freddy333

In the wee hours of Friday morning I am wearing this while finishing today's work on this

Well done.

In good condition, I have seen anything between $1,200 & $1,800. Papers & fairly recent RSC service are worth an additional few hundred, at least. Remember, the movements in these things are worth about a grand or more by themselves.

Based solely on your description, I would estimate around $2,300.

Thanks, All. Here is a still

It has been quite a journey, but, finally, I have a working Rolex 1036 gmt motor for my Phase II 6542. For those of you who are new or have not been following the story thus far, I have been working on converting a standard 1036 Rolex movement over to a gmt to power the watch (which will be all gen except for the dial face). This is the same movement as was fitted to the original Rolex 6542 GMT-Master in the mid-50s. Because the GMT parts were unique to the 6542 & have not been made in over 20 years, to say they are rare is a vast understatement. In fact, although the movement is a relatively simple 4-hand affair, many Rolex watchmakers today know little or nothing about it & none of my usual contacts were able to provide much in the way of guidance. But, after alot of time, effort & money, not to mention a series of very fortunate happenstances, I was able to gather up all of the necessary parts (many NOS), piece them together & prod them into running. I am still awaiting the dial (because the dial holds the calendar disc in place, I cannot install it until I install the dial), which is being professionally repainted & should arrive within a week or so. In the meantime, I have the hands, case & bracelet, all gen & awaiting final assembly (The 6542 in this pic is my 2846-powered Phase 1 watch) Until then, here is the 1036-to-1036gmt motor in action (shown here with its gen GMT hand & a spare DJ hand I threw on to demonstrate the 24-hour function for this video)

OPD today

No. Borrowed pic.

A number of dial sellers have them. Here is 1 from Phong (made to fit a 72c)

A shame to waste the date functions. I would have used that 72c to build something like this

Another rep from the same time period (mid-80s), but from the opposite end of the (rep) quality spectrum. This was 1 of the 1st made with genuine gold plating & powered by an ETA 2846 (which were all Swiss-made at the time). It is also 1 of my 1st frankens (I replaced the end links & clasp with gen parts) (note the naturally aged greenish lume)

I went gold today

Did you use a credit card in Paypal?

This is also a good picture to demonstrate the problem with the colored lume on most reps/frankens. Natural aging causes uneven, blotchy color with some areas becoming darker than others. Lume that is solid brown, tan or yellow rarely (to the point where I have never seen it happen) occurs naturally. For this reason, if given the choice, I think it is best to opt for off-white (non-glowing) lume on vintage watches.

Good spot, Ubi. Also, I think there is a paint chip (missing) around 8.15 on the dial. Otherwise, other than its overall condition & unlike the watch in the other thread, this 1 looks promising.

I have to agree with most of the previous comments. Could be worse, but could be better. In general, try to avoid vintage dials with glowing lume (a 30+ year old Rolex dial will have little or no glow).

Actually, the more I look at the case & bracelet, the more I am inclined to say aftermarket. Once again, the coronet stamping on the leaves of the bracelet looks wrong.

Dial & case look aftermarket, but the rest (as best as I can tell without a movement pic) is probably gen. No way to be sure based on the pics on the seller's website. There is a reason so many (legitimate) ebay sellers refuse to sell to Italy.

I guess I am 1 of the few here who watch the market trends on a daily basis. I am no economist, but it seems pretty simple to me - when you spend more than you make, you have to borrow more than you want. Ultimately, there are only 2 options - make more (raise taxes) &/or spend less (cut non-essential spending).

When I constructed my 1st Hev a few years ago, I (mistakenly) thought they always matched the case. But subsequent research has proven otherwise. The 5514/1665 He valve was plated with, I believe, zinc over a base metal. When the watch was new, the outer face of the valve appeared to match the rest of the case. But, over time, the outer wrapping wore away, leaving the flat-faced base metal exposed

I think you have a franken bracelet, which is a common problem these days. This part looks aftermarket to me (coronet & metal grain look wrong).

IHS, replacement (service or aftermarket) datewheel & (possibly) aftermarket dial.

Sticking with what works (Yes, it is still missing a hand)

Ditto. There are 2 kinds of watch collectors/hobbyists or whatever term you prefer - those who buy a watch when the deal is right & those who get the best deal they can on the watch they want. The former group tends to spend most of their time waiting for the right deal to come along, while the latter group (I count myself among them) tends to spend most of their time enjoying their watches (& rationalizing their spending habits to bank managers, wives, friends, etc). For me, when it comes to watches, at least in the past couple of years, price has tended to be a secondary consideration while my focus is centered on my mark. Certainly, I try not to overpay (& I generally only construct frankens that cost 1/10th-ish the price of the gen), but I will if I have to in order to get what I want. This is especially true in the case of gen Rolex parts. Year after year, I continue to find that today's insanely high price looks like a bargain in 12 months time.