tmg

Freddy,

Yes, the 6&9 are a little too thin. I had a CWP dial on order but was too impatient and bought this one. The Zigmeister said he had a hell of a time with the DW install and it appears that last night it was stuck between days

Thanks for the kind words!

-TMG

I am surprised The Zigmeister did not widen the 6 & 9 hour markers. But other than that, superb specimen. It looks like you had better luck with the Watchmeister datewheel than I have.

Since my MBW 1665 DRSD is finally more or less done, here are some pix.

A big thank you to The Zigmeister for the dial aging and assembling of this 9 month old project. It was a major coup for me just to work the cg's, lugholes, change the crown & tube and crystal -I'm one of the most unhandy people I know

The vital stats are:

CG reshaped & lugholes drilled for gen spring bars

Case gently aged and polished

Gen crown & aftermarket tube

Gen used and abused bezel insert from 1665 (so I was told )

Gen Tropic 39 Superdome

NDT aftermarket dial, aged and relumed by The Zigmeister (I was going for that heavy exposure to humidity look)

Clarks Tudor Sub hands also aged by the The Zigmeister

2846 ETA

Watchmeister DW overlay

Ah, the superdome

Wearing my very first Franken, a Marathon customed Type 1 by MkII Watches.

Lello,

I'd be interested too, if it's the correct font.

Thanks!

-TMG

Looks damm good

Thanks Tribal!

I have miles to go on it, but I think TTK's model (whatever it is) has good bones in the dial and case, my biggest beef with the case is the lug holes aren't drilled all the way through

Tiger,

Yup, no good ones out there. The "supposed" MBW still has many flaws, the one plus is that it does seem to have the correct proportions, but will take a LOT of work.

Predfan,

The earlier models of 1655 did come with rivet bracelets. The problem with your "#4" is that the dial/bezel proportions are off -too small. Believe me, I've been through 3 models; TTK's supposed MBW, TT's top grade vintage, and Joshua's. I have some comparison shots of the TT top grade vintage alonside TTK's. 1655 comparison

Here's a current pix of my snail's-pace project which is a franken of all 3 of the aforementioned models.

Timeman (www.timeman.net) is the best deal for used 7mm crowns; 3 for $60. Aftermarket tubes from Clarks or Raymondleejeweler ("best offer" has gotten me some deals) work very nicely and good quality too.

FYI, I wouldn't deal with that jerk at Helfands! -I purchased a few from them and one broke upon installation and I brought it up with them he said that has never happened with any of their tubes in 9 years.

aarghh these Pams are growing on me now

Stephane, they'll grow on you like a weed. There so much history to them! Perhaps a Davidsen 6154 w/ Rolex dial might be a good starting point, kinda the best of both worlds.

-go ahead buy it... buy it!

Wearin' my Dsn 6152 on a vintage Zeugma strap

Enjoy the time off The Zigmeister, lord knows you deserve it!

I've been a genuine collector for ~20 years, mostly vintage Deco styles watches early on with collecting and a few Rolex, sadly smaller models from the 40's-50's. This was before I discovered that I liked the sport models. I could kick myself for not starting back then with the prices of the sport pieces compared to today . I took a break for many years from collecting and discovered reps maybe a year and a half ago and have to say it has rekindled my interested in watches in general and I probably know more about watches now in collecting reps then I did buying gens -funny how that works!

Looks like Westcoastime just added a G10 style in orange. I like the Zulu as well but it has more heft to it than a NATO.

orange NATO

I'm with FX and Avitt; wear the ding as a badge of honor, it happens and shows that its lived in

Nanuq,

She's a beauty!!! What a wonderful story behind the watch, thanks for sharing it with us.

You can usually find a decent genuine on Timezone if you look often for ~$400

Euno,

I haven't even asked around to see if an ETA can even be fitted in the Marathon, so that could indeed be the case.

Curiously what to you think about this, I've eyeballed it for a long time. Type 1 It's powered by an ETA and has the correct shaped case back.

Funny, I had a black Navigator as well but sold it a few years ago.

TMG - I'd love to put in a mechanical ETA into the Marathon. I think that it might not be possible, somewhere I read about this (but I can't recall where). You never know though. I've wanted to do this for a long time (this includes a Benrus Type I+II styled crystal). I should've bought a Type I or II when they were still $400-$500. Those days are long over.

I've always wanted to make a Type 1 out of an old Black Navigator that I have, but now my composite Nav had turned into a collector's item (2000 issue).

Similar tastes, my friend!

PS. Glad that you are part of our very small Tropic 60s Sub club

Nice Avitt! I'm not that much of a modern Panerai fan but I'm feeling the need for titanium and love the tobacco dial.

I only know that the weekend is starting out with this:

...who knows where it will go from there?

Euno, you've got great taste my friend!

Yes it's a franken Marathon Type 1 that Bill put together for me a good 5-6 years ago, long before I discovered reps. -One of these days I'll see about having an ETA dropped in it and a taller domed crystal.

I guess I would be one of the 3 people that you mentioned in the 60's that would have opted for the Tropic strap on a sub

BTW, great strap on the Nautilus.

TMG - I've got a Steel Marathon Navigator that I frankened 7+ years ago into a Type 1 with Bill's parts.

Is that watch I see a Marathon? It does not look like an MMT.

Here's a pic of my Homage Type 1:

Nanuq, whenever I see your James Bond Sub I'm the guy sitting in dentist chair with the suction tube hanging on the side of my mouth -drooool drooool It's a lovely piece!

SWEEEEEEEEEEET! I love how that model has come along. I've given away 3 of them, the ones I received just didn't "do it" for me. But that one is nice. That is a magnificent GMT hand!

Me? I'm wearing my baby:

My Speedmaster today

and the fraternal twins this weekend, boy all my reps are either in pieces or on a The Zigmeister vacation

Tonyp1,

Check with Timeman for a 7835, he usually has some for fair prices. I personally like the folded link model bracelet. They may not be the correct end pieces but will usually fit or you can have some custom made.

You can find 7835/78350 bracelets on ebay if you're patient for between $175-$250. $900 is robbery! Even the expansion rivit model sells for under that and that is a far more rare bracelet.

Vintage,

Try a 5/64 screw extractor from any hardware store, a few bucks. That's what I used on my MBW's. Genuines use a torx type of tool that Caskers sells for ~$40.

I've read that some guys have used a rat tail file with success.

Good luck!

Does anyone know where I can get (inexpensive) tools to remoe a polex crown tube, also do the reps use the same tool as the genuine watches?

Thx.

Sounds like a cool fetish to me This is one of my personal favorites.

Thanks for posting up the pix Klingsor!

I'm stating the obvious here; the bezel is still not there, but is this the final form? -I seem to recall Silix offered a model with the correct coin edge bezel in the past and can plug that right in for a more accurate bezel. The big question remains does it have lug holes drilled through the case and will it accept a gen crystal???

I won't get into the dials

It's great to see this coming together!

these are the first pics i have about the watches

i know there are some mistakes ..... i have answered to silix boys some opinion about the ref.6202 (vintage turn-o-graph) deeply wrong in the dial...

now i have no time to look well the others...

so please leave here your suggest

i hope to send more pics in the next ours/days

what do you guys think?? Is it really magnetic??

James Bond watch (ROGER MOORE) on EBAY !!

You're right Falco -it's all yours!