freddy333

I have never seen those overlays before. Nice find.

Ditto.

Nanuq - click me Or pick up an Ofrei Illumines Dot (pearl)

Sounds like a great plan & makes a much more interesting read. Are you going to keep the lume white or are you going for the tan/yellow patina look? Or have you thought that far down the road yet? Are you keeping the ETA movement &, if so, where you sourcing a flat-top 3 datewheel from? I know that Stilty is working on some, but I do not know of any existing sources.

Looks good so far, but what is the source of the case? What other work do you plan to do to it? What other parts/mods are you planning? Are you copying a specific gen watch or just working on-the-fly? These projects are alot more interesting when you include details.

The 1st watch treated is still ticking away.

Sorry, I could not help myself

Great work, TMG. To ice the cake, you should consider a gilt handset or try my heat-aging procedure to make the hands match the dial lume

Navigating the mid-week humps & drowns with my trusty beater

The problem is the shiny finish, not the name. I wear a Rolex of some sort almost every day & the only watches that ever cause discomfort are those with polished bracelets.

I have a couple gen buckles on straps (as well as a couple of aftermarkets that look very similar) that I got on ebay. Be careful when buying because many otherwise reliable sellers do not know the difference or know the difference & sell aftermarket parts anyway. Make sure any buckle you are considering has markings on the back similar to the 1 (gen) on the red strap

Which sets & which sellers? There are 5-6 different sellers & as many different sets of hands. I can only tell you that gens & Clarks' worked on my watches as I indicated above. But I did have to resize them all to fit (broaching to enlarge & crimping to reduce).

Alli - Both RobertMaron & Antiquorum list the 5512/5513/1680/16800/14060 case as 40mm, but we all know how variable Rolex specs are.

Having read both of Avitt's posts (welcome back), I would ditto what he said above. Since the wheel contacts the plate only at its pivot (the teeth contact another wheel), the cut outs will have no effect on friction reduction whatsoever. However, in theory, the reduced mass of the cut out wheel (less material = less mass), does translate into a lower drag coefficient throughout the entire drive train. This means that, all things being equal, the new wheel would add less drag on the engine. But, unfortunately, in this case, the main problem that afflicted the original secs at 6 design (that of adding the additional non-jeweled wheels) remains, so I seriously doubt that this new 'improved' design will increase the longevity of non-graphite treated secs at 6 7750s. And my guess is that the new cut out wheel was used more in an effort to cut production costs than to remedy the problems associated with this design. Thanks for taking the initiative to purchase 1 of these 'new' watches for the breakdown, Francisco.

Rep cases vary, but, beginning with the 5512, the gen Sub case (date/no-date) is 40mm (earlier Subs were 38mm) through the 166xx model.

Yes, I did try that (strap), but it just looks weird in a different way. I have seen others who have brushed their center links, but I do not like to modify the OEM appearance of a Rolex. To me, it is sacrilegious.

I think Tribal touched on the problem - the flat bezel washer/spring that sits below the bezel is bent too much, which is putting too much (upward) pressure on the bezel. You can verify this by pressing down on the bezel while trying to turn it. If the bezel turns while pressing it, then the washer simply needs to be flattened a bit. Remove the bezel, flatten the spring (just flatten a bit, because if you flatten it too much the bezel will turn too easily) & reinstall the bezel (this may take a few trial-&-error attempts to get it right). If the bezel still will not turn, then something else may be bent or was cemented improperly. But, most likely, the bezel washer/spring is the problem.

There are a number of websites & online resources that describe all the details, so I will leave you to search those out. But the most salient difference is that the (earlier) 5512 does not have a date feature, while the (later) 1680 does. Both are powered by chronometer certified movements.

Actually, as long as the arm tube is sufficiently long, the center chrono seconds hand is usually the easiest to resize. I have (all but the minute & hour hands from) a set of gen hands installed on my 7750-powered 116520 & a full set of gen hands on 1 of my Newmans (they look so similar to DW's that I forget which is which unless I view them with a loupe - point being that the stock DW hands are quite accurate, although some do arrive with the wandering hand wand syndrome, which can be cured with a small dab of strategically placed epoxy) (Original pic courtesy of Avitt)

Although the 116520 Daytona has been my 2nd favorite watch for many years (the 1st being the Lange 1 Pt) & the rep I waited longer than any other to acquire (not counting the time, effort & money spent on improving the stock rep), I find that, increasingly, it seems to be getting the least wrist time of all of my Rolex watches And, for the past few weeks, I have been confounded as to why this is? Why is it that, even though I love it, 1 of my most coveted pieces of timekeeping jewelry is getting the least use? But, today, I saw the light & the answer became immediately obvious after seeing this young guy in a restaurant with his sleeves rolled up in an obvious (to me) effort to show off his lovely (probably gen) 116520 white dialed Daytona. The poor fellow, no doubt thinking himself quite grand for having such good taste & the ability to acquire a relatively rare & highly sought after Rolex watch, looked absolutely silly, sitting there with this polished steel beacon of obviousness & over consumption braceletted to his Armani-bedecked torso while sipping Won Ton soup with an equally overdecorated spoon. With 1 glimpse, it suddenly dawned on me what the problem is - the BLING. More & more, I am finding myself drawn towards the brushed understatement of classically sized, gentlemans' tool watches & away from the larger, polished obviousness of modern bling........even when the bling is limited to center pieces of links or the always-smudgy reflection of a sapphire crystal on my favorite watch brand. Now, normally, I tend to wear watches beneath my shirt cuff (unless I am wearing a t-shirt), so they are rarely seen anyway. But there have been a couple of occasions when I have actually felt embarrassed that someone might spot my 116520. 1 time I was so uncomfortable that I felt compelled to pull my shirt cuff down over my watch to completely hide it from view even though the environment was entirely appropriate & others were wearing timepieces of similar luster & quality. How crazy is that? This does not mean that I am ready to start selling off every bit of polished metal in my collection (sorry guys), but it does mark a definite change in the way I now view & wear watches. Maybe I am just getting old..........

I agree with much of what TeeJay said, but I would add that Silix reuses some of the same pictures for different watches (compare the side views of their various vintage CG-less Subs as 1 example). This can be a problem when you are trying to choose between a few similar (but not the same) watches or are buying based on a specific spec or requirement. I had this problem when I was comparing some of their cheaper (Asian powered) alternatives to 1 of their more expensive (ETA powered) watches for a current project. And with their slow response times (in communications email & shipping), dealing with Silix can be a very frustrating experience. But, on the other hand, both of the watches I have received were exactly what I ordered (it should be noted that the last 1 took nearly 2 months to arrive).

I would PM Ubi since he has more experience building 16520 frankens with these movements than anyone else.

I think there is an annual jewelry show (including watches) in Vegas & there are also the International Watch & Jewelry Guild marts that are held at various places around the country. You will need to check their website for details, locations & times.

There are a number of both gen & aftermarket Daytona handsets on ebay. Search for 'rolex daytona hands'. But you will need to be more specific as to which model/movement when contacting sellers.