Nanuq

Or in Nikki's vocabulary "my swimsuit" [emoji23]

Doubt that will work, as the 1665 bezel is much thicker than the 1680 and I bet it won't snap on. How about the ring/bezel from the 1665 onto the 1680? It should fit and you'd have the world's most original 1680. I bet a WSO assembly for your 1680 would fit right out of the box. If it's a little too tight just sand the inner diameter and try it again. You should have that bad boy on there in 15 minutes tops.

Saucy

Sweeeeeet, is that a nipple dial? Happy birthday indeed!

Last night I put on my Big Girl Panties (gawd, I just KNOW Miss Understood is going to show up now) and tore into my Rolerai some more. It's built on a River 3646 case set, thinned and gorgeous. The balance only swings maybe 90 degrees and stops often. It also runs really fast. So out came the loupe and I could see how the hairspring protruding from the adjusting arm is hitting the hairspring. I could also hear it... there was the happy tickticktick going on, with an added clankclankclank. Being exceedingly careful (I destroyed several balances doing this) I turned the adjusting arm a little and watched how the hairspring moved. Suddenly it swung with much more amplitude and the "clank" got quieter. Moving the arm too far brought it back again. So I adjusted it to a sweet spot, and now it's run all day without stopping. It's still not "right" but it's way better. I need to remove the balance cock and let the little rascal dangle to straighten out the spring, then reinstall it. But there's a gear above the balance, and the spring barrel is above that gear. Hmmmmmmmm. I smell disaster. This is a Moly 3602. Is there another way, like giving the balance a big puff of air, to let the hairspring coils fall back into place on their own? It isn't incabloc jeweled so I'm leery of whacking it into my palm like I do my other watches. Thoughts? Opinions? Oh, and the moral of the story: I held the bezel down tight to the case when I screwed on the back and it took much of the original slack out of the assembly.

I've had very little trouble fitting a WSO ring to a gen. I did it for the Nastymariner and a friend's 1675. Pop off the bezel and flat spring Slip a single-edge razor blade between the ring and case Tap gently with hammer or etc, and work your way around and around the ring .....after awhile the ring will appear lifted up a bit from the case Slip a thin screwdriver in the slot and twist a little, work your way around the ring .....pretty soon the ring and crystal will come right off the case .....sometimes the ring comes off and leaves the crystal on the case (preferable) Test fit the new ring onto the crystal as it sits on the case. It should be pretty snug but not too snug If you can press the ring all the way down to the case with your thumbs it's too loose If the ring won't go more than 1/2 way down, it's too tight Sand the inner face of the ring and test fit again. I use a little vaseline on the ring as I press it. If the ring is too tight, you will crack your rare/expensive crystal. When the fit seems right with the ring/crystal/case, orient the date mag over the date aperture, add a tiny smear of Vaseline around the crystal around its base, and press the ring all the way on in one smooth motion. Install the flat spring and snap the bezel on. It should be perfect. If the bezel won't turn, either it's not snapped clear on, or the ring is holding the bezel down tight against the case On the Nastymariner I repeated step 3 just a tiny bit to lift the ring, and the bezel freed up nicely. It's a trial and error thing, you get the feel of how tight a ring should be only by doing it. Too tight and the crystal cracks, too loose and it won't stay on the watch and it will leak. This is where the Vaseline helps, because the ring sliding on presses the lube down beneath it, and into the gap between the crystal and case... and you don't have to make the ring quite so tight on your expen$ive crystal. Good luck!

I've found WSO bezels are very loose on gen-spec retaining rings. Someone told me a watchmaker might have a tool to squeeze a bezel down to a tighter diameter, which would do it. Alternately, you can order a WSO retaining ring and use it, making sure it's not too tight on your crystal. A little sandpaper judiciously applied to its inner diameter will loosen it up if it's too tight. I did this on the Nastymariner, because the original bezel was so loose (on its original retaining ring) that a hard stare would send it flying. A replacement WSO wouldn't stay on at all, but a replacement WSO bezel, spring and ring did it.

I never knew Miss Understood was actually invited here by our Admin? And that she set up shop here as a source of WISdom? I thought we lucked out *cough* when she found us on Google or something. So in light of new beginnings, can you tell us more about you, my dear? What makes Miss Understood tick? And why does my nose itch every time I see a brunette cheeringin the stands at a game?

......white trash style This is the funniest thing I've seen in years!

Bigwave, is it possible my movement ring is too tall for the thinness of my midcase? There's a small visible gap beneath the bezel, and my caseback is screwed on nice and tight... yet there's a small gap above it as well.

And gran resembles..... ??

All hail the true RWG!

Ordinary

Bear in mind there IS a waiting list for these. And the artist is being evasive and not answering his texts, as a good artist would. IF he decides to make another this century it will be Warhol-esque and oh so desirable. Peasants watch this space!

Or my personal favorite, Alotta Fagina

Man this is a lot of good information. This right here is how we got rolling on our vintage Rolex kick many years ago, and we have thousands of topics detailing every step of every imaginable build. Another question: if the bezel and back screw into the movement holder to sandwich the midcase, what's to keep me from screwing them in asymmetrically so the holder, and hence the stem, don't line up with the tube? I saw in a pic on HF, there was a brass square block soldered inside the midcase opposite the tube. Does that orient and center the movement holder? After getting mine apart and barely getting it back together I weirded myself out because I was on new territory. Guess I need to put on my Big Girl Panties and tear into it.

Your straps sound very interesting! With all our custom builds there is always a need for good straps. Stick around and learn what we do here and what our needs are. Maybe some day you will be another strap supplier here on RWG.

Dang.... I did my 6538 Big Crown build and thought I'd reached the ultimate. Little did I realize there's a parallel development path! I have a gorgeous thin 3646 Rolerai now. It seems like the caseback goes through the River 3-piece midcase and screws into the front bezel, and once they're connected but not tight, the midcase still moves around the front / movement / back assembly. Does that seem right??

Daaaaannnnnggggggg..... So a "volcano" is the big hemispheric domed crystal? Gorgeous. I unscrewed the back off my 3646 Rolerai, made from a 3-part River case. When I went to put the back on again I had trouble... the fingernail test didn't find any threads there to screw it on. And yet that's what it took. The wad-of-tape trick put it back on. Although, even screwed on, there's a gap between my caseback and midcase, and between my bezel and midcase. It's like the caseback goes through the midcase and screws into the bezel, and the midcase is just there to look pretty? So what holds the movement and its ring in the case? Is it squeezed between the back and bezel? How exactly are these things constructed? In my Rolex builds there's a case, the back screws on and the front bezel presses on to capture the crystal. Movement tabs and screws hold the movement and spacer inside the case. Also what Pams would be appropriate to have a big fat 8mm Brevet crown? My Rolerai has a nice very early Brevet but I'm interested in putting a big fat Athaya 8mm on there..... Thanks for the pointers, what basic steps would a Pam noob follow for their first build? Talk about a wide open topic, we're all Rolex here ... it would do us good to expand in new directions. And we have an expert right here among us!

Magnificent. I'll trade you Ken's left nut for it...

Nycrounders and bigwaved and mrthompspnr and who knows how many others, you know you're killing me here. Innocently showing glittering gems on this thread, like "oh THIS old thing??" For those of us who don't walk on water and divide by zero, what does it take to put one of these together?

*ears perk up* Ohhhhhh?? Do tell! I was all hot under the covers for a 6152, then someone pointed out the 6154 with its oh-so-sexy midcase crease. It was love at first sight... until I spied a 3646. For the love of all that's holy, how deep does the "vintage Panerai" well go? Tell us more, Sensei!

We have a twisted sense of humor here in the Arctic.

I restored the one for Omni, let's see if you can see it now?