Mendota Explorer

I think this is one of my favorite pics. Gorgeous!

Nice!

Yes, who or what is that?

Also, I cannot wait to see cc33's write up as well as luke's. These builds are like air to me.

I use the classic, vintage auto analogy all the time with my personal viewpoint on reps.  I am fascinated with the vintage pieces and Frankens.  In my opinion, building a piece that you have searched and hunted for parts, maybe used a base watch and worked around it, or literally went from the ground up with individual gen and gen-spec parts is really paying tribute to these great time pieces and paying respect to the design and history around the watch.  It's for fun and personal enjoyment.  

The same holds true with classic cars.  There are guys who assemble what are essentially gen cars by using gen parts, re-manufactured or aftermarket parts, or even kits. In the end, they have a fantastic and beautiful automobile.  If anyone sees them pull up in the car, the response is always "wow, what an amazing car" and the guys are always excited as hell to tell you all about the build.  Nobody ever craps on their Wheeties and bashes them for building a kit or Franken.  It's just like our Frankens and vintage watches.  Engage a member here about their build and they will happily tell you about the build process and labor of love that went into it.  I think the general response is the same as the car - "Wow, beautiful watch.  You built that?"

With modern pieces, I honestly use them as long term test drives for the gens I want.  I have been extremely selective with the modern reps I have purchased and it is specifically because I want (and will purchase) the gen.  Using the rep has allowed me to develop a feeling for the watch with my lifestyle and determine if it is a good fit or not.  You absolutely cannot do that with holding and trying the watch on at the AD for 10 minutes or a half hour.

I have not taken any business away from Rolex in any way, shape or form when it comes to the modern pieces.  On the contrary, because I purchased and long term test drove the reps I will purchase the gen versions of those reps.

OK, enough with the politeness. What is your point and why are you here then? All you are doing now is stirring the pot.

Plenty of members have eloquently responded to your post. What more are you trolling for?

I'm wondering if anyone has the GMT Master book. The Submariner Story was posted up last year and that is such a great reference for me. I'd love to get the GMT one.

The lug holes on this one are already drilled to accept gen bars, so that's a plus! Just note that when you use gen bars in the factory bracelet, which is great quality by the way, the gen bars eat up any wiggle room and forgiveness for lining up the tips with the holes. I am unable to use my gen spec Yuki bars with these endlinks because I simply can't line them up.

Two solutions are to either get WSO endlinks, which some people say solves the issue, or try to find a 1.8mm shoulderless bar. I just want the tips to show through, so I don't care if the bar OD is 1.8mm. You don't see that when using a bracelet. If I ever put it on a leather band or Nato, then I can use my gen spec bars.

LOL.  I've been gathering gen pics and links from Hodinkee and other vintage sites for about 2 years now.  I'm the king of wait and see!    I was ready to pull the trigger on the Silix to start off a budget build back in fall of 2012 when those cases suddenly dried up.  Thankfully, they are back in production now so if I want to go the budget route I can start at any time.

Still, I periodically come across good deals on those old Oyster Perpetuals with the 1030 movement and I keep thinking to myself that if I'm going to do this thing, I should do it right.  I'm sure you can relate.  I don't want to have a sh*t ton of money tied up in what is, at the end of the day, just a rep.  At least if everything were gen or manufactured to be gen spec, then the watch can be parted out and the cost recouped if I ever wanted to sell it.  I look at Nanuq's killer piece and I drool.  The investment is serious, though.

Putting a ton of money into a budget build is just producing a rep with the wrong case dimensions, and there's not much that can be done with that other than just wear the crap out of it until it dies.  Still, there's a place for the budget build and I might still end up going that route, anyway.  It will be an enjoyable piece, for sure.

I'm not sure.  Is it gen-spec?  If yes, then it will.  The question I have, though, is what style of crown is the modern TC?  Is it the same thing as these vintage crowns?  When I bought my gen, the seller (a parts guy over in Switzerland) just advertised it as a vintage 7mm.  I know it's not a 702 so I'm assuming I have a vintage 703?  Is that what the TC crown is, only new?

I'm interested in learning more about this one.  Can you share the details and specs of your build as well as pics?  Maybe you have already done this previously in another thread, but I would love to see your big boy, big crown build.  

I'm on the fence as to whether I should try my hand at a budget build first, to get the hang of it and practice doing things myself, or if I should just go all in and begin slowly acquiring the parts to do a big boy build, using a gen movement, that would last and give me enjoyment for a lifetime.

I'll probably end up starting with the budget build first to build up my skills and then slowly start acquiring the parts for the Frankenator.

^ Exactly. You should read all of the comments on TRF by fellas who don't know anything about the history of the GMT Master and who could never afford and will never own this watch, praising and lauding Rolex for this brilliant marketing move. Give me a break. Some of those guys are chugging too much of the Kool Aid over there to see the reality.

Everything else aside, this watch is going to be uncomfortably heavy on the wrist to wear while using it for its intended purpose. A 16710 or 1675 is going to be more comfortable for long periods than even the 116710, and I love my GMTIIC rep enough to want the gen. I do take it off a lot during the day, and that's just stainless. Just my opinion coming from never having owned or worn a thick, solid gold watch such as this one.

I can also post a pic of the coronet on both crowns if you want, but the size difference alone is the selling point. The gen crown has a crisp and precise coronet, while the other one is larger and not as precise.

Here's one of the original QC pics from mine showing the large crown.

Here's a pic showing it after I replaced the crown with a vintage gen crown.

When you hold the two crowns side by side there doesn't appear to be a huge difference, but looks are deceiving. When they are installed on the watch the difference is night and day.

I see by your profile that you are an Aussie.  Are you talking $3,200 AUS dollars or US dollars?  Big difference.  

I think the new 40mm ceramic Sea Dweller is the best offering by far. I think the DSSD was far too specialized to be a viable tool watch and it is literally a clown watch. This new Sea Dweller brings the line back to human proportions and will be a functional tool watch, again. JMHO

They missed the mark with the new PepC and I'm disappointed that it's in WG. Big slap in the face to all of the GMT users who had been waiting for this watch to come out in ceramic. I'd take a vintage 1675 any day over this one.

Gen versus rep, that answers your question right there. The process that goes into professionally polishing and brushing jewelry is far superior to what happens with these cheap, sweat garage built reps. The depth and grain of the brushed steel and the level of polish on the polished portions are nowhere close. These reps will never come close unless you actually rebrush and polish it using pro techniques.

Too bad about your buddy being a hater. Since you already own a gen B&R, just wear that with him and don't even bring up the rep.

I think the issue with the crown guards came into play when Trevor posted his gen versus Noob V3 comparison review in his sales sections on the various boards.  He did not use a Noob V3, though, and the crown guards on his watch in the review are horrible.  It's a completely different watch.  Angus and Ryan indeed are selling the Noob V3 and just like the previous Noob versions, the crown guards were/are fine.

Cosmosblau - just be honest.  Tell your buddy you bought a rep and then the two of you can compare them side by side.  What else are you going to say and why would you, anyway?  This is a perfect chance for you to spend a ton of time handling his gen and looking them over side by side.  He's going to be just as interested as you, trust me.  You'll have some fun while you are comparing notes.

Too bad the pics are down. This is a great one to look at over and over again!

Sorry, I misread cc33's post. I didn't catch the comment earlier about MY saying he could make it for him. I mistakenly thought he had already purchased one. My bad.

Yes, engravings are wrong. Thankfully when it is on the bracelet you can't see any of that.

These aren't new hands, right? He's made them before? From my limited experience with production, isn't tooling a one time expense that is paid upfront? If he has already produced these same hands in the past, then that tooling expense was already incurred back then and has already been paid for. Why is it being charged again?

Are you saying each hand is going to cost $99 or are you saying we can buy a complete set of 3 hands for $65 total? Just clarifying.

There is a guy that gen owners send their bracelets to for stretch repair. His name is Michael Young. It sounds like the cost is $120 to $150 to fix it. Factor that into your price to determine if you got a good deal or not. Personally, that's too much for me.

I think red hand with normal datewheel is perfect. I've seen that gen mod before over on TRF, so that's not a stretch at all. Neither is removing the cyclops. Tons of guys over there hate the cyclops and remove it from various models, as do we, so that's also no big deal in the gen world. The mods that are done with gens are pretty awesome, so go check that thread out and get some inspiration.

Go over to the Rolex Forum and look at the ongoing thread with gen owners who are posting pics of their modded Rolexes. Using a red Yacht Master hand for accent color is very popular. People do this with Explorers, subs, Datejusts, and any model that it would look cool on. It doesn't come from Rolex this way, so that's why it is a mod.

This is absolutely gen like, so go for it. I personally love the look.

Great 1675 find! That's exactly what I'd like to find someday. Switch back and forth between a black and pepsi insert depending on mood and occasion, and this is the perfect watch.

Offtopic, Daytona your signature is crazy! I had to keep scrolling down to get past it. LOL