freddy333

Wearing the Pagani today --

Wearing the Big Kahuna today, but would have worn Goldie if I had not been out with a friend today & unwilling to risk the unwanted attention such a watch attracts.

I wanted to accentuate her red-handed highlights & I think this does the trick.

Denatured alcohol or Windex/glass cleaner.

You are making my point.

"Were" is the salient issue. We no longer are, nor have we been for several years. I think a simple perusal of RWI's daily postings will demonstrably illustrate the point.

I think what the forum needs is more members with watchmaking knowledge/experience.

Strapped on The freddy333 Daytona today

I have had this press for many years, but, to be honest, I rarely use it. Most of the time, I use a rubber-jawed vice & the nylon spacers. Obviously, you have to use care with a vice (ie, check your alignment BEFORE starting & do not press too hard!), but I think it makes it easier to apply even pressure. But, in general, any press will do as long as you have a proper, well-fitting, set of spacers.

Wearing the old Comex today

Wearing my 1st ETA 2846-powered rep/franken from the 1980s

Of all the watches in my decades of collecting, there is only 1 watch I have never been able to pull the trigger on -- the Coke Sub. Every time I see 1, I get that familiar itch. But because they are a fantasy model, I just cannot rationalize wearing it because I do not spend money on watches I do not intend to wear -- at least occasionally. So I will have to envy yours. Thanks for posting this classic. Wearing the Pagani today

Shooting that watch against that background absolutely nails it! Well done.

I am surprised he did not post it as an auction. But it will be interesting to see if he actually gets $1.7k for used aftermarket parts. In an somewhat related matter, I am in process of updating my 1st franken. This was 1 of the 1st reps made with a good, Swiss-made (ETA) movement back in the 1980s. Shortly after purchase, I figured out that its dimensions were the same as the gen DJ of the day, so I took a chance & purchased gen two-tone end links & steel clasp (at that time, you could walk into an AD & order Rolex parts from the mothership without a problem -- other than the cost). As it turned out, they fit perfectly. The watch has since been upgraded with gen crown/tube & I am awaiting the arrival of a gen xtal & bezel. Once received, I will either update that original thread or post the result to a new thread. Now, with 4 decades of natural patina, it is interesting to hold it next to my gen DJ of the same vintage & see two genuinely vintage Rolex watches.

No.

Sorry to hear the sad news. As for sourcing the watch in question, try here or here or here.

RWG's original draw was the sheer amount of engineering/watchsmithing knowledge & talent that tended to coalesce here. There were numerous technical breakthroughs that could only have occurred here due to the braintrust that was literally drawn to RWG in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, after management made the decision to initiate games & then seemed to turn a blind eye to new members (including some mods) who were systematically post-padding to get their post counts up, many of the original crew felt disenfranchised & left. Not sure what you do about that, but you cannot fix a problem until/unless you 1st acknowledge it.

Were those Tudors purchased on their own merit (ie, because you wanted them) or to placate the AD & be permitted onto The List? The reason I ask is because there may soon be a class action suit brought against those who participated in this type of 'business'.

How long was the wait & did you have to jump through any hoops (eg, purchasing other watches/jewelry to be permitted admittance to THE LIST)?

Most of my experience is with vintage pre-1990 (16xx) Datejusts, which used the 24-600, so take this with a grain of salt -- I believe the later 5-digit Datejusts (eg, the 16200) need the later 24-603. As I recall, the differences lie in each crowns' inner (stem) tube assembly. The 600 contained a screw-in (ie, removeable) inner tube assembly (if interested, you can search out my thread detailing an inner tube transplant from a 600 Twinlock to a Brevet crown) & had a slightly larger diameter, while the inner tube on the 603 was slightly narrower & was NOT removeable. That said, I believe the case-side case tube threading -- where the case tube screws into the side of the case -- is the same for both case tubes. The only difference should be the diameter of the opening inside the case tube through which the crown's inner tube assembly fits through. As long as you have the correct (matching) case tube for your crown, either crown/tube should fit the 16200. But, again, as I do not work on many 5-digit Datejusts, I cannot guarantee fitment of the 603 to your case without replacing the case tube. So, unless someone else knows for certain or you are able to purchase a 600 with return privileges, I would suggest searching for the correct 24-603 to avoid problems or having to replace the case tube.