freddy333

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.

This is the kind of creative spirit that made RWG famous.

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?

Since a few people have messaged me asking about the rubber strap, here is a link to Horus rubber straps.

Yes, it looks like they installed a 16520 dial in a steel-surrounded, ceracrom bezeled 116500LN. That dial was never my cup of tea.

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.

Condolences on your dad's passing. He had great taste in watches (I have the same model).

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.

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.

Still wearing The Big Kahuna (116520)

Most likely. Click here

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.

As usual, nicely done.

Looks good Tribal.

Still a beauty & it may be the camera angle, but it looks like the index markers at 3 & 6 may not be straight.

Looks beautiful. Based on the way the watch sits (close) to your wrist, it looks like you bought 1 of the 4130 clone Daytonas, which has the proper bezel & caseback profiles. Correct?

Sorry to hear the sad news. Unfortunately, crime has become the new normal & the system has become an accessory to those crimes. I know it does not help in this case, but I ship anything of value via registered mail & give the tracking number to the receiver so both of us can track it all the way. Yes, registered mail is very slow because every single person who takes possession of the package must sign for it & note the time/date the package was in their possession & the package is kept in locked containers when not in a mail employee's possession, but I have never lost a package using this shipping method.

I am confident that a properly assembled Longines can be adjusted to a fine degree. However, regardless of how 1 adjusts Longines' balance sliding screws, the procedure will be less fine-tunable & repeatable than Rolex's Microstella system, which uses a wrench with discrete adjustment indicators & a balance fitted with 2 pairs of Microstella nuts providing consistently repeatable +/-1 sec/day or +/-.7 sec/day tuning increments. All other things equal, due to the subtle adjustments possible with a free-sprung balance, attaining 0 beat is very easy.

Getting the hairspring centered between the regulator pins is the key to getting these things well-regulated.

In honor of the 1 year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, I am wearing my (often accurate) Russian Commando Frogman watch

Imagine an ice skater spinning in a circle. As she folds her arms in close to her body, she spins faster, as she folds them back out away from her body, she spins slower. These centrifugal adjustments in balance wheels work the same way - as you move them inwards, the wheel spins faster, as you move them outwards, the wheel spins slower. I have never worked on a Longines with the type of adjusters indicated in your pic, but I have a good bit of experience with Rolex's Microstella system & it works (very well) as advertised. The Etachron instructional video posted previously is a good guide. Did you try it?

Rolex's Microstella system is not designed to provide a performance improvement, it just permits you to make very fine & consistently repeatable timing adjustments via a pair of nuts that are difficult, if not nearly impossible, via a traditional regulator setup. Yes, the system is finicky & requires a special tool (Microstella wrench). However, if you have the tool & know-how, the system allows for a much more accurate degree of timing than any other system I am aware of. Before I got used to it, I did not get it either. But once you get it, you get it. Ebay 265389584078 or 254991498290 Startime & other watch parts houses sell them as well.

Nice work!