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Ahhhhhh, what a catch! That is a MAGNIFICENT piece. I don't know if I've ever seen an untouched gen that old, and that complete. Do you know how rare that crown is? And that's just touching the surface! It's been great talking to you about this beauty. Ziggy will do it proud, and when you get it back, just enjoy your good fortune. For the love of all that's holy, an all original METERS-FIRST 5512?! Deal of the year!

How appropriate for this version of "Life in Alaska"... number thirty, or "XXX". From this morning's news, two bald eagles found embedded in a Valdez snowfield after, apparently, a courtship ritual gone terribly wrong. La grande petite mort

Yeah the Doxa Bible shows a photo of that exact watch but with an orange dial... still labeled a Sharkhunter. Rarities and oddities abound in the subculture called Doxa.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but look what the Doxa Bible has to say about this one... "When it comes to lettering and logos on the DOXA SUB dials, one of the rarest dial artifacts has to be the word Cyma. Image 334 shows an image from an undated Cyma sales brochure.The photo is not particularly clear but the word Cyma can be made out in the position where it would normally say DOXA. Cyma was one of the major Swiss watch manufacturers who joined with DOXA in November 1968 to form Synchron SA. The Cyma dial SUBs were produced in a very low number but it seems that the markets for the Cyma brand did not accept an orange face dive watch. Realizing this, the Synchron group stopped manufacturing the Cyma SUB immediately. This watch is a very rare SUB 300T indeed. What is also interesting about image 334 is that although the dial color is orange, the watch is called a SUB 300T Sharkhunter." There you have it, one of THE rarest SUB 300T models. So far nobody "over there" has 'fessed up to winning it.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. To some that Cyma will be worth more than its Doxa counterpart due to its rarity; to others it has to have the name Doxa on the dial or it's worthless. To the hard-core collector I would vote for the Cyma name because it's more obscure, in the same Tonneau case. Most people will say "ehhhh, it's missing the Doxa logo" and a few people will say "Good Lord it's a real Cyma in a Doxa case!" I guess the price all depends on who is bidding on this watch. You might find a rabid collector all over it, or you might find very little interest. I'm guessing it will go for around $1,000. Good luck!

Hearty congratulations and happy birthday from the land of ice and snow!

It seems that the insert is the hardest part. Watchesandparts has a very nice 6542 for sale right now at $10,000 but it has his aftermarket insert, which on that gen case and dial, just looks clown-like.

Hey Freddy, ol' buddy ol' pal, don't forget your best mate here in Alaska when that Phase-2 6542 is finished and you get tired of that scabby old Phase-1 6542. I've got a spot right here on my shelf just waiting for it.

Holy Moses! Wow... that is just mouth watering. Huge congratulations!

I want to thank the Mods and Admins for all the behind the scenes work they do. They work their collective backsides off to keep this place disinfected and friendly to newbs at the same time. That's a tough tightrope to walk. Well done lads!

It looks to be in good shape but it won't be waterproof with that crown. Offshore can set you up with an aftermarket screwdown crown and tube that looks exactly like the one on my Black Lung, minus the Doxa logo. Good luck, I'll watch you win this one!

Yessiree that's a rare bird. Doxa, Cyma and Ernest Borel formed a partnership in the late '60s and this is one of theirs. And it's CHEAP right now! Please someone grab this!

"Spidey"? "Thread"?? "Sticky"???? Who saw THAT coming?!!

Check this out... I was helping him develop his radial brushed silver dial and this is my final mockup for him. In the end it came out pretty good, but the radial brushing is still too weak.

I don't want to say anything and jynx the whole works, but I've got some crazy good deals on the 'Bay. Now I have to stop buying over there... for sure the next deal will be a dud! ps: just after I complete this next purchase........

Yep those were heady days for sure. I sold mine on to a member in Norway (how could I say no?) with a little historical information about it being one of the "first five" DWs. He appreciated that! Thanks Halley, wherever you are...

Nice topic! How about some talk about 5.6mm and 6mm Twinlock crowns? I need a Brevet "+" Twinlock crown for my 6536 but hate to spend $300 for it. Are there any alternatives?

I want to be the first to thank Ubi for one of his amazing acts of generosity. Years ago he put together some amazing high quality bezel inserts and pearls for Subs/Seadwellers. Out of the blue he sent me one, and completely blew me away. I can report now that it found a home on a gen 1680 and it looks fantastic. Thanks Ubi!!!

Unfortunately this is a known weakness. The very first DWs had correct endlinks, though they were formed from God's Own Steel, thick as heck and not real believable. The next generation had 20mm endlinks ground down to 19mm, with a nasty gap in the middle where the 19mm last link fit into the "20mm" endlink. For awhile there were some really nice aftermarket 19mm bracelets on Ebay that had good endlinks, for cheap. I haven't seen them in awhile..... Good luck!

Welcome Fred! Put your feet up, stay awhile. There's lots of great folks here.

Hey Matt, no harm - no foul. Stick around, I think you'll like it here! And, happy Easter from waaaaay up north.

Believe it or not, that's actually how you tell this is a gen Rolex bracelet. It's always misspelled on the gens. At least the gen 9315s....

It's nuts to tighten a caseback that much anyway. Anybody with a metallurgical background can tell you that a fastener (bolt, screw, caseback, etc.) acts like a "spring". When properly torqued the fastener experiences an "elastic" deformation, literally stretching the metal like a spring. That tension is what holds parts together best. If you over-torque a fastener it goes beyond the elastic to a "plastic" deformation, permanently stretching the fastener and altering its metallurgic properties. This is what you feel on a bolt when you give it "just a little more" torque, then it suddenly gets a little easier to turn... the tension overcame its tensile strength and it stretched. Presto, the bolt is ruined. It will never keep anything tight. With a good fresh caseback seal, you can put on a caseback with your thumbs and it will be waterproof-ish. Give it another 1/8 turn with a tool, and it should be perfect. And, you'll be able to remove it again later. By-Tor, did the heat/cold trick work? If not, you might have an additional issue with static friction. If it's that tight there's a LOT of pressure on the mating surfaces and you need to shock them loose to overcome that static friction. Like tapping a nail into wood, you can't just press a nail into wood. Same with removing it... give it a whack to get it going, then it will come a lot easier.

Shocking industry news!