UmpaHimself

Im having a hard time getting the caseback off my 1675 rep I got from Toro recently. It's the first time I am attempting to remove it. I want to try and age the hands a little bit but can't seem to get in. I have a sticky ball but I think it's too deflated so I ordered a cheap hand pump to try and fill it back up. I also tried a hand held plunger I got recently but it's a POS.

Other then the sticky ball I'm not sure what to try. I would buy a Rolex specific set but I am not sure if my watch will match the size and spacing of those intended for the gens. Any suggestions?

On January 18, 2016 at 10:29 PM, kernow said:

Problem solved.......

 

 

 

 

LOL

11 hours ago, droptopman said:

Michael is a really great guy and awesome at what he does, but....C'Mon Man. @ceejay I believe this combination is possible. 1966 was the tradition year so you see both gilt and matte dials with both big and little GMT hands. Guessing this is a 66 or early 67.

I think that makes it worse

I was doing some reading and research on crystals. In another thread Nanuq was talking about CWP Tropic 19s and my searching led me to a post on VRF about a guy named Michael Young and his T19 replacement crystals. The OP stated "Unfortunately, he didn't lug along his vintage Rolex collection but he was sporting his customized black DLC GMT 1675 on a camouflage NATO. Stealthy Rolex travel watch?"

Which was followed by this picture that almost made me fall out of my chair in disgust.

Black Bay on Bulang Diablo by Tyler David, on Flickr

4 hours ago, sasa408 said:

Thanks

Specs are:

MBW 1665

Gen crystal

Gen insert

Gen crown

The Zigmeister relume

Silver dw

Drilled lugs

Wow, the gen crystal really does make the difference. DW looks great too and the MBK dial is very usable with that nice lume job. Looking forward to mine.

What more can you ask for then the original owner coming in hot with the knowledge.

5 hours ago, sasa408 said:

That's pretty. Specs?

Gen BB for me today

9 hours ago, Time taker said:

I've been looking for an athaya 702 crown and tube- I've checked the website but can't see them. Also checked their eBay store but no luck either. Anyone know where I can get them from??

Yeah, you can see his stuff on the homage forum

3 hours ago, automatico said:

You can also find the crowns on eBay, item number   171641398405

I leave MBK cases as is except for drilling the lugs out to 1.3mm and maybe exchanging the crown and pearl dot. The watches are probably worth more unaltered...so no grinding/reshaping for me. Better letters and numbers between the lugs would be good and maybe blow some $$ on a case back with better lettering if the watch is a keeper (the catch is with new numbers/letters and case back you are close to or over Yuki case prices). You can also remove the bezels and install the O ring in the case top under the crystal retaining bezel if desired, none of the MBK cases I have came with the O ring but they have the groove. I have a few DW cases with good case back letters so can I swap them out but DW submariner case backs come in two sizes so you have to match them to the MBK case.

The bottom line to all this you may be better off with a Yuki case and dial if you plan on extensive modifications to an MBK case using a genuine movement etc. My two Yuki cases (5512, 5513) do not have the groove under the crystal retaining bezel but the groove is easy to cut for anyone with a lathe. dbane said :   "Gen 5513's, prior to the mid 70's, did not have the gasket channel in the mid case."   so you would not want to go to the trouble of cutting the groove in a Yuki project 'made' before the mid 1970s. With an MBK case the gasket groove really does not matter because you can not see the gasket or groove when the watch is together and the shallow engravings between the lugs give them away as a replica anyway.

Etc, etc...

Thank you for the writeup. I think I want to stay closer to what you are talking about. To start I'm thinking just the crown and pearl, then maybe later drill the lugs. I am tempted to have the CGs refined a bit more but if something goes wrong there probably won't be an easy way to get another case. I may convert the 5513 to a gilt but other then that I plan on using the stock dials, caseback and movements as is. Not going for a genstein at all.

Thanks for the tip. Are they similar to the gen/ofrei or more like the WSO pearls? I am trying to look at the thread where he's selling them but the only picture is of another members Snowflake Sub and it looks more like the WSO.

Anyone know if the Athaya tube is a direct replacement on the MBK. I'm thinking not but crossing my fingers at the same time.

Hahaha! Not sure how many are left but here is the thread. https://rwg.cc/topic/182328-vintage-rolex-5513-1680-5512-1665

Looking forward to the pics

RIP. Very shocked to hear this last night, especially after the new album just released.

Thanks! Yeah I had the black but picked up the grey suede and the diablo. Really like both for their respective watches. The grey suede was an impulse buy because I saw the picture they had with the ghost bezel and was drooling. had to get the watch roll too. JPM doesn't disappoint.

B&S delivery today

Yeah I got mine ordered. The buckle that came on my $80 NATO is the same that comes on every NATO lol. It needed something better.

Also remember the time in China is probably far off from where you are. Have patience though, he will get back to you.

I never noticed that about the seconds hand. Thanks for the info!

Great work, I... uh... what were we talking about? 

Thanks for the info. That's interesting to know about the pearls. I was more looking at a budget build though. Wondering if there are any glaring issues on the MBK that are an easy fix (not talking about CG or case reshaping just yet). Should I be worried about the crown, maybe change it for an Athaya? How about the crystal, should I go with a Clarks? Also, what is the most popular insert besides gen currently? I was reading a bunch about pmwf.com inserts but that site seems to no longer be active. Would a WSO insert be any better then the stock MBW?

I also see Otto Frei sells a generic insert with the pearl included referencing the 5513. It's only $10 more then the pearl itself. Would that be worthwhile?

http://www.ofrei.com/page_151.html#2569

This

Hey guys!

There is a lot of excitement with the MBW NOS sale being posted. I didn't hesitate and bought all three Subs, 5512, 5513 & 1680. I have been slowly learning about the better mods but prior to the sale I was focusing on Cartel models so I am not sure how that applies with these watches. I would like to ask you guys, what would be the first things you would mod? I don't think I want to get too crazy, probably going to stay away from gen parts. I know the pearl needs to be changed. Would you change the whole insert as well? The crown and tube? The dials look good and the date wheel looks pretty good on the 1680 but not sure about the digits for each day. What's the best bang for the buck here?

I think my first mod will be an Otto Frei pearl. I'm trying to do my research, but all the threads on these watches are so old links and pictures are no longer working. There are tons of blanks.  

The lume area does look wider and the mercedes Y looks a little thinner. Am I close? 

I get what you're saying but I took it as kind of a TD sale. Rolexfinder is a 10 year member and I hope if it was an issue the mods would have said something about it. That being said, tagged pics wouldn't hurt.