hard work.

Brilliant review and much needed (for me at least!). Thanks Stephane.

Great looking watch, very classy. I hope your wife enjoys wearing it - lucky lady!

Lovely story and great work done by Tribal, resulting in a fantastic piece, May you wear it well indeed.

Love the story. Welcome. Come on in the water's fine. I seem to remember a few very useful posts re the YM. Use the search engine and you may find very helpful stuff. As I recall the red colour of YM on the dial is an issue as is the positioning of the date window.Tread carefully and you will not be disappointed.