freddy333

Odd, but not rare.

As long as the blow dryer is set no higher than WARM (not HOT), it should not damage anything. But, over time, you may prematurely dry out the rubber gaskets. So, if you want to use the hair dryer, be sure to have the watch professionally water-pressure tested at least yearly.

Search out my old Phase 1 6542 articles that describe the work involved in getting a GMT out of the Silix & then decide.

I am often amazed at the lengths UK tv producers will go to maintain factual & historical accuracy (those of you art historians who are familar with the Lovejoy series know what I am talking about). Just now, I was watching the 'Captain Cook' episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, which I have seen dozens of times before, &, in the scene where Blackadder, Baldrick & George were sent out into no-man's land to paint pictures of the German positions, I happened to notice something very unusual & interesting about Blackadder's watch As you can see, the watch crystal has a Mesh Guard covering it, which was an invention often used by soldiers in the trenches of WWI to protect their watches from flying shrapnel. Now, I do not know whether the watch was assigned to the actor by the production department or if it belongs to him & he chose to wear it for its historical accuracy. But, either way, this is quite impressive for a tv series! Now, contrast that with a major Hollywood motion picture like Argo (that takes place in 1979), which has 1 of the main characters wearing a ceramic Submariner (which was 1st produced just a couple of years ago).

My (black) Phase 1 is 2846-powered & has JoeyB's insert, but the case is a modified Silix, not Yuki I agree with panerai53 that the 2846 would be a much better choice for a vintage Rolex (I believe that all ETA 28xx series movements have similar (though not exactly the same) dimensions, so they should be interchangeable). The only negative to using the 2846 is that you may have trouble sourcing GMT parts for it. I simply transplanted the parts from the 28.8kbps 2836-2 that came in 1 of Andrew's 1675 reps onto the 21kbps 2846), so the GMT hand varies from its correct position over time, as you can see in the pic above.

You would do well to ask Yuki, since it is his case, but I believe all those cases are designed to fit gen movements. Yuki sells ETA spacer rings elsewhere on his site, but you had better check to see if he has them in stock before assuming anything (he often does not). JoeyB's insert is made to fit into a gen bezel, so it should fit Yuki's case. But, again, always best to ask the source of the part 1st.

Ouch. Some 'lucky' buyer is going to be 1 very unhappy camper when they receive the inevitable bad news from a friend or RSC as to this 'bargain' they grabbed.

Adding to panerai53's comments, if you are going to spend more than $500-$1,100 on 1 of these better aftermarket dials, I would seriously consider sourcing a proper 1575 movement & do it right. That way, not only are you making better use of the parts you have, but you can install gen hands & datewheel to the gen movement, which, sooner or later, you will want to do anyway. And if you have cut the dial feet off a nice aftermarket dial, you cannot easily reattach them later.

Nice work, but you definitely need to put some wear on the external parts to pull it off. Which method did he use to achieve the tropical look on the dial?

I would vintagize it & swap the bezel insert for 1 of JoeyB's, but, otherwise, it looks good to me.

To begin with, you should not be wearing a rep into a Rolex store (AD). Have you read RWG's Rules in the Introduction forum? In some areas, you may be risking legal trouble by doing so since reps are considered illegal contraband in most countries &, if the staff or another customer IDs your rep, you come off as a poser. That said, we have all been there, so I get it. I would tell friends/family the truth. Never good to lie to people who matter to you. For everyone else, why not purchase a good, ETA-powered rep & then learn about who ETA is & how they rank, performance-wise, versus Rolex's movement (hint - they are pretty close). Then, when a stranger asks about your watch, instead of lying or telling them it is just a replica (which most will interpret as a 'fake Rolex'), you can dazzle them with details about ETA being a venerable, old Swiss ebauch manufacture & how your watch's case is made of the same type of steel that Rolex used to use in the 60s (as are most of the better reps), etc. That way, instead of coming off as just another know-nothing poser, you appear to be a knowledgeable & discriminating watch collector of limited means. Of course, you could always just start saving a few dollars/week to put toward the purchase of a used gen Rolex later this year or next & your problem is solved.

The key phrase is 'appropriate to that model'. Assuming the bracelets are genuine & fit within the specifications for the model, then Rolex should not have a problem with it.

As far as Rolex USA is concerned, any parts installed on or in a Rolex watch that were not manufactured by Rolex SA, are inappropriate to that model &/or are not installed as part of normal maintenance become a breach of the Rolex trademark & the watch may then be deemed to be a non-Rolex watch (franken). Therefore, swapping a Rolex bracelet or crown for another that is appropriate to that model is acceptable since this is routinely done by RSCs during normal servicing. However, installing a custom, diamond bezel or removing the date complication on a 1575 & installing the resulting 1570 in a non-date Sub case constitutes Rolex's definition of franken & is the watch is therefore no longer legally considered to be a 'Rolex'. My guess - & this is only a guess - is that if you buy all the parts that constitute a particular model of GMT, Sub or Datejust (as I have done) & assemble them into a correct watch (which is a franken-gen), the watch would pass muster only until/unless Rolex became aware that the movement serial number did not match the case serial number, in which case the watch would be considered a franken.

I recall seeing some 'ceramic' aftermarket GMT inserts for sale on ebay a month or so ago, but I think the seller may have been our old friend, Mr. Slimeball. So buyer beware.

Ditto.

You might find this & this interesting on the topic of dial feet.

Before spraying your new dial, you should do a test spray on a scrap dial 1st.

That is it - a pad printer.

I did not realize these were bare dials, which makes all the difference. If the epoxy stops working, you might try soldering the feet on. That is the recommended way to do it, but not practical with painted dials.

I think you got lucky. Looks much better now. You might consider spraying a light coat of matte varnish, which will give it a slight texture, patina & tone down some of the shine.

I would not put too much faith in that Loctite Quickset, because that is 1 of the epoxies I tried, which failed days after installation. I have spoken with other watchmakers, who have come to the conclusion that, short of actual welding, dial feet cannot be permanently attached to a painted dial.