freddy333

Here is a pic from my DSLR, which gives you a more accurate view of the terrain. As you can see, the texture looks very much like the early gen dials If you look closely, you can see how thick the paint is on the subdial characters (like the gens). Look at the 10 in the minute totalizer & the square at the end of the line opposite the 10. Compare this to any Newmans from Phong or NDT. Pretty impressive, considering what we are used to from aftermarket dials. Finally, an aftermarket factory that actually does use 'special paint'. As always, not quite perfect, but this would definitely fool me if viewed from my benchmark threshold of authenticity - with the naked eye from an arm's length away. Remove the serifs on COSMOGRAP (the H is the only serifed letter) & we might soon be venturing into Texas territory lads.

Handset?

It is difficult to photograph the texture, but this should give you a general idea When I have more time, I will take some pics with my DSLR, which has better resolving capability to highlight the texture a bit more. Like all aftermarkets, there is minimal depth to the subdials & MQ supplements what there is, cleverly, by shading the paint around the inner circumference of each subdial. It is more easily seen (by eye) on the black dial, but keep in mind that many gens are nearly as flat. Empirically, I have noticed that later dials have deeper subdials than earlier dials. The early dials have that nice texture, while the later dials have a more 3-d appearance.

I had planned to transplant a gen coronet onto the new dial, but the 1 on the dial looks nearly like the gen, so it is not worth the risk involved to swap them. What you cannot see in the pic is the surface texture of MQ's dials, which are very close to early gens like the example in the pic above. I have not seen any other aftermarket Newmans that have this texture.

I had alot of trouble getting this dial installed (not the fault of the dial), so I may be re-doing a few details, but here is the new dial next to its brother (also from MQ) (fyi - I transpanted a gen crown onto the '41 dial & the crown on the '39 is MQ's original aftermarket crown - they look almost identical) a shot of the old dial for comparison & a gen for comparison

Fitted with a gen dial, unless the rest is below Canal Street quality, I would have trouble identifying such a watch as anything other than gen. Except where the watch has something on the caseback (like a 1665 or 5514), the dial is, by far, the most important part of a Rolex & the part that I (& most) use as a barometer for authenticity.

Looks good. What is next on your list of to-dos?

Good luck.

1680 is correct. Viewing a good rep (in the real world) on the wrist of someone who fits the bill generally passes without incident. But, when viewed on the web, where the viewer has time to examine with care & without the context of the wearer's overall deportment to sway his impression, a rep/franken is likely to get called-out. A gen dial in a decent rep case is not likely to cause much havoc, but an aftermarket dial in a gen case usually will.

I am more familiar with 1665s, but what you did looks good to me.

I just received the new MQ Newman dial & it is a virtual clone of the MQ dial in my '41, except for the colors being reversed. I was going to post a pic of the new dial in my '39, but, as usual, the chrono seconds hand (from Phong) is free-wheeling. So it is being epoxied & I will post a pic of the new dial in the assembled watch once the cement has fully cured (tomorrow). In the meantime, here is a teaser

This is a fairly common model, so most of the sellers listed in the Watches, Clothing & Accessories forum should either have it or be able to source it for you (you may need to upgrade your member status to access some of the site features). I would recommend that you 1st read the Forum Rules & Toad's Guide, both of which are pinned atop the Introduction Forum.

You are a sick man (I was thinking the same thing, but I am too much of a gentleman to say it).

Font alignment is off, but, otherwise, looks nice.

Neither. It is a franken consisting of a modified DW case, gen (or Phong, I forget which) handset, modified MQ dial with genuine coronet, gen crown/tube, gen 7835 bracelet, Ofrei pushers (same as gens) & powered by a Valjoux 72 (V72) movement (same base movement that Rolex used). You might want to take some time & research these frankens as many members have built them (expect to spend $2.5-4k+, depending on how many gen parts you include).

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.