panerai153

I'm not sure what is going on with shipping, but by and large times seem to be getting much longer. Recently my wife shipped two packages to Ukraine. USPS International Priority, which isn't cheap!! She mailed them both on March 25th, showed ISC ( International Sorting Center) Miami on April 3rd. it looks like they sat in Miami until April 27th. First one was delivered on April 30, second, May 1st. So, 35 days for Priority, totally unacceptable for the price you pay. Normal times for the past 10 years has been 7 to 12 days. I bought a Daytona dial from DW, shipped from CHina on April 3rd, still haven't gotten it. Waiting on some parts shipped from France, Priority mail around April 15th, haven't gotten those either. Generally, shipping to or from EU countries is 7-10 days max. I really don't have a clue as to why suddenly mail service has gotten so slow. Here in the USA, the USPS is in turmoil closing sorting centers,forcing folks to retire, making people do more in less time, and with all that there is a lot of push back from the employees and the union. Maybe the ISC's are short staffed as well, and the packages are stacking up,but that doesn't account for the slower speeds in other countries.

Freddy, technical question for you. Did Rolex offer the 6542 with a Jubilee bracelet? I haven't had a watch on a jubilee since the I owned a DJ, back in about 1968-69. I have never been a huge fan, but I do remember it was very comfortable. I've been thinking about trying one on my 6542, as the phong rivet is not very comfortable (might need a good oil soak) as it' pretty new. What would be the proper end links for the GMT? I have a gen clasp that came off my 16750. It had the correct oyster bracelet and end links, but at some point someone replaced the clasp with a Jubilee clasp. Thanks

Good for you. I appreciate ansd I'm sure most others appreciate your diligence. I'm sure the dodgy folks and scammers don't, but making their life miserable should be our mantra. Let them take their shady dealings back to some other forum that doesn't care about their members, or to Ebay who certainly doesn't care!!

I agree, rather than fishing for prices, upgrade and put it up for sale. Personally, I believe that you are going to be rather unpleasantly surprised at 2K, but as I said above,I've been wrong about prices and sales interest before, so maybe yours will be and exception. Unfortunately, the two most important elements of a "Super franken" are missing in your watch, that's the dial and hands. I would pay more for a similar watch with a good aftermarket case and gen hands and dial rather than a gen case and aftermarket dial, hands. Just my personal opinion of course. Did a little research, first off, the case you have should have Mercedes hands, not snowflake, so even though they are aftermarket, they are wrong. Second, I did a tad of market research, and this is what i came up with: Tudor 79090 head only WUS in December sold for 1500.00 USD Tudor 79090 complete w/Tudor 93150 bracelet, Box and papers as well as a very recent service 2450.00 USD asking price. the Black Dial 9411 Snowflakes are more expensive, averaging around 2.4-3k for nice examples freshly serviced with a Tudor bracelet and some with Box and papers.

That was the first thing I looked for was the HEV inside or at least the cutout. looke like it" a "Faux" HEV. He's trying to gin up the bidding by refusing the 850.00 USD offer from his cousin Vitaly, straight from Brighton Beach!!

nanug, I believe you are correct. In fact the only ones I have ever seen have been Tudors. They show up on Ebay from time to time. Pretty easy to change dials and Presto!! you have a Rolex marine.

Very ,very true!! Read and all the mysteries of Rolexdom will unfold in front of your eyes.

I saw a genuine 503 crown/tube for sale in the parts forum a day or two ago. It's the 5.3 mm which is correct for the c1675/16750

i've had that yen quite a few times in the past. Actually, I had genuine watches for probably 20+ years,beforeI ever saw or heard about reps. There are some watches that a rep just doesn't exist or it's so bad that it isn't remotely believable. These are generally the watches that I buy in lieu of reps

yes indeed, I remember him.I actually got an MBW 1665 from him.he also sent me the wrong watch first,Was meant for someone in the midwest.I forwarded it on to the correct buyer, and Luckyyy gave me a discount on the 1665. Later on, I believe he scammed a bunch of guys over on TRC before he disappeared. Boy, we have had some characters over the-years!!

I have to say the MBW dial looks a whole lot better than my old TW Best, but hopefully that will change soon! I believe that there is a good bit of interest in this watch, however a really good example doesn't exist unless you undertake a custom build, ot you are fortunate enough to score a WM9 TT from several years ago.. One of the biggest problems thus far has been the bracelet. It's very hard to build a credible TT bracelet unless you use solid gold midlinks like the Genuine bracelets. hopefully TC and janeto will get this problem solved, but it may be a ways off.

Welcome, This is a great forum. lots of good information here, and lots and lots of friendly folks.

There is always the possibility of WIS like Freddy's two teenage boys who you would never suspect having the slightest interest and or knowledge of watches, especially vintage would surprise you with their knowledge. I also suspect that where you live and where you work are a big factor in your comfort level. If you work in and environment that is well populated with guys wearing high end watches and a significant number of folks who are or appear to be knowledgable about watches, then as Freddy said, you better pay attention to your builds, because someone may look at your watch close up, and realize it is not a gen. More than likely civil people would never dream of "calling you out", but they may decide that you are a posseur by wearing a replica. If I have a watch that's not up to snuff, I probably wouldn't wear it to places where "watch people" are likely to scrutinize it. i would wear either a well modded franken, or a gen. Fortunately for me, in the rural area whereI live, I have never felt like there were folks around that were really interested in the watchs folks were wearing. I do notice watches, but I feel like I'm very much in the minority. If you are uncomfortable wearing a rep, then I would wear a gen in those situations. I wouldn't let my choice of watches spoil my day, worrying about someone noticing my rep.

After the Tudor Snowflake debacle a few days back, I believe that all members who sell watches, parts , etc need to be more specific as to what their sales rules are. If you are willing to wait A few hours with a OHPF, state it. If you are adamant that the first Paypal that hits your account will get the watch then please state that. I also believe that it's the buyer's responsibility to be prompt, and also communicate your intentions. If I'm at work I don't have easy access to my Paypal account. I always email or PM the seller and ask if it's OK to send the payment in a few hours when I get home. Another thing, if you are a potential buyer, please make certain that you are actually prepared to buy. It really creates problems and hard feelings when you PM a seller and ask to hold pending funds and then you disappear. Like most sellers, I have lost sales while waiting for a buyer who had no intentions of buying, but was a time waster. Maybe sellers should compile a list of those folks who load the gun, cock the trigger but never fire. Those are the folks who create lots of problems on the sales forum.

I think you are absolutely correct. It becomes a game to most of us. That' why you see lots of " grail" watches come up for sale. Folks get all excited during the parts search and build, but over time interest wanes. AFA accuracy, sometimes our obsession for accuracy borders on the ridiculous, and I speak from experience as I am as guilty as anyone else. I live in a small community and I have seldom even had a second glance at one of my watches, much less have someone ask if it' real or not.

When you compare old masters to worn out parts, to me that' a bit of a stretch. Even pretty neglected old oils can be restored, albeit at a very high price, which if done by a master restoration expert doesn't seem to affect their value. You yourself said that these parts have very little functional value, so what drives the prices to such astronomical levels? Are the buyers going to start a museum of old watch parts? You can't use most of these in a watch. The purists want only mint condition watches, they also are adamantly opposed to using "restored" parts, so it looks like a "catch 22" situation. This smacks of the "Tulip Frenzy" folks buying, hoping that the market will continue to keep going through the roof. At some point in time, someone will be stuck holding the bag, or in this case a rusty DW or a dial that looks like it spent 10 years in the ocean, or one that has that gently flamed with a blowtorch look. They can't use the parts " as is", and God forbid restoring them, that would kill the value completely. Don't get me wrong, I can certainly see the prices of good usable parts,NOS parts,etc going up and up in price, but those are functional usable parts that can be used in a watch with no problem. It's really too bad that Rolex refuses to support their older watches like many other watch manufacturers do. If you could send your old 6542 or 6538 to Rolex, and have it restored using genuine parts, even if the bezel insert or the crown was made last month, it would be genuine, same exact specs and look just like the one from 1958, only new. Unfortunately, Rolex is really only interested in selling new watches, thus their service centers have no interest in the really old watches.

Incredible the asking price of that rusty DW is 1700 USD. that's insane!! I just can't believe that folks will pay those kinds of prices for these used up parts. I know that P.T. Barnum supposedly said" A sucker is born every minute", but this is past the sucker price catagory. it looks like some of these sellers are picking up any old part that's been sitting in the "throw away' bin for years and posting them on Ebay for astronomical prices. things like this make me like my reps more and more

My 6542 finally sorted our everything.

That was the first thing i noticed. It looks like they couldn't decide between a conventional dial plot with thin surround and a "nipple" dial plot, so the made one in between!!

Great shot!! Always watch the ears. I've been around horses all my life, and when one pins those ears back, you better watch out. Probably gonna get real Western real quick.

I remember that deal! Seems like BK ordered 100 sets, don't know if he ever got all of them, that was about the time the WM9 SD deal was going down if I remember correctly. I got burned big time on that one, but that's another story!

Very good informative review. Great comparison photos. In the end none are up to a gen, however for the money, either one of these would be hard to beat. The fact that both will accept genuine parts is a real factor, as most of the WIS here are going to add something to make them better, genuine insert. crown. crystal,etc. So having one that doesn't require a tremendous amount of time and effort to adapt genuine parts is very important.Thanks very much

Does BK Have a 16613 option? or does he only make up 16610's

Thanks, that is definitely food for thought. I May contact BK and see if he has a case. Would this bezel assembly fit one of the new BK cases?

Cannot hold a candle to Freddy's but it' all I got !!