thewightstuff

why oh why would anyone even consider this. you could pick up a verified original military panerai from WW2 for about 10% of this and shock of all shocks, have an original with a piece of history rather than a copy with none.

im with everyone else on this, go white. patina is nice but only if its there through the ravages of time and a reaction to elements over the years. if its not and is added through paint etc on the rolex models it always looks wrong to my mind. the dial face and marker texture is never right for the level of patina showing giving the result that it always looks just painted yellow. my 5512 still has pure white markers and hands and i love the clean and fresh look the watch has. my 5513 has yellowed quite a bit and this is nice too, it gives it character that for sure, both are original but stick them side by side and the white of the 5512 just has something extra.

im always just left thinking its a real shame that no one got it together enough to have the L centred properly or removed the word date from after "oyster perpetual" for the comex models. its a comex dial so its going to arouse real looks at the dial especially from anyone who knows what it is. they have aswell just spelled rolex incorrectly. the one thing is that most people arent rolex nerds and so it doesnt matter too much i suppose

congrats and a nice addition thats for sure. ive been seeing a few black daytona dials around recently and had thought of you each time id seen one. nice to know your one step ahead as ever

doesnt matter, some careful use of thinners worked great removing the text across the 1950 dial so i'm all set and saved some cash for once lol.

excellent, thanks for that. good luck with the build

anyone know where you can get a good quality sandwich 47mm dial for eddie lees pam 127. id quite like to take out the 1950 dial and stick in either a marina militare dial or just a plain sandwich which i could age up a bit. davidsens dials arent close enough for me yet so something with the same characters as the original dial would be nice. failing that anyone got any tips for removing the text from the dial i have here without destroying the dial itself or leaving discoloration or scratches?

whos watch is this you are starting with, davidsens?

my gut feeling is that someones about to get a large disappointment when they open this thing up if indeed anything ever arrives and the seller doesnt just vanish. it would be great though it this worked out and the owner was a real enthusiast who fixed it back up nicely. its unlikley though

"MBW uses the same 5513 case for 1680, 5512, 5513 and is marked 5513. However inside the caseback it's marked 5512 which is good." except that no one pays any attention to the inside caseback markings on the 5513/5512. the large majority of 5512 have 5513 casebacks and theres a few 5513 with 5512 casebacks around. most of the 5512 with actual 5512 casebacks have RSC replacements on there. curiously all RSC have are 5512 backs now so any 5513 requiring new backs today get 5512 fitted. rolex werent very particular when using them since no one was ever meant to see inside these and the stamping here is meant more so rolex know what the case back is for rather than for identifying a watch. the lugs were meant for this. is it a refinish on a gen dial plate or a complete aftermarket dial? good work though, you should try thinning some of the material from the case under the lugs at the sides. these cases look too thick for the 5512/5513 from this era but are closer for the 1680 etc, probably as the same case is used for all the MBW but wasnt at rolex. its a real shame as it gives them away if you dont do anything about it. while these have a squarish profile the gens of the same time looked longer/thinner, theres more of a hook when you look on the profile. i can take some pics if you want as its hard to explain but very easy to see when you look. i found that gen dials for the 5512/5513 went right through the mbw case i had here being smaller than the opening in the case itself. havent tried with the 1680 dials which may be larger in diameter. they are about 25.4mm from memory with the case opening being about 25.95 or so

you would know if it was hack as soon as you pull the crown out. its impossible to not know unless youve never had to set the time...which would be.....impossible 5k is very steep and into red sub territory. your offers were probably only from dealers wanting to part the watch. its hands and insert are replacement and dont match the dial which takes a big bite out the value/desirability already. when you then add in strange casebacks etc most people would steer way clear of a purchase, especially on the likes of TURF or timezone. mid 3ks to low 4ks is the usual range of white 1680s with all the bits correct

well my tidying up of the 5512 has finally been completed more or less so felt i should stick up a couple of quick pics since doc pointed out i hadnt done so yet of my pair together. 5512 and 5513, both 200m 660ft matte dials so here they are following on from the quick snap of the 5512 itself in the bezel insert post further down... hope you like them. if anyone wants pics of anything in particular please let me know.

thanks for the replies guys. the difference is less shouting at me now its been in for a while but all i need do is look at or put on my 5513 and im back to where i was. im in agreement ref the earlier one regarding style too. if anyone sees one with or without a lume dot please let me know

you could also just look at an entirely different brand or model if you have a gen. in my experience your rep will just seem really poor against the genuine article unless you invest a serious amount of cash in modding it and even then it still wont be quite right. getting a different rolex model or going to omega or something would avoid this quite nicely and give you a bit of variety too IMHO

its been my experience that gen parts requiring some mods are required for vintage mbw too. though the extent of many of the mods are small..ish as with the moderns one point to think about is that its been my experience that gen dials pass right through the opening in the case rather than sitting against the inside edge. modern gen parts are definately mush easier to get hold of in the open market thats for sure too. theres many vintage parts now that are becoming a real pest. its arrived at the stage that people are buying whole watches just to get one part, in particular a tritium hand or lume dot for their own watch. as for looking for a gen red sub dial on ebay. i wouldnt hold your breath. there wont be any gen dials of this ilk appearing on there anytime soon. a gen dial would also be well and truly into 4 figures too.

got a new replacement bezel insert for my 5512 today and fitted it in however i cant decide if i like it or not. while the change is perhaps creating a "strangeness" factor im wondering if theres more to it. the reason for the swap was that the older one is split through at the top centre. i cant get it to glue together though with the lume dot in place and some glue applied it holds fine and can be inserted. anyways, its an older insert and this one is newer. font is thinner on the newer one while the older one is much more similar to my 5513s insert. anyone got any thoughts either way? heres two pics, a before and after. as an aside, i wish i got the urge to take my other pics in natural light. i always decide at night and have to use artificial. natural kicks ass to put it mildly. anyways, older at top, new at bottom.

i agree, mechanical watches hold the same fascination for me as steam engines and their ilk. theirs something i find magical about huge pistons and all the motions that mechanical watch movements give me too. i love my display back panerai for this very reason even though i hardly wear it. winding is just bliss id include the bicycle though in with perhaps one of the amazing achievements of mechanics. simple but so efficient.

everyday this week so far and last one too.

i know each to their own but i hate these 5513s with a passion. why anyone would want a late WG 5513 over a 14060 i dont know. they are just nasty. rolex really dropped the ball with these and should have brought out the 14060 earlier imho rather than tacking these onto the fine 5513 line. the 93150 stamp on the bracelet doesnt look up to usual standard as an aside

good work and nice pictures, especially the lume shots

ive been thinking about this very thing for a while recently, particularly concerning my own postings, but am no closer to a resolution. its a great community here and ive learned lots i never new i would. i enjoy visiting most days and look forward to looking at peoples photos, reading how to fix things and the ingenuity and passion of many of the members is something lacking from many gen watch communities i find. that withstanding, the overriding trend with the posts here concern people wanting to make their watches as good as a gen by modding them up. comparing versions, discussing options etc etc. where does one find the middle ground in posting on here about this. when you see an issue on a watch that identifies it to you as a rep its hard to point it out when the owner has worked hard on it and yet by not telling we as a community achieve nothing. would it be better if we all just told everyone their watch was great and we couldnt tell the difference even when we can. doing this would ruin this forum but finding the line to tread is difficult in the extreme. its too easy to end up creating an environment where people dont want to post watches anymore and that would certainly be the end however similarly if theres no honesty then there will be little interest here also. for me its two sides that dont sit comfortably together and creates the sadness as you call it, often exaggerated by differing standards between members. some are especially anal while others dont care as much about the minutiae. neither is right or wrong but it can create issues in dialogue between the two. a mile to some may appear just an inch to another i guess. perhaps people being more realistic about rep ownership would be a good start. there seems to be an increasing trend of people genuinely believing its easy to get 100% cosmetically which makes constructive criticism harder to post. its difficult to do, especially given the lack of quality in many aftermarket so called OEM parts but thats why everyone enjoys doing it to an extent and finds it frustrating too. for my own side, im fortunate enough to own a gen 5512 and gen 5513. as i wear them daily it means that small things that are off on a rep stick out like a beacon, even on my own modded rep rollies. by pointing it out i mean no disrespect to your watch or your effort, its like telling you your tyres flat but often its not taken this way and all too often im left feeling like a grumpy old man, the party pooper of the thread

damn, i was just packing to come to where you live as it never works here until i realised you were kidding

my own thought was that this isnt very environmentally friendly. tut tut tut. seriously, why was that guy bothering to smash the crystals individually given where they were going. bet be beat off to it later on the TV

you make some valid points pugwash thats for sure. many ive thought myself at some time. while there needs to be some realisation that since you are getting a rep it cannot be perfect in every way and still cost much less than a gen however that withstanding theres definately alot of room both for improvement and language used around reps IMHO. neither of which i see taking place. i do wish though that people would grasp the "synthetic sapphire" issue. ive repeated this so many times ive lost count. synthetic sapphire as used for watch crystals, be it rolex gens or your reps is just that. sapphire grown artificially within a lab rather than occuring naturaly. the costs of trying to get quality natural sapphire would prohibit its use for such an application. all sapphire watch crystals are synthetic. this is not the same as mineral glass

just reread your original post with the emphasis on collectability. if its pure collectability your after then nothing new will fit the bill IMHO. theres nothing modern thats proving collectible, mainly due to no real restriction in supply and i cant see that changing in the future either. its hard to see the sapphire crystal version we see at all the dealers being much of a fuss in the years to come, short term at least. beyond that 3k wont get you anything at an AD (had to check as im in the UK so wasnt sure how exhanges influenced dealers in the US) so you are definately needing used regardless of where you go. vintage sports would be the best bet though you are atleast a year too late for any bargains. with a 3k budget the best, and only options, would be the GMT and 5513. getting a nice 5513 for that will be tricky but possible. for a GMT it will get you something very tasty as they are picking up slightly slower and were less to begin with. id say as things stand, a GMT would be a nice sleeper IMHO. its unclear how withdrawal of service and support for the older models will impact the market. its looking like its going to drive prices crazy but who can say for sure. a simple change in fashion can take the bottom out of a market too.