jackflash

5517 today

6538 today

Timor dirty dozen today

6538 today

6538 today

This! It’s the only way to go if you want to see your watches!

6538 today

Sunbathing today!

None of the rep cases are suitable for a Franken build, including Cartel, all the dimensions are off. You can pick up a gen case from CousinsUK though.

5517 today

Looking great! Congrats on seeing the build through to end buddy [emoji106]

Very nice indeed! Great job!

Very nice! I was hoping a rep of this would be made. The dial layout suits the positioning of the date window much better than the XVIII on which it’s based. Which to my eye looks as though it’s been positioned too far left. The longer hour markers and positioning of the numerals on the XI Tribute are better balanced. Pity IWC didn’t produce a no-date version, with a 38mm case, which would have been closer to the original 36mm XI. Here are the shots of the gen XVIII and XI Tribute; to see what I mean about the date window.

Excellent job! Very nice indeed.

Well, the case has been poorly “aged” you don’t get scratches like that naturally. As mentioned before the fixed springbars should be a flush tight fit. They don’t look it, are they loose? Good news is the movement is a gen ETA 2824-2. The rotor is a mis-match though and a little grubby. It really should be silver to match the rest of the movement. The 2824-2 movement itself has a higher beat rate than what would be period correct, an ETA 2846 would have been a better choice. Unfortunately, judging from the shots, it looks like you paid a little more than the watch is probably worth. Here's a build – by no means perfect – I sold in 2016, to give feel for the market: Here’s a link for details about your 2824-2 movement: http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&ETA_2824_2

Dirty today

Very sorry to hear about your situation. Can only offer a few pointers to the build based on your shots. Everything else would be just speculation. The bezel insert looks to be Helenarou. Looks like the springbars have been added to the midcase at a later date. Generally they should be a tight-flush fit, so maybe the midcase started life as a 5513? Are there any engravings between the lugs? Case back engravings look pretty good though. If you have the means to remove the case back i.e. with a “sticky ball”. We’d be able to confirm if it’s a gen ETA movement, if not, likely as not it will be a ETA 2836 clone. Crown and tube may well be from Athaya. Do you have a close up shot of the crown unscrewed?

Congrats! Looking good! The Phong insert is the better of the two ( I tried both too). However I would swap the pearl for one from Athaya, btw. these do need trimming to remove some surplus plastic. Previously I would have said Yuki as the finish is much better, but their latest batch of pearls aren’t as accurate as they used to be, being slightly smaller and flatter. Here’s mine with an older Yuki pearl, they were great, Athaya is close though.

You’re welcome [emoji106]

You might want to try some fine grade wet & dry (2000) and then polish.

6538 today

6538 today