freddy333

3035 = 28.50mm dia, 6.35mm ht 3135 = 28.50mm dia, 6.00mm ht

Yes, dial is not genuine. Looks like someone went a bit overboard enhancing the dial patination.

Beginning with the Zenith-powered Daytonas (1988), the center portion of the casebacks was brushed.

Because they use a lower grade/quality of gold to plate/flash (or whatever term you prefer) reps. This is 1 of the differences between a $200-$300 rep & a several thousand $ gen.

I have never seen an accurate rose gold-plated rep. Their color always looks strange.

The pusher cut-outs tend to vary & 62xx Daytona casebacks were polished.

I would 2nd that. I got the 1 in the middle from Honpo some years ago (by way of a friend) & its subdials are pretty close Unfortunately, Honpo is notorious for dealing only with Asian customers (often, in person only) & even these are not perfect. Unfortunately, you are out of luck. Due to their respective chrono pinion placements, I do not think you will find a 7750 dial that exactly matches the size & location of the subdials on a V72/gen dial. Typically, your choices are a dial with smaller subdials or a dial with subdials (the proper size) that bleed into the outer minute track.

If this was a dress watch, I would get it fixed/replaced. But, on a tool watch, as long as it is not impeding the rotor, I would leave the caseback as it is. It adds character.

Obviously, size does matter.

The look is not the salient issue here (there is little to no difference in the appearance of springbars of the same size/style/type). It is the spring tension, which is considerably stronger on Swiss-made springbars vs Asian-made, that make the difference. The stronger the internal spring, the less chance the springbars will collapse or let go, which can result in a very nasty accident.

If you want to do it right (without spending on a buffing wheel & pads), get a Bergeon 5444 fine polishing pad. Ofrei & other watch parts supply dealers sell them. Find a pic of your watch online & simply copy the direction of the brushing. Use masking tape to block off the polished sections or areas you do not want brushed.

Cooper is a vintage Rolex collector (I recall hearing something about him picking up the hobby from Clapton, another famous vintage Rolex collector), so I doubt he is wearing 1 of those mod-jobs.

It is quite likely that the hand was never pressed all the way onto its pinion at the factory (there is little or no QC in rep manufacture) & the act of uncasing the watch may have been enough to loosen the hand to the point where it is now too loose to stay in place. Your only option is to uncase the movement again, remove the minute & second hand (if fitted), press the loose hour hand down (GENTLY) with a clean toothpick (I assume you do not have a proper tool for setting watch hands) until it gently seats & reinstall the other hands. IMPORTANT - Before recasing, pull the stem out to the time-setting position & manually run the hands through an entire 24-hour cycle to be sure none of the hands are coming into contact with each other, the dial or the inside of the crystal. Check, also, to be sure the date-change works correctly. If everything is working, press the stem back into the winding position & check that it also winds properly. If all is well, recase & take pride in having repaired the watch yourself.

Most of the watch parts suppliers sell 2mm, non-stepped Swiss-made springbars, which are similar to Rolex's (actually, they may be the same since I am pretty certain that Rolex sources theirs).

Quite honestly, unless your watch has some glaring issue that screams FAKE (causing the viewer to suspect & look for additional clues of fakery), no one (other than you) notices whether your springbars peek out of the lug holes or not.

I am better with vintage models, but my gut tells me fake/franken. At least, I would not buy without pictures more befitting a genuine Rolex watch. The pics posted are rubbish & more typical of scammers than honest sellers. Always remember - buy the seller before you buy the watch.

At this point, provenance is key. If you are paying more than rep prices, remember to buy the seller before you buy the watch (or Rolex part).

Mathematics never looked so good, even after subtracting a bit for the pics .

Exactly. Standard springbars will stick out because the lugs have been thinned with excessive polishings.

Nice. Makes me want to break out my JlC (maybe this evening), but wearing 1 of my Subs

Kev - Just take each day as it comes & do your best. That is all you can do.

As always, with reps (clones are reps), have it serviced upon receipt. Problems like this are quite typical. Arguments can always be made that the huge price differentials between gens & reps/clones cannot be justified. However, the differences (in fit & finish) are real & it is up to the buyer as to what that difference is worth.