Valty

I just love it, well done mate :-)

Thanks for the answers guys :-) Very appreciated !!! Just one question, is it better to dismount the crown to remove the spring before trying this ?

Hello RWG, My WM just said me he broke a stem on my NOS 702 crown, really flush on the crown. I am not really happy about this... Any ideas to remove the broken stem from the crown, considering it's seems impossible to catch the stem ? Needless to say I don't really want to send the crown in the trash Cheers ! R.

Hey mate I'll reply tonight, I was very sick the last 10 days !!! Sorry about that !

this is really hard to resist to the temptation to make a 6538 project with all this stuff you are showing cc33....!!!! Amazing dial by the way, I love it ! :-)

Hey, just to let you know it is normal, I had the same kind of problem with a gen 1665 service bezel and a fat font original insert, the insert was a little too short in terms of diameter (approx 0,2mm) and my watchmaker had to press it to make it fit properly And good watchmaker can do the job properly, but in my case, the insert is now a little flatter than before. Better to do it with an appropriate press IMO to have the best result. Cheers !

Dropbear is right, but there is more than 1 change between the early and later Daytona's. Don't forget about the thin seconds hand, for example. I don't talk about the 6238, who have more specific hands (2 thin hands instead of 1) 6239/40 hand set (original, not service) : 6263/5 hand set (original, not service) : BTW, depending of the period, I think there is some different kind of 6263/5 hands. How many ? I don't know. Here is an example, full metal chrono seconds hand. 100% original, no doubts about it. Probably for early 6263/5 : I think I have bought too many handsets... :) About the price of a service handset, 500€ looks a fair value. These are hard to find ! Cheers !

+1, it sounds like it's a good idea to catch a Daytona from a member here, or on another board. Will be much easier for you The Daytona's from cartel are not that good...

If you plan to go with 7750 / 7760, the DW route is a good idea because it's hands are designed for this model If you plan to go with V72, you can try DW, but I strongly encourage you to go with Phong hands. Ask for photos to check it before you buy. If you plan to go with V726, DW is a no go. I would try with Phong hands, even if my WM said the pinion for chrono seconds hand is really too small. Too much problems with aftermarket hands on this movement

I have to say I took part of a decent group buy here with few mates, and it turned really good. The price was excellent, and it was really fun to share our knowledge to have the best cases possible. It 100% depends of the guy who is doing the group buy. In my case, he was a top notch guy A little hello if you see me A. +10000, no one wants to work for nothing, right ? I'm sure 95% of the members here would have the same price policy. Unlike us, I'm pretty sure there is not part of fun in their business. In my case, it is very simple, I look on my left side what I'm earning with my job. Now I look on my right side the time I have to spend to learn where to buy good cases, learn about reworking a case, etc. Not talking about the huge price of the machines needed to make something good. Not talking too about X trips to China, Vietnam, ... Well, I strongly prefer to have a premium service with somebody like Phong or Minh, it's much more profitable in my case. I'm obviously not talking about the part of fun... Because all in all, I would have made big savings in terms of time (so money) to directly buy the gen watches. Apart from the fun (witch is important I agree) time = money @Olivax, no offense, I'm not sure you measure the kind of investment to make a business like Phong is doing right now. We surely have fellow members who have more money than others here, but IMHO, it's really a full time job to do this. It needs too many investments to be just a "hobby"

@Freddy, I seriously think each Phong case is manually re-worked. I have seen many cases of the "same" reference in one order, and there was not a case similar to another case And after some speaking with Phong, he re-worked manually some cases to match our current needs About NDT / Yuki / etc, I believe the cases are "stock" But seriously not sure about Phong & Minh. This probably explain the price difference between the dealers, IMHO

I have absolutely no ideas about it. We should ask a mod about it. There is some problems with group buys, we need : - Somebody who is CONUS, in case of problems with the order (and you can be sure there is problems almost each time with group orders) - Somebody who is trustfully - Somebody who have many time to manage the order, the quality check before the shipping and after the shipping - Somebody who have great knowledge of the ordered cases VS. gen, to ensure the cases are good - Somebody who is a great negotiator. Communication is key to make a group order works properly, because we can't say all the dealers speak a good english I probably forgot many points, but it is surely not easy peasy

Can't wait to see the final result of your Minh dial... Interesting to see you had the same idea !

He is perfect on the most requested models I think... Even if I had some bad surprises with Daytona cases before, about the shape... His quality is not constant at all !

So it was you on VRM Infact, it's not ugly at all, it surely worth the cost of a new franken... Oh god, I don't even want to know how much of this vintages you will have !!! I agree about the other dial, it will be much better without the white printings ! The gilt printings looks very solid What do you think about some water on the center of the dial before the next oven ? After looking the 6536 dial, it looks like water damage at the center, it looks very cool IMO

The accuracy of Phong engraving is really depending of many factors, like the model chosen. Example, my 6240 case is near to the perfection, but my 1665 engraving is bullshit, because he didn't used the right font / padding / etc. Especially on the "6", these are supposed to be flat, and I have a bad rounded 6. Spotted in few seconds, even if the engraving method is good.

I fully agree ! My opinion is it's possible to lower the price to 50 - 60% of the original price, but not less

I don't think so. There is at least 5 communities on the Internet. Plus the customers who don't know our communities (and I think they are a lot). Plus eBay. Plus the customers here who will not follow the petition. Etc. You will be surprised to see how much you can save with a group buy. I think it's a better way to have good prices, again.

Endlinks are a common problem, I never seen a case who accepts the gen 571 end links without modding About the tube, it's not normal, you should return your case to him, and also ask about the 571 fitting. Sending your 571 is not a bad idea. He will do it for free.

The accuracy cost a lot of money... That's the real problem. I think most of us here are in the watches hobby. Selling high-end cases is more than a hobby IMO, it's a full time job, and it needs a lot of money to invest Just an example, look at the price of a professional engraving machine I agree they are all earning a lot of money now, but after all this job done, I think nobody will go the cheap route. It's the best way to crash a business. Why selling cheap if everybody is ready to put a lot of money on the stuff ? IMHO, the only "easy" way to have good prices is to only buy cases in group, and avoid buy alone the premium price. But trying to making a business like them (I'm talking about having all the cases references, engraving machines, artificial aging, etc.) is just not possible. Too many money to invest, too many time, and no guarantee about the result.

For $100... I don't think so, most of the high-end dealers (at least, Phong) are doing a lot of manual job to the cases to have the perfect shape / artificial aging. This have a real cost in terms of time, knowledge, and also machines. I also think it's short runs, the dealers are certainly not selling 100 cases a day. So it probably cost a little more than $100, even without the manual work And if you pay +$1000 for a case who don't accept all the gen parts, I strongly suggest you to return the case ASAP About your idea, it's certainly doable, but I think it will cost a lot of money to make the same "business" like Phong, Minh, etc. Just look at the H difficulties to find a good factory (for only 1 reference for now !). Asians are not fools, it cost really a lot of money and time to have the "good" stuff. Not talking about having the good stuff for all the vintage references... Some suggestions about the price of the high-end cases : - Do not buy full case set. Only case & back case are good. The other stuff provided with full case is junk - If you are already a customer, ask politely for a discount, this works well with the dealers I have dealt before - Try to elaborate some group buys ? You can have really great discounts if you are a fine negotiator. Be careful, very time consuming ! Somebody here knows about that...

+1 for RA, his lume job is very good You finally kept the "bad" dial ? Is it me, or the white printings are transfers ? It seems the letters has moved during the process... It looks very strange now Otherwise, I like the effect on the black paint and the gilt printings !!!

Thanks for the comments guys However, I'll let my WM do the job, I'm pretty sure he will do better in 10 seconds than me in 30 minutes !!! I just wanted to be sure nothing is wrong with the bent @ChiefTang, no worries, I have all what I need to make the El Primero conversion to 4030

Hey RWG, I just received a 16520 hand set, but the chrono seconds hand is really bent, probably due to a bad shipping I think a good WM can recover this, but I'm not 100% sure What do you think ? It will bother me a lot if I have to buy another hand... R.

+1, not sure the cartel 1665 have a gen bezel construction...