Olivax

Nice dial cc! Do you have a link?

As far as I know, gen DJ doesn't have AR. The ExpII has AR under the cyclop only

But of course it will look great anyway

I am going to chime in here and give my 2 cents worth.....I chose a phong case for my daytona build. I was lucky enough to get a great case at a great price in a recent group buy....thanks A!!!. Your the man for setting this one up.!!!.My case only required extremely light "massaging", to make it very, very genlike....I wanted to build a franken. When I was finally done the only two things left on my build that were not gen were the phong midcase and the 726 Roamer movement. I have to say it would be very difficult to "call it out" among gen owners.Mine is a build that got out of control. I still think there are a few upgrades that i need to do to make it even more period correct...

I originally started with a budget of $1500.00 for a V72 DW build; but I decided I wouldn't be satisfied with DW's offerings and went with Phong's.Well,since then my build has gotten out of control....I estimate my cost at around 12-13000.00 USD; but I now have a very convincing Franken at 1/3 the cost of a gen....i'm still not finished; but i'm very, very happy with the result thus far!!!

Waouhhh Janeto 12-13.000 usd for a franken is a lot of cash! I think you can get a gen one for around 22.000 usd.

My brother built a franken 6263 one and half year ago for around 6-7k euros with gen dial, gen hands, v726 with rolex bridges, phong case, ofrei pushers, gen crown and tube, gen plexi, gen bracelet and endlinks, spin bezel.

I heard that George from WM9 died in car accident... If the money goes straight to phong with no intermediary, that would be the solution

As it is a ROC dial (rolex oyster cosmograph) it should be screw down pusher so 6263 is correct

I wish I had the know how and the cash to set up a similar shop. We pay for the quality. I buy from Phong and Minh because of quality. Often, I will try to grab an all-built Franken here on the for sale section. We all started with the cheap $150 sub or cheap Daytona. on day 1, those cheap bastards were as good as gen. However, as time went on, we could not live with the flaws so we moved up to better quality, less tells. That has a cost. The cost is Phong and Minh. A group buy with this amount of cash involved is a disaster waiting to happen, IMHO.

I agree. It could turn out to be very dangerous with this amount of money involved. 

Why not ask for a special RWG deal or discount like DW did with the 7032 case. A real bargain imho!

Yes, just like anything else. If you have a problem with it, don't buy.

 

So make your own, price them cheaper, and reap the rewards.

 

What's that, you say? You're not willing to invest the time and money to learn how to do this, or run the legal risks of producing counterfeit goods? Well I guess you're just going to have to pay what they're asking, then.

We are all willing to learn how to do it. If not, we wouldn't spend so much time on this forum. After all, we are all investing money in this hobby some more than others. 

I just think that the strength of this community is to improve quality and price on our replicas. That's what is happening with all the trusted dealers and factory that are serving us better and better quality at a fraction of the real deal (Pam, Ap divers, JLC NS, TC Sub etc...)

I just think that it's a non sense when the price of a rep part is getting close to the real deal. 

I understand that rolex replacement parts have increased those last years due to rarity. So, why those aftermarket guys are increasing their prices as well when they can produce the quantity they want?? They just take advantage of the market going up. So we must be fools...

I've asked Phong for a Tudor 7032 bezel and he asked me 350 usd and later one I've been offered a gen one for 380 usd!!!

There is no logic when you consider that phong's bezel has flaws and at the end it's just a rep part which value for collectors are near to 0 usd!!!

Phong uses a stone tumbler to add wear/patina to his cases. It's a mostly automatic process. His labor involves putting the case into the tumbler barrel along with some type of polishing medium (I would love to know exactly what he is using........so if anyone knows, please let us know) & turning the motor on. Then, he lets the tumbler do its work for several hours to a few days, depending on the amount of 'wear' he wants the case to have. Once the case has the right amount of wear, he takes it out, engraves it (if required, which takes no more than a few minutes) & ships it off.

The cases themselves, as has been discussed many times on rwg before, cost no (or very little) more to make than the average replica case, because that is all they are - replica cases. The quality of the steel is the same, the manufacturing technique is the same, even the lack of QC is the same. The only area where they may differ is in how much effort was spent to match the dimensions of the gen they used as a model. And, considering the amount of variability (lack of dimensional consistency) of all of these premium cases, they are likely made in the same factories along side the average Canal Street replicas.

Frankly, I doubt it costs more than $10 to make any of these cases. Engraving, which just about any jewelry store can do, a few dollars more. Phong, Natalie & others selling these outrageously priced rep cases are simply pocketing huge profits. Now, I will grant that those who operate in the US or EU are entitled to make a bit more profit due to the legal hazards involved in their business. But selling rep cases & dials for more than $300 is really outrageous. But, as they say, value is what a buyer is willing to pay &, when it comes to watches, especially vintage Rolex watches, neurotic WIS types (like me) are not always playing with a full deck.

+1 Freddy

pm BK or TC

I agree with you Valty. Group buy could be the solution... 

Is it allowed by forum rules? 

Great news for the DW overlay!

I agree that a 1016 dial should be a good start!

Btw, i have a 6263 phong case and had to mod it to fit the tube and endlinks. The lug holes were not even on the right position!

Cc33 they practice those prices just because some of us can afford paying it. If a community of a 20.000 members send them a mail signed by all memebers saying that we are not ok to pay those prices anymore then they will stop for sure! I think that phong could sell 3x more cases if the price was around 300 usd. Then he would make even more profits!

@Valty: so why pay 350 usd for a simple 7032 steel bezel when DW use to sell a complete case with bezel for 190 usd. The only difference is the accuracy! Regarding the problem that H is encountering it's because he's just starting but i'm sure he will succeed. Those guys like phong, ndt and others are selling high prices cases for years and imo they already had profit on their investment of creating the autocad files, find a maker or machining the cases.

Thanks IRolexu, Just don't want to spread names but i think that we have the power to make them change their point of vue and scare them because if they have no clients paying those prices they will be obligated to lower their price. We should start a petition signed by all the members from all the boards saying that we are not going to pay those prices anymore!

I love this hobby and since i've started and entered this world i've seen gen part prices going up and so the rep parts. But come one guys, some rep dealers are asking now crazy prices for cases, bezel, dials and bracelets that are after all "aftermarket" or well said rep! Just because they are better done that those pieces of chunk we are used to. Now some of those parts are worth more than a 1000 usd! Why? Because we are willing to pay that price. Just read that some dealers are asking almost 2000 usd for a 6538 case + dial. Pieces that are made in Vietnam or China for probably less than 100's of dollars!! Most o the time they still have to be modded to fit gen pieces. So i think we should wake up before they continue taking advantage of our enthousiastic hobby! We should sign a petition to make them lower those prices! If not, We should create a collective to spread autocad files of those pieces and machine them by ourselves! We should help people that are in this labour like H trying to elaborate the perfect 5512/13/14 and 1680 case with donation. Just a late night thought after all...

Rolex Addict or Domi

Very sad story. I'm sorry for you.

Also beware that a watch movement is not the same weight as a watch!

Amazing work!!! Can't wait to send mine to RA. Congrats edgematic! Wear it well!

A bit expensive for me but I'll think about it

I've asked phong for a pic of his bezel but he sent me the exact same pic as above

Woww Thanks so much CC

thanks for the advice CC. I will send him an email

Hi Guys,

I've been wearing for almost 2 years now my 7032 built by Spinmaster with a 7734 Valjoux 45 min counter. 

So now I want to update it with the following parts that I already have:

- Gen tropic 128

- Yuki minute, hour and chrono hands

- Domi subdial hands (when sent to him for assembly)

- Gen 700 crown with tube.

One thing that is buggering me is the bezel and I found a replacement one on ebay. What do you think of the engraving? Is there other alternatives? 

Picture of my watch:

Picture of Yuki Bezel:

Picture of Phong Bezel (very inaccurate imo):

Picture of Ebay Seller Bezel:

Picture of Gen Bezel:

What do you think? Is there any better option?