freddy333

I think Ubi hit on a point that I will rephrase - the addition of polished bracelets, shiny dials & metalized index markers is akin to a gold hammer - a little superfluous (& silly-looking) for something that is supposed to be a tool.

I saw that IW article too & the watches look great, but I think the case design works better with the bi-compax format. Alot of people (myself included) think tri-compax watches are too cluttered looking, which is why Daytonas used to gather dust on retailers' shelves until they became the iconic status symbols they are today (which is why so many people now love tri-compax 'clutter' - myself included).

You guys really know how to spoil a good guessing game. Fxr - Yes, the Silix case is a perfect fit (anyone else choosing to follow suit, be careful as Silix offers several similar CG-less Subs which all use a different/larger case). The dial is 28.4mm dia, so I think either a 29mm or 27mm dial can be made to work. After I grind/polish out some of its minor warts, the Silix should fit the bill almost perfectly. So far, this has been a very simple assembly project, with the sourcing of (accurate) parts being the only real hurdle. I only wish DW Daytonas were this easy. (Note the laboratory clean dial & inner crystal - the watch definitely did not arrive that way )

What's not to like about vintage?

Well done, guys.

Love this pic. Close to perfection. Wearing a work in progress today (Thursday). Can anyone (except JoJo) guess what it will be (specifications subject to change)?

Only in reps. In gen Rolex watches, the (40mm) strapped versions with colored dials are often referred to as women's Daytonas.

Yes, it is very much the same (I used to be in that business). Many of the procedures that are routinely used in the restoration of high end autos translates over to the restoration of high end watches & vice-versa.

You can often find these on ebay. I recently bought 1 for $25 for a customer's watch. There is not alot of demand, at least within collectors' circles, for ladys' Rolex parts, so prices are still quite reasonable. Because Rolex sells more lady's Datejusts (according to many sources, this is their most popular watch model) than any other model, there are lots of parts to be had on the surplus market.

Thanks, Greg. You know, I think you may have just convinced me to go back to 32-bit. If the printer was the only issue (I have an even older Canon inkjet running on the machine, which has the appropriate 64-bit drivers (I think you can guess who will be getting all of our future printer sales)), I could suffer having to transfer the occasional document to the server or another 32-bit workstation for printing. But I have also run into a couple of important apps (beginning with my firewall/security program & there are no doubt others that I have yet to install) that are not 64-bit compatible, which forced me to go with less than optimal alternate choices. It just would have made this whole frustrating ordeal a bit more palatable knowing that something positive came out of all this. I guess I should just be happy that I did not lose any of my data (especially the several gigs worth of gen Rolex pictures archived on my hard drives). It sure would be nice to be able to lose Windows altogether & run Unix on everything. But I just have too many Windows apps that do not have functional/performance/ease-of-use equivalents in the *nix world to make that viable now.

I agree with Takashi. Looks gen, but I would like to see the engravings on the polished sections of the clasp to be sure.

I dope horses, defile women & preside over supermarket openings. So I guess you could say I am in customer service.

My question is - Does anyone know of another driver (or procedure) that is known to work with this printer under 64-bit versions of Windows XP (& before any of you wise wags direct me to hp.com, they do not make a 64-bit driver for this printer, which is why I am hoping someone has another option)? I have 1 of these HP Laserjet 3150 printers standing between me & getting my computer (which has many gigabytes worth of gen watch pictures contained within it) back into full operation. After the Windows Registry blew up (gotta love Windows ) I had to essentially start from scratch, reinstalling Windows, alot of apps & all of my rescued data. But I decided that if I have to go through the painful process of rebuilding the computer, I at least ought to end up with something better than I started out with. So I decided to upgrade from 32-bit XP to 64-bit XP & the comparison between the 2, I have to admit, is quite startling. The 64-bit version is noticeably faster & more stable than the 32-bit XP many of us are used to. The problem is that I need to use this printer/fax/scanner daily (neither my company nor I want to replace it), but HP does not (& apparently will not) provide a 64-bit driver for it. In the past, whenever I lacked the proper printer driver, I have always been able to find/make another driver work. But I spent days searching the web, trying all sorts of fixes & drivers.......I must have tried 200+ drivers & nada. Nothing. The printer does not even yawn when XP 64 tries to communicate with it & I am tired of looking at this So I am about 1/4 of the way through reinstalling everything & I will have to start over & reinstall 32-bit unless I can find a 64-bit solution for this printer. Anyone?

Same thing can be achieved with sandpaper, a dremel/green rouge & a Bergeon brush finish pad

Thanks for your input.

Excellent work so far. I think the T116 & that open 6/9 datewheel make this watch. Where did you source the movement & datewheel?

Finally making headway through my computer dilemma, but no time yet for any new wristies. But here are 2 of the projects currently on my bench (Specifications subject to change.) To Stephane, JoJo & everyone at the NYC GTG - Have fun, I wish I could have joined you.

Just shy of $6,500, I saw this watch on Honpo's site some time ago & I agree with Ubi that it is probably put together with 1 of those cases that were floating around awhile ago (I wish I had picked a couple up myself). But, in addition to the obvious misfit of the bracelet to the head (which I could live with), the dial (which differs from the dials that go into the steel models) contains the same telltale mistakes that plague most other aftermarket Daytona dials. At this price level, I am less willing to overlook those mistakes. But I would certainly never kick this watch out of bed if I found myself in possession of 1. This is 1 of the few yellow gold watches that I would have no problem wearing.........but I might have to rent a Cadillac to it drive in whenever I wore it.

Not so much weird, but often painful. Usually, depending on the donor (& potential recipient), I am able to press on (with only mild remorse) because the ends justify the means. And since most of my donors (some having been quite nice watches in their own right) went into making vintage Daytonas, I have no regrets. But there have also been a couple of cases where I fell in love with the donor watch & either decided to leave it in tact (which was the case with 1 of my DJs) or had to source a replacement movement so I could use the watch again (which was the case with the Flytimer). In these latter cases, the pain stems mostly from the added expense of having to source additional (& often costly) donor watches and/or movements. 'Tis a strange hobby sometimes.

I know what you're thinking. 'Did he wind the stem sixty turns or only fifty? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a modded 1665 MBW, the most powerful rep watch in the world, and would blow your wrist clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?'

Like most Breitlands, to me, they all look like pucks with (to paraphrase a line from 'Amadeus') too many features. I recently threw out my set of OS/2 installation floppies. As I recall, it required 30 or 40 of them to install the full OS package (back in the days when CD-ROM drives were still a relatively rare commodity).

Actually, a book would be a great idea, but considering the illegal basis of our hobby, no publisher would touch such a thing. But I guess someone could self-publish a book/guide & sell copies in PDF format. If you are patient & make use of the search, you will find a number of articles, guides & tutorials that describe mods, in general, or how to perform mods on specific watches. If/when you run into trouble or have a specific question on how to do something, post a request for help (with good, clear pictures that describe the issue) in the appropriate Watch Repair or brand forum. There are alot of experienced artisans here who are more than happy to lend a hand.

Slow. Took nearly a month from the date of payment to arrival of the item.

I agree with Ubi. If you check the bay listings for a week or 2, it is hard not to find them.

Have you tried Ziggy yet?