rag9fx

You know what is ironic - it is by no means the most accurate facsimile of a 1680 but because it was breathed on by Palp and even serviced by The Zigmeister at one point it has a little RWG history and love in it. To me it is priceless and has some pretty special 'provenance.' Not letting it out of my sight for a while - that's for sure.

OH WOW! Happy Birthday RWG!!! This place has been such an amazing resource - the bulk of knowledge I have on vintage Rolexes I owe to this place.

Hello all, It's been a little while since I've posted here - unfortunately my rep (well actually all watch) collecting has been put on the back burner for a number of years now as other priorities have taken precedence. But it is always nice lurking and seeing what developments are happening in the rep world as well as all the amazing mod pieces that you all are doing. I have recently come across one of my old and personally very treasured subs (Palp'd MBW 1680) that was lost buried in storage for years. It needs a little TLC as the bezel and insert have gone walkies and I am desperate to get this back on my wrist regularly again! The issue is that my usual vendors for a decent bezel set either do not carry them anymore or no longer trade. (Sad times.) Would anyone be able to point me in the right direction? Many many thanks! G

I just pulled the trigger on a (my first) gold tone rep as well and would be interested to hear what peoples' experience has been with 'plating' on reps in the past couple years. With the quality of finish with reps that i have been seeing recently and with the advent of better plating processes etc did I lul myself into false sense of security with the recent experience i have had with non rep gold plated items?

Hi Guys, Long time not speak- but I've been doing a bit of lurking every once and while. So while not entirely watch related I thought this might be the best port of call for this query. An acquaintance of mine handed over to me what they purport to be a genuine Dupont lighter- now truth be told I have never handled one before so i don't know what to look for. the action seems crisp and the ping upon opening resonates true. Is there anyone here that has experience with the knock offs and the gens? If gen I would like try to identify what exactly I'm handling so I can do a comparative evaluation against what is on the market. I will upload photos soon! Many thanks! Sorry for the crap images

Box fresh Exp II on nato. Thanks Toro!

Thanks for the welcome guys, yeah im of the mind that tool watches should be beaten the hell out of and should look worn... especially vintage subs so im not going to attempted to bring my 1680 to minty condition. i had it on my wrist a couple of years ago when the left side of my body kissed the rougher bit of a stone wall and it scratched the hell out of the crystal.. i polished most of the scrapes off but there are some pretty deep gauges on it still so it would be nice to have a fresh 127 on there. as far as the new bezel assembly is concerned. i was never too thrilled with the operation of the stock MBW bezels they seemed a bit too loose. so i have a new CWp assy in the post which functions more like the gen (push down and turn) im going to slightly fade the insert on it ... i was tempted to go for CWp's tropical (brown) insert and fade the hell out of it but i think thats going to be for another project down the line. still waiting for the parts to arrive tho... we have a back log of post here in the UK due to a postal strike i can't wait to get her back on form. after that i just need to save up a little and source a tube and crown for my 5517 and i think i should be content for a little while... but just for a little while oh, and thanks for the offer Kurt i'll be sure to give you shout!

if you want to go for a non cyclops go for a t19

Hi Guys, I've been lurking around for a couple of weeks i haven't really been on the forum or looking at watches (rep or gen) since '08... and to say the least its amazing what i've missed in the rep world particularly the WM9's that i've been seeing. (note to self...must not impulse buy) Recently i've been getting bits and pieces together to finish off some projects that have been sitting about- notably my 5517 which was put to an abrupt halt after number of personal, professional and financial issues came at me all at once. but currently im in the process of 'restoring' one of my personally prized reps: a palped mbw red 1680 ... which i guess is of particular significance to me since the red 1680 is one of my most coveted rolexes ever but more because (this watch in particular) is an example of what a great community this place is not for just how much i've learned here (about gens and reps alike) but for the people as well . This watch has been the learning curb for me... originally it was an exercise in getting as close to a gen 1680 as my wallet could permit but its given me great insight to vintage sports rolexes on the whole from hunting down appropriate parts to attempting to learning the right and wrong ways of installing crystals (man those gadmaned retaining rings) to getting the little details that no one else would really notice- (needless to say its faaaarr from even close or perfect but i love it like that) and secondly it has a nice bit of rwg history behind it - i bought it second hand from a member here years ago as a stock MBW 1680(my first rwg classified buy) and its been through the hands of both Palp and The Zigmeister... its one of my daily 'beaters' not that i intended it to be such but its been one of the watches that i can never seem to take off my wrist (yeah i really like it that much) ... that is until the bezel snapped off a number of months ago... (i've honestly put her through hell and back) whoops i'm starting to ramble... here are some pictures... i have a NOS T127 in the post with and an aftermarket bezel assy .... after i install those i think im going to ride her a little less hard. Anyway i really just wanted to say how great it is to be back and snooping through the forum... i've missed it greatly Ragsy.

I am bit of vintage rolex fiend but i have to say that IWC are the sharpest wathces i have seen... quite understated but at the same time very recognizable espesially by wrist watchers like my self... tonnes of respectablility ... i am a great B- uhr fan and gen big pilots just get me moist ... a little bit ago i saw a spit xvi on a flight from london to NYC and i have been searching for a good rep of it since.... I have recently put in an order for a 3717 pilot from GZ and it looks very crisp (from what i have seen) ... and it is the type of style that is rugged enough to wear casually and understated enough to wear with a suite ... i will post pictures when i recieve it... IWCs are brilliant !!! i would say you can't go wrong with one rep or gen.

there really is no need to "tap" it in... just wedge it in a little and pry little by little around the diameter of the retaining ring. hope that helps a bit. What type of blade are you using? I normally use a window or glassier scraping blade on a scraper handle. i find that using a handle gives me a bit more leverage .

I have ordered from him once before and it came through just fine ... but i was dissapointed with the quality of his stuff so i probably won't order from him again.

Hey, at least it wasn't siezed and destroyed . :-) Associated Press : SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP)

Well V, That was certianly diffrent My girlfriend: " Is that Daniel Radcliff? Whats he doing naked on your computer" Me: " Yer.... i never realised how nice his legs are" My girlfriend: "..." Me: "What. I can admire another mans body without being gay ?" My girlfriend: "..." me "Fine i'll go do something overtly heterosexually- masculine if that makes you feel better. Where is my tool box?"

My only Omega: gen 1939 M.O.D .

it was a toss up between Patek and Breguet for me ... i think i am going to go with Breguet just because of the history of the marque.

That is just brilliant! Which watch were you wearing out of curiosity?

you learn somthing new everyday

I have to be honest with you UB7 of my many years of genuine rolex ownership i have never seen one of those cards/ papers... Has anyone else ? is this some sort of rare or vintage piece of rolex packaging ????

Do you mind if i ask where you got this excerpt from ? certainly didn't come with any new [gen] Rolex i have bought recently.

@klingsor I personally think that the 5517 is the most hardcore sub there is. i love it! managed to get the whole bezel assembly to work the other night ... i found that rather than putting the tension ring on top of the retaining ring and then snapping in the bezel i placed the tension ring inside the bezel and then popped the bezel onto the retaining ring and rotated it a couple times to "free it up" ... i also i had to step the retaining ring up a nudge after i pressed it on inorder to permit clearance for the bezel to rotate freely. now it works and looks as it should. (i am pretty chuffed!) Best of luck with case back hunt ! I found that after a year and a bit of heavy wearing made the caseback on mine look better and a little more engraved than etched. does your caseback have the M.O.D. markings?

hey predfan, do you have any pictures of the new bezel construction on your newly acquired 5517? I would be interested to see what the factories are turning out now for the CN vintages ... is it still 'spring and groove' or have they changed it? i noticed that the spring and groove bezel that came on my 5517 didn't fit snuggly when i transplanted it on my CN 1680 the whole thing was pretty loose i needed to scour and adhere it on ultimately. i think with the yellow fonted dails for the cn 5513s are trying to replicate the early gilt dials ... i don't know how they look like in the flesh though. The first thing I would recomend with the 5512/3/7 is change the crystals with a gen tropic 19 it makes all the difference... anyway best of luck with your project ... and do post piccys Ragsy

Hi Nanuq , thanks for the encourging words ... it means a lot mate! it seems that when i put together the whole bezel constuction off the watch that the retianing ring sits recessed into the bezel... that being said when i initially pressed down the retaining ring flush to the case and then attempted to the put on the tension ring and the bezel it wouldn't budge ... the bezel itself was flush against the case and couldn't move ... so i 'stepped up' the retaining ring a nudge (about 1mm) to give the bezel clearence to rotate (no noticable gap between the bez and the case isn't noticable at all) ... clicked on the bezel sans tension ring and -voila- it could rotate freely - allbeit too freely... so i removed the bezel popped in the tension ring replaced the bezel and ... nadda ... it wouldn't nudge a bit... my poor thumbs are sore from trying . It might be worth mentioning that this is a 'CN" case and not an NDT or MBK/MBW etc... ... so its far far from Gen specs... the bezel, retaining ring etc are after market replacement parts.... (and far as i can see is pretty decent fit and finsh... i just don't know how incorporate the tension ring with out getting it all siezed up) i know that the finished artical ( if this ever gets finished) won't be close to the gen but hopefully when its done it will have the main characteristics or essence that i really like about about the [gen] 5517 ... i guess that is what really matters me ... i will certain post more pics when i get more head way with it. i have all the bits and pieces that i want except for a 'slow' beat movement... but i am still on the fence with weather or not i want to put one in... Cheers, Ragsy p.s.: i knew i forgot something - the vasaline !

for those who are interested , thought i would share some pictures of some of my slow progress on this watch. some gratuitous wrist shots ... brand spanking new G10 NATO strap ( i had a grey one on it orignally - per proper MOD spec- but i didn't do anything for me so i switched to a black G10) to be installed : a pic of the bezel set up ... i found that i needed to step up the retaining ring +/- 1mm just to get the bezel to rotate on this case... with the tension ring fitted it won't rotate at all so it spins a little too freely ... anybody have any tips or suggestions? thanks for looking! Ragsy

feel like i need to chime in ... my girlfriend MONOPOLISES my 183 ... and the watch gets more comments on her than it ever did on me... PAMs and women seem to be an obvious combination.... women ,i believe,can carry off wearing bigger things better than blokes can esp now since it is fashionable .