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Posts posted by freddy333
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Never good to hear of others misfortune, but at least it resulted in RWG falling back into its proper hands. Hopefully, you are able to work things out in a way that is beneficial for both you & RWG.
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12 hours ago, Hayst said:
It shocked me to learn that the ADs aren't allowed to pull the watches apart, they have to pass them through to the Rolex service centre or void the warranty.
I think either the AD was misinformed or you may have misunderstood them. Any certified Rolex watchmaker with a parts account should be able to work on your watch. Generally, only for vintage pieces, where a certified watchmaker is unable to verify a Rolex's provenance, might the watch have to be returned to a service centre. However, these days, due to cost-cutting, many ADs no longer maintain an in-house watchmaker of any level. In those cases, the watch would need to go the service centre. -
There is some seriously heavy metal on this page, gentlemen.
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Welcome back, Luca.
I do not know the details of your experience with the other member, but it is too bad your return was spoiled by an apparent deception. I know in the old days (when I was a member of the mod team), reports of abuse or questionable trades would come up from time to time & were ALWAYS taken seriously. But, unfortunately, you have to remember that private transactions between members are just that -- private. So there is really little RWG staff can or, really, should do other than to listen to both sides, if both sides are willing to accept a mediator. But, in the end, it is ultimately up to the 2 parties to sort things out, either between themselves or with the help of the payment agent (eg bank, paypal, etc).
Good to hear you did finally acquire your grail. -
Sorry to hear you have had to deal with so many health issues, but glad to hear they have finally begun to abate.
Get well soon. -
Update --
After nearly 4 months of nearly daily driving, the Big Kahuna continues to exceed Rolex's specs -- running within +/- 1 sec/day!
On my Timegrapher, in all positions, it returns no more than 2 secs deviation with 0.1% beat error and an amplitude of between 285-310. Typical rates for a modern, well-regulated 4130-powered Daytona. Because the fashionistas are now fixated on the latest, ceramic-bezeled models, these more understated, all-steel classics tend to fly below the-radar, which is more my style.
& values for white, APH-dialed Daytonas (not counting the racy chrono sweep hand) are once again heading for the stratosphere.- 1
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This is the kind of creative spirit that made RWG famous.
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I am not accepting any new work, but if this is a gen, why not have a local watchmaker with a Rolex parts account handle this?
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Since a few people have messaged me asking about the rubber strap, here is a link to Horus rubber straps.
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The 2023 Platinum Daytona (ref 126500) becomes the 1st sport model offered with a display caseback. It also has an updated 4131 movement. The 4131 is supposed to have a few less parts, but I do not know which parts were removed or why. What I do know is that the new movement is now decorated (not to my liking) & fitted with a skeletonized, yellow gold rotor & 'improved' ball-bearing system. I was not aware of any general problems with the 4130's rotor bearing, so the 'improvement' may be in manufacturing process & not the movement's performance. But, since they greatly increased the number of balls in the bearing (it looks like they went from 7 balls in the 4130 to 30 or 40 in the 4131), I am not sure about this? Rolex says 'the self-winding mechanism is also more durable thanks to the optimized ball bearing in the Perpetual rotor'.
Rolex is now surrounding the ceracrom bezels with metal, which I imagine is designed to address the increasingly common problem of shattered bezels due to side impacts. -
On 3/22/2023 at 2:38 PM, cc'sdad said:
Still wearing my Dad’s watch gifted to me upon his passing 3 weeks ago.
Condolences on your dad's passing.
He had great taste in watches (I have the same model).- 1
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19 hours ago, automatico said:
Suitable cases are few and far between, but the movement is 50% of the chase.
The movement is 1/3 of the chase. The movement & dial represent the other 2/3. But, however you look at it, no 1 part is useable without the other 2. -
5 hours ago, automatico said:
This is not meant to be a smart remark but you might have waited too long to get started on it for three reasons...all because of $$:
1...Genuine patphils and parts are extremely expensive now, basically ruling out Frankenstein projects using genuine parts.
2...Gold is nearing $2K USD per troy ounce so solid 14/18K gold watches for F-stein projects have jumped way up in price.
3...Many classic case designs have been melted down.
It had a cal 23-300 movement and was in first class condition. I had it c/o and traded it away.
Problems with them today:
1...Astronomical prices.
2...No parts. I could get patphil parts back then from the Stern Agency NYC but not now. No contacts today. All I have left is a nos 18kyg crown.
3...Still fragile as a baby's breath.
Good points.
I still have a 23-300 with dial/handset that has been sitting on my bench for years awaiting a Patek case -- at this point, almost any Patek case that fits -- but none are to be found anymore. As automatico said, most have been sold off for their melt value &, even with inside contacts, Patek, like Rolex, will no longer sell or permit parts transfers out of the mother ship & its satellites. -
I feel your pain (but the suffering is worse because I lack such an extensive collection of new/NOS Rolex crowns).
If I gave an AD $10k for every time I have hidden an important Rolex part from myself, I would have enough to merit the privilege of buying a 116500 at retail. -
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On 3/18/2023 at 8:05 AM, danielv2000 said:
I wonder if such a dial can be “refinished”.
Most likely. Click here
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I have no recent experience with Phong's watches, but, back when I was more active, I had some (repair) experience with a few of his Rolex frankens, which varied from satisfactory to nightmarish (worn parts cemented in place, etc.). As I recall, Ziggy posted a number of threads detailing some of what he found inside these watches.
At that price level, I would either buy a 2 or 3 hand gen or educate yourself on the parts required to build a franken, gathering them yourself & having a local professional watchmaker assemble everything for you.Another option would be to consider 1 of the recent high-end Patek reps that contain gen-like movements. As is the general rule with reps, avoid the more complicated models & those with 'gems' & you should not have too many problems. Unfortunately, these high-end Patek reps are somewhat rare (I tried to purchase a Calatrava recently, but the factory ultimately said the watch was not currently available & had no ETA when they would be), so you may need to spend some time & effort to track 1 down.
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As usual, nicely done.
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Looks good Tribal.
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Still a beauty & it may be the camera angle, but it looks like the index markers at 3 & 6 may not be straight.
Something (Else), This Way Comes
in The Rolex Area
Posted
Followers of this thread may appreciate this (model number is actually 116508-0009) --