freddy333

My restored/rebuilt Rolex 1520-powered Comex 5514 (still)

Nice try, but, essentially, your proposition is akin to calling the police because you got scammed on a drug deal. That is, replicas are considered contraband, which is illegal in most countries. So I doubt you would receive a very warm reception at any consumer organization by suggesting that there are scammers involved in an illegal activity.

Yes, it does happen & it is all part of the 'fun' of rep collecting. On the positive side, most collectors factor shipping losses into their pricing & are usually happy to replace lost/stolen shipments.

I 2nd that recommendation. I bought 1 of their winders early this year & I love it. The winder is beautiful & dead quiet (even with your ear next to the case). The only problem is that I thought I could get by with a 2-watch winder.......wrong

I have never had good luck with GC cement (it always lets go after a few months, at best). I also do not think an epoxy is a good idea, because if you get it on the wrong parts, it could make the bezel difficult or impossible to turn. I would use either a few small dabs of silicone sealant (available at any hardware, home or auto parts store) or dial dots (basically, 2-sided adhesive), which are available at any watch parts house (ofrei, cas-ker, borel, cousins, etc). Either will hold the insert in yet still allow you to remove the adhesive if there is a problem.

I have a spare MBW 5513 Sub case (no dial or movement) in good condition that I am willing to sell. PM me if interested.

Not sure that 'nearly' is the right way to describe the status of this phase of the project (it may take awhile to source all of the needed date & gmt components for the conversion), but I appreciate the kind words.

The only reason anyone should need to manually wind an auto-wind watch, is to start a stopped watch. And my point was simply that, assuming the watch is in otherwise good, working order, you can wind your watch without fear.

I have been wearing my reborn Comex 5514 Sub all day Sunday (which, since it is now after midnight, is officially Monday morning). This watch began life with a POS Asian movement, but, even then, I saw potential in the little caterpillar. Enough so that it starred in 1 of my 1st tutorials on RWG. Then, by sheer happenstance, some 2 years later, I discovered its true beauty & the potential its structure held. So, with a bit of work (& luck), I was able to turn a gray little caterpillar into a majestic butterfly

Well said.

I like what I see, Lani. The Zigmeister will do it proud, you can be sure of that.

I still disagree with Ziggy on the issue of hand-winding gens or ETAs. If you understand the mechanics of how auto-wind gearing functions, it is fairly easy to see the potential issues that can arise from overwinding a movement that was designed to be (primarily) auto-wound. But Rolex and most other gen makers recommend manually winding a stopped watch to get it started & they do so without qualification (Watches returned from RSC arrive with this tag attached) Problems can arise in poorly made or unserviced movements if the watch is manually wound on a regular basis because of the amount of friction generated in & around the reversing wheels (these are the components most likely to wear or break from overuse) due to the high velocities they get subjected to during manual winding Because of the wide gearing ratios between the stem & reversing gears, some have (correctly) described manually winding an auto-wind movement as being similar to driving a car at 90 miles per hour in 1st gear. But a good, properly maintained movement should not experience problems from occasional hand-winding.

Not even close & has all of the hallmarks of a scammer (item described as unique or 1-of-1-kind; obtuse or nonspecific descriptions; tiny, dark or out-of-focus pics; all previous sales 'private', yada, yada, yada.).

Much obliged, Yello.

I would definitely service her, but you might also consider a new gen crystal (if it is available). I think that would look better than polishing the original (you can usually replace an original crystal (with a similar gen) without adversely affecting the collectibility or value of a vintage watch). That beautiful orange dial would really come alive through a fresh, new lens.

Although I do not own a Doxa (at least not yet), it is the only other diver's watch I have ever wanted. They are VERY cool-looking watches with a great history & that Black Lung of yours tops them all. Great find. Amid a year with a number of great finds (the recent Tudor Rose Sub acquisition comes immediately to mind), I have to agree with Cornerstone in that this 1 definitely tops them all. How much restorative work are you planning to do on it?

Ask Angus. A Private Message can be sent to another member by clicking the small black arrow to the right of the person's name (you will find the drop-down menu at the top left corner of each member's posting) & then selecting Send Message. You should read the Help.

I cannot verify the hand sizes for the Asian clone (or even verify whether you have a clone), nor have I read about anyone yet doing this transplant. However, in theory at least, it should be workable. Assuming the clone's hand sizes are the same as the gen ETAs (they probably are), the only problem you may run into is the nearly 1mm height difference between the 2 movements (the 2893-2 is shorter @ 4.1mm than the taller 2836-2 @ 5.05mm), which would necessitate your possibly having to correct for a stem mis-alignment (with the case tube). Again, I have never done this, so I cannot provide any specific guidance or definite answers beyond these suppositions.

That is what I thought. So where is it???

If you got the watch from 1 of the collectors listed on RWG & it was purchased within the collector's warranty period (consult the collector's website for his warranty details), then I would think you should be entitled to a replacement bracelet or watch (as long as you were not prying on the link when it came apart - visible damage notwithstanding). Of course, I assume you already tried to work things out with the collector before posting here, correct???

DW is 1 of the more senior & respected collectors & he has (what I consider to be) the best case kits for vintage 62xx Daytonas. Since DW, a number of others have appeared on the scene with similar Daytona case kits of varying qualities, with none being any better than DW's. You buy a kit, locate & purchase a vintage Valjoux 72 or 23 watch/movement (ebay or elsewhere) & roll your own (or hire a watchmaker to do the rolling for you). There is more than sufficient information about DW watches that you can find via the Search. You can find his website here.

Waiting...................... Still waiting..................... And waiting some more...................

I think the original parts were plated with rhodium. I am sure there are high end plating companies that could replate the individual parts for you, but I have never done this (or would want to), so I cannot tell you who. But I would think that a company that makes medical grade instrumentation ought to be able to handle it. I would also think it would be very expensive.

Thanks, guys. I did consider going white, but I was unable to locate a dial that I felt was accurate enough to match the rest of the watch & so decided to stick with the 'common' black dial. But it will take some time to source all of the remaining 1036 gmt movement parts, so I will keep my options open.

Now this is a watch that will warm the cockles during the cold, winter months. But, if you have not already done so, you might want to have a watchmaker fish-out the chunk (or chunks) of tritium that fell out of your second hand.