freddy333

I think toothpaste may be too coarse, but any final polishing compound made for plastic or high gloss automobile finishes will also work As long as you follow up with a satin overcoat (which hides your 'work')

The 3rd it is

Looks like you got mugged on Canal Street.

Wow, that is some dome you got there. Kind of makes me want to But, back down here in the world of dreams, here is another dome

You might have better eyes than I do & it is impossible to be sure without better pictures, but I see nothing that makes me question the authenticity of any of Craig's Rolexes, including his asymmetrically-pushered 6263).

Possibly, a problem at Andrew's (or the cc processor's) end. I would have emailed Andrew after the 2nd failed attempt & let him locate the source of the problem & get back to you. Often, when you repeatedly attempt to place a charge (even if the charge does not go through), it looks very suspicious (to the bank).

Friday

All you need is an inexpensive drill press stand from Sears. See the pic in the 1st post.

Model: Cosmograph Daytona Reference: 116520 Movement: Asian-made ETA 7750 clone with additional gearing to transfer the running seconds from 9-to-6 o'clock on the dial Case: Stainless steel Crystal: Sapphire The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona is an icon in modern horological history & stands as 1 of the most highly sought after & coveted luxury items ever produced. In spite of the current global economic crisis, many authorized Rolex dealers are allotted only 1 or 2 of these prized 'grail watches' per season (if that many). In fact, most Rolex dealers maintain lengthy lists of people who must wait, patiently, some for as long as 5 years, to 'get the call' when their name finally makes it to the vaunted top of the list.

When you mod CGs, you need to grind down the base (where the case tube screws into the case) as well as the ears. These are before & after pics of the same watch case (dial was changed at some point between the 2 sets of pics) (before) (after)

Although Omega has been able to pay its way onto Bond's wrist in the recent 007 movies, Daniel Craig seems to have developed a distinctly non-Omega pattern in his off-screen (unpaid) watch-wearing habits Rolex Oyster Perpetual (probably a vintage Datejust) Rolex Daytona 6263 Rolex Anniversary Milgauss Rolex Submariner (probably 6538) on NATO strap Just thought it worth noting.

Someone must be over-fluoridating the water up there.

If you can get a readable pic of the datestamp on the other side of the leaves (& the numbers back the seller's description, which looks good so far (alot of generally reliable sellers are selling franken bracelets these days, so I have found that you have to assume the worst until proven otherwise)), I would say it is a good deal.

Congratulations on your new watch. Now that you have gotten your jollies at your WS (an AD?), you might read this, paying particular attention to item 25.

Nice score & a great way to spend the money the government loaned back to you.

The price seems reasonable if it is what I think it is & the parts I cannot see look like the parts I can see. But I would want to see good, clear pics of both side & underside views before buying, but what I see looks gen.

I do not know of any sources of accurate 6200 dials that will fit an ETA (all of the aftermarket vintage dials I know of are made to fit gen (1030 or 15xx) movements). However, MY will repaint your existing ETA dial & he usually does a good job. Be very specific in outlining what you want & expect BEFORE sending your dial off to reduce the chance of misunderstandings. Hands are relatively easy to lume or re-lume since the lume is applied from the backside of the hand. For a vintage Rolex, I would recommend either non-glowing paint or a lume that has a very weak glow since 40+ year old tritium is not likely to have anything more than a short-lived, weak glow, at best (most have no glow at all). (Vintage watches relumed with Superlume or other high intensity luminescent materials may look cool, but it also makes your watch look silly...........& fake.) After removing ALL of the existing lume from your hands & cleaning them, I would apply a couple of coats of Bergeon 5680-G luminous paste, which is mixed with water & applied with a toothpick to the backside of each hand. Let dry for 15 minutes & reinstall. If you do not have the skills to do this yourself, anyone (not me) who provides reluming services can do this for you. However, as you experienced with your previous relume work, it is important to make sure that the person doing the work understands what you want done & what lume material you want used BEFORE sending payment or parts. If you are not absolutely positive that both you & the relumer are on the same page, I would find someone else. I think Ziggy is probably the most talented around at this type of thing, but I do not know if he is accepting new work at this time. You can also try Kent, who does good work.

No, the index markers on these dials do not contain metal surrounds. What you see is dial paint. In the 50s & early 60s, Rolex used to outline the index markers on their dials & some of them can sometimes appear like metal (especially as gilt gains a patina with age), but they are not. You can probably see what I am talking about better in this picture I got that you were doing this on a budget, which is why I thought you did such a good job on the vintagizing. But I think you are underestimating the obviousness of the inaccuracies of your watch, as these problems can be identified from a good distance away & without the benefit of a loupe or magnifying glass. Of course, only those who know what a vintage Sub is will know. But, then, only those who will know would even care or appreciate a vintage Sub. Sort of a catch-22 situation.

Ditto.

Started to put on my beater this morning But then I noticed that today is a red letter day, so I had to wear my 6534

Sorry to hear about the job loss. Probably not alot of consolation, but you are definitely not alone these days. Have you been to the UK? Great sights, great people & they all speak English........well, sort of . There are a number of interesting watch dealers in Mayfair that make the trip more than worthwhile for those of us with watch fetishes. Then, if you live in the STL area of MO (& have any money left upon return from the UK), you might treat yourself to a wonderful Sunday brunch at the Art Museum & then maybe visit some of the watch dealers in Clayton. Who knows, you might even find some (temporary) employment selling watches there. Just a thought.

I realize the prevailing contention is that Connery's Sub was fitted with a black & gray NATO strap in the early Bond films, But I believe that supposition is wrong. The screenshot I posted was taken from my 'restored/remastered' DVD copy of 'Goldfinger' as displayed via VLC Media Player (my monitor is color-corrected). I have an un-remastered VHS copy of 'Goldfinger' (probably 20 years old at this point), which, although considerably poorer in quality than the DVD version, hints at Bond's strap as containing some shades of color other than black or gray (the print is not clear enough at this time to make out the exact colors, but they are definitely different than the other 2). And, although it has been many years since I last saw a cinema (celluloid film) showing of 'Goldfinger', I recall seeing the same red bands, which is the reason I spent the time to research this & post my DVD findings. Of course, my findings are just that, my findings. But I am quite confident they are correct.

The subdial hands are always a contrasting color relative to the subdial background color. On black subdials, the hands are painted white or silver. On white subdials (there are no silver subdials on vintage Daytonas), the hands are painted black or left unpainted, which is a dark gray color. Unless you know someone who knows him, the only way to purchase a watch from Honpo is to contact him through his website. To the best of my knowledge, Honpo only deals with Asian customers (mostly Japanese). My only Honpo watch (which, contrary to his claims of superior Japanese quality, was in poor condition when I received it) was attained through an Asian friend who dealt with Honpo directly (& my friend's watch had the same problems mine had, so QC problems seem to be more of a pattern than a fluke with Honpo's watches). I had attempted to purchase a watch from Honpo myself a year or 2 before that, but he stopped responding to my emails after his 2nd email.

A valiant effort & your vintagizing efforts have paid off in spades. To the man on the street or average (non-collector/WIS) gen owner, the watch looks like an old watch. However, I think you started off with the wrong base components for a vintage Sub & the watch contains too many inherent (not easily repairable) flaws to be worthy of such inspired vintagizing work. Although there are numerous variations of early Sub models, the relatively few people who would know about or appreciate a vintage 'Bond' Sub will easily ID this watch as suspect because of its flaws, which you may or may not already be aware of (& decided to live with). These are the most obvious problems - the case is too thick for a vintage CG-less Rolex (Sub or GMT) the bezel & bezel insert/pearl are incorrect for a vintage Sub (but the bezel (not the insert) is correct for a 6542) the metalized dial is inappropriate for any vintage Rolex (only modern models (mostly with sapphire crystals) have metalized index markers or pearls) the incorrect crown you already noted the hands are a bit too short

A beautiful classic watch.