panerai153

I own, and have owned a lot of watches over the years.Why did I by them? Well, mainly because I love watches, and obviously my taste in watches change pretty often. One of the nice things about genuine watches, they are genuine! No pretense, no sneaking around, no "can I wear this watch today, because it's a rep, and someone may recognize it as a rep, I would be very embarressed if I were called out" I really don't worry about all that, I wear my reps everywhere I wear my genuine watches. Another thing, there are a lot more venues for selling genuine watches. Selling reps are limited to the rep websites, unless you are trying to scam folks on Ebay!! I love them all, Reps and genuine. I started out with genuine way back in the late 1960's and I have never been without a genuine. In fact,I don't believe that I have ever been without a genuine Rolex, since about 1967. At present, my list of genuines is: Rolex 16610 "P" serial Rolex 16750 GMT Tudor 9411/0 Blue Dial "Snowflake" MKII Kingston Non Date gilt dial MKII Kingston Date Gilt dial Ocean 7 LM5 GMT Ocean 7 LM 7 ploprof IWC 14k calatrava Doxa "pre sub" Dive watch Doxa 1200T Professional (for sale) Seiko Tuna 600m Seiko Tuna 1000m My genuine collection waxes and wanes depending on my watch needs at the time. i just sold a very nice 85 year Omega Speedmaster Professional. it was getting absolutely no wrist time, and I needed to move it for something else. The something else appeared on WUS and TZ a day later, a Maurice Lacroix Calendre Retrograde, a watch I have been looking for for a long time. My collection is very heavily weighed toward sports /tool watches, and i need something that is a little dressier. If you are looking for day/dates i.e "President", keep your eye out on the Vintage Rolex Market, I see them on there regularly. not frequently, but regularly. i would also check out places in major cities like Houston or Dallas. the "President " series were very popular wirth oil people, especially back in the 80's and early 90's. We had a Rolex AD here in our small town back before the oil bust of 1983-86. The owner told me that the 18k "President was her best seller. She told me that one oil man came in reight before Christmas and ordered 24 Presidents to give as Christmas presents to customers. Now that's a Santa Claus!!

Everest is in the USA, and they will not change a dial up, make a Rolex from some other blank, and i do believe that when I looked at their webpage several years ago, they wouldn't even upscale a dial. in that I mean, they won't redo a regular white dial 1680 to a Red sub, or a white 1665 dial to a double red. Most of the mainline dial printers will not make a Rolex dial unless the dial you send in is a rolex dial. Usually, they will redo the dial the same as it comes in to them.

I have had The Zigmeister doe quite a few dials for me, his work is flawless. I also had Kent Parks do a Seiko for me, his work is very good. the only problem with Kent, and this wasn't a problem with me, but several times on genuine watch forums, there have been complaints that he won't answer emails, or return phone calls, for fairly long periods of time. These were for the most part from forum members who had sent him watches and they had been with him a long time. I never had pbdad do any work for me, but he is highly recommended on the forum, same with Vac. Vac did some rrepair and modding on a PAM several years ago, and his work was fine.

getting back on subject just a bit, does anyone know which 6mm crown fits the ming Quy case. i had an old 6mm from long ago, but it's too small, Inside diameter. It won't thread on the tube.

Well, It doesn't matter which technique you use, both of you guys are masters.

Joey, Every time i look at your build, I marvel at how you were able to meld all those really different parts together to make a beautiful watch like your PanAM. I'm sittiing here at my computer looking at my case set, wondering how I'm going to get from point A (where I am right now), to point B where you and Freddy are with your 6542's. I wish I had some skills, but unfortunartely for me, my fine motor skills,working with very detailed and minaturized parts is completely lacking.

I believe the problem with Ebay is someone is looking for a Rolex GMT, they are looking around and see the 6542's listed for 20- 40+k , they read the descriptions, and then they scroll down the listings and there is one with 2 hours to go and it's 6K. Unless you are knowledgable, and can read between the lines and recognize what they(seller) are saying, you don't have a clue. They think they are stealing the gold mine, when in fact all they are getting is the shaft. I would expect that the average Rolex Vintage collector (one with a pretty extensive knowledge of vintage Rolex), would prefer to sell on watch forums like Vintage Rolex Market, or Rolex Forums,etc. Probably lots less problems dealing with folks who are knowledgable buyers, rather than someone who buys your watch, and then raises holy heck when it arrives, because it has some dings and wear, even though it's a 50+ year old watch.

Freddy I really think your PanAm is better than the one that Stephano Mazzariol has pictured on his website. I definitely like your insert better. the one on the PanAm on his site has a much flatter insert, it looks like the one on my case set, like a plastic 1675 insert! Is your dial a genuine redone white dial, or and aftermarket , like J&W, NDT or Vietnam ? It is really something.

My old 16750. GMT all the way!!

It's at 6,3 Euros but the last one to sell on Ebay went for $6.399 http://www.ebay.com/...=item2a1fb2a908 I looked at their ebay listing, it's pretty vague. They just say "Swiss mechanical movement" not 1030 ot Rolex movement. also the caseback is wrong. i'm wondering if these are put together watches using some genuine and some aftermarket parts. i would definitely rather have the watch from phong or the Ming Quy watch, at least they are up front about what's genuine and what is aftermarket. I would sure hate to pay 6500 dollars for the ebay watch and then open it and find a 25 dollar DG movement inside!!

May be why you are able to get the movements alone. The new one will blow the doors off the old one. The builders are probably clearing out the old ones in anticipation of getting the new model. It really did look good in that photo. Now if they could just produce a whole line of Roolex clones from the 1030 through the 1570 and 3035 Something for us vintage guys too!

One of the big "deals" on the VRF is the variations in the dial printing which they claim is indisputable evidence that the dials are fake, at best reprinted dials on original blanks.they (the VRF folks) base their claim on the premise that Rolex would never let anything out with the inconsistencies of the dials that Stefano Mazzariol pictures in his article. When you look at the method used to print these dials, there are bound to be inconsistencies in the printing. Possibly these were the best that they could produce with the technology available at the time.Another thing, even though they are Rolex watches and have Rolex all over them, they were contracted watches. The White dial GMT's were never for sale to the general public AFAIK. Maybe Rolex submitted a few samples to Juan Trippe and he approved them. After all the inconsistencies are seen through a greatly magnified photo, normal dial size, at arms length, I doubt anyone could pick up any of the small printing flaws. The only thing about the White PanAm is the lack of documentation. If 100 of these watches were given to executives, wouldn't you think at least a handful would have survived intact, along with a story? A watch that has a known provenance,i.e, "this watch was given to my father when he was an executive with PanAm back in the late 50,s I saw him wearing the watch for many years. He took the watch to Rolex NY to be serviced, but they told him they would have to change the dial , etc. He decided not to have them service it, but instead took it to an independent Rolex watchmaker. We still have the papers and the letter from PanAm issuing him the watch". Now if even one scenario like this ever came to pass, or Rolex SA were to come out officially and say yes we built 100 White Dial 6542 GMT's under private contract for Pan American airlines, that would put all the speculation to rest. Until something of this order occurs, the truth will never be known. I side with JoeyB. I believe that they were produced. Why would every PanAm story about the 6542 include the part about executives hijacking flight crew watches, until they got their own. Do you think someone didn't have anything better to do, so they just made up a story? At any rate, I like them, I think they are beautiful watches, much different from the normal Rolex GMT, and that's good enough for me.

Thanks very much for the response. I looked at one of Freddy's build threads last night, and until then didn't know about the calendar ring difference on the 1030 (35/36)GMT movements. how impossible would it be to find this part? using a correct 1030 would be the easiest from a "all the parts line up perfectly" standpoint, but if some of the parts are "unobtanium" then I may have to rethink the 1030 movement.

For a first try, OK. Welcome to the forum, probably you should have come here before you bought. as pizzanooo said, most folks couldn't tell a Rolex from a Timex,so to the average person,it would pass. However if you happen to be in the company of anyone with Rolex knowledge, they can tell this is a rep, and a not so good one at that. I'm enclosing a link to a genuine FS on the Rolex forum, look at that one and then look at yours and you can see where all the flaws are. http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=216642 Look at the hands, the dial surrounds, the rehault, the GMT hand, the bezel and see where yours is incorrect. The SEL bracelet on the GMT is pretty substantial, yours isn't. the young fellow lied to you, there is no way that a authorized Rolex dealer sold this watch, unless the stock boy made the sale. Stay on the forum, read, do some research and then buy a good one from one of our trusted dealers, it will be about 100X better than this one, and probably cheaper as well. Good luck

Freddy, That's and awsome lineup. You have a Rolex for every occasion and then some!!

I have been lusting after a 6542 for a loooong time. it is probably my favorite Rolex, and I'm wearing a genuine 16750 right now. I love GMT's they have a lot of utility if you travel, or sometimes in my case, when my wife is traveling. It keeps me from waking her at 3AM because I can't keep up with the time differences, but that's another story. At any rate, I have been asking questions here, and looking around, trying to decide what the best route would be to go. I posted a couple of threads here, and got a few very nice and well thought out responses.Last week I got an email from a member who shall remain anonymous at his request, he had a case set that he wanted to get rid of and he offered it to me at a very, very fair price.It consists of a Vietnam case, caseback, bezel, insert , crystal (He is pretty sure the crystal is genuine) and genuine tube. I got it in Saturday, but i was on call and worked all weekend, so I just got a chance to take photos today. I really like the engraving, as well as the overall dimensions of the case, the semi bubbleback case back looks genuine, although it probably isn't. the weakest part of this is the bezel insert. Don't know where it's from, but JoeyB's inserts are better. this one is too thin, it looks like it was made with a metal insert as a pattern. It should be higher on the inside, and it should have a rounded taper down to the outside. I have a genuine 6mm crown, so that's taken care of If i can pull it off, what I would like to do is use a genuine movement, I know that's a stretch, as finding a 1030 movement isn't a problem, but finding the calendar ring for the GMT may be impossible. Wonder if jmb could fabricate one? I'm planning to use the ingod white PanAm dial, and black hands as per most of the photos I've seen. Roulette Date wheel. Sounds pretty simple, but i know it isn't at all. Here are some photos, let me know what you think

I could sure use that movement!!

that's a great build,congratulations. I believe that the genuiune bezel /insert are a definite step in the right direction, but to me, the genuine crystal is the best. amazing how much better it is than the best of the rep crystals. I tried for almost a year to find one, and finally gave up and sold the watch.

Hard to beat the "Snowflake" It's a great watch, and the nice thing, if you build a nice franken, it will fly so far under the radar, no one will know. Even the Mercedes hands models are really nice, and with anETA movement, easy to repair, parts available and watchmakers tend to not charge you "Rolex" prices for repairs! Yours is very nice. Well done! Here's mine, gen 9411/0

Very nice job.I really like what you did to the dial. Sure looks more believable than the out the box 6538's!! Strap is appropriate if you're trying to emulate the "Bond" watch look. He wore an 18mm Strap on the Bond Sub. Personally, I don't like the look, would prefer a 20mm, but that's just my preference. I agree about the crystal, it looks like it's fogged? Maybe a Clark? AFA the strap, there is a guy that sells on Ebay as well as WUS forum from the UK who makes a very accurate replication of the Bond strap. that may be the one you have on your watch, but your colors look different.Search Bond strap on Ebay. Here are a couple of photos of his strap. The strap on the left is his newer strap, more adjustment holes, and a more Olive green, and the red threads are not so metallic looking

W, I believe that you are correct. there was a real feeding frenzy a couple of years ago,and any old POS, beat to hell Doxa would bring a ton of bids and a big price. i think that interest in them, like with a lot of other watches has waned.All of them get their moment in the sun, and then back into the shadows! I believe that there will always be a strong market for rare pieces in really great condition by serious collectors, the mediocre ones will go begging. Another thing that perhaps has happened, people have rcognized that there just aren't any parts available for the Doxa Subs anymore. I had one that sat at RGM, who at the time was the Doxa certified repair agent in the USA, for over a year and finally was sent back to me unrepaired because they couldn't get the parts.Doxa went through several owners, out of business ,reopening, during the bad old days when the quartz craze almost tanked the Swiss watch industry. No one knows what happened to the spare parts, records, etc. All that is really known is they aren't available. Also Doxa changed designs and specs every time they re-emerged witha new owner. It's really maddening, over the ten or so years that they were in production, Doxa produced over 30 bezels for the Subs. none of them are marked, no serial numbers, no parts numbers, so you are flying blind. They all look the same superficially, but none of them are interchangable! I really like the brand, but i finally gave up, it was too frustrating trying to get one restored.

Not sure where that one came from. it doesn't look quite like any of the BOR bracelets that i have seen on Doxas, and it's not from a from a contemporary Doxa Sub, as they all have SEL's AFAIK. looked at a bunch of photos in Dr.Peter Millar's book "Doxa Sub 40 Years 1967-2007" Nothing! This bracelet is a complete fake, unless it came off a non-sub Doxa. The new Doxa's, except for the 300T reissue which has a hideous "bicycle chain" bracelet, all came with a bracelet that looks identical to the old BOR, except SEL's and a much better clasp.

Guys, I've got a friend who is a hobby watch repair person. He was replacing the stem in a ETA 2846 movement, and somehow bent the stem. He has tried ordering the stem from several sources, but he keeps getting the stem on the right in the photo, which doesn't fit. the stem he bent is on the left in the photo. Even with my untrained poor eyesight, can tell that they are different. Could anyone give me a source for the correct stem? I went to Ofrei and they were listed, but without a photo or drawing. I hesitate to order one for him without seeing it, because there stands to be a fair chance he would end up with one just like the one on the right, which he already has.

that's a very nice one.Wouldn't have to do a thing to it. except wear it. Jack (Not Jake)@ IWW is a great hand with the old Doxas. So if it was serviced by him, it should be right.

I agree. Years ago, I had a pretty large "collection" of vintage fountain pens. A fellow pen collector visited one time and I was showing off my pens. He told me, what you have is and accumulation, not a collection. What you need to do is pick out a particular era, brand, style, etc. And collect within that area. I decided to sell about 80% of the pens I had accumulated, and stick to a particular brand and within about a 25 year period of time. It took a while, but I gradually got together a pretty nice collection that was much more structured. By concentrating on one brand and a certain year group allowed me to do a lot more focused research, and then concentrate on finding pens that would fill holes in my collection. To and extent I have tried to do that with watches, although sometimes I go off the deep end and buy something completely the opposite of my core collection!