6541

Alligoat, thanks so much for the info. I'd be happy to go for a 2892-2 if I knew it would work. I guess the trick is to find a watchmaker who's game. If anyone fits that description, please PM me!

Valty - Michael Young seems to have plenty of hand sets, both aged and not. Completely closed without lume would be better, but that's another story. The dial, on the other hand, might be tricky to find for a 1030/106x.

Nothing about it was cheap However, I am very pleased with how it worked out.

Having finished my 6541 I am left with a complete 6569 case, which was the donor watch. Picture: I was going to sell it, but instead I think I'm going to franken it and give it to my mom. Does anyone have a recipe for this watch? Should I get an ETA 2824-2 even though there's no date window? What about a movement spacer? I'm also looking for someone to do the work for me, I'm not sure if my usual watchmaker would be comfortable putting a non-Rolex movement in a Rolex case. Any advice is appreciated!

Hey Woof! Specs are...gen 1030 movement, NDT case with nice engraving work (which I forgot to photograph before the band went on), dial from JoJo (I'm not sure where he sourced it from, but the aging of the lume dots is custom), hands and bezel insert from Michael Young, gen tropic 16, gen C+I 20mm expanding rivet bracelet. Finishing touches I'm considering are a 7206 bracelet with 80 ends, which I should have gotten in the first place, and perhaps a trip to someone like PBDad for gentle artificial aging.

Thanks Nanuq!!

Special delivery from 1959 (sorry about the iPhone photos): Closer: And a special feature of the band: I'm very pleased with how this all came together. The one niggle is the C+I band - I love the stretch, but the one-size-fits-all endpieces are a bit loose. I may have to find a 7206 with 80 ends. The case and insert (both rep) look a bit new, but I'm thinking I'll just wear it for a while and see how they develop. Many thanks to JoJo and those who participated in 6541 threads on the board!

Thanks Woof! I don't have any pictures, but it sure seems like the NDT case is the way to go. It includes a ring for the movement, which Phong's doesn't appear to offer. There are problems with it, but I do think it's the better of the two by a margin. The stated price is $1200, but I wonder if Natalie would be willing to come down from that.

Okay, making progress! I acquired a Zigmeister-serviced cal. 1030 in a 1958 vintage donor watch... and a (kind of rare) Tropic 16. Hopefully next up is a gen bracelet!

Update: I got my dial in the mail from JoJo and it's great - my lousy scan does NOT do it justice, the color and texture are great. Here's my rep: and here's a gen: Hopefully my next stop is a movement!

Woof - I'll post when I do! I'll probably buy the case last, I prefer to spend money on gen parts first.

LHOOQ: You are completely right. Actually, I hope that if Klingsor sees this he posts - he has the best 6541 franken of all time, and I'm sure he knows a massive amount about the process. As for rep cases, this is one of my areas of intense concern at the moment. Here is a side view of a gen case: The top of the midcase gently swoops down on both sides, but the bottom wavers in the middle - something that the rep Woof showed, for example, doesn't have at all. Before I buy a rep case I'm going to try and see if I can't get better photos from Phong and Natalie before I buy.

Woof: Good to hear! The idea of paying $1500 for rep parts kind of kills me inside...we'll see what happens.

LHOOQ: I have no doubt you are right. I am not going to pursue an MBW case, as it is just all wrong, I don't think there's any way it would take the correct movement, even. I'm pretty sure I'm going with a Phong case, which is supposed to accept all gen parts - he has a complete watch on his site, and I'm pretty sure it has a gen crystal. Has anyone had any success getting Phong to discount his prices? The prices are very high, but his case appears to be head and shoulders above anything else available.

Woof - your case is more correct, I don't think the MBW is really usable, the more I think about it. Here's an image of Phong's case: As you can see, it come with the magnetic case and the back accommodates it. That's the one I'll probably have to buy. Hopefully I can afford all the parts by 2015! Tropic 20: it seems like the going price for a NOS one is ~$300. The other correct crystal is T16, which costs a fortune!

Hi Woof, Thanks for your informative post! I am aware of this new rep - the way the insert is made is great, I just wish the font was a little more accurate. The hands might indeed work if they were aged a little and could fit a 1065/6. I didn't know that about the Sub hands, I thought they were factory fitted that way. I believe the MBW case was also used in no guard subs...there's a little more info on the MBW and pictures in this this old sales thread. Your watch is beautiful by the way!

As my username suggests, the Milgauss 6541 is my favorite vintage Rolex, and I finally decided that I have to have one. I am going to try to use as many gen parts as I can, so this will be a slow, expensive undertaking. I will update this post as I make progress. Previously I put together a V72-based 6263 so I have some experience with the agony and ecstasy of building a franken. Here is the build plan I've arrived at after many hours of research. In the archives I found posts by Klingsor, JoJo35 and XRT to be extremely helpful - thank you gentlemen! If anyone has comments, critiques, or available parts (I need everything except a dial) please post! MOVEMENT Finding a magnetically shielded 1030M, 1065M, 1066M or 1080 Rolex movement is, if not impossible, incredibly expensive. I looked into modifying a movement into its M equivalent, but the parts simply aren't out there. It's not just a matter of stamping an 'M' onto the bridge, let's put it that way. I will probably use a gen 1065/1066. DIAL JoJo was kind enough to sell me a dial which is the best rep I have ever seen. It has custom lume done by The Zigmeister. Thank you, JoJo! CASE I feel I have two options: a case from an MBW 6541 rep (with the infamous "Polex" engraving) or a set from Phong. I prefer the latter but it's almost three times as much, probably $1500 although I haven't yet contacted him about it. On the other hand, I don't know if I can even source one of the MBW cases at this point. The Phong case is made from (I think) 316L and has better engraving, also. The PureTime case isn't that great, definitely worse than the MBW. BEZEL INSERT The best rep for the insert is said to be from Michael Young. There is another option, however: later versions of the 6541 came with Sub bezel inserts. Are there any Sub experts who know EXACTLY which two inserts these are? If so, please clue me in. HANDS Here's a tricky point. Much attention is paid (rightly so) to the red thunderbolt hand, but less to the minute and hour. The rep handsets I've seen have lume, which is not correct for this model. Rep hands with lume: Gen hands without lume: So I'm not sure what to do, here. Although another possibility is a rep thunderbolt second hand and gen Mercedes Sub hour and minute hands that were fitted to later models: Again, I'm not sure what model # these hands are from, so if a Sub expert could chime in, that would be great. BRACELET Gen 7206 with 80 endlinks. A 6636 is also correct for this model, but it's more expensive and takes the hairs off your arm. CROWN Gen 600 crown and tube. 602s were fitted during service, but I'd rather find used a used 600. CRYSTAL Gen Tropic 20. ASSEMBLY Once I have all the parts I will have to think about how best to finish the watch. I would like it to have a worn, vintage appearance, so I'll probably have to send everything out to a modder. I would be no good to have a lovely gen bracelet, for example, and a brand-new looking rep case. Thanks for reading! Again, if you have any thoughts or suggestions, please post. I still have a ton to learn.

Really like that Comex. Has it been aged at all?

Just saw this box - outstanding! Wow.

I think you made the right choice. I do like the walnut!

Very interesting. Nine more days?

New to posting, have lurked for a little while - plan to build a franken 6541, as per my username!