freddy333

Nice work, dluddy. You consistently have some of the best wrist shots.

The main benefit to the conversion (aside from gaining the ability to fit the lower profile caseback) is the elimination of the rotor noise, which makes it pretty obvious (to any Daytona aficionado) that your watch is not what it purports to be. And since there is only 1 screw holding it onto the movement (& you do not need to remove the movement from the case to remove the screw), this is an amazingly simple mod that anyone with a quality screwdriver, a caseback tool & a pair of steady hands can perform in the comfort of their own home (I once performed a rotor-ectomy on a friend's watch in a bar after I got tired of watching salt shaker tricks, which is another good reason to become a teetotaler).

Sapphire crystals are not really my thing, but, based on my Plexiglas lens experience, Clarks lenses are a close 2nd to the gen Tropics. They are the only aftermarket lenses I have found that have the same clarity & 'sparkle' (this probably relates to Nanuq's rainbow effect when viewed through a polarizing filter) of the gens. Although I think Ofrei offers a number of great parts, their aftermarket Rolex crystals, like every other aftermarket lens I have tried, lack this. And calling Faisal a turkey is an insult to turkeys (but he might look like 1 after being basted, wrapped in aluminum foil & baked at 400 degrees for about 2 hours with an apple in his gob ).

Diesel - I am pretty certain it will fit, but I have never measured any of the EE-powered cases. That said, the dimensions of all DW's (asymmetrical-pushered) 62xx cases that I have worked on (V72, V23 & 7750) are the same, so, in theory, the casebacks should all be interchangeable. Though, to be sure, ask DW.

I think you guys have too much free time on your hands.

Actually, my system is quite fast, but with Halloween just weeks away............

Congratulations on the DW. The 6263 in the picture has the following gen parts - T21 crystal, 7mm Triplock crown (Clark's matching tube) & pushers. And just to complete the picture, I also converted the 7750 to a pseudo 7760 by removing the rotor & reversing wheels (in the auto-wind module). In addition to turning the movement into a manual-wind (gen 62xx Daytonas are manual-wind), it also lowered the height of the movement by about 1mm, which then provided sufficient clearance to allow me to fit 1 of DW's (lower profile) V72 casebacks so the case now has the same overall dimensions as a V72 DW (or gen 62xx). If you think you might want to follow suit at some point, I would recommend asking DW to include 1 of his V72 casebacks with your order.

Avitt - That Porto is a real beauty.

Kudos to Dluddy for coming through with spares. I look forward to seeing a newborn Daytona.

I have only used 2 sets of Phong's Daytona hands. 1 set needed broaching (as have some of DW's), but all 3 of the small chrono hands separated from their tubes & had to be epoxied back together (easy job, but an additional step that I could have done without). The 2nd set was fine. I think alot of it is luck of the draw. My biggest problem with Phong (aside from his generally outrageous prices) is his lack of after sales service. When I complained to him about the defective chrono hands (as well as an incorrectly painted chrono seconds hand), his response was 'You can fix it yourself. It is easy'. Again, not a big deal, but DW would never drop the ball like that.

I think Phong is the only other reliable game in town (though you will pay a premium when buying from him). He usually stocks them & ships very quickly.

Close on the heels of the (in)famous GMTIIC, I sense another legendary rep in the making here. Hopefully, this 1 will be remembered solely for its positives.

Silix is extremely slow & unless they have something that you cannot get elsewhere, I would try another collector. It took them nearly a month (not counting the 2 weeks it took to get responses to my initial emails) to deliver my last rep (in contrast, Josh or Andrew usually deliver within 4-5 days of my initial contact or order).

As of an hour ago, they had some left. Your description certainly fits the reasoning for the $275 price point set by the current seller (purchased as 'gens', but found out later they are 'frankens'). If you (or anyone) run into problems with the watch not keeping proper time, just have a watchmaker service it. Because the base movement is a standard ETA, it should not cost more than $200, worst case. And, assuming the watch comes with no other major issues, even if you have to pay for a service (which you would most likely need to do if the watch was 100% gen anyway), I think it is still a great deal. p.s. The seller explains that he found out about the watches being frankens somewhere on the web. I have been searching since last night & have not found the source. If anyone has a link or happens to stumble across it, please post it here or PM me. TIA. UPDATE - I found this in my archives & it is still on the Web. I do not know if this is the site the seller was referring to, but it sure seems to talk the talk. click me

The link must have been buried in an unrelated post, because I never saw it & I just searched the Rolex forum for 'wwtshows' & nothing (but this thread) came up.

Ubi - I think that is an understatement. Phong is selling a similar watch (with, as I recall, an off-the-shelf 2836) for almost a grand. I just started going through my Tudor picture archives & I am not seeing any specific trend in the way the underside of the CGs look. Some are relatively flat, while others are more curved. So I honestly do not think I could make a call based solely on the CGs because of the wide disparity of shapes that I see among gens. Another possibility could be that Rolex had multiple patterns for these cases, or the case shapes varied between model years. A quick perusal of Sub cases over the years would tend to support that possibility. I will have to do some further research into this, since I do not have alot of experience with Tudors.

Welcome, you did well on your 1st post. That is a handsome watch.

I see what you mean. But, considering the age of the gens, years of polishing may be playing a part there. Hard to tell without seeing 1 of these frankens in person. I just received notice that my watch will be shipped out today, so I should have it on Monday if not sooner.

Then the case may very well be gen, which is what it looks like to me. And that just ices an already tasty cake.

I thought the same thing, but it is hard to tell from the pics if there is an actual step on Chris's & Stephane's case or if it is just a crease (that is lacking on the MBW). But it does look promising.

Interesting about the serial number, Stephane. It is impossible to tell, for sure, if the case is gen based on the pics. However, the movement does look gen (or, at least, it looks like a high end ETA due to the perlage) & that is the most expensive part, so it would not surprise me to find that the case is also gen. But, whatever it is, for the price, I do not see how anyone with an interest in vintage Rolex can pass it up. I remember when madmac's pics were posted, some of us thought it would be a great deal for $250-$300. And, what do you know, Chris comes up with what looks like the same (or very similar) watch for exactly that price. So my order went in last night.

Yes, it does look like madmacs'. Either way, for the price of an average rep, at the very least, you get what appears to be a gen movement (I think the case may be gen too). That makes it a great deal in my book & I hope to receive mine in a few days. Chris - is the serial number (between the lugs) 726514?

Shawn - No offense, but I (& others) have posted descriptions on how to r&r a tube numerous times in numerous threads. You just need to spend the time (like we all do) to Search out the info. The details of the process depend on your particular case (I deal mostly with vintage models, so I cannot give you specifics regarding the Euromariner or similar modern reps) & having to repeat the same thing over & over again gets old pretty fast. But Alligoat seems to have answered your question. What I can tell you is that the process is very simple - remove the existing tube & install the new 1. If required, drill and/or tap the existing hole (you will know if it is 'required' if the threads do not match and/or new tube binds or does not screw into the hole). The difficulty comes in the practice, as Alligoat, who is certainly a senior member, has described. My recommendation - get 2-3 tubes (you may break 1 or 2), the requisite Rolex tube tool (ofrei.com, julesborel.com, cousinsuk.com, etc.) & the tap that Alligoat recommended (I have never re-tubed a 16610, so I would defer to his knowledge here). Do not force anything. And, again, Search the Rolex & Watch Repair forums for additional details.

Not dead, but it is a fly. He tried to hitch a ride during My Motorcycle Diary Roadtrip. Still wearing my beater (without the hitchhiker)