panerai153

The lighting in a typical surgery is probably 1 of the few places (outside a jewelry store) where the GMTIIC's AR will come in useful, so I think the work involved in getting your crystal AR'd can certainly be justified.

The original rep crown, while better than most rep crowns, is a bit too wide, which is why I replaced mine with a gen 7mm Triplock (24-704 - purchased on ebay).

Thanks very much Freddy. I appreciate the help.

Thanks for the info gentlemen.

Toad, I was planning to remove the cyclops and send the crystal to Chief for AR coating then remove hte excess AR except under the cyclops. Too bad you can't just AR the cyclops, looks like that would make it a much easier mod.

Freddy, Thanks, that is a very interesting and informative thread. You mentioned the crown being wrong? What is the correct crown for the 116710.

If this crystal thing looks to be too daunting to pull off, I may just send the watch to The Zigmeister for a relume and the 2893-2 movement exchange. As you said in your thread, The AR is almost inconsequential except in the right light conditions. I have a problem with glare and at times seeing the date is difficult with the fluorescent lights we have in our operating rooms. I'm probably making too much out of this, as it may be a problem that isn't worth solving.

I'm going to have a pretty good bit of time on my hands in the next few weeks, post surgery, and I thought that finding all the bits to do this project would be a good way to spend my "Down" time.

Mahler,

I'm in the same boat with you,which I think is being shared by quite a few others. I sent a defective DSSD back in December for exchange for the "newest v5", which i was told would be out in late January. Well here it is the first of March, and nothing from ETZ! I PM'ed Helina a few days back as well as posting a reply in their dealer review here, asking for and update on the DSSD status. Hopefully, I will get a response this week, as I'm sure everything has been closed for Chinese New Year. Now that the holidays are over, it's time to get back to work and let us know what's going on.

I agree patience can only be stretched so far. mine is gettig a little thin.

Lani,

hopefully the worst is over for you folks in Hawaii. According to the news the Tsunami wasn't as bad as predicted. Man, I hope those Cigars didn't get wet!! I know how good some of them are.

Terrible devistation in Chile. It's very surprising, but certainly wonderful that the loss of life wasn't much greater. This quake was a great deal stronger than the one that hit Haiti, but the damage doesn't appear to be as bad. Roads, bridges, homes and office buildings are replacable, people aren't. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who are impacted by this terrible natural disaster.

Guys I need a little help. I'm planning to do some "upgrades" on my GMT 116710 Ceramic. I really like this watch, but I do think it would benefit from a few "Tweaks"

First off, I'm going to have some time on my hands in the next few weeks to do some searching. Taking a few weeks off for surgery, so I'll be bored stiff after about a week.

I have an ETA 2893-2 that I want to exchange for the 2836 that's in the watch.2836 is working OK, but I like the idea of the 2893-2 as it is a true GMT movement.

Second, I want to replace the crystal with either a Clark or genuine. I was planning to pick up a Clark and remove the cyclops, send the crystal to Chief for and AR job and try to do the Lani project to remove the AR where it isn't supposed to be. Unfortunately, Clark is down too. He's having hip surgery and will be closed down til March 27th.So here is my plea. If anyone out there has a genuine you would sell, or a Clark for sale, that you have laying around waiting on a project, I would really appreciate the help.

Last of all,the lume on this watch just isn't up to snuff. It glows fine for a few minutes, but it fades rapidly. It would really benefit from The Zigmeister's superluminova lume job.

So hopefully with the help of all you great folks on the forum, I can accumulate the parts and send everything off to The Zigmeister's magic shop for a magical transformation.

Thanks in advance for the help guys. If you don't have one of these crystals, but know where I can find one , please let me know.

Congratulations, you got a great deal on that one! The other looks like a service crystal w/ the beveled edge. Still If you can pick it up for around what you paid for yours or a little less, that would be OK. They (beveled edge) are selling for around 175.00 USD on the VRF.

You are right, Mark I is pretty hard to come by and pricy in really nice condition. As alligoat suggested, the Vintage Rolex Forum has dials for sale all the time. Unfortunately, the prices are crazy. Dials that look like someone dug them up in their garden sell for hundreds of dollars!!Look around, you may find just what you'r looking for. Steve Mulholland sometimes sells groups of dials on TRF and VRF.

Great group of Daytonas! That palp Daytona brings back memories of the old TRC and RWG from a few years ago.

Cats is correct. The genuine will make all the difference in the world. Genuine insert and crystal would be the first two mods to a 1680 I would do. The "Top Hat' is great, but sometimes hard to find. the replacement crystal has a beveled edge, the only difference. They come up for sale around here on occasion. Another place to look is the genuine Rolex sales forums.

It's genuine. It's well used however. i would bet that to get this one into pretty decent shape, new crystal, case polish (light!!) movement service, ansd a genuine 93150 w/ Rolex clasp As well as 580 end links, you would probably be looking at close to another 1k. So if you got the watch for 1900, it would ultimately be an almost 3 thousand dollar watch. In my opinion, there are a lot of much better examples out there for the same price or less.

It's really amazing, the prices of Tudor subs has really gone through the roof. I bought a 7021/0 several years ago (2006) in about the same condition but with a complete recent service, new crystal, on a nice 9315 bracelet, for 1500.00 USD includig express shipping from Australia. 4 years later the prices have doubled. Steve Mulholland over on rthe Vintage Rolex forum has predicted that Tudors will at some point in time be more expensive than their counterpart Rolex sub. Hard to believe, but at the present rate, I wouldn't be surprised.

JoJo,

The chapter ring or railroad track dial was prevalent through the first 1675's through the pointed CG models. The chocholate dial is not uncommon, It's a color change phenomon that affected Rolex dials. That sounds like a really nice watch. It would look great on a 62150H/555 Jubilee Bracelet or a 78360 Oyster.

I would suspect that this one is a real "keeper" if it's in nice condition.I have a 16750 and it's one of my all time favorite watches.

Definitely got the earlier bezel insert, also the pearl isn't as good as the V5's. Looks likke they are making up watches from left over parts, while they wait for the next V5.1 Ultimate, Ultimate edition's debut.

maybe I'm just looking at it wrong, but thoes pushers don't look "asymetrical" enough.

I suspect the blacklist depends on whether or not you have something confiscated going through customs as a package mailed to you as opposed to having something confiscated when you go through customs.Items confiscated from travelers result in them being put on a "Search every time" basis, at least until they check you a few times and don't find anything. These are name and possibly passport number based.Mailed Packages confiscated, that lead to you being blacklisted, are probably address driven. That's why it is necressary to use alternate means of delivery destinations, either having the package sent to a friend, relative, girlfriend, etc. Of course in doing that should another package get confiscated, it could lead to them being placed on the customs blacklist as well. Probably better to use a P.O box, or one of those private mailboxes to receive replica watches, etc.

I recently purchased a genuine ETA 2893-2.4. the watch came sealed in the ETA pouch. The diagram clearly shows it to be a GMT movement, however I'm confounded by the extra .4 Does anyone here know what that means? does that refer to the date window position? Lastly, will this movement swap into my GMT Master IIC ? IF this fits with a minimum of difficulty, I would like to swap out the 1836 movement for this one. i know that it doesn't correct the hand stack problem, but it certainly increases the reliability factor, as this is a true GMT movement. IF that is possible, I would then like to swap out the crystal for a genuine, or get one of the AR coated under the cyclops ones.

Thanks

Thank you all for your comments. I assure you my intentions are noble, as I intend for this to stay in my collection. Some specs for your interest:

[] MBW case - old version which takes gen parts

[] ETA movement

[] Gen T39 superdome

[] Gen vintage crown and tube

[] Gen 93150 bracelet with 580 endlinks

[] Gen springbars

[] NDT dial with vintage lume (this is awesome!)

[] Gen vintage Tudor hands

[] Modded CG

[] Caseback paint removed and edges smoothed

[] Bezelinsert aged

[] Recessed insert

The sourcing of papers is an attempt, perhaps foolhardy, to complete the experience.

Yours sounds like a very nice example of a modded MBW. photos would be nice . As to the papers, I did not attempt to infer that you were trying to defraud, just pointing out the problems. As to the papers, I haven't ever seen sets complete with papers, ever. By this I mean guarantee papers or the Rolex "punched" papers. What are being sold as genuine appear on ebay and the genuine forums on a regular basis, but as I said before the prices are ridiculous. I have a genuine Tudor snowflake, I bought the watch without papers, box, etc. I have been assembling all the bits and pieces over time, Box, anchor, hang tag, etc. I saw two sets of genuine Tudor "open" guarantee papers on Ebay over the past few weeks. unfortunately for me, they both closed at well over 200 USD each! This is for Tudor papers. Genuine Rolex routinely go for 2-3 times that price. Go over to the vintage rolex market, there is a seller there, "paperman' who sells booklets, brochures, and other paperwork. they will not allow the sale of guarantee papers on the forum, but I bet he has them. only problem, the prices are crazy. For your SD, the calendar card for the correct year (early 70's) would be probably 200-300 Euros! Sub/SD booklet 300 Euros. no telling what he would want for a guarantee paper, especially if it was open.

Good luck on your quest. If you find a source, let the forum know

I believe that if you are going to invest a lot of money in genuine parts, i would opt for the yuki case. Everything genuine will fit and you will end up with a really nice "Super franken" Otherwise i would go with MBW and fit in as many genuine parts as possible. As was stated in another thread, the MBW 1680 white dial is really ,really close to the real thing. It just depends on whether you want to spend several thousand for a yuki cased "Genuine except for case" watch or maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of that for a very acceptable 1680.the most expensive parts will be movement, dial/hands which you will save if you go the MBW route. Plus you can purchase an MBW complete for several hundred less than a yuki case alone. Drop in a slow beat 2846, genuine crown/tube,bezel, bezel insert, drill the lug holes for genuine springbars,genuine 580 end links, genuine 93150 bracelet or genuine 93150 clasp on your MBW bracelet, mod the case guards, The Zigmeister service and relume with vintage tritium and you have a really nice 1680 for a ton less than the other option.,

That's the new eliptical model!!

If you could get some "fat hands" from somewhere, it would make the project. Personally i prefer the older 5513 maxi dials with the big dots but no surrounds.

The dealers and guys at the factories need to work with everyone here to get everything spot on, even if they just posted some shots of the prototype before they go into production so the flaws can be fixed. Seems crazy whey they don't as it obviously costs them in the long run.

the dealers/factories figured out long ago,the best business model is one step forwarrd, another backward or sideways. If they fix it to the point of perfection, they would sell us "suckers" one of each, and that would be it. As it is lots of us end up buying 3,4 or 5 versions of the same watch, each with a "Fix" but also another flaw!!

If you have a 1570 movement, I would go with the yuki case, genuine dial, hands and crown/tube. i believe that you can pick your serial number with the Yuki, correct?

I would NOt use MBW hands, dial, etc. Why would you skimp on the most obvious and visible parts of your watch. You could use an ETA movement, and no one could tell unless they removed the caseback, but with a MBW dial, it's a sure bet, some WIS will correctly ID your watch as a replica.

As far as the bracelet and endlinks, 93150 w/ 580 Endlinks is the service replacement for all Submariners. If money is tight, here is where I would scrimp. Get the yuki or MBW bracelet and correct rep endlinks. Later on you can always replace the bracelet with a genuine.

hard to find. Genuine are EXPENSIVE!! Never saw Rep papers, I suppose they exist,along with the fake box, hang tags, booklets to go along with the replica Rolex 1665's, 1680's etc. that some folks are trying to pass off as genuine on Ebay.

If the above is your intent, sir, I can assure you there are members of the genuine forums who are trolling the pages of Ebay as we speak reporting every suspicious Rolex to Ebay. Unfortunately, in their overzealous quest, they sometimes trash a genuine watch as well. The genuines get relisted with an explanation, the replicas usually don't.

If your intent is noble and aboveboard, questing to assemble a complete set of papers, "GeeGaws" and Boxes for your own self gratification, and the possible resale on the forum at some future date, good luck. Nothing wrong with that concept. I have assembled Boxes hang tags, Anchors and booklets in the past as well. Lots of fun, but increasingly expensive, especially for the alleged "Genuine" Rolex stuff.On some of the genuine sales forums, I have seen Submariner booklets from the early 1970,s sell for almost twice what a genuine White letter 1680 cost me in 1972!!

I bought a genuine for around 250.00 USD off Ebay

Looks great. Hands are not much different than the genuine Tudors I payed 200 USD for a few weeks back.

AFAIK Ocean 7 is using Sellita movements in their genuine watches. i believe this was done to make certain they had a good supply of movements in case ETA decided to cut off everyone except their own brands.

My Ocean 7 LM7 Ploprof has the Sellita eqivelent of the ETA 2824-2