freddy333

Zig, as always,

The problem is that most of the value is in the dial & movement, both of which are fried, in the literal sense. The dial is a write-off & the movement is probably likewise so. That leaves the case, which, even on a Saturday with the wind in your back, your favorite girl on your arm & a winning lottery ticket in your pocket, is not worth 4 grand. In its present condition, it might be worth a gamble for $500 - $1,000. But $4k is just plain Nanuq - Repeat after me - warped = bad thing.

Quite a find, JoJo.

Nice work.

Must be moths.

I think By-Tor hit the nail on the head.

Very cool, Ubi. Here are a few more

Since they have the same relief & use the same tube, they should be interchangeable. Like the 703 & 704, The main difference appears to be the monobloc construction of the 531 (see charts).

I think you are making a mistake fitting your watch with a non-cyclops crystal. If the watch was 100% gen, then customizing is not a problem. But, with a franken, it is always best to keep things as close to oem as possible. Deviations from oem tend to increase suspicion & elicit closer inspections.

It could be a problem with the click, which retards the mainspring & keeps it from unwinding, or the mainspring itself. In either case, without the proper tools & experience, I would leave this type of work to a pro or return the watch to the seller. Even if the problem were a (loose) screw tangled in the hairspring (which would stop the watch), I would leave the work to a pro. It is very difficult to untangle a hairspring without a loupe, a proper set of tweezers, a very steady hand & some experience.

While doing some research on an unrelated crown matter, I stumbled across something in 1 of my old Rolex parts books that I think solves The Great Triplock - Crimped vs Solid - Mystery You will notice that both the 703 & 704 have the same relief, which makes them, at least from their cap sides, indistinguishable from each other. However, Rolex added the designation, MONOBLOC, & displays the 704 (as well as the 604, 531 & 480 Twinlocks) with an all-green pic. Meanwhile, the 703 (& 603 & 530 Twinlocks) is pictured as having a yellow core with an outer green cap (which is no doubt secured or crimped around the inner core along its outer skirt). I have viewed these pages many times, but for some reason never made the connection at any time during this controversy. The bottom line is that Justasgood is correct that the 704 appears solid when viewed from its underside & the 703 is crimped. Otherwise, externally, they look the same. And unless anyone has any other new insights to add, I think we can consider another Rolex case closed.

The difference relates to the diameter thickness of the center tube in the crown (the part the stem screws into). If I remember correctly, the 603's tube is slightly smaller. 24-600 uses 24-6020 tube 24-603 uses 24-5330 tube On a related note, those of you who have been following the Triplock: crimped (703) vs solid (704) mystery, I think I may have solved it.

Your experience is typical of rep watches, which contain used/unserviced movements & are assembled with little or no QC. Contact the seller & follow his instructions. Your only alternatives are to open the watch & post some good, clear macro pics & maybe someone can direct you to repair the watch yourself, or pay a local watchmaker to service it.

Wow, that kind of support really is impressive. I hope they did not seriously change the look of the replacement dial.

Thanks, All. Here is the story.

Nice work, Avitt. Has Nanuq seen your new booty yet?

Ending the work week wearing my linen DJ

I think it was $108 or something like that. You should check their website. Considering how accurate they are, I think the price is reasonable, especially considering that most sellers sell those other crappy rivet bracelets for about the same amount.

Yes, that is exactly what they did (I just received an email from Yuki saying that) & exactly the problem. But it is not just the end links that are too tight. All of the links in this new bracelet are too tight. Not a deal breaker by any means, but compared to their previous bracelets, which feel like gens, this 1 just feels like a rep bracelet. If you can get them in without deforming either the springbars or the loops, then you are all set. Trouble is, that the loops are made up of the same sheet metal that holds the end links onto the next link in the bracelet. So if you bend or stretch the loop, you are also pulling the end links tight against the next link, which affects the hinge's ability to move. I do not see any way to expand those loops without causing problems elsewhere. The only proper solution is to remanufacture the end links with larger loops. That is odd that you had to polish your bracelet to get it to match your case. All of Yuki's bracelets match my vintage gen & aftermarket cases just about perfectly (see pic above). I could understand people who might complain that Yuki's bracelets do not look 'new', but that is 1 of the things that amazed me when the 1st 1 arrived - its finish almost exactly matched my 50 year old gen 7206s. While they have issues, their finish, at least to my eye, is about perfect for a vintage Rolex watch case. I may have to try that, or something like it to wear down the internal edges a bit. I tried oil & silicone, but neither had much effect. Yes, my new bracelet looks exactly like your diagram. The problem goes back to what I was saying about the loops being pulled too tightly when you expand or deform them to fit larger springbars. The loops are formed by pieces of sheet metal that run out the bottom of the end link & through the end of the 1st link in the bracelet. They 'loop' back up through the bottom of the end link, forming a 'C' within the bottom of the end link. So as you expand the loop in the end link, you are effectively pulling the rest of the loop (that runs through the 1st link) tighter, which causes the end link to slide up along the side of the 1st link, as shown in your diagram. That is why I did not want to force springbars into the loops as others did. You are literally robbing Peter to feed Paul. I think we just need to make clear to Yuki that they will sell lots of these bracelets if they can get the factory to fit larger loops.

The 7206 is 20mm. The 7205 is 19mm, but Yuki only lists the 7206 on their website. I have not seen a rep 7205, though I would be surprised if it does not exist somewhere. You might ask Yuki if they can source it for you.

Looks good.

This is a continuation of the 7206 portion of my previous I Was Wrong thread. I just received a sample of Yuki's 'fix' for the too-small springbar issue plaguing their 7206 rivet bracelets. The good news is that the bracelet now fits my watch & should likewise fit other vintage models made for a 7206 with 80 (& possibly 58) end links & 2mm springbars. Here is a quick & dirty pic However, along with the good news, there are also a few pieces of (mostly minor) bad news - First, instead of remanufacturing the (permanently attached) end links with larger loops, they simply forced springbars into the existing loops so they are essentially permanent (& some, because of this, will no doubt arrive damaged). And, to add insult to injury, while the springbars fit, they are crap - they contain loose pins that I doubt will last beyond a few installs/removals before collapsing. Therefore, the bracelet is only useful for as long as the springbar pins hold out. Second, as you can see in the pic, the end links are a bit too short (note the gap between the inside edge of the end link & the case). I had to bend & reshape both end links to make them fit the contours of my watch - 1 link was open so wide the top face of the link rose up about 2mm above the level of the lugs & the other was so narrow that it left a gap above it wide enough so that you could see the entire engraving between the lugs. Third, 1 of the end links was too wide & I had to file the sides down to get it to fit between the lugs of any of my cases (I tried both my 6536/1 & 6542). Finally, unlike my last couple of 7206 bracelets (the 1s with the too-small loops), the links on the fixed bracelet are extremely tight. I do not mean secure, I mean ill-fitting & difficult to move - the hallmark of a cheap rep bracelet & a dead give-away since, in comparison, an (undamaged) gen bracelet has a silky smooth feel because the parts all fit together well. So, it is the usual 1 step forward & a couple of steps backwards. Fortunately, in this case, the forward step is bigger & finally permits you to attach & use the bracelet. And, once you have performed the required mods to get the end links to fit your case, the bracelet looks great.

Lani - nice OP & I think your original appraiser got it right - 1930s (or maybe early 1940s).