freddy333

Chris -- Unless I am missing something, the answer seems quite obvious -- If your goal is to have the most accurate rep, then you need to buy the 2nd MBW and combine (or have someone combine) the two. If your goal is to get the best rep for the money, decide which watch has the least sins (to you) and keep (or buy) that one.

I believe the Valjoux 72x series all run at 18000bph. As for difficulties fitting the movement.........hard to say. One of mine went in like a hand in a glove while another caused me nightmares for weeks on end (there are a number of posts detailing both projects - search for 6239 or 6241 & my handle). But even if the movement fits the case, there are usually other issues you have to contend with (pushers not fitting, crown tube not matching existing case threads, difficulties installing bezels or crystals, finding a way to secure the movement into the case, having something in the case causing the caseback not to fit, misaligned lug holes, etc.). I would defer anyone considering the construction of one of these gems to consider the wisdom of Animal House: Start drinking heavily. Good luck.

A steel Rolex Explorer 1 because it goes with any dress style, the gen is reasonably priced & the design is simple enough so that there is little to give it away as a rep. It is also one of the classic doctor/lawyer watches, so it should fit right in in the law firm Here is the link (there is an Asian-powered version on the same site for 1/2 the price)

Wow, nice work, tmg! I am drooling without even liking that model. One of the Newmans en route to a business lunch (funny how Newman always gets stuck with the bill)

Fake

The (V72-powered) bookends keep COSC time (after spending a few days tweaking their regulators), and the centerpiece runs but, as I mentioned above, the hour totalizer seems to run (creeping around the subdial, seemingly counting hours) when the chrono is NOT in use. I am guessing there is a clutch that is mis-adjusted, but hopefully Ziggy will chime in with a more accurate answer.

Thanks, Tribal. I removed the rotor to disable the auto-wind & make the watch function more like the gen vintage Daytona 62xx, which, as you know, were manual-wind watches. Certainly, Valjoux-powered DWs are more accurate in their function (since they share the same base movement as the gen 62xx Daytonas), but I think this is a reasonable compromise considering the savings in both time (to search out a V72) and money (the cost to purchase another V72). Replacement of the crown & tube were the obvious next step since, having its auto-wind mechanism disabled, the watch would need frequent winding and the cheap, rep POS crown/tube would have stripped within the first few screw/unscrewings. Also, the rep Triplock crown is too wide and a dead-giveaway, and it was a relatively easy mod so it made sense to do it.

This particular watch came from the factory with the 7750 inside. As I have heard, there is a version of the Asian 7750 configured with asymmetrical pushers. I just modded the watch to fix some of the more obvious inaccuracies and improve the overall look & feel. I believe this watch is the same 7750-powered Daytona (with asymmetrical pushers) that Honpo has on his website. And as soon as I can provide more details, I will. But to answer your question of whether you could put a Swiss 7750 into this case, yes, as long as the Swiss 7750 has an asymmetrical pusher arrangement, I do not see why not.

Thank you. Close-ups of the 2 bookends have been posted numerous times in various recent threads and I think most of the members are probably sick of them by now (search for my name with 6239 or 6241), but I will try to post a few more shots of the center watch (including a close-up of the dial) in the next day or so along with more details.

Sorry, Diesel, I was just trying to make up for not posting any new wrist shots (other than my beater shots, which I keep posting because.....well, that is the watch I am usually wearing). The watches on either end are my DW 6239 & 6241 V72 project watches. As you know, these have been detailed in various posts. The center watch is new & a bit of a dark horse. I am waiting to get some additional info from the source, which I believer will be both interesting and welcome to many members. The watch in the center is a 7750-powered 6263 Franken (which as you can see has asymmetrical pushers) that I put together earlier this evening. You may have read my De-Automating the Asian 7750 inquiry that Ziggy responded to earlier on Monday. Well, the goal was to allow me to replace the original caseback (which was too tall) with a (correctly) shallower DW caseback, which fit perfectly once the rotor was out of the picture. Now the case has the proper profile for a vintage Daytona and the watch sits at the same height on my wrist as either of the 2 DWs. The bezel was an extra DW part that I accumulated during my repeated miscommunications with David (which turned out to be fortuitous). I also swapped out the original rep crown and tube for gen Triplock parts (the case hole required a thorough tapping before the tube could be installed smoothly) and I cleaned & lubed the keyless works while I was rummaging around inside the case. I also replaced the crummy end links & bent springbars with better quality rep links and gen springbars. I debated whether to install one of those sweet beveled gen T21s that look so sparkly on the other 2, but decided against it (at least for now) because the dial has some issues that I am not happy with (crown too low and subdials not quite accurate, though few people would ever notice it) & the hour totalizer hand (subdial at 6) slowly creeps around the subdial when the chrono is NOT in use (you can see this in the picture).

tmg -- Not all gen T21s cast the same spell. Only the beveled version produces the vintage Daytona magic. This is one case where a flat-top with a slant has it all over a domed lid.

Very interesting..... But I think the real question is whether these differences in machining & component design will affect the lifespan of the movement. Based on the timing readout, the movement's performance does not seem to have been effected to any noticeable degree.

Thanks Ziggy. I kind of thought that was the case, but I wanted to get a second opinion before I applied any force to the rotor.

Has anyone removed either the rotor or, better yet, the entire auto-winding mechanism from an Asian 7750? I am trying to reduce the thickness of the movement so I can fit it into a shallower case. The rotor has a single screw that appears to lock it onto the rest of the auto-winding mechanism, but even after removing the screw I was unable to separate the rotor from the mechanism. So I started to remove the 3 screws that lock the self-winding mechanism onto the pillar plate, but I stopped after removing the 2nd screw because I noticed that the plate of the mechanism contains 2 jewels that appear to be acting as cap jewels for some of the chrono gears. It looked like removal of the self-winding mechanism might leave these chrono gears floating without cap jewels.

I see you have it fitted with one of those lovely, beveled gen T21s that makes a Daytona look like it is encased in a jewelbox. Nice.

Euno, now THAT is a watch.

Beautiful work (as usual) Ziggy and congratulations Jojo.

I have never lost a pearl, but the pearl should fit tightly into the bezel insert even without the additional of glue (I do use a dab of GC crystal cement just for added assurance). Your pearls are not properly fitting into your bezels, which is why they keep falling out. You need either a better insert, pearl or both. Try one of these inserts (you will need to measure your bezel to get the right insert) and if your watch is a vintage model, try Ofrei.com's Illumines Dot for the pearl (it will fit perfectly into the insert & should not fall out under 'normal' conditions).

Thanks for the update, Ziggy. It will be very useful to know how to identify the gen ETA from the copy, assuming, as I expect, there will be qualitative differences (favoring the gen ETA). But I can see this becoming a real problem for the average rep buyer, who has neither the tools nor skill to open a watchcase. These people would, once again, be at the mercy of ignorant (or unscrupulous) sellers & end up getting much less than they paid for.

Probably a good idea, but will the (slightly thinner) v23 fit the v72 DW case without major modifications?

There is no sure fire way to do this (successfully) at home, but I was able to achieve a perfect result in 1 out of 2 cases by removing the bezel, applying a coat of gloss black 'high temp' automobile engine paint to the entire top face of the bezel & then gently wiping the surface with a succession of clean terry cloth rags slightly dampened (not sopping wet) with paint thinner. The idea is to use each rag to remove a small amount of paint from the surface of the metal without applying any pressure so the rag's fibers do not reach down into the grooves of the bezel. Eventually, if you are patient & careful, you may be able to remove all of the surface paint while leaving most or all of the paint in the grooves of the numbers. I finished the job with a light polishing with automobile polish. If you have ever grouted ceramic tile, it is a very similar procedure. Assuming this is a rep Daytona, you might want to reconsider the need to repaint the bezel in the first place. Vintage watches tend to look more authentic when they look worn & aged. Although there are a small number of mint 'safe queens' & watches that have been reconditioned (by Rolex), the majority of old Daytonas will be missing paint on the bezel. Personally, I prefer them in mint condition, but I just thought I would mention the options

Of course, it is always best to have the correct set of hands & although you cannot turn a second hand into an hour hand, you can make most similar hands fit most movements with a good set of jeweler's pliers & broaches (a bit of skill & alot of patience). I discovered this during my Daytona projects.

I do not keep Pans & it is impossible to verify the DD's without better pictures. But based on what I can see they both look like reps (you will have to guess). Clear, close-ups of the day & date windows would help as would close-ups of the dials and crowns.

Uncle!