tmg

I think its a cycle too, I know for a month or two over summer I wasn't here that much just busy with the kids and work. I'm not a huge poster to begin with and I tend to hunt and peck on topics that interest me and post accordingly. I have noticed though that over the past few months may veteran members that haven't been around much have been active again -great to see that!!! It's a community and what we make of it... a shot in the arm isn't a bad thing from time to time either or reminding us that we're all being a little lazy.

Case, bezel, and bracelet look gen from these pix, but it would be good to see the case stampings and mvmt. Again the dial may be gen but for sure it was redone at some point. A none molested dial swap and old tritium hands or having the existing ones relumed in a vintage tone will have it looking quite nice. It appears you've already purchased it??? PM me if you're interested in a a gen 1675 dial I've had in the parts box for years -I'll let it go cheap.

Redial for sure. Any more pix of the case, mvmt etc? I have a gen 1675 dial I'm planning on selling that you could always replace it with if it all checks out.

Awesome signature Hike!!! I'm still smitten with the GMT today

Ditto, gilt but never seen silver. Do you have a photo?

Yes pix pix pix, will answer a lot. But if the dial isn't a horrid refinish job and includes a bracelet and been serviced -that's a good price. Even a redial at a few hundred $'s would probably be worth it, matte 16750 dials are hard to come by. Keep us posted. Now I wish I would have found that good a deal on mine.... My example was north of your deal and only the watch head, but all original with the exception of the more aged insert I recently swapped out.

I think it has to do as PolexPete said with the base color content on the various inserts as to how it fades. The first MBW insert I bleached turned blue/green. One of the cheapy ones from Wholesale outlet I treated turned the perfect slate grey color after several treatments. I also gave it a little polish with a Capecod cloth to give it a little shine. From what I've seen many of the aged/faded inserts still have the clear coat on them but are discolored. Unlike when you bleach them the clear coat is stripped away. The Capecod brings a little of that shine back. Here is the Wsoutlet insert: and the same insert on the left on a different watch, the one on the far right is a gen with more of a charcoal/graphite tone I need to dig through my photo library to see if I still have a shot of the blue/green MBW insert.

Thanks a lot B!

This aged beauty for me Thursday

Wow Nanuq I do see some chocolate developing. Maybe you should send it to a tanning booth. Hey, only 11 more years and I'll be there too!

Kruzer, Just beautiful, congrats! I have to say the Panda is simply amazing and my favorite.

Indeed you are amassing quite a collection Jojo. Congratulations and wear it well!!!

A little transitional make-under today. I swapped the insert out for a much more aged and faded one that I felt it set off the patina of the dial/hands better.... Now I think its done!!! So it has gone from Pepsi: To teal/cherry pink:

Thank you Redwatch! The 1520 movement did not drop right in for a supposed 1:1 case and had to be modded to fit.

Guibs, It seems the stock changes from time to time on these reps, you should verify with Josh if the dial is glossy or matte? It should be matte and that will stick out more than the hands and cyclops IMO. It's a safe bet that all the date mags will be too weak on any 1655 rep so if you want to improve that a crystal swap is your best option. Plenty of good info on the forums here if you want to mod your 1655, details of my 1655 are linked in my signature line. Good luck!

Today:

Still on 5517 time....

Yes, one of these days I need to get off my lazy butt and take a few of the group. Nice avatar just the same, but I hear ya Prof -the only Speedster in my budget is a replica!

Hi Prof, It's an MOD grey G10 strap. So tell me more about those Speedsters in your avatar? -TMG Thank you Ed! I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

Stephane, I think you win in the gem department. Thank you again to everyone for the kind words! I also added a few more pix.

Much appreciated B, a lot of satisfaction! Thanks again.

Thank you very much for the nice comments guys! RoninQ, the hands are aftermarket for Rolex 15xx movements from Classicwatchpars, I adjusted my post as that might not have been clear.

Amazing JV strap Projectologist! I've been wearing the 5517 all weekend:

Wow very nice and indeed special Stephane, congrats and wear it well!

Finally back from the dead is my MilSub 5517 -just back from a Canadian spa. Thank you again to The Zigmeister!!! The 5517 is one of my favorite Rolex's, I've always had a "thing" for military divers -in particular this grail watch. In its previous short life the watch had a 2846 ETA movement with a troublesome stem/tube alignment, this created too much tension on the right side of the dial/movement, the dial was starting to chip/flake at the 3 o'clock and had to be dissambled. I debated for some time whether to scrap this project altogether or bite the bullet and put a gen movement inside -well I chose the latter and here are the results. The details of this project are: Gen Rolex 1520 heartbeat Phong Vietnamese case Yukiwatch bezel assembly CWP bezel insert CWP vintage lume hands set Aged lume dot from someone on Ebay -can't recall now... NDT dial Clarks Tropic 19 crystal Gen crown and after-market tube