freddy333

The brake may be misaligned or worn, which allows the hour totalizer (lower subdial) to run when the stopwatch function is not in use. To verify this, you will need to have the watch properly serviced. Because that hand is not tracking the hour hand, I do not think it is 1 of those older Seagull copies.

The 'new' insert looks great. Looking forward to seeing this with a T19 & 9315.

Usil - I enjoyed your French motorcycle adventure. Looks like fun.

Thanks, Flex. The dial color is very cool, because it looks like rust under indoor light & varies from brown to that red you see in the pic above in some outdoor light. Most of the time it has gradients of brown. I originally had a bleached gen insert, but my friend (in the pic, whose opinion, especially on matters of style, I value) thought the contrasting new/aftermarket insert (which is the correct type for the watch) looked best. So that is the 1 you see.

Ditto. After replacing the (clean/oiled - the oil should cover roughly 1/3 of the surface & placed in the center of the flat side) jewel gently fold the spring down over the top of the setting & use an oiler, small tweezers or pin to gently compress 1 leg of the spring while sliding the leg down under the ridge below the face of the setting to lock it in place. Then, repeat for the other leg. This is a different type of shock spring, but this pic shows how the ends fit into the ridge just below the face of the shock mount

I would leave it as-is, & if you decide not to do a 6239 or use the 726, PM me.

I ended up wearing the gold Newman again today

If that is the case, someone should Twitter Victoria an invite her to return (I do not use Twitter). The 1 thing RWG is missing is a female regular.

I posted a couple of threads detailing the differences between gen 7206 rivet bracelets & the typical MBW-style rep rivet bracelets which you can search out. (The 7206 fits 20mm width lugs on many vintage Rolex sports watches like Subs.) But, if credibility is your goal, I think these pictures tell the whole story. With the exception of the polished finish on the underside of the gen links, Yuki's rivet 7206 bracelets look almost exactly like the gen in these pictures (check with Yuki if you have questions about his other bracelets) Again, be aware that, at least the last time I received a 7206 from Yuki, these 7206 bracelets did not accept 2mm dia springbars. So, unless your bracelet comes with 2mm springbars already in it (Yuki was fitting them himself for a while, but I do not know if he still does this - check with Yuki), you may have trouble fitting them (I gave up trying).

Been wearing my 'Graph today, but switching over to my Golden Beauty for dinner

Click here (note that these will not fit 2mm dia springbars - check with the seller for details).

True & this very point has been discussed ad nauseum here over the years. The only thing I will add is that it is not the man-on-the-street or even the average Rolex owner or watchmaker that you need to neurose over, but those WIS types (like us) who, believe it or not, are becoming more commonplace than you might imagine. Late last year, I ran into a pair of early 20-somethings in a parking lot, who recognized my 6536-1 as a 'Bond Sub' & struck up a conversation on the spot (My watch being modeled by a friend) They began spouting off facts about early Sub history that I would never have imagined could possibly come from such young guys. While I would not call them WIS types, I was glad I was not wearing a rep, because they clearly knew enough to have called me out if my watch had not added up.

No argument there.

I am all for building-on-a-budget & can see that you put alot of effort into this. For the effort/skills required, I say well done. But, as much as I hate to be critical in these (budget) cases, I never understand the reasoning behind fitting a grungy-looking dial into an otherwise nearly pristine case. If you like that grungy look (I do not think I have ever seen a gen Daytona dial that looked like that), I think you need to mirror that grungy appearance with the case & bracelet. Actually, I would toss the bracelet (looks fake/cheap) & replace it with a solid link or cheap strap, either of which I think would make the watch look a bit more authentic. Or not............

Great work, Ronin. Were this just another standard ETA-powered watch, I would say it looks great & leave it at that. But, considering how clever this project is, it really is too bad the lettering on the dial is not better aligned & the datewheel does not have the correct flat-top 3. Still, I cannot wait to see the completed watch.

Wow. Just wow.

A slightly larger (1024x768) & less shadowy pic would help, but what I see looks very good so far. Remember, with vintage Rolex watches, God is in the details (which are currently difficult to see).

Making a watch takes a great deal of time, expertise, tools (with the know-how to use them) & patience. You can get an idea of what is involved here. I agree. It should be relatively easy & cheap, once you have the required raw steel & tooling setup. DW owns a factory, so he would know. Also, & more importantly, the only difference between the case that comes with a $50 Canal Street rep & 1 of Phong's or NDT's $1,500 cases are the dimensions. The quality of steel is the same, the construction, in most cases, is done in the same factories that produce the cheap stuff &, from my experience, there is no more QC involved in making the $1,500 case than there is for the $50 rep. The only difference that I can see are the dimensions & the story that accompanies the item from the seller.

Mine have 'outties'. See the link in my previous response for details. I may have this wrong (I often get these backwards), but I think the European spec bracelet rivets had 'outties' & the north american had 'innies' (or vice-versa).

I have only seen a Patek Moonphase on NDT (a stunner, but I want the 6202 Rolex). Phong sells a Rolex Moonphase, but, as usual, from what I have seen of his work, way over-priced & likely a nightmare internally. She does have a point. Pouring money into what is, ultimately, still a non-gen watch.......at least from Rolex's point of view, which is the ultimate arbiter when it comes to Rolex watches, is nutty. But, when you get bitten by the watch bug (as I was more than 25 years ago), you find yourself doing some nutty things. There was a period of time when I was still sane enough to draw the line at spending more than $1k on a non-gen watch. But, sometimes, when you get too close to the sun, you become blinded to the heat & end up doing nutty things. However, to be fair, I have to admit that, while I am an ardent collector, I am also an admitted poser. That is, when I spend the money to buy (or time to construct) a beautiful or rare Rolex watch, I hope to receive some accolades for doing so. Now, I realize it is a rare thing for someone to honest enough to (openly) admit to being narcissistic, but there you are. So as long as I am comfortable wearing a beautiful Rolex watch that I believe looks like the real thing, I am comfortable in the belief that others will see it that way, too. To illustrate this further, let me relay an incident that happened about a year ago - I was with a friend who was shopping for jewelry in a store that was also a Rolex AD. While my friend was trying on rings, I moseyed over to the Rolex cases & asked to see a couple of watches. I removed my double-red & laid it on the counter to put on 1 of the store's watches (I cannot recall which watch) & the manager, who was assisting me picked up my double-red & said 'Is it real?' 'Yes', I replied. Incredulous, the manager asked if I would mind if her watchmaker took a look at it? 'No', I said, 'knock yourself out, but don't drop it please', assuming he would just look at the dial through his loupe. So she takes the watch over to the watchmaker, who had a number of Rolex factory certificates above his bench (he was obviously an ex-Rolex employee). Before I could make my way over to him, he had popped-off my watch's caseback to inspect its innards, no doubt expecting to find an ETA or similarly non-Rolex movement ticking away inside. But, upon finding a nice, clear Rolex 1575 beating unceremoniously inside, he turned it over, jerked his head a few times (the way 1 does when taken by surprise) & got up from his seat to return the watch to me. His only comment was 'Wow, I have never actually seen 1 of those. Do you know what it's worth?' I said 'I have a pretty good idea.' He gave me a smile, (very gingerly) placed my watch back down on the padded counter & returned to his bench. The manager, who, I suspect, based on my non-designer garb & generally affable manner, had fully expected to be able to ridicule me for trying to pose as a real Rolex owner/buyer, then offered to show me some of her Pateks, which I had also voiced some interest in. The point of all this is that, while I will never be able to resell my double-red (or any of my other gen-powered frankens), I am confident that I can walk into any AD (or most gen watch clubs) & be on par with the Big Boys. And, to quote Baretta, that's the name of that tune. I have a friend who married a very attractive Brazilian woman & if your wife anything like she is, I would recommend sleeping (with 1 eye open) in a separate room (with a (loaded/cocked) pistol under your pillow). Oh, & make sure your life insurance is paid-up.

Was (an addict). With 1 exception (preferably in steel).............. .............my collection is pretty much complete. Noting the exception above, I have all of my grails - either gens or nearly gens (gen-powered frankens) - as well as a select handful of non-Rolex reps. Read this. As always, take seller claims with a big chunk of salt & have your watch pressure-tested by a watchmaker if you want to take it into water (& be able to use it afterward). All told, I think I spent a total of about $2,500 on my drsd (all gen except for dial, crystal & MBW mid-case)

Some sellers sell parts & some do not. Sometimes, a seller will make an exception for a regular customer even when they do not normally sell parts. I would suggest that you contact them with your specific request.

Some well thought-out points here.