freddy333

Rule of thumb - The only way to know (& be sure) your watch is water resistant is to have a trusted watchmaker test it. And if you plan to spend alot of time in the water, you should have your watch retested at least yearly. If you trust the advertising hyperbole of sellers, you are just throwing dice.

As usual, Alli hit the nail directly on the head. But I have to take some exception with By-Tor here. While most of us could ID this dial as aftermarket, 99.99% of the general public cannot. In fact, even with the aid of a dozen (richly illustrated) 'How to spot a fake Rolex' guidebooks in hand, most of the general public would still not know the difference. Trouble is (& I think it was Alli, again, who 1st observed this a couple of years ago) there is only a small handful of WIS types who CAN tell the difference, so most of the time, effort & money we spend trying to squeeze that last iota of accuracy out of our project watches, is going mostly unnoticed by the world at large. But, to paraphrase 1 of Ubi's comments, the joy of building is half the fun. Therefore, it seems to me that unless you enjoy the process of building frankens to stringent specs, it really does not make alot of sense to spend NDTrading prices on a pre-assembled watch since anyone with enough knowledge & experience to appreciate such a rarefied model will know, at a glance, that your model is a 'fake'. Everyone else will miss the whole point altogether.

For those who have not been following the original TZ thread, a reliable member added this today -

I went CHS modern this morning (what was I thinking????????)

I agree with the first 3, but I would swap the positions of Omega & Cartier, move TAG into 5th position & replace it (in 4th position) with Longines (I would remove Patek altogether). Longines used to provide timing for the Olympic games. So, while they may not be a household name for many young people, I think Longines still has more brand recognition than TAG. On the other hand, for young people, Panerai is probably ahead of Cartier in brand recognition.

These may help

The only parts that look gen are the caseback & tube (no pics of the crown face) & I agree with Alli on all counts. But I think that before you spend additional money on this, I would get a more plausible dial. The 1 that is in there now is terrible.

And, overall, some of their other vintage Sub dials look better. But I will concede that this is 1 of the 1st aftermarket vintage Sub dials to get the O in ROLEX nearly correct (note the flattened inner sides).

Both gens & I would not change a thing on either.

It sounds like you knocked the clutch lever out of the groove in the clutch (a common problem). The only way to check or correct it is to remove the movement from the case & then remove the hands & dial. The clutch lever is part of the keyless works, which resides under the dial.

It sounds like the set lever is not resetting the clutch back all the way or the hacking lever is stuck 'on'. Have you recently removed the stem or done any other work on the movement?

It looks like NDTrading is trying to get $1,500 for 1 of their aftermarket Sub dials

Stilty - Are you talking about a crown reamer (I have a set around here somewhere) or something else? I figured out the procedure (install & then enlarge the hole), but just need to know the best tool to use to enlarge the hole. I will PM automatico. Thanks.

Ditto Nanuq. While I would understand your hesitancy to ship the watch, Ziggy would be my 1st choice to have the job done right. If you ship the watch by Registered Mail (which is what Rolex always requires for watches that are routinely shipped to & from them), it may take a bit of additional time to reach its destination, but it should make it there safely.

The ceramic replacement price seems fishy to me, but I agree with the TZ respondents who said that while I can appreciate the look of the GMTIIC, they (Rolex) have lost all pretense to their 'tool' watches being anything more than very expensive (& increasingly blingy) jewelry. And for such an innovative company, this is sad.

Based on what I can see, I would say the watch is worth anywhere between $22k & $35k. Alot depends on its mechanical condition & how it looks through a loupe. Also, if your father has the original box or purchase paperwork, that would tip its value up towards the upper end of the scale. My likie what I see.

Rick's price is not totally out of line, especially for an all-original watch with original papers. Certainly, as of last summer, he would have no trouble getting his BIN price (& then some). But, with the present economy, the gene pool of buyers willing to lay out that much cash for a watch is smaller. Still, it only takes 1 buyer.

Mine is still meeting COSC specs.

Thanks, Narikaa. Nice tour. Makes me hungry for something, but not sure what that something is? Maybe I will just go & wind some watches.

You can find similar pics & more in The Bible.

I am not aware of anyone currently selling the CHS version & the results of the polls seem to suggest that both CHS & IHS versions have problems (use the Search to locate the GMTIIC polls). Your chances are definitely better with the IHS, but going that way does not necessarily guarantee reliability. Generally, when the GMT hand malfunctions, the entire movement becomes unstable.

You will need to check with each vendor to see their policies regarding shipment to Italy, but neither sells watches that are exactly like (or equal to) genuine Rolex Daytonas. Both vendors use aftermarket cases & generic Valjoux 72x movements, which they modify with aftermarket parts to mimic the movements that Rolex originally fit into Daytonas. From the 2 samples I have worked on, I would rank the appearance of these watches as being good (not perfect), but the quality of construction can range anywhere from acceptable to nightmarish (terrible). These watches do not match the quality of the genuine Daytonas, or even the better home-brewed frankens that some RWG members have built. If you cannot afford the astronomical prices being charged for genuine vintage Daytonas & you do not have the skills required to build your own franken, then these vendors' watches are reasonable alternatives. However, I would factor in the cost of having a reliable watchmaker overhaul your watch as soon as you receive it. That way, he can (hopefully) correct most of the issues these watch have when you receive them.