freddy333

Daytona beater today

I would definitely wear it. A classic man's watch & much more interesting than most of the Dick Tracy pocket watch on a strap models that have been so common for the past decade.

1 word - luscious. There have been too many GMTIIs lately.............and now for something completely different

Just wait til I get a decent camera..........

Ending another busy work week with my non-beater chs GMTIIC But beginning the weekend this evening with my non-beater 6241 Newman

I would recommend against using Coke as it is likely to damage the paint. Try matte varnish, shellac, tea, coffee or, 1 of my favorites, a diluted iodine solution. I would recommend doing some testing on scrap pieces before you attack your dial.

Not sure whether you were joking there, Pho, but you may not have been too far off the mark. The watch looks like a nice gen. However, since the seller had a good history (since late 2001 with a 99.4% Positive rating) & I had no plans to purchase this watch, I did not bother to review any of his previous sales. I just did & they all appear to be shoes (& more than 90 days ago). So following the principle of buying the seller before buying the watch, the possibility exists that this could be a very good franken (I hope mine turns out this well). But the WIS divvy in me still says gen with a final sale price of at least $40k.

Very cute (both the girl & the post).

It sounds like an investment group that wants to sell to high profile clients, who tend to prefer to deal with a polished & educated seller/dealer, thus the educational & writing requirements. Right or wrong, some employers assume that if you write well & have a good education, you are more likely to succeed. What boggles my mind is why they would post such an ad on craigslist instead of the Wall Street Journal or 1 of the major watch magazines? Or even TZ? But maybe they did.

The glasses (& CRT) are glass & an alcohol-based spray cleaner was recommended. I have used micro fiber cloths, but these were never recommended. But you are probably right about your AR being different than the AR on eyeglasses or CRTs. Let's see how Lani's watch turns out when he gets the final version of the AR'd cyclops glued back onto his watch's crystal.

Ubi is correct. There are any number of ways to reduce the size of the hand tubes. You can do it using a pin vise or a staking tool or a pair of smooth-jawed pliers. Whatever you feel most comfortable with. However, this is a VERY delicate procedure & you run the risk of damaging the tube (possibly permanently), which may be why your watchmaker dropped out of the project. I had to do this to fit some gen 116520 hands to my 116520 rep. But if you are extremely careful & VERY lucky, it can be done. Due to the potential risks involved, I would never criticize anyone for refusing to take on the job.

The goal of most members is to build or buy a rep or franken that looks & functions exactly like the gen watch. Since the gen Daytona 16520 used an automatic El Primero movement with symmetrical pushers as its base, building a rep based on a manual wind Valjoux with asymmetrical pushers, would be a mistake in my opinion. But it would certainly be a unique fantasy piece.

This is classic.

I do not understand why ammonia removes the AR on eyeglasses & CRT screens, but not on the gen GMTIIC's cyclops? I am confused too. That was all I was saying.

That was not my point, but I guess we will have to wait to see how Lani's final version looks after it is installed on his watch.

I am definitely NOT knowledgeable on AR coatings, so take this with a huge grain of salt, but I had a conversation with a Rolex trained watchmaker this evening as to what precautions there are regarding what I can or cannot use to clean the gen GMTIIC crystal? Specifically, I asked if Rolex had issued any warnings against the use of ammoniated cleaners like Windex (with ammonia) in regards to the GMTIIC's bezel or crystal. None that he was aware of. And he went at a GMT in the store with a bottle of Windex without any ill effects. This is interesting because AR-treated CRT monitors or eyeglasses always come with explicit warnings NOT to use Windex or other cleaners containing ammonia, because the ammonia removes the AR coating. And I know it does, at least in the case of CRT monitors & eyeglasses, because I have damaged a couple monitors & an expensive pair of sunglasses (& I received quite a hefty bill from my optician to have the lenses redone). Whether the AR used on Rolex cyclops is different than the AR used on CRTs & eyeglass lenses is different, I cannot say. But it does make me wonder if there may be something else going on?

Lani - There is clearly (no pun intended) something about the appearance of the gen GMTIIC cyclops that differs your test run & I am doubtful that it is attributable to double-coating (AR). Wish I knew what it is???????? But good work.

There is something funky about that crystal, but other than that a beauty. There is a reason why Rolex sells so many SDs.

I got mine a few years ago from another seller, but Josh's looks like the same rep I have. The build quality is very good, but mine is powered by 1 of the original A7750s, which some have had problems with (not me). If it only had asymmetrical pushers, I would be in heaven. Same with my other pre-Daytonas. While I love these watches, I do not love them enough to invest the time & money to make V72 frankens (at least not yet).

Please post pics of YOUR MBWs. Thank you.

Get 'one'? Are you kidding? Nobody can have just 1 Daytona!!!!!!!! Add 'dw and daytona' to your searches for the state of the art in vintage Daytonas.

Great job, Diz. Your hard work & planning definitely shows. I would definitely swap out the bracelet (at least the end links & clasp) for a gen since what you have there is not up to the level of the rest of the watch.

Welcome to RWG & the complicated world of Daytona & pre-Daytona reps. Josh's are about the only pre-Daytonas I have seen (a few others sell the same reps). I have a couple myself These reps do accept gen crystals (with a bit of nudging), crowns/tubes & bracelets. But that is about all you can do with them since the movements are standard Asian automatic 7750 copies with symmetrical pusher arrangements (the gens are manual-wind & the pushers are asymmetrically spaced relative to the crown (top pusher is closer to the stem, bottom pusher is slightly further away) I have seen a 'Killy' rep somewhere, but I do not think it was from any of our collectors (& it was very inaccurate). There are a number of reviews & tutorials for modding Daytonas that you can find with the Search function at the top of every page.

I agree with others. ioffer seller is Phong (jewelryandwatch) & that dial is not very accurate. I got the 2 dials in the picture below on ebay several months ago & they are much more accurate than Phong's (or most of NDT's). Unfortunately, the seller only had 1 of each (received from 'a friend')& I have not seen that seller on ebay since (but I am sure these dials will eventually pop up somewhere again from another seller because they are considerably more accurate than any other aftermarket dials I have ever seen)