Valty

29 ? I think it is 25-295, no ? It can comes with the etched coronet or not. For a 16520, it might be better to find a crystal without the coronet.

... !!!

Oh My God. Jack, you just killed me Wow ! I was about to contact all the rep sellers to ask some info about that... Awesome work my friend, so f*king awesome !!!! I'll PM you in seconds

This case is all wrong : shape, lugs, crown / pushers holes, case back, engraving - DW is a best choice, especially considering the price InGod is asking ! Cheers

The bezel showed by OP looks original to me too : printings are OK, and the thickness looks OK too The only real "tell" between a gen & replacement is the thickness of the bezel : I've never seen an aftermarket bezel with the correct thickness - it is always thinner You should ask a photo of the profile of the bezel, just to be sure R.

+1 Have you done any re-engraving / erasing ?

The last DRSD (service !) dial I have seen for sale was at 5k€... and it was sold in few hours

+1

It's a pleasure If you need one, I still have one in my spare box, with both of the gaskets (1 or 2)

Hello mate I think only Phong is making this kind of SS case to accept a 1555/6 caliber. He has sold some of this cases on the bay some time ago, but I'm pretty sure you can ask him about it now ! Be careful, it's a pricey project. Finding a caliber in good conditions is difficult (if you ask me, I have few hundreds of € in pieces & repair for my caliber...) Finding a nice dial for WG DD is quite a problem, too. The YG dials looks bad IMO in a SS case. FYI, I have more than 3k€ in my project ! For the same amount, you can go for a gen 1803... without the bracelet Just ask me if you have some questions... Quick pic :

If your case can fit a gen crystal, the code is 25-295C with the gasket 2 I believe for the YM (but not sure)

That's a pleasure mate

Mate, The harder parts to come are the elements witch require a return of the old part : dials, bezels, cases, back-case, and in some case bracelets The easier parts to find are all the tropics, crystals, crown, tube, insert, end links, spring-bars, and all the parts a Rolex trusted watchmaker can order without returning anything All the parts that are not longer produced are hard to come, too. Ex: 700 / 702 crown, 7000 / 7020 tube To make the things simple : all the parts for the 4 digits ref. are hard to find. All the 5 digits ref. pieces are easy to find, exception of the pieces who needs a return The most valuable parts are certainly all the parts related to manual Daytona's and Vintage Subs. But it is very unlikely you will find someone who can source a piece which is not already on the "market". And personally, I always have an interest for the Daytona stuff Hope this helps, Cheers !

As promised, here are some photos of my 1665 case with the gen bezel installed. The other bezel is the Phong's one (with rep insert). If anyone wants the Phong bezel + insert, please PM me or it will go on eBay soon... Not pictured, but the gen bezel is thicker than the rep bezel. Needless to say the gen bezel is a great improvement It fits the Phong's retainer ring perfectly. No need of a gen and expensive retainer ring Cheers !

I will do this asap mate

Thanks guys for all the answers

It's better than "just fitting", the fitting is just incredible / gen like. Now it turns as it should. Plus the gen bezel makes a HUGE difference. I will take some photos for you if you want, just tell me my friend Objectively, it's impossible to stay with an aftermarket bezel once you have tried the gen one ! For information, I paid 520€ for NOS bezel with washer ring... Quite a lot of money, but it worth the cost

Hi RWG The question is in the title : where to find the "best" aftermarket spring-bars in 19mm and 20mm ? Clark's, Ofrei, Cousins ? If you have a link, it will be awesome ! Thanks ! R.

Hey mate After some thinking, I think I will stay with my Phong's back case... Yes, the MQ back case is more accurate (even if it have it's flaws), but I have less "feeling" with it. I overall prefer the Phong's look, even if it's less accurate About the MQ case, I have compared it to the Phong, and finally gone with Phong. What I have to say about the mid-case is this is perfect ! The only problem I had is with the bezel. It was too easy to turn, probably the bezel is a little too large for the case. After gone with a gen bezel / washer (but keeping the Phong retainer ring), the result is absolutely perfect. I suppose the right combo is Phong mid case, MQ case back, and gen bezel if possible

Nice ! Thanks you I think I have to buy a MQ case back... Anybody wants a Phong case back ? :)

Maybe you should ask the owner or new owner of the 1665 GW that was sold today ? I will be curious to see it, too EDIT: I just sent a PM to denimhead to ask if he can put some photos I think the Phong case back is something like $350, maybe more. I had it with the case, so I don't really know The owner of the 1665 FS with Minh case back said he paid £330 / 520$ for it. Aoutch !!!!!! Yes, the Phong work / vintagizing is absolutely awesome on all the case, even if the stamping is not perfect. But I am very anal with this ! BTW, I found my mid-case and case back better than the majority of the gen cases seen on the market... Too much polishing is killing the entire case

Here we are, Phong case back : To me, one of the big flaws is the problem of padding on the characters. Especially on the word "VALVE". Still a very good case back, we need to compare it with the Minh's one Cheers, R.

Another photos of Phong's 1665 case back coming... :-)

Right, and I think I have a beginning of an explanation about that. It looks likes the thin cases are chosen for the "later" cases, when the "fat" cases are used for the earlier 6263/5's. Considering most of the gen cases are polished, and polished again, the Phong's work is pretty good if you know what do you want. Not talking about the holes of the pushers / crown, they are a bit different on the gen case.

The answer is simple : Phong Just send him a message with your concerns about your case, I bet he will work on it free of charge. After all, you have paid for a "perfect" case, right ? Can you post some pictures of your case with the year you choose for the S/N ?