1680

Just for the record: Rolex uses Fomblin grease for their gasket.

TRF just posted a nice white dial 11623. Just an FYI for anyone looking to build.

you mean the 116520 dial (11623 it a two tone DJ )

but that dial does not fit a Zenith movement! It is for the currenct Daytona with inhouse cal.4130 movement.

I could spend 20k on a real one, but I know the cost is only a few hundred bucks to make.

This means Rolex should have a 10 year or lifetime warranty which they strangely dont and only have a 1-2yr warranty.

This leads me to believe that since the genuine one breaks very often, it is better to buy a well made replica instead.

Sorry, but that's mostly not true.

A 20k watch (you later say Rolex) would be e.g. a yellow gold Datejust with leather strap,, the watch head weights about 31g (18kt) this would be about $940 just in the gold used. Add all the other parts like the dial, bracelet (or strap), the movement and the labour of a swiss technician (they are not assembled in China), and also add the business side, adverts, the development branch (Rolex did invent a few things in the watch industry) and event the work against counterfeit goods...

So tell me why you think it only takes a few hundret to make such a watch?

Why should Rolex give you a 10 year or lifetime warranty? It's not a Zippo...   when you buy a BMW or Mercedes you get a 2 year warranty, but even when you buy a Ferrari which is a few times the BMW you get ... 24 months warranty. Why would Rolex do that? They want to sell watches, thats it, they don't want to pay for them afterwards.

And why do you think a genuine Rolex (or PP, TAG ...) breaks more often than a rep $100 replica? A watch that is assembled in a dusty room without real quality control...

I agree that it is lucrative to buy your desired watch from a well known brand for 1-10% of its retail price, but it will never ever be the same as the genuine product.

Don't know if it helps but recently I received an Oyster bracelet from Ken which is junk, there are no words that suit it better. The finish is oK bad, the "feel" is not that good, the clasp is horrible. More than half of the screws did not screw in, the flanks of the links were total unevenly finished.

my 2 cents

I've searched for cheap aftermarket Jubilee bracelets as well but didn't find any decent. So I bought a genuine, if you get one really cheap that is very worn just send it to CWP and let Michael do his fantastic job.

There are other professional dial companies in Canada, Switzerland and Germany who can do such jobs.

Personally I never had any problems with that, I have a box full of movement rings and always find what I need maybe it's just luck...

Do you have the ETA documents? As far as I'm aware you need to remove all parts that are involved with the calender including: datewheel, jumper, jumper plate, calendar driving wheel, date corrector, intermediate date wheel.

And you need a new setting lever (445/2) with only 2 positions.

my to 2c, but I have to say I'm no watchmaker

Uff, to be honest I would not start to remove the date function.

Please don't waste a gen Tudor movement! Sell it and buy 4x 2783 for that money, or keep it in your parts drawer for another project.

PLEASE don't do it

I wouldn't try to run screw in the tube with the crown, I tried it once and then had to remove the crown with a pair of pliers.

Buy that tool, it's only about $35 and don't buy the cheap one you will regret it.

@clem: if it's too long just file it down a bit, these pressure pins often come longer than you need.

@erict: don't waste too much money on a gen springbar (AD price is between $15-25 iirc which ist [...] )   simply get a good stainless steel 16mm springbar and make that hole with a mill.

It sound like it being a gen 1675?

If that's the case, never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever try to do it yourself!!!!

The first few dial you normally ruin.

And if you want to do lume stuff, don't buy the cheap lume kits. Tritec Superluminova is the way to go.

my 2 cents

Very simple. Measure the width of your lugs?

Should be 20mm, simple. But you are correct, the rep things are obviously not built as precise as the gen stuff.

Aren't most Oyster bracelets like that? Classic look I think they are.

Yes and no. The Rolex Oyster braclet have wider middle links, however the center links of the Black Bay bracelet are much wider and the ratio between center and outer links width is off imho.

Personally I like the Cartel 93150, at least the one I got from them is quite good, of course you should slap a gen clasp on it.

For the 580s, WSO is the only one who has the good ones. I ordered a lot of things from him and each time I got what I wanted BUT you should know that some stuff he sells is just junk, for example the crystals I got where so out of spec.

So for these little things I would give him a try.

No, the 1680 and 16610 are not interchangeable, it is a completely different generation.

You can use instead of the mounted saphire crystal a ... saphire crystal but a genuine one for example, as long it is a Sean, BK or TC case.

Which tube did you order?

As far as I know the 24-6000 should have the teeth for the tube tool in the upper part of the tube for the bigger tube tool, the older tubes are like yours with the teeth down there.

Maybe thats the reason...

I have ordered a 24-6000 form cousins and it looked different, like I described it.

If it has a Clark 7030 tube it should fit a gen 703 crown.

Oh just a quick question:

is the brush always paralel or does it go towards the center. I mean are the brushes always horizontal in the date window?

PM sent, I take two!

 IMHO, its small size scores big in the "don't impress" department. 

 

+1

Beautiful watch!

I'd love to find a Tudor Day-Date dial for an old rep Rolex Day-Date I have sitting in the box.  The current dial has diamond markers, and one has turned yellow...

Hi, this probably wouldn't work. As far as I know the Rolex Day Date has a slightly smaller dial and the date and day window should be in a different position. If you want to build a Tudor Date + Day you need a DJ style case for an ETA2836 have it machined on a lathe to enlarge the inner diameter to accept the bigger Tudor dial (which is about 0.6mm larger) and get an ETA2834, not that diffucult.

I have a nice gen Tudor Date + Day dial and ETA2834 in my parts box, just wait for the case to arrive

Are they sized for a 1570 movement/dial or ETA? I mean for the date window.

Case: put it in a box with nails/screws and coins and then shake it, after that polish the case, you can do this a couple of time till you have the desired look.

dial: depends on which model, but for the red 1680 I would get the dial relumed

hands: relumed to match the dial, if it was an older watch you could "age" it with espresso or put it in the baking oven

My advice: don't over do it! There are a lot of poeple who want really dark lume, but try to find a gen example of the look you want and replicate this one.

Great article, thanks for sharing!

This would be my grail dial (silver print, blue Daytona), imho much better than a PN: