freddy333

Chief - Congratulations to your brother. I am sure he will love & treasure that classic Rolex watch, especially you had a hand in making it for him.

UPDATE How do these hands look?

I believe the components in Honpo's watches are Chinese-made. Some of his watches may be partially assembled (poorly, from what I have seen) in Japan, but the components are the same as we are getting from China.

Repeat after me - 'pattern of behavior'.

Outstanding work, Kent. What are the details behind this (parts sources, construction issues, etc)?

At today's conversion rate, you are looking at $3,287 (US dollars). A few of points to consider. For 1 thing, Honpo only sells to buyers in Japan & nearby Asian localities. For another thing, Honpo is not the most reliable seller (opinions on the quality of his reps & accuracy of pictures/descriptions vs the watch you receive tends to vary). I also happen to believe that the movement shown is an Asian clone of the Valjoux 72 (Ziggy & others disagree). If so, it is impossible to know how reliable it is. But, assuming the movement is sound (or a modded gen V72) & with the understanding that it is not perfect, it looks like a good deal for anyone who is unable to locate all of the parts & construct it himself.

The only thing more beautiful than a gaggle of DWs in pieces..........is a gaggle of DWs in completed form (with gen parts fitted where applicable). I hope you have alot of hair (so you will have enough left over after pulling most of it out during all that construction). Good luck & to quote Bluto, 'My advice to you is to start drinking heavily.'

Thanks, Ubi. If DW could get the factory to install an A7760 (or convert the existing automatic 7750 over to manual-wind spec & fit it with the appropriate caseback) & retail these for $350-$400, I think he would have the rep world's 'killer app'.

Ending the workweek with Mystery

Ask DW if he has any more of his (assembled) A7750-powered 6263s with asymmetrical pushers? These use most of the same hardware from his case kit & if you convert the movement over to manual-wind & swap some of the oem parts for gen parts (crystal, crown/tube, pushers, bracelet), you can end up with a quite respectable 6263 & what I consider to be the Best Buy in the rep world

I would love to add my $0.02 here, but the last 3 posts said it all. Actually, I do have something (new) to add - I have seen people (not just rep collectors) pay quite good money for some Franken-Rolexes. Many of us here have seen Double Red SeaDweller & Daytona frankens (listed as gens in aftermarket cases and/or sold with 'repainted' (aftermarket) dials) sell at auction for $10k+. And with Rolex prices setting new records with each new Antiquorum or Christie's auction, many gen collectors (who are no longer afford these gems) are more than willing to make an exception to the 'No Rep' rule when it comes to a well-crafted Daytona like Ubi's.

Marty - I do not have any spares at the moment, but you can buy them from Borel here (they are just a few dollars each).

My beater today

As it happens, I am old enough to remember & the Apollo astronauts were treated with alot more respect than today's astronauts get. The attention they received was on par with today's average (not Star) football player -- someone that people know from the evening news & that kids look up to. But, even in their heyday, Apollo astronauts were not celebrities that paparazzi would follow around because of the public's insatiable desire for tidbits of their dressing habits. Getting back to Craig, I have to wonder whether the Omega people were made aware of Craig's comments about his 6538? If so, my guess is that they will tell him to keep his mouth shut (about Rolex) while he is being paid (even if only indirectly) to promote their watch in the movie.

Very informative, thanks.

I thought the complaint was that the crown slipped (not just made a clicking sound) when he tried to wind the watch manually. If the tension on the crown, as you wind it manually, remains the same but you just hear an intermittent clicking, then forget what I said previously about the crown or keyless works being the problem. Sorry, I misunderstood the original problem.

I think that if there were as many watch collectors during the Apollo missions as there are today, this info would have affected both companies' bottom lines. But, today, I do not think an astronaut's preference in watches carries nearly as much weight (with the public) as a movie star's, especially when you are talking about a popular star like Craig & especially when that star is playing the iconic 007.

Yes, it is logarithmic - the price vs accuracy does not seem to follow a linear scale. There are similar truisms in other fields of endeavor. High end audio, for example. The 1st $2,000 you spend on a stereo system will give you roughly 95% of the sound of the real thing in your living room. The next 2% will cost you $10,000 more & the next 1% after that will cost you $40,000 more & no matter how much you spend, you can never reproduce the exact sound of live music in your home. And it is the same thing in the case of replicating a genuine high end watch - short of replacing ALL of the rep parts with gen parts, you can never reproduce 100% of the look & feel of a gen watch with aftermarket parts. You can get close, real close, if you are willing to spend alot of money, but you will never make an exact copy.

Time for dinner, but do I want to order from column A or column B? I decided to go with B tonight

While everyone has their own take, I tend to defer to Rolex on the subject starting a new or unworn/unwound Swiss-made watch movement (including ETA). Read the green tag

Pick up a copy of Wristwatch Annual. It contains an excellent lingo lexicon. In the meantime, this may help a bit

I thought the point of the article was that Craig wore a 6538 'replica' in the new movie, but, on 2nd read, I think he is just commenting that he owns/wears a Sub (off camera). Too bad, but I think this revelation will still provide some degree of boost to Rolex's popularity as word spreads that the actor gets paid to wear an Omega, but prefers to wear a vintage Rolex. I think that just about says it all.

Mods? No need to even put it in a shopping bag, I will eat it here.

Based on the pictures (that, aside from being distant & defocused (possibly for a reason), do not show the movement (which is the key to the watch's being a genuine Rolex or not) & my inability to make out the seller's selling history (I do not read French), I would pass. Update - I just found the auction on the US ebay & while the seller does have a 100% satisfaction history, I do not see any previous sales for Rolex (or similar) watches. A bunch of knives, but no watches. At least, no watch-related sales that are recent enough to be listed. Again, I would pass based on what I see. The Explorer is not a rare watch, so I would just be patient & wait for the next 1 (from a more reliable seller).