dublinlad

I've got one I don't want. Been sitting in a box for the last 4 years or so.

If there are any still up for grabs I'll take 3 of em

Is that not because the minutes are 10 after the hour?

I could be wrong, but I think the Commando was only 31mm, which is small even for a womans watch these days. Also remember reading somewhere that they were mostly sold at Abercrombie and Fitch stores as watches for "boys", maybe one of the intermediate Datejust cases would be a close match sizewise - but would anybody actually wear a watch that small?

I'm sitting here with my gen dial ...looking at the dial feet, snips in hand and I'm saying - will I, won't I, will I, won't I, will I.......................................... should I, shouldn't I ???

The #2 appears to be the one all right, http://www.ebay.com/itm/Movement-Ring-ETA-2836-others-fit-Size-2-/160663472018?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25684a0792 Bought one of these myself for a 2836 also fitted to a 16030 case, quickly throwing together a mock-up it looks like a little bit of filing/sanding is needed to reduce the OD slightly, nothing too drastic, only a few minutes with a file/sandpaper, the height may need a bit of work as well or maybe just filing out a couple of notches for the movement tabs, other than that it seems like the way to go. (Don't forget a couple of tabs/screws, to keep it all seated, if you don't already have them)

I've gotten a few watches from Mary - and seen lots of QC pics posted on various forums for opinions etc. - I have found that with almost all of Marys QC pics the Dial Text/Date Fonts or the likes of the ROLEX rehaut engraving are always much bolder looking in the pics than they are when the watches arrive, either her camera is crap or she is doing something to the pics in photoshop messing up the sharpness or contrast or whatever - almost everything in your second pic from the bezel print to the minute markers look bolder/thicker - its to her own detriment because they are always better on delivery than in the photos. Great dealer though, better service & quality than I have gotten from anyone else. Edit: Don't kno what exactly which one is correct but the pearls in both pics are totally different & the endlinks in the first one appear to fit much better.

Honestly, its even too late for that, I was going to take a pic of the thing, but decided against - just to save myself the embarrassment, it really is that bad, I can't even think of anything to compare it to. Put it this way, once I was finished I had to replace the original caseback with one from a noobmariner because the original was now too wide and was showing through under the "guards", I seriously don't know how I messed it up that bad, if I was drunk at least there would be some kind of excuse.

I'd be interested in buying one if you have it to spare, once the midcase is good I dont care about anything else. I totally F'd up an otherwise decent effort by "reshaping" the crown guards - reshaping meaning the total destruction of anything that remotely resembles anything Rolex ....or even swiss for that matter. I had a Clarks dome installed, nicely aged bezel, clarks friction washer, markers and hands gently aged - just to take a bit of the edge off that yellow "vintage" look, gave the dial a light mist of matte lacquer, drilled out the lugholes and aged the bracelet for a decent vintage look, replaced the stuttery DG with a nice smooth brand new movement and even went as far as fitting a gen 702 crown and Yuki tube.... and couldnt just leave well enough alone and went ahead and had a go at the crownguards, now its just a pos with a Rolex dial, if I just had a midcase to drill out the lugholes, re tap it for the 702 tube and then leave it be it would be perfect (again)

I honestly haven't got a clue what I used for the first one, I looked through my box 'o' spares and found a brass ring that was just the right size with a tiny bit of filing for the tabs, dunno what I will use this time around - Ken @ rafflestime has 2 different movement rings for eta movements they are pretty cheap so I ordered both sizes, I'm hoping that at least one of them will fit even if it needs a bit of filing or whatever, if that doesn't work I'll figure something out then.

Got mine from A&E on eBay, the first one I bought was a Buy it now Offer of $155 for case+crystal+crown (no bezel) the silver linen dial from the same people was $90. Sealed Eta 2836-2 from Ofrei $150, cClarks hands $12 (I think), Cheapo Raffles Jubilee was $20ish (& seems good when compared to the quality of the age approiate Rolex ones which weren't that great anyways) The second one I bought parts for was from the same people (A&E) in an auction this time round - case+crystal+crown+linen dial+springbars+bracelet & endlinks (no clasp) total was $258 (they usually list them as buy it now @ $750). I made an offer on a $59 Buy it now/best offer engine turned bezel from Jewelerstools & got it for $35. Gary Clark kindly sent me a free set of hands, I told him I had trouble with the first set being too tight and needed to be broached, he said that should not have happened and sent me a gratis set....nice one, great guy to deal with. Both linen dials are spotless, no scratches, with good print and look good as new, cases have been gently refinished and are in good shape with no dings, crystal on first one was a bit wavy the second one looks mint. Patience is the key with these, there are still some decent deals to be had, I've been very lucky with lowball offers.

I just bought almost all I need to build my second DJ, Gen case, gen linen dial, gen plexi, gen bracelet (without clasp), gen engine turned bezel, gen springbars, Clarks Tudor hands.........so far all I have spent is $290 and I need a clasp, datewheel overlay (If anyone has a noobmariner overlay to spare I'll gladly buy it), and an eta 2836 to finish it, so around $500 should easily see all the parts needed.

The numbers on the bezel insert are almost touching the bezel in watch A... A gen insert would be a vast improvement on whats already very very good