panerai153

I'm in the USA, so don't really know what the situation is in the EU, except what I'm reading about record snowfalls, airports closing, etc., along with the absolute busiest package shipping time of the year. I ordered a Rolex Folded link bracelet from Mary on Nov 2nd, it arrived two days ago, Dec 20th, a little over a month and a half from order to delivery. I've got another member waiting on a watch from me shipped on Dec 15th and hadn't gotten there as of yesterday Dec 21st And that was just going across 3 states by USPS Priority Mail! Point is, winter weather, Christmas = slow parcel movement. Don't despair as soon as Friday, the shipping rush will be over for another year and things will slowly get back to normal.

Even though it has the same "engraving" inside the lugs, doesn't guarantee it is the exact same case. I believe it's going to take someone tearing one down and taking some accurate measurements of the new case as well as a known vintage MBW Polex 5513 to be able to tell if it definitely is the same. The original 1680 (Polex 5513) is a great platform for some serious modding, to a point, but the dial size is a sure tell if you're trying to build a real "Super franken" I was looking at doing that, and I was dissuaded by several much more knowledgable Vintage Rolex Experts who pretty much said, go with the genuine insert, crown/tube, crystal, slow beat 2846 and crown guard modding, etc. but don't spend money on a 1570 movement and a genuine or high quality aftermarket dial and hands, Also considering that I'm seeing really nice genuine 1680's every day o nthe VRF markert place for around 4500.00 USD, It wouldn't make much sense to spend 2500-3000 USD on a Franken. If this turns out to be an identical case in size and construction, it would be great for all who have been searching in vain for a old Polex 5513.

Well,It's Over!! hammer dropped at 68100 USD. Amazing.!! Is this consistant with the going price for a red 6536 in thhis condition?

try Ofrei. They have very high quality springbars, you need to know the lenght and diameter.

What about some of the lesser known brands like Maurice Lacroix or Ulysse Nardin. one of my all time favorite GMT watches was a genuine UN Big Date GMT. Those can be had for less than 3000.00 USD gently used, with all the boxes, papers, etc.. I seriously doubt they will be replicated at least not accurately.

his ime of year, i wouldn't worry too much about not getting tracking updates. ihave had several packages sent EMS not only from Chima, but from EU countries, and EMS tracking never got past the initial "Acceptance" message. they USPS is notoriously bad about not scanning parcels as they move through the system. Unless they are seized by cuasoms, you should be in good shape. As far as using FedEx or UPS for shipping, i would be afraid of them. they both use their own cusoms clearance, and they do scan every package as well as x-raying them before shipping. If you list the item wrong they may open the package and inspect it. Your watch will be confiscated or you may get a bill for customs duty based on the retail price of the genuine watch! Even dealing with genuiine watches, most buyers don't want you to use FedEX for overseas delivery as it's almost impossible to get a watch through FedEX customs clearance at a declared value of say 100.00 USD for a 3k watch.

Where did you get the watch? Is this a new WM9 Sub from WM9? I was under the opinion that WM9 has disappeared. That'sa great looking watch, as you said it definitely needs a genuine Crown/tube and some CG reshaping. Would be nice if it were ever disassembled to see if you could remove the rehault engraving ( That is if you don'y like the Rolex, Rolex, Rolex around the rehault).

Looking at Freddy's 1665 from the HEV side it appears to be slimmer than the Yuki case. That may be and optical illusion, as Freddy's case is more rounded (like a genuine that has been polished a few times), whereas the Yuki Case appears to be More "slab sided" which may make it appear taller even if it isn't. It would be nice if someone would post the height of the various cases, MBW, Phong, Yuki , etc. So i suppose to really play it safe, you would need a "low profile" case with the centered HEV for a DRSD, or a "high profile" case for a GWSD. The only problem here, is Rolex like lots of other watch manufacturers,especially during the troubling years of the 70's, didn't have hard and fast transitions during a model improvement. this has been demonstrated time and time again with watches with absolutely impeccable proveniences, one owner, never serviced, or every service receipt kept, and yet they are out of the norm by serial number. I just read today that meters first 1680's stopped at a particular serial number, yet some keep cropping up with later serial numbers, not like 4 million later, but 100k to 50mm later numbers. i expect what Rolex did was use up the dials, and then they switched to feet first. If your case is a high profile, like later 1665's, it's and impossible fix to move the HEV up to the correct position. Possibly this would be the case of the MBW case, and possibly Yuki as well. Are we "picking nit' again? After all, how many folks in the real Rolex world could tell at a glance that your HEV is .005mm too low? In my case I doubt very, very seriously that I would ever be in a situation where I was sitting across from the likes of James Dowling, Mike Wood, or any of the other dozen or so real Rolex "experts", discussing DRSD's over a wee dram of single malt.

I just bought a genuine 16610 bezel (no insert) as I already have a genuine) from a place in France called Chrono-Shop. their prices are pretty good, but their postage rates are too high. He quoted me a price on a set of 585 endlinks and his price was fair, but he wanted 26 Euros postage!! I just couldn't do that! look around on the Vintage Rolex Market and Rolex forum. doesn't hurt to put a "Want to buy" ad over on those sites. All the sapphire model Sub bezel inserts are interchangable, so if they list one for a 16800, it should fit a 16610.

I'm not sure it will get better after the holidays. It may be worse! less packages, more time to examine them even closer. Another thing, I believe what has happened at O'Hare is a wake up call to the Customs higher ups. What they must be thinking is " we've been sitting on our asses at these airports and all sorts of counterfeit stuff has been pouring through, right under our noses". They know the stuff has been getting through, because it's everywhere, now they know how it's been getting in. I'm happy that I've got enough reps to keep my itch scratched for a good long time. Anything else I want, I'll just have to wait until it comes up for sale on the Sales forum, or save my pennies and buy genuine.

And buddy that is one sweet 1665 :thumbsupsmileyanim: If mine turns out even close to this one, i'll be thrilled beyond words!!

I have to agree. If tou're looking to make it look a lot more accurate, a gen is the ONLY way to go. none of the rep or even the aftermarket ones are identical to the real thing. If you're dressing up a 16610, , as d-rock said, only around 150.00 USD. When you get into vintage like 1665,1680, 5513 etc. good ones are up around 200-300 USD and in a lot of cases, the pearl is missing. I just bought one for my 1665 project, it was close to 250.00 USD and a Tritium pearl cost me another 110.00 USD so 360.00 USD for the complete insert.

Great looking watch. Bill Yao produces some very nice watches for good prices. i have a StingRay which is one of my two Dive watches, other is an OCean 7 LM-7 ploprof. I also am in the general ordering for a Kingston (Bill's homage to the James Bond Rolexes) . I believe you will really like this one. If you go to the MKII Website and look at the thread "post your MKII photos", there are some on mesh,as well as a lot of other combinations.

Well, you have several choices. 1. Get it serviced. Their are several watch repair folks on the forum, who can service your movement. 2. Throw it all away and get another one just like it, and hope it runs for 2 1/2 years as well. 3. replace the movement with an ETA (serviced) and probably count on a minimum of 5 years before you need it serviced again. As to cost, it varies depending on the movement, new ones are cheaper than a service, but it may run for 6 months or less if it's dry and dirty. It would be best to contact one of the watch repair folks to get and idea of the costs. .

i believe that Ebay purposely ignores the "little guy " reporting fake stuff, especially if the seller is a "Power Seller' with 41k transactions. Ebay makes boatloads of money off these folks, and they aren't going to piss them off. Which is surprising, because for many sellers, their Ebay "Store" is their only outlet, and if Ebay shut them down, they would be out of business. They don't have any alternative marketing outlets. The only ones that Ebay listens to are representatives (Lawyers) from the major brands. Don't think Rolex, Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, etc. doesn't have people scouring Ebay every day looking for fakes. One call from them, and the auction is gone! There are a bunch of guys over on the Rolex forum, that are either independently wealthy, or out of a job, on unemployment, because they are also looking for fakes on Ebay 24 hours a day!!. Unfortunately, their enthusiasm for ferreting out fakes occasionally gets ahead of their knowledge level!! Some of their "Fakes" turn out to be genuine. Although they do a lot of bragging about killing auctions, I bet about 90% of their kills are coincidental, after someone from Rolex USA calls. Ebay has become the "Wild West" of auction sites, and unfortunately, I don't see any Wyatt Erps, Bat Mastersons or hangin Judge Roy Beans coming along anytime soon to clean up the town!! If you want to be safe, you better do your homework, buy the seller, and go into every transaction with your radar on and your antennae out. If it looks or smells fishy, stay away.

I think that people's tastes change over time, as they grow older, more mature, whatever. And sometimes the wheel goes around and the next thing you know, you are right back where you started. I started off my serious watch career in the late 1960's with Rolex, first one was and Airking, then a datejust and a no date sub, probably a 5512 or 5513 can't remember. I didn't like it at all, because of not having a date function, so I swapped it for a 1680, then a 1665, another couple of 1680's a Daytona ( didn't like it either, as I couldn't get used to no date and manual wind) Swapped it for another 1680 and finally a 16610 in the mid 80's. I sold that one and didn't own another Rolex for almost 20 years. Didn't like them at all!! bought a bunch of different chronos (IWC, Breitling, Complications like Maurice Lacroix and Ulysse Nardin GMT's) I suppose these were my "Gadget " years, the more buttons, subdials, etc. the better, but over the years, none of these really "sang to me".I discovered Replicas and got into Rolex vintage, sort of like going back to my youth!! Then a couple of genuine Rolex , and now a mix of genuine and Modded rep Rolex, and that's pretty much all I wear. I've got a genuine Gold IWC Calatrava for formal wear, and a box of genuine dive watches from various makers, but day in and day out I wear my Rolex watches and I'm very happy and content with them. So to all you younger fellows out there, don't be surprised if over time you move from what you like now, to something you can't stand now, and maybe like me, it will come full circle and you will end up with what you started with.

Nothing fake about that baby. look up the prices of these and see what they are selling for. Another thing, I'm sure this watch has been very closely scrutinied by the VRF folks. If it smelled wrong, they would have jumped on it with both feet, I guess. maybe after a few of the most vociferous doubters were severely called to task after their conduct over the Good Dr. from Texas' 5510, perhaps they are sitting this dance out.Seriously though, If this one was fake there would be a lot more going on about it on the vintage Rolex forums.

Everything is slow right now. I have some genuine Rolex stuff coming in from France, and the French Post are saying that everything to the USA is delayed by 3-5 days because of the increased scrutiny by US Security. Everything is getting X-rayed before it gets put on a plane. We can thank our little Middle East Toner Cartridge bombers for this mess. Also I was told by some folks in OZ that sell Cigars to members around the world, if a package is over 16 oz (one pound) or 500 grams, they will not ship it as freight on passenger planes, has to go air cargo. All of this scrutiny is paying unexpected dividends for the customs folks. Last week they confiscated 10,000 Cuban Cigars at O'Hare in Chicago!! These weren't in one big shipment, they were all in small shipments of one or two boxes to individuals. Now all the Cigar stores in Europe and around the world are running scared because of this increased scrutiny. Problem is with computer databases, once shippers and recipients get into the Customs database, they will be even more closely watched.Didn't mean to digress, but that's what's happening. add in the Christmas rush, postal strikes in Europe, lots of snow and ice in the EU as parts of the USA, and it all adds up to big delays. I ordered a folded link bracelet from Mary on November 2nd. I picked it up at the Post office today, December 17th. Around 45 days for a package that normally takes around 10 days to 2 weeks.

Yes tis an A/6538. Interesting story about it. I read it on VRF a day or two back. The owner Mike Woods, is quite and expert, he owns a boatload of vintage Rolex Sport models. i've seen some of his watches on display, and he has rows and rows of 1680 Subs, same with just about everything else. It would be interesting to know what his collection is worth, several million dollars I would bet. Guy must be as rich as Bill Gates to afford a collection like his.

Rolex bracelets have always been noted for their flimsy, rattly, cheap feel. Even the Rolex "experts" on the genuine forums complain all the time about the old bracelets. Probably justified when you consider the cost of a genuine. But in their defense, they are the most comfortable bracelets around, and they are pretty bulletproof. unfortunately, the same can't be said for the new ones that have clasp failures that result in the watch coming off and hitting the floor, or worse disappearing into the depths if you are diving with it. Possibly if you put a "want to buy" in the tools and parts forum, someone will have what you're looking for

It makes nanug's head hurt too, but what else do you have to do when it's dark outside for 23:59 hours per day, and your watch repair anvil and sledgehammer are outside under 10 feet of snow!! :Jumpy:

Welcome aboard, Always good to have more folks to question "will this work" with my Rolex?"

I'm sure that at times we all think we are picking nits, however to all of us who mod watches, the information that is posted is very valuable. it's always better to find out beforehand that something you were planning to do just won't work, or it will work, but it is so compromised the watch/movement, etc. that the longevity and or accuracy is seriously impaired. I have a v3, and it's absolutely my favorite non vintage Rolex. I have a couple of genuine parts on it, and have a genuine bezel assembly on the way. I see what the posters are talking about the case having too much material removed between the crown guards. Does it worry me? No, because I believe that it's so small a difference it's indiscernible. Will I try to work around it? Possibly if I get around to installing a genuine Crown/tube. Some of the difference can be made up by seating the tube out a fraction more. Unfortunately, this is a great watch right out the box, but it does have a few flaws, as does every single rep ever produced. Fortunately they are minor, and the quality and correctness of the watch more than make up for the flaws. As far as modding, unless you have a bunch of Rolex parts lying around that you bought pretty cheap, it's not a good value to mod this one very much. this was all covered in a thread from a few days ago where a member was gong to put a 3135 movement in his v3. When all the costs were added up for the mods he was contemplating, he was within a thousand dollars of a genuine. I appreciate the contribution that all who have examined their v2's and V's and contributed to our knowledge base. You sir, unfortunately don't fall into that category.

I thought about doing the same thing, using some emery cloth to try and smooth it down.I didn't because ii was afraid that if I overshot, the bezel would pop off with no pressure or the slightes knock.

Andy, I am assuming the ring is the one that came wirth the watch, or possibly changed at service. The crystal is the correct T-125 Tudor Sub crystal. I was able to seperate them ,they were really stuck together!! And as nanug said getting the bezel snapped back on was a bitch. Ithought I was never going to get it to snap on all the way around. the bezel turns, irt's pretty stiff, but that's OK. I am a little concerned as Anduy mentioned as to why the retaining ring came off, although it took a pretty good bit of force to get it to pop off the first time. My 1665 ,1680 and 16610 bezels are much easier to remove and replace. Thanks again guys. I appreciate the help.