grifter

best way to curb the compulsion: let the wifey manage all the money accounts! LOL that squared me up with the quickness!

reminds me of halloween

cool, thx nanuq! the casebacks i've seen on reps are domed with the slope being polished and the top being brushed. i'm trying to see if this is correct for the 1680 and also for the daytona because i remember reading something about the caseback being flat and brushed after the teeth of the caseback. i dug up an old 1680 i've had for about 9 years and i noticed the caseback is the flat kind. if the gen 1680 has the domed caseback and the gen daytona has the flat, i was going to swap the casebacks on my reps. thx for any help!!

Calling on the experts here. Casebacks in the rep rollie world are not as important as in the rep PAM world, but I was wondering if any of the experts here knew what kind of caseback came on a gen Sub 1680 and a gen Daytona 116520. I'm not as concerned about the markings inside of the caseback. I'm more concerned about the shape of the caseback. It seems that the reps have a "domed" caseback but I seem to remember reading somewhere that the casebacks on some of the models were "flat" after the teeth marks of the caseback. I hope this question is clear.. and that the experts can understand my gibberish.. Thanks in advance!

jmb, that's awesome work! i wish i had the equipment to do what you do. the last time i shaved a case, i did it with a dremel and files. i'm still paying off the masseuses who had to work the knots out of my neck, shoulders and arms!! jk

My 1655

I bought this Daytona in the early part of 2006. I guess I'm one of the lucky few who got one with no movement problems. Heck, I only just found out this model had problems a few months ago, as I found these holy of holy forums in june of '10. I've worn it everywhere. It's been with me all over the US and even to Korea. I've worn it while ATV'ing in the woods, shooting, swimming, etc etc.. Ignorance truely is bliss, because had I known these were potentially ticking time bombs I would have thought twice before wearing it. So it has run flawlessly for 4 years through thick and thin. After discovering Zigmeister and reading his write up on the movement, I couldn't think of a better person to have service my watch. Since I was sending it for service I also had The Zigmeister lume it and replace the crystal. I had dropped it and the crystal had some chips on the edge. Plus it meant good bye ugly etched crown at 6! Here is the report I got back: Daytona - Movement very dirty and dry and gummed up, not serviced in many years - Movement serviced, full disassembly, cleaned, inspected, no damage or worn out parts, assembled, oiled, running very well, adjusted in 3 positions - Dial and hands lumed in C3 A+, small marker discount - New sapphire crystal installed After the service, my what a world of difference! Winds so smooth and the pushers are way easier to depress. All chronos snap back into place. Nice! The "running very well" part makes me warm and fuzzy because I sent in a PAM also and all that got was a "running well." I think I may know what it feels when one of your children wins a gold medal at the Olympics. Now the lume. All I can say is the Zigmeister doesn't mess around. Lume application is perfect. The glow is nuclear. When comparing with my gen Explorer II they are exactly alike as far as characteristics. The lume begins to activate even in the lightest of shadows. It might be me, but The Zigmeister's lume seems brighter to me in absolute darkness than the gen's lume. There is absolutely no doubt that Zigmeister stripped the rep lume off the markers and applied genuine C3 A+ Super Luminova. (is my lume fetish showing at all? ) Sorry just some bad iphone pics for now, but I'll post again with better shots soon. Also will write up a similar review of my PAM 02A that the Zigmeister worked on over in the Panerai section.

The Zigmeister has worked on two of my watches, and he is hands down the BEST. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOUR 88!!!!!

i found gen parts on ebay and also on the net through forums like the vintage rolex forum or the rolex forum. good luck in your hunt!

thanks all!! actually, the crown is gen. heehee, i might have taken a bit too much off the crowngaurds when i reshaped the case.. gen parts: tube, crown, crystal, and lugbars. aftermarket: dial, hands, and datewheel. i really appreciate all the nice coms!

I finally had a chance to write this up. I really wanted to do this watch justice by taking pics with a camera instead of my usual iphone pics.. LOL First and foremost, a million thanks to pbdad who finished off my build. http://http://repgeek.com/showthread.php?t=112944 I can't say enough good things about him as a person and for his work. Truely amazing! Enough talk, hope you all enjoy the pics. Here is what I had in mind: gen 1655 Here is my finished 1655: Looking back at the conversations between pbdad and myself, we had around 70 emails. I gave him ideas. He gave me ideas. The whole process was AWESOME! I felt like I was there with him while he was working his magic! I sent him this picture of lbd1014's 6152/1 http://repgeek.com/showthread.php?t=113613 that Nightwatch did the dial and lume for. I LOVE the "star" effect and asked pbdad if he could do that on the 1655. He said it would be difficult but that he would do his best. Honestly, I didn't think it would be possible because of the type of markers I had compared to the PAM, and also because of the difficulty level. I figured pbdad was super busy as it was, and put it out of my mind. I really didn't expect to see this when I took the lume shots for this post... I literally screamed out, "HOLY CRAP!" and had to go into a darker room to see this again and make sure I wasn't halucinating! He did it! He remembered how crazy I was about the lume effect and made it reality for me in my watch. WOW!!! Like I said, pbdad is amazing! Flat 3 datewheel: Every single thing I asked pbdad to try to do, he did. Color of the GMT hand. Exactly what I wanted. Lume color, texture, and effect. Dead on. Contamination level on the hands. Perfect. I am so happy with this watch and with pbdad's work. So happy, in fact, that I am looking for a better movement and quite possibly may go super franken with a gen movement. Hope you enjoy the pics and this write up.

Don't worry about compatability issues with the gen 116 crystal. I put one on my 1655 and when I tried to put the bezel on, I had the same problem you had. You've got to either sand down the crystal sides or the bezel. Or really force it on and risk cracking the crystal. I sanded the insides of my bezel to get it to fit.

Thanks all! I've already shipped it over to a pro. He's a great modder and someone I really look up to as far as ability and his builds. This being my first mod/build, I feel I went a little over my head. Now I'm learning all I can about movements and taking them apart and putting them back together. I'm also starting to source and research parts for another couple of builds! LOL what can I say? I'm addicted! I'll post a project log once I begin!

Nice, great advice! I will do this in the future! Thanks!!

Hello all, thought I'd post here what I've been up to.. My first attempt at a watch mod/build. Bought the new 1655 from Joshua. Took it apart and started ordering parts. First thing I did was swap the crystal with a gen 116 Then I got a new dial and aged (baked) the hands. I aged the bracelet and clasp. I installed a new tube and crown. Then I put her all together. I was happy but I noticed the case was a different shape from the gen photos I used for inspiration. I shaped the case so the sides dissapear into the 4, 8, 16, and 20. mine gen While taking out the movement to reshape the case, I must have gotten some silicone grease on my glove... I took some of the lettering off the dial. Then I broke the stick seconds hand.. then I broke the keyless works... then I snapped the tube... LMAO I'm doing more harm than good so now I've handed this off to a pro to finish. I will post pics once I get her back. Lots of valuable lessons were learned on this project. I will continue to try builds, way too much fun! Thanks for looking.

Here are some pics of my Jackjo SSD. This thing blew me away and I've been wearing it everyday (as you can tell by the dings I already got ). It was also Vaclumed. Love the cg's Pearl is a thing of beauty Vac's work is awesome! Glows for hours! On the wrist it looks absolutely gen

AWESOME!! Definitely on my to-build list!

WOW this is a great thread! I'm almost done with mods on my Josh 1655 and once I'm done I'm doing this 1675 for sure! Can't wait to see more!!