freddy333

Personally, while I appreciate the 116xxx series of Daytona (& have no plans to sell mine, so do not ask), I have come to find them too large & blingy for daily wear. That said, if they are your cup of tea, I would opt for an early 116520 because they were produced without the ROLEXROLEXROLEX engraving on the flange on the case that runs perpendicular to the dial.Alternatively, for a bit less bling (still essentially the same size), try the previous (modified) Zenith-powered 16520. As for reps, search out By-Tor's brilliant review of the 116520 rep &/or my perfect Daytona thread, & be aware of the inherent mechanical issues of the secs @ 6 7750 that powers the best modern Daytona reps.

Exactly.

Once you understand that the spring slips into the groove on the case (the area surrounding the crystal), you just have to carefully work the spring back into the groove while pressing the bezel back down. Sometimes, a bit of slight bezel rocking helps to keep the spring in place on 1 side while you press down the other side. But there is really no trick to fitting it back on. It just takes patience & practice.

I believe Buckley dials appeared in the 80s (160xx series) & are somewhat more collectible than standard DJs, hence the higher value.

Wearing the steel '39 today

Needs some genuine wear to make it look vintage, but well done.

Wore my oldest (living) rep (& 1st franken) today (purchased in 1987)

I hope all of you know the seller is our old friend with the crazy prices, J&W.

Be careful when taking a rep into a 'jeweler' (call them 1st to be sure they are NOT also an AD for the gen brand), because the guy who is complimenting you on your nice rep 1 minute is on the phone giving your name/contact info to the gen's lawyers the next. &, believe me, you do not want that kind of attention.

I do not know of any way for a non-professional restorer to touch-up a dial without making it look 'touched-up', especially when you have to match 60 year-old paint. Your only options are to leave it as-is or have the dial professionally repainted.

Any chance the gen is manual wind?

I would refer to the seller's Return Policy, which is usually described on their website. If the seller says it takes 5 weeks to return, but it has already been 7, I would ask him how much longer do you need to wait until he just assumes liability & replaces the watch? Once alerted, I would give the seller 1 additional week to research/locate the shipment. After that, if he fails to offer a reasonable solution, post the seller's response (along with the his name - NOT his email or shipping address) in this thread

TZ, VRF or any of the other gen Rolex sites should have plenty of pics of NOS &/or mint watches. Frankly, when it comes to tool watches, within reason, the more (natural) wear the better. A DD, DJ or any polished-case (formal) watch looks best when pristine. But a vintage Daytona, Sub, GMT or any brushed-case (sport) watch usually looks best when it shows its age & wear.

You are likely to get varying answers to this popular question. My experience has been that a good winder will not damage a movement in good, working order. However, a low-end winder or a movement in need of routine service can suffer accelerated wear when constantly wound. Because of this, I have come to the conclusion that winders are best used only on watches that lack a quick-set date feature & that you actually wear on a semi-regular basis. Having to spend 20 minutes winding the watch through many 24-hour cycles on a monthly or bi-monthly basis to set the correct date is probably going to cause more wear than a winder. But keeping a watch you wear regularly (at least once/week) on a winder may be accelerating wear that would otherwise be avoided by simply casing the watch when not in use.

Unless your CGs extend beyond the crown, there is little that can be wrong with 40+ year-old CGs. Remember, nearly all of these watches have been worn, polished & abused for most of their lives, which leaves the cases looking different than the way they did when they left the factory. As long as the case edges are not perfectly crisp & minty, you are better off obsessing over something else (dial, crown, bracelet, etc).

Wore my DRSD today

A good, clear macro of the rear would be helpful, but, based on what I can see, it looks like a genuine 703/704.

Looks good. Just be sure you keep it in a secure (& undisclosed) location.

Wrapped (704 is the solid version).

The stem is always matched to the movement, regardless of what watch/model it is in. You need a stem for a 2824 movement.