thewightstuff

it needs to go in IMHO. at the moment it just looks like its going to fall out even though i know it wont and is in tight. id take an overhang at the back end any day before that. with the crown screwed in it wont make much if any difference, especially since their wont be a gap, the rub bevel will fill it in.

id just contersink carefully and let it hang over teh edge somewhat. the crown closed will cover it anyways and the bevelled edge on the crown will fill in the gap when tightened fully and keep water out etc. the only other way would be to fill in completely with something like "no nails" leave it to set and then redrill the case with a new hole closer to the middle. of the two options, id take a bit of overhang every time but YMMV

ive a gen 127 sitting here that came with a few 19s in error however it wouldnt be less than $60 shipped either im afraid. the magnification lens on these arent glued on like on the sapphire crystals so theres no options to replace them with better ones. for these lenses, gen is the only way to go. the glass is so much clearer and magnification perfect. generic replacements just dont cut it at all

vacuum, where did you get the crown tube from? i just replaced my 5512s tube and crown and the portion that screwed into the case was much longer than the one on yours. is there two versions or is this OEM and not gen?

exactly as above. a redial is a repaint/reprint onto the original dial to restore the original look before the aging process caused fading, damage or whatever. a relume is simply re-applying lume to the original dial to replace the worn material presently in place. one is intensive and more time consuming than the other though neither are simple to produce well

to quote from james dowling site where that watch pictured is featured, " Like most of the watches sold during this period the dial is printed in a mixture of gilt and silver paint." it hard to tell from the pic if the hands were yellow gold originally however with it being a gilted dial it wouldnt be too much of a stretch to say this would have been the case. you are correct that theres definately some tarnishing/growth on the hands, not surprising given its being an 8xx,xxx serial however this hasnt eaten the surface of the hands off. as i said before, the only ones ive seen with badly tarnished hands have had water damage crusting things up. if this is the look you want to go for then great but you will need to find away to crystalize the surface of your hands, not flake the chrome off. all sub and SD hands are made from solid gold, yellow on the early gilted dial versions and white for all others. the 1680 was never offered in a gilt version being way too late for that so would only ever have had white gold hands. look over on timezone in the vintage section. theres lots of pics of posters 1680s and other models if you want to get a feel for the real world variations. from an accuracy perspective, IMHO a red sub with hands like this is all wrong however with reps its always a labour of love and a process of taking the watch where you want it to go. if this look appeals to you then go for it, who cares if its not a fully accurate representation of what you would find on a 1680.

that just the light reflecting and making it look darker in that pic. gen rlx hands are all white gold too, no chrome. by removing chrome you are just showing up the fact that its plated and not solid....or real rlx. theres nothing to peel or flake off of the real ones ive found though that gen gold hands are less shiny naturaly than the chrome plates on the reps so perhaps this is what you are experiencing. im not sure how you would dull down shiny chrome tbh without ruining the finish. ill try to put up a pic of my new addition 5513 and my 5512. the 5513 is from 61 and has its original hands. its not the most mint example and they are as shiny as the 80s replaced hands in my 5512.

i can assure you that they arent copies, thats why im not opening them up for general info where i get them from. while i like reps, some gen parts are becoming impossible to get, exagerated due to rep owners "upgrading" and ive no intention of having this happen to the 19s i can get. at the moment ive got a nice pile of 5 sitting here for my very gen indeed 5512 and already on its way to me 5513. ive tried several generics and the difference between the rolex item and the copy is pretty immediate without even going anywhere near the watch. it seems that while getting domed 19s isnt the easiest task in the world, it isnt the hardest in the vintage rolex community either. in actual fact it took me longer to get a pair or 580 endlinks for instance. the validity of the superdomed 39 isnt confirmed as ive no gen to check against. i myself am suspicous about its origin and did clearly state this above, given this round of 3 crystal purchase contained it and its from a source ive never tried before has made me more so. FYI ive got a gen 127 with cyclops here i got in a set of 19s previously from a clearance sale that ive still to do something with so its less strange that it may seem. as i said, id investigate it with some calipers and see what i can find out and if gen, offer it off at the cost to me however tbh, your post has made me rather think why bother. maybe im just easily irritated on a sunday morning.

im not sure about that one im afraid. ive not seen any rollies with that sort of look. certainly neither of mine do. the issue with replaced hands is always with the lume/tritium not matching that on the dial with that of the new hands and never with the actual hands themselves. given that gen hands are white gold, im not sure how they would age that way. there isnt any chrome to come off like some other vintages. with the exception of badly water damaged watches, where everything inside has crystalised, all the hands on vintages ive seen have looked as new more or less with the only variation coming with patina depth on the markers. can i ask, did you use a photo of a gen for this inspiration? the only thing i can think of is that somehow you saw one of the early "gilt" versions of the 55xx models which used yellow gold hands and dial print and mistook this for aged white gold. that being said, its your watch so whatever you do to it not only increases your attachment but also allows you to take it wherever YOU want it to be. beside from that, nice watch by the way.

just got a few tropic 19 domes for my 55xx subs. decided to try a few from another source than my regular as they were closer and all seemed well until i took one out and its fatter than the others. i think somewhere a 39 superdome ended up in a 19 packet. im going to take proper measurements tomorrow but its def not right. ill let you guys know incase anyones interested if it turns out to be the case. id sell just for the price of another domed 19 to replace it which im getting for $50 at the moment. seems wrong to want more though ill also need to try and check theres nothing fishy going on.

unfortunately with the design used in most of the reps its almost impossible to eliminate bezel sideways movement. the multiangled wire (like a bent paperclip lol) is there to both keep the bezel on and pick up some of this tension but its difficult to the extreme to eliminate completely. the original rlx bezels dont rock because they are a pressure fit to the crystal retaining ring with an added metal washer to maintain turning tension or prevent bi-directional movement depending on model.

loving the small hand, no wonder you want to defend it. i always thought the crown looks undersized on these, i guess its just conditioning from the subs. ill def post some pics of them together. i already posted up the 5512 on a nato but its nicer now so ill get both domes together. this week ive gone from deciding a wanted a daily wearer to protect my 5512, to looking at a military issue CWC divers, to looking at a military square hands tudor to buying a 5513. i hope it dont end up regretting passing on the tudor. it had character by miles but i thought id just end up regretting it not being a full rolex. atleast the CWC was different though i think the square hands tudors are going to be a good investment. they are creeping up steadily and you dont see so many about. they seem to be hanging onto the ends of the 5513 increase though who can say where it will end up. 5513 looks nice though. original tritium dial and hands, domed crystal and original crown and tube. 1st issue 5513 with cal 1520. let me know how you get on with your crown quest. id be interested to find out what it was.

do you think this talk of the "heritage centre" is true and will come to anything. ive been hearing quite a bit about it recently. the stance surrounding vintages is pretty poor IMHO though i guess it should be too unexpected from a commercial point of view on one hand, though from a business perspective. if the servicing is profitable then why not. perhaps they want to disguise the boring nature of their moderns by drowning those glorious old guys i just added a 5513 today to keep my 5512 company. i hope they dont crash......... yikes.

thats some great history you have with the watches. mine have none of that sadly. i think it makes much more of them if you know where theyve been etc. what you say about the crown was sort of what i was getting it. given this 5513 is from the year 1 of production it would seem that it would rule out your crown being an early 5513 version, unless there was a service upgrade added to this prior to the 7030 tubes invention, but some sort of even earlier incarnation hence my wondering if it was left over from the 5508 which was similar to the original james bond but with CGs. you are right about rolex using up all manner of parts as they saw fit. you see watches with all manner of bits installed from new, early serials with papers showing they were sold much much later, models with much later dials installed, dial variations that are all over the place regarding font etc etc. given the assumed quality of rolex, they really do seem to have had a somewhat hap-hazzard approach to assembly. a GMT with a small hand. thats great. i love the look of that watch. its much more aesthetically balanced than the larger handed version imho.

i cant argue with the first part thats for sure. the old adage of buy the seller not the product certainly holds true with vintage watches and parts. if it doesnt feel right then your best to walk away and bide your time. im not sure i follow the logic to the second part but im sorry if its there because you felt i was somehow having a dig, i certainly wasnt intending to. theres certainly some passable rep bracelets doing the rounds thats for sure that give you the stainless style and function great for a fraction of the price of the real deal. dont forget those NATOs can look sweet though and they are $15

eumonians, got a 5513 to add to my 5512 today. cant wait for it to arrive however FYI it still has the original crown and tube fitted. its a 1 mill serial from the first year of production however like my other watch with the now upgraded triplock, the old crown has the dots under the logo and is early triplock without the external rubber seal. this means that ive no idea what is on your watch as both these originals, and many more ive seen have all been without the external seal but had the dotted crown. while it doesnt rule out some form of intermediary service upgrade on these watches pre modern triplock providing a stage that yours has yet to make, it will be harder to get an earlier 5513 to reference against. perhaps this discrepancy is where your issue is arising ref fitting the new triplock to yours? theres not something odd going on with a GMT part on yours or something is there? yours is dot free is it not? i wonder if you have some overlap from the 5508 sub run and thats whats given you issues so badly. it had a twinlock crown but im not sure if there was a line underneath or not. heck,. im confused

depending on the model type, condition and end links this could be pretty much ball park for a gen used bracelet. ive seen them go for twice this price and some go for $4-500 or so. try a gen bracelet and you'll not be back to the dealers lol. hes definately not at the cheaper end of the scale though thats for sure from the prices i was quoted for parts for my gen rolex to investigate. for all those thinking they had found a special goldmine to improve their reps, back to the drawing board i think. welcome to the eye opener of grey market gen parts as with all these things though, YMMV and often it can very much be a case of take it while you can with gen vintage parts if they are critical. its sad that the mighty R has let it get this way with their policies.

i admire the unfailing accuracy too but it comes at a price i think and that is a total lack of charm or character somehow. that being said i think im about to add one to my collection

lots of parts thats for sure but from what i can gather, prices seem above market value for even general stuff. i got excited but its past

nice work

i assume he is referring to their lack of interest in servicing vintage models, especially when it comes to understanding customers wishes to leave on valuable parts that make the character such as hands,dials and date wheels. add in they apparently wont even look at anything over 30yrs old, instead sending a nice letter advising you to buy a new one. while this various geographically i have seen these letters. its a sad state especially now that they are again restricting sales of gen parts to watchmakers. this leaves a vintage owner with no recourse to servicing but using generic parts at local watchmakers.

i dont know the part number of the original. you say yours is twinlock though? i had triplock however early kind without the external seal. perhaps this is where the difference lay and why swapping may be different i take your point ref rolex service. mine hasnt been in for some time since i learned better and became smarter. the prospect of loosing my original parts is too great and would ruin the watch in ways rolex dont seem to understand i will investigate this tube thing further. whats the part number and dimensions of the crown you have just now on your 5513? lovely watch by the way

ive still got my 5512s original tube. i replaced it myself to preempt it being removed by rolex. ive managed to loose the crown though. i should really pick one up soon to match it though ive no intention of putting it back on. why cant you use the crown if you still have your original tube on the watch? IMHO the "upgrade" is rather nice once you stomach the idea. the crown feels nice indeed and i like having the added security. for the price of an OEM tube. it would pay to put it on the day before a service knowing rolex will rip it out and put in a proper one. it will allow you to keep the original while getting a nice new one. i never let mine go anywhere near rolex with a superdome in it still. id cry if they binned it for a flat top

now thats a bezel nanuq. i feel so inadequite now with my 5512. i was only joking about the 1655 however sarcasm is often wasted with the typed word somehow. turned out to have been worth it though as i never knew that about the 1655 bezel. ubi, id never thought of it like that before. it gave me a good old laugh

sorry, i was meaning the ebay seller and not you apologies if thats not how it seemed.