1680

Very very nice old Rolex! Franken or not, it is beautiful! To be honest, I think you'll get more reliable input on VRF.

concepta, is yours a real patrizzi dial or a 16520 dial?

That guy is a [censored]head. I admit he had a lot of interesting parts, but ... no never...

You can only do this by exposing a gen W series (1994) 16520 dial to UV light, I doubt it works with a rep dial. They used the wrong laque and developed this defect. Only way to get this would be A.) get a gen (haha ) or B.) mask the dial carefully and spray it with a airbrush, you need a clear coat with a small portion of (clear) brown in it.

It's hard to say if it has solid midlinks or the correct hollow ones. The numbers on the bracelet, clasp and endlinks are wrong. The coronet looks good though (mouth could be a bit smaller) but the position is good as well, clasp has only the famous 6 holes. The construction of the last link connecting the bracelet to the springbar is wrong (there is no rep bracelet that got that detail right). All in all, a good base but requires a bit modding I'd say.

According to the picture it should be from 1964-'69, so that means a price of $1300 ($1400 with bracelet). However I wonder about that price, I've found older models with a hangtag that says $335. And you have to keep in mind that this was from a time when Rolex was not such a stupid brand it is now, they made tool watches that even craftsmen could afford (if they saved the money ).

But (!) it's not unusual. You will find genuine 1016 Explorers with these long Sub springbars (23-9291), it seems that some watchmakers don't know the others exist or simply don't have them in stock and therefore use the wrong springbars

I will, but I'll have to find a way to get that done.

Very strange, I've been in contact with him the last two weeks, email and phone, work was excellent and turn-around time less than a week.

Can anyone say something about the lume TC uses on his dial/hands? What is the lume colour like compared to gen Rolex lume / Superluminova?

Haha, I have no idea, I even don't know whether it's Japanese, Chinese or Korean ^^ funny enough I have a book about the 1016 on my way, 128 pages Japanese...

One very important question: does she appreciate a replica? If I would give a rep handbag or watch to my girlfriend ....

SWISS indicates that Radium was used (untill about 1960) after that Rolex used Tritium, here you will find different variations: SWISS T < 25 (sport models like the 5513, 1680, 1016) or T Swiss T (Datejust, Daytona). Then for a short period they used Luminova on old service dials with T<25 text, then they had just SWISS (1998-2000) and then SWISS MADE, both with (Superluminova). Some people will tell you that Rolex used Luminova (1998-2000) and then changed to Superluminova, but I don't believe that there is a difference. Luminova was developed by Nemoto Ltd & Co in Japan, it is destributed as Superluminova and Tritec is a partner of Nemoto in Europe, they formed a joint-venture and Super-Luminova is destributed by Luminova SA in Switzerland. But to answer you're question: a DRSD should have a SWISS T < 25 text.

Just call him, you have better chances that he picks up the phone. I got a relumed dial back from him yesterday.

Yes and yes.

You need a date wheel overlay (or DWO) which you have to glue on your ETA date wheel.

No they want align, numbers will be more to the left of the date window.

Just for you

Nice to see that dial in a case, finally Another nice 1016, wear it with pride and don't sell it Just one question, how did you get the 2,0mm springbars through the 558 endlinks? I thought those were meant for the Datejust (1.8mm springbars).

Oh, it says ROLEX, it must be one ... from Kill BIll at least

Hi Elias, a Yuki case is about $500 without engravings + dial $120-300 + gen crown $30-60 + movement (ETA serviced) $120-200 + crystal (not gen) $10 + Yuki/ofrei pearl $25 ... that's close to $1k, just the head. Not what I would call low-budget if you ask me If you have no experience with modding, especially modding a dial I would not attempt to do this on such a project. You could go low-budget with a cartel 5517 with minor changes done by yourself or go the Yuki route but then with the help of a skilled modder. But only my 2 cents

So you can feel the difference of 7 g on your wrist?

I know somebody in Germany, not the cheapest but his work is top-notch! If interested I can send you a PN.

IIRC the 2824 has a stem height of 1.8mm, the 2846 has 2.25mm, makes a delta of 0.45mm which is a lot!