freddy333

KKS - Beautiful watch and great work. Have you tried an all-black Nato? They are quite nice with a Sub or Sea-Dweller. I think it makes the watch even more striking because it drives your eye right to the bezel insert and the color coordination makes the strap look like it came with the watch.

Would one of these bezel removers work on this watch?

While the Lemania/Venus movement (with seconds at 9 and a 'dummy' subdial at 6) is well made and reliable, it is the wrong movement for a modern 1165xx series Daytona (which has the seconds at 6). If you want to go with that movement, I would consider the previous 1652x Daytona or one of the vintage models, all of which had the seconds running at 9.

Otherwise, this is one of the least accurate Daytona reps I have seen in quite a while. I would recommend that you familiarize yourself with the current Daytona at rolex.com and then search out some reviews of the recent Daytona 116520 and 116509 reps elsewhere on this site.

Avitt - Yes. The splines in the old style are located in the narrow (bottom) part of the tube. The splines are in the wider (upper) end of the newer tube.

Vintage 6mm Twinlocks (crown - 24-600, tube - 24-6020).

Update -- I just figured it out. I have a mixture of 6mm Twinlock tubes that came from different sources and I forgot that Rolex made two versions - an older version (with splines around the inside of the narrow part of the tube) and a newer/current version (with splines around the inside of the wider part of the tube). I only have the Rolex tool for the newer version of 7mm Triplock and Twinlock tube, which is why I was confused when the tool would not fit into some of the 6mm Twinlock tubes (the older version requires a different tool with a narrower tip). Dumb me.

I have a similar question about gen Twinlock casetubes. These do not have the splines around the inside of the tube that interlock with the Rolex casetube tool like the Triplock tubes. I can remove the rep tube with a file, but what do people usually use to reinstall the new gen tube?

Of course, you can reinstall with the same end of the file, but I really hate to scrape up the inside of a new gen tube if I can avoid it.

No worries! The more the merrier. Here's what gloppy tinted varnish will do to a dial/hands...........

Looks a bit too shiny, but the texture of the dial looks about right. Thanks Nanuq.

Freddy, here's the dial that I showed you earlier (the one that I relumed with Revell paint), after about 4-5 coats of varnish. The pic is lit from an extreme angle. I think that 2 coats would probably suffice to just add texture.

...Now, unfortunately, the varnish reacted with the lume paint, and turned it very yellow (but you can see that the rest of the print on the dial remained white).

Thanks Avitt. Varnish, huh? I will have to try that.

By the way, is that your original MBW dial?

Ziggy,

Have you ever (successfully) modified/repainted a dial like this

To match the crown and hour index markers on a gen dial like this

This aftermarket dial has generally better printing than my MBW dial, but suffers from having a too narrow crown (at least the lower half) and index markers at 6 & 9. Since the (more detailed) top of the crown could remain untouched and the lower part is mostly a solid block of white with just a sliver of black showing through, it seems like it might be doable. I have been trying my hand at widening the lower half of the crowns on some scrap pieces, but my hands are not steady enough and it is clear that I am no where near good enough to pull off this level of artistry.

But I think that if the problems with the crown and index markers could be fixed (and matched to the gen dial), this dial would be a winner.

Have you ever done anything like this?

p.s. I tried to email you, but your email is disabled and I could not find a contact address in the Watch Repair Services PDF I downloaded from your website.

Thanks, Avitt. How close (to Nanuq's gen dial) does a few coats of varnish get you?

Do you have any close-up photos of a varnished dial? Or, better yet, a comparison photo of a gen next to a varnished rep dial?

I know that Ziggy varnishes some of his dials, but I do not think I have ever seen the same texture (as the gen) on any of his dials.

The aftermarket dials that PolexPete and I got have a very gen-like texture. This is one of the reasons I bought one even though I knew it had some serious problems. This was the first aftermarket dial I have found that had that texture and (mostly) gen-like printing. If I can find a way to widen the bottom of the crown and 6 & 9 index markers, I would swap it out for my MBW dial in a heartbeat.

Is there a way to add that texture to an MBW dial?

People asked for some more photos, here are a few more REALLY nasty quick ones. Sorry for the quality!

Now that I can see the dial more closely, I see that the black paint has a slight texture, which is missing from most rep dials (including my WM/MBW).

Nanuq -- The poem went over my head too, but thank you for the background on the watch.

What is the difference between the 2846 & 2879? Number of jewels, beat speed?

I am speechless. Well, almost. I have enough wits left about me to pose one question -- Where did you get that dial?

You can buy a used gen stainless steel Sub bracelet on ebay for somewhere between $600-$900.

I have a couple of Andrew's Subs and they all have stainless steel bracelets. So there are 2 possibilities that come to mind -- either something that you are allergic to got spilled onto the bracelet or you may have always been allergic to the metal but just never (before) reacted to it. Allergies are strange in the way they come and go. I know because I have alot of allergies and they are very unreliable.

If something got spilled onto the bracelet, try this -- Remove the watch head from the bracelet and soak or wash the bracelet (without the watch head) in denatured or isopropyl alcohol. After that, wash it again with liquid hand or dish soap and water. If you cleaned it well, the alcohol and soap should have removed all (or most) of whatever agent was on the bracelet. But if you get the same thing on your wrist again, then you almost certainly have an allergy to the metal. If that is the case, the only thing you can do is to replace the metal bracelet with a material strap or ignore the allergy, if you can.

Congratulations on your beautiful new Sub.

fx - That is on my list of experiments. But I have a feeling the amount of force that will be required to imprint into steel using constant pressure from a vise will greatly exceed my little hobbyist's vise's limitations. For that, I think a very large shop vise would be required and I do not have access to anything like that. The big problem now, is finding more scrap caseback to experiment on.

You have to love a dome.

Houston, all systems are GO!

I just received my custom stamp (in case you have forgotten by now, I was searching for a way to replicate the sunkin appearance of the lettering on vintage Comex and Sea-Dweller casebacks). Here are pictures of my tool (well, not my tool - this one is always hard)

And here is a sample of what a stamped number looks like from my initial round of testing of stamping quarters (I used quarters because they are close to the same thickness and tensile strength as a stainless steel caseback and I have more quarters than scrap casebacks)

As you can see, it is quite nice and I think it addresses all of the issues discussed throughout this thread.

The impression left by the stamp, which was produced with 3 successive (moderate) whacks with a 5-pound sledgehammer, has all the hallmarks (no pun intended) of the added-on numbering on some of the Comex casebacks. This is a recent example from Antiquorum

My initial tests make 3 things clear

1. The original (gen) lettering (especially, the Comex number that was added later) was stamped
   
2. I will need to locate some additional scrap casebacks to perfect the technique, but a hand stamp can produce a clear, properly aligned print in hard metal
   
3. The caseback should probably be placed on top of a concave metal form to maintain alignment and to limit the amount of collateral deflection should you use a bit too much force (2 of my previous quarters will no longer fit through a coin slot)
   

So anyone know where I can get a handful of blank casebacks for cheap?

Without seeing the T16 sitting (out of the watch) next to a T39, I have to say that it looks more like the OEM crystal that came in my WM/MBW DRSD. Similar, but with a lower profile than the T39 Superdome.

Oh, and beautiful watch (I missed the forest for the trees).

That begs the following questions -- Did the dog get to wear the watches? Did the watches get fleas? Did the mortgage get paid? Has anyone seen my galoshes?

Which is why you should not have any trouble finding buyers (at almost any price) for your Superdomes on TZ.

There is something unique about the way images appear in a true superdome that you do not see in any other crystal type. If you look at the watch from the side and then slowly turn it toward you, as the crystal just reaches the cusp of your viewing angle, the entire dial suddenly appears to be floating on top of the crystal. It is quite an amazing optical illusion caused by the refraction of the light rays due to the cut of the lens. Doing the same thing with the OEM MBW or any flat crystal produces an image that appears lower down into the watch case and only after the viewing angle is more perpendicular to your eye.

Nanuq -- Speaking of dropping 20k on a watch, did you see this article (you might want to click the link at the top to read the first part first)?