freddy333

The $800 price tag would include an Asian 7760 (manual-wind version of the ubiquitous and reliable (when properly serviced) 7750). Such a watch would be essentially a factory-assembled DW-style Daytona using similar quality parts, but powered by the Asian 7760 instead of the Valjoux. That is, a very accurate rep (containing no gen Rolex parts) that is functionally the same as the Valjoux-powered DW or gen (a tri-compax chronograph with all working subdials), but which can be fitted with many gen parts (crown, tube, pushers, etc.). Again, it would look similar to this (The watch in the picture has been fitted with a gen Triplock crown/tube, which is slightly narrower than the rep Triplock crown that the watch would normally come with from the factory) It seems to me that for ever one of us who has the time, money & skills to gather the parts to construct a home-brewed V72 DW, there are probably 100 times as many people who would be willing to pay a premium for a functionally similar & already assembled watch. But I would like to find out if I am right about the number of potential (real) buyers.

Good luck with the surgery. One way or the other, you can be sure your surgeon will know when it is time to break for tea.

Always nice to see a steel Datejust. Very odd that the stem should break like that from just finger pressure. Here is my mid-80's 100% gen (including the 3035) home-brewed Frankenjust with linen dial (left front)

I mostly agree with Avitt and tmg. Constructing one of these watches is nerve-wracking, at best, and the road to nirvana is filled with numerous potholes. But I know how you feel because an accurate vintage Daytona has been my grail watch for decades, and the appeal of this particular siren can be all-consuming at times. Unfortunately, your only alternative with that case is a Valjoux movement and these are both rare & expensive birds. I will tell you the same thing Avitt once told me -- Stick with it & you will eventually find one. But it takes time, patience & commitment and the pricing on these things seems to go up faster than the cost of oil on the open commodities market.

The watches at the ends are V72-powered DWs. The watch in the middle is the watch under consideration -- essentially a DW, but powered by an Asian 7760 (manual-wind version of the Asian 7750 chronograph movement) instead of a Valjoux 72. For reference, DW recently sold a pair of fully-assembled V72-powered watches for a bit less than $2k each (if your membership level permits access, you can still find the post in the Supporter For Sale section). So my question is -- Is there a market for a less expensive DW-style Daytona rep? The Daytona equivalent to an MBW SeaDweller - a very accurate rep that will accept many gen parts.

Obviously someone's idea of a parody. All of the links on that page are either dead-ends or forward to ofrei.com. I doubt Bob Frei would find it very funny though.

Manual-wind Asian 7760 movement with asymmetrical pushers and a fully-functional tri-compax chronograph. Case dimensions similar to DW & gen Daytona 62xx series, so it will accept many gen parts. Note that the watch in the picture has been fitted with a DW caseback (which is shallower (similar to the gen 62xx caseback) than the caseback that would come with the watch) & a gen Triplock crown/tube, but these parts would NOT come standard on the rep watch you purchase - I installed them just to demonstrate that the case will accept some gen parts - you would need to purchase/install these yourself or have your modder perform the work for you.

Yes, tell me about it...... On second thought, keep it to yourself. I think I have had enough casebacks for one night. But I am curious about your comments above......Although the watch in the middle in this picture is not for sale, are you saying you would be willing to pay $800 for one of these 7750-powered Daytonas if it was already assembled?

That has been my experience too and I am in the same area.

I am chuckling to myself as I write this and the reason for the giggles is because I feel very stupid. After the watch came through the last round of testing with flying colors and I was about to put this baby to sleep, I tightened the caseback (not overtight, just snug) and the hand started to crawl again (like my skin). The problem is due to the DW caseback pressing on the lever once the caseback is screwed down all the way. I did not realize it when I swapped the DW caseback for the original (the original caseback is too tall), but the side wall of the DW caseback is almost 3 times as thick as the original caseback and so it is coming into contact with the lever somewhere along its path. I am confident this is the problem because I have spent the past 2 hours loosening, testing, tightening, testing, loosening, testing, tightening, testing, etc. and the hand only does its crawl when the caseback is tightened. It stays perfectly still when either the original caseback is installed or the DW caseback is only loosely fit. So I have been going at the inside wall of the DW caseback with my Dremel, trying to reduce the sidewall thickness to the point where it will clear the lever. After seeing how much more accurate the watch looks with the lower profile DW caseback, there is no way I could ever go back to the too high original. Here is a comparison of the 2 casebacks (the accurate DW is on the right, original (too tall) caseback on the left) (You can see where I have started to Dremel (thin) the sidewall of the lower profile DW caseback (on right) near the CRS inscription) _________ FINAL UPDATE — After reassembling the watch with the dremeled-out DW caseback, the watch has been running flawlessly for more than an hour & the hour totalizer hand has not budged from its proper null (OFF) position once. Problem solved (for real this time). Thanks to all who provided help.

A brand new workday, but the same old beater

Thank you, but all 3 have asymmetrical pushers (the button pushers of the 6239 & 6241 (the watches at far left & right) make it difficult to see because of the viewing perspective). The 6239 & 6241 are Valjoux 72-powered DWs, which use the same base movement that Rolex originally fitted into the vintage Daytonas (use the Search function to learn about DW Daytonas). The 6263 in the center is somewhat unique due to its being powered by an Asian 7750 with the correct asymmetrical pusher arrangement (most 7750s have symmetrical pushers, which are inaccurate for vintage Daytonas). Unfortunately, I cannot reveal the source of this watch just yet, but I should be able to provide more details soon. ____________ UPDATE -- After rethinking the situation, I decided that it would be foolhardy to do any grinding or bending of the lever, at least while it is contained within the movement. So, instead, I turned my dremel to the case and ground out a small semi-circular area just a mm away from the path of the pusher pin, which is where the lever is coming into contact with the case. Because the pusher is in very close proximity, I had to be somewhat conservative in the amount of metal I removed. But the lever is definitely coming into contact with much less of the case now, but not quite sure it is now able to fully-extend to its OFF position. So I just reinstalled the movement (held in place by the stem only....no movement clamps just yet) and will let it run for 30 minutes to see if that worked. If not, I will try removing a bit more metal & then retest. I will keep updating here in case someone else has this problem in future..... ____________ 30-MINUTE UPDATE -- All is well, so I reinstalled both case clamps and loosely fit the caseback. If all is still well 30 minutes from now, I will finally, and officially, pronounce the problem solved.

Ziggy -- Apparently, I was premature in pronouncing the job done. After reassembling the case, the hand began to move again. But the good news is that I just discovered the real source of the problem, which is related to item 1 above. The lever, itself, is bent causing it to come into contact with the inside of the case when the movement is reinstalled. I think you can see the way the lever sticks out beyond the outer boundary of the movement in these pictures Any recommendations on how to unbend (or bend) the lever without disassembling the movement? I was thinking that I could use a Dremel to grind down the edge of the lever that is coming into contact with the case, but I am worried that either the pusher pin might not have enough of a flat surface to operate correctly or, more likely, that the metal dust & shavings from the grinding would get into the movement.

Often, 1st generation reps of new models are pretty inaccurate. I would wait until they release the new reps late this year or early next. Those should be better. But remember that no rep is perfect, regardless of the marketing hype used by sellers.

The problem turned out to be that the lever itself was bent. Not only was the dial on this watch filthy (there were literally crumbs all over the dial & the hands had such a think layer of *greasy* fingerprints on them that I originally thought they were made out of white plastic with a worn coat of chrome paint on top.....until I started rubbing them with Rodico), but I blew a dust cloud out of the movement. I am amazed that this thing even runs. I wish I had taken some pictures of the inside of this thing before I cleaned it. Lack of QC is one thing, but to be assembling watches while you are eating your lunch.......Sheesh...... But after tweaking the regulator a bit, everything seems to be running fine now. I am even beginning to toy with the idea of capping this one off with one of those sparkling, beveled gen T21s. Funny how the addition of a set of asymmetrical pushers can give an otherwise average-looking rep the unmistakable air & presence of the real thing. (Picture taken before hour totalizer hand was fixed)

If the hole goes through both sides of the bridge AND it is threaded all the way through AND there are some available threads at one end of the hole AND the broken screw is not severely jammed in the hole AND you have another screw of the same size & thread pitch......you might be able to get the broken screw out by soaking the bridge in WD40 (penetrating oil) and then screwing the new screw in, gently, and it may guide the broken screw out the other side. This has worked for me on a couple of occasions. Another option (that I have used with success dozens of times in automotive restoration work) is to try to cut/carve/punch a slot in one end of the broken screw's shaft to fit the blade of a standard jeweler's screwdriver. Apply some WD40 (give it a few minutes to penetrate) and then just unscrew the screw.

Initially, I thought the pusher pin was the culprit, so I filed the pin down, but that did not fix it. So I think you are probably right about there being problem with the brake lever (if it was the reset arm, I would think the chrono second & minute counters would continue running also). Thanks, Zig.

Yes, that is true and I could keep doing that. But I am neurotic & my minimum requirement for wearing any watch is that it function properly and keep reasonable time. I would rather find out what the problem is and fix it than to keep having to reset it every 30 minutes. But I understand where you are coming from and it makes sense. I have a feeling it is a relatively simple thing to correct. Ziggy will probably chime in tomorrow. Thank you though.

I did a search before posting, but was unable to find anything relevant. Thank you anyway.

The hour totalizer hand (subdial at 6) is creeping around the subdial very slowly when the chrono function is OFF (it works normally when the chrono is ON). In fact, you can see it just to the right of the 12 in this photo, which was taken about 20 minutes after the chrono had been reset back to the null position (all 3 chrono hands pointing to the 12 on their respective scales) The longer the watch runs, the further around the subdial the hand will slowly move. It resets back to 12 without any problem every time. Trouble is that it also starts moving again within 15 or 20 minutes every time. Any idea what the problem is and, more importantly how to fix it?

No, veggie burger, salad & apple cobbler.

I have never been to Outback, but you cannot group those other 2 food troughs (Olive Garden, Applebee's) in with the wonderful gastronomic experience that is Houston's. Two completely different dining venues......worlds apart.

It looks that way, yes. And it is usually worth the wait. Thank you.

Went right over my head, Doc. I just re-read your original post and I get it now. I usually get those things, but I must have read & responded to your post as part of 3 or 4 responses I posted early this morning. Not enough sleep I guess.

Sorry Avitt, and thanks. Late last year or early this year, someone (I forget who) posted a response to a thread I started inquiring about info on Honpo's 7750-powered Daytonas. That person had one of these 7750 Daytona reps with asymmetrical pushers. I thought you (& most of the regulars) read that particular thread & were aware that these things exist (although they seem to be as rare as hen's teeth. You might want to PM me on this subject when you get a chance.