Stephane

Mine will arrive soon From TTK too.

I want 6 O-Rings on my Rolex

Thanks guys. @Predfan: my expertise is very limited. Let's ask Tribal or some other members if that is possible. Andrew's ultimate is far the best Sub I've seen myself except modded MBWs. Having said that, why would you want to do that ? The only way to get a better one would be to sell the ultimate and get a MBW. @Pittymany: You are right. I put much too much money in subs. But I guess one must learn with subs like everything else in life. My initial idea was to "get them all". A collection of Sub reps to make myself an opinion of "who has the best sub?" It was pretty stupid though as ...Rolex has the best sub anyway. @Laz: enjoy your Tribalized man ! Mine is cool. @ALL, and specialy fresh members: most of the Subs we can get from collectors are very good. But only modified ones with genuine parts are looking close to the real deal. Cheers Stephane

Dear All, As you might remember I got a 16610 MBW as my first MBW ever from TTK's group buy. The original thread can be found here : Rolex Submariner 16610 MBW Saying of the day A Rolie a day keeps the doctor away Warning Only true experts of genuine Rolex and a bunch of members of RWG could really spot the differences between a 25$ Sub, a high end modded rep @800$ or so and a genuine 16610. About my addiction for the 16610 As we all know, the perfect sub exists. It's made by Rolex;) You can find tons of SS Subs at 4.000$ on the second hand market. So how make a perfect rep: it's simply impossible, mainly because of the case. Some Chiang Mai or Vietnamese source seem to have a 1:1 case…but so far, as long as I'm aware, they cost so much that you'd rather buy a genuine second hand. Some of us believe MBW is the best platform. Others say TW best are. Most say, the ooold MBW and TW are better than the current ones. Well, should we forget about trying to get a good modded Sub then ? No, no, no Here some of the ones I own or owned ! The 16610 has been my favourite watch forever, since I was a teenager probably. Why? Because of the brand recognition I presume and the "Spies", as not only Bond wore Subs, but most of the spies in other books too. I have to admit it's no longer the case as I am more into Rolex from the 60ies and 70ies now. I guess that is what maturity is all about But still, there is no way that I give up trying to get as close as possible to a genuine 16610 Yes, but who's going to do this mods on my 16610? Good question. At a certain point, I was desperate to find someone reliable who would agree to work on a Noob's watch. So, I shot PMs to several…and of course, 3 gentlemen accepted to work on my watches. I say of course because expert members are not going to bite you if you ask them…(well some might bite you but not all of them). So it was pretty silly to send several PMs on the same day. Hmmm, embarrassing, isn't it? So, I decided to send my 1680 to one fellow member, my Great White to another and my 16610 to Tribal. Ok, let's go straight to the point. What mods are truly needed on an MBW 16610? Well this is a big concern. Apparently, not all MBWs are the same. There are different batches. As an example, mine has a terrible date wheel, which is way to bold. Also the magnification is way to high. So, even when swapping the date wheel for an "old MBW" one, it's still a bit too much. I saw recent MBWs with smaller fonts aswell. So, there is no receipt. The mods needed depend on how your MBW is going to look like out of the box. What mods were done on my own MBW? I passed it to Tribal, and asked him to do his best to make it look better. We did not know each other, but it worked out well. So, here is what has been done on mine, currently. Original watch: MBW from TTK -Bezel Edge polished: this makes a huge difference, believe me even if not noticeable on the pics. -CGs shaved: matter of taste here. Not everyone is shaving them the same way. I like the way Tribal did it. - Gen tube and crown: no comment, an absolute must and kinda cheap. - Gen Insert/Pearl: sorry, again, an absolute must, might be a bit expensive if you're not lucky to find a good deal. - Case drilled and retaped: well, no way to avoid this of course. - Rehaut polished: hmmm, at this stage of knowledge, I'm not sure if it is needed on all watches, but on mine, it looks damn good. - Noobmariner dial installed: yes, this is a must too. The MBW dial is not correct at the 6 hour marker. The minutes markers around 6 hours are taller on the MBW. This is a flaw which is immediately noticeable. - Bezel shaped on lathe (more space to rotate): Tribal did that to mine. I prefer the feeling of the bezel now as it rotates smoothly. Some bezels are really hard to rotate when fresh out of the box. I'm not saying it should be loose of course, just easy to handle. - Older MBW Date Wheel (not yet the best option though): this needs some more care. Note: genuine 16610 do NOT show the same date font or magnification each time. Rolex is totally unable to release the same sub over and over again. Rolex changes their manufacturer often. So, please dear members, bear in mind your date or mag could be just perfect… - Crystal Unchanged as it looks terrific: according to some serious expert member, I shouldn't change it. It's the MBW one, with barely invisible crown and it sits very well on the watch. The bracelet, what about that? Hey, I have a Noobmariner bracelet that is very close to the genuine feel but there is no way I am putting it on this watch. What is the first comment of people when looking at your 16610, genuine or rep? - Hey, is it a genuine? So, when wearing a Sub, 50% of the time people are thinking it's fake. What is the second comment from them? - Ah, it's fake because not heavy enough. They do not know though because they never touched a genuine modern Sub. A genuine is ridiculously light. I decided to keep a solid midlink bracelet on mine to avoid all these remarks. When someone asks: "is it genuine". I reply "who knows"? Their conclusion is: "it's heavy though, must be genuine!" (Like "it's not ticking, it's a gen") So what? I am happy. I know this watch might be looking even better with another date wheel and some work on the case to make the edges feel smoother. I will probably do this, but for now, I'm grateful to Tribal and wear it very often these days although, once again, I prefer vintage Rolex. Cheers & Thanks for reading. Stephane The pictures Please do not reply quoting the pictures as there are quite a lot and it would mess the speed of the thread and the entire forum. Thank you very much.

Send them to me, they will be beter serviced A service on an Eta 2836-2 is 100

Very very good idea

Congrats indeed Sir Nanuq. Great watch indeed allthough Pepsi is not my favourite ! Cheers Stephane

Pug, sorry to say but they (or Silix ? Not sure who is Silix) rejected my PayPal. Then got a mail with new PayPal information Then, where shipping was free, ti costs 16$ more... I'm not sure I like these practices. Cheers Stephane

I have been changing watch almost 3 times a day lately. Each time I come back to a Rolex. So, right now: But, could swap for: or even for ...(it's long time) Cheers Stephane

Laz, Be patient and follow By-Tor's advice here. Wait...wait...wait I got myself an MBW months ago and everything must be changed of course (crown, tube and usual parts)! But on top of that, the dial is off too. I'm not sure what to do either for the moment, so I keep that watch and wait for advices from experts. Anyway, you have some other Rolies to wear in the meantime ! Cheers Stephane

Not surprising that you get compliments ! It's really beautifull. Congratulations thus And, like Pug, these are growing on me too But, the list is too big to go for it now no budget right now. Cheers Stephane

I like your pictures very much. The idea to shoot the boxes is great. I will add that to mines. How do you like that wooden Omega box ? It's my favourite with the Panerai one. Congrats Cheers Stephane

Great story indeed. Welcome and have fun ! Cheers Stephane

Hi, I have described my experience in my review (see in my signature). Here is what I found: - Bracelet very confusing and hard to size unless you realise it's pins and not screws. Besides that there are no arrows. Take a pin out: push it out from the non screw designed side and pull it out with your fingers. Take a pin back in: push from the screw design side and push it back in with ........your finger or nail! This is not very cool as I think it's probably easy to loose one or more pins. Cheers Stephane

My fully modded (almost) Submariner 16610 MBW reached the 570

was wearing this tonight but will go back to a Rollie tomorrow morning...

You do great mods man:

Are women the future of this planet ? Probably. Mademoiselle V. I think you said it all. Now is the time for both sides to chat about this in private. Cheers Stephane

Hi all, Back to the Great White today ! But I might swap for my freshly modified 16610 (Tribalized) Cheers Stephane

A bit slow for me. Cheers Stephane

Dear all, There is a lot of interesting statements and information in this thread, and I sincerely think it was a great idea to post it. Thanks Richard. As you might know, I'm very fresh in this hobby allthough I bought my first rep back in 1989 in Bangkok. I seriously started to buy reps in, say, may or june 2006. Then, I discovered Trusty on the net around november 2006 Finaly I discovered RWG in january 2007. So, I decided to spend the entire savings I had done for 2 years to get myself a genuine Rolex in this rep hobby. We're am I at now ? Collectors: There are no bad collectors I have dealt with. I bought from Andrew, Paul, PT, Ruby, TTK. None of them is bad, dishonest, ... It's you who should double check what you buy before saying "I'm disapointed, it's not as accurate I thought for such a respected dealer". They do not manufacture the watch, and some times don't even see them in persons. Few collectors touch your very own watch, look for them as at least you add 20% of chance you won't have to send it back right away. My main concern, but that might be due to my country, is customs issues with drop shippers. I really want to avoid the watches to arrive from Asia and for sure don't want to send them back because they were no checked prior sending. I now have my favourites and none of my watches are seized, nor I have to send them back. The watches themselves None of them are "perfect, ultimate, new generation, ...". I'm not even talking about accurancy. Only the time piece itself. As an example, I got overpriced watches from eBay that were, and still are, keeping better time than any of the modded or super reps I have, with no tech issues at all. I also got some super reps, very accurate looking though, that are a total nightmare: hard bracelets to size, crown falling off, mvt being several minutes late PER DAY. Quality control ? Ah, QC: no one does QC in my opinion. I only know one person who does, but I will not make more publicity to this person as you might think I have a % on the sales at the end of the day. Most of the collectors are drop shippers. Those who are not (very very few) might indeed control what they get from manufacturers before sending the item to you. Do you seriously think a collector can send back your watch to these manufactures saying "Hey, I think it's not as good as the last one you send me" ? No way. To establish such a relationship with the manufacturers, you need volume. Allthough we, at RWG, think we represent volume, we don't. The volume is made with the millions of spam eMails sent out every day. Not with us, that is sure. I gave all the tricks to one guy who fell in love with my Asian SFSO @ 100$ to come here, register and read. His answer was: I think I can find some people in the local chinese community to deal with. It will save me the custom risks. Sure, but he will get canal street sh*t and be disapointed very fast. You cannot educate people that are not willing to be. Modders! This is probably the worst point in our hobby guys and girl. Please, if you are new to the forums, read previous experiences of fresh members like me. Do not, ever, pay hundreds of dollars for mods before you know what to look for. You need to be able to control what has been done, or (more likely) not done or sometimes done wrong. As my boss would say: "never assume". It is not because you read great reviews about some "modders" that this or that guy is trustable. You need to read 10, 20, maybe even 50 superb comments on a particular mod from a member before being confortable with sending your watch to have the exact same mod performed. This without mentionning people who realise they have been scammed but do not want to create a public problem because their modder is soooo famous and respected. It has been said in this thread before, but I say it again : there are only two persons I trust when it comes to mods. And, while saying it, I also say I've tried severals. Second hand prices, the initial discussion Well, here I will second those of you who believe in the market. As long as there are buyers wanting to pay the price, the seller is entitled to ask for that price. Conclusion Buying second hand reps from member is cool. I've never had any issues, but of course, it could still happen. Some times I paid a fair price, some time a bargain, some time a bit more than I should. But, at the end of the day, if you want the item you look at, have the cash and are happy to spend it, what's wrong? Nothing. Cheers Stephane

exactly !

To my opinion, it's same same sir. But I did not measure them