Stephane

Oh, yes BT, this will not quit my home for a looooooong time PS: edited the Original Post because there were 2 errors

Rolex 1655: a fantastic example of watch modification art. Preambule My personal 1655 is now gone to a new home, a very good home The reason is that I have been offered to be the new owner of an exceptional one. RepAustria's 1655. You might remember this picture Well let me tell you this watch has never stopped to be upgraded thru the years! History When I first came here, I asked members to point me in the right direction to get a "best sub"… Of course I have been flamed but not only, I also made some great contacts with senior members. One of them was RepAustria. He is no longer here, but you may trust me, the guy knew how to build a watch. I have been looking at this watch's pictures for a couple of years Now, it's mine The watch There are various routes to build a good Franken. The NDT route is one of them. Unfortunately, NDT parts are very expensive. That is the reason I never wanted to follow that route. I always said I would never put more than 1K in a watch Never say never So let's start the list: NDT case Genuine crown and tube Aged CWP hands with a NDT Singer dial (aged too) Gen Tropic 116 Gen Mark III bezel Silver datewheel with brushed finish and flat top three Sorry I forgot to shoot the other dates Gen 7836 folded link bracelet with Gen 380 endpieces and Gen springbars The engine ETA 2789-1 with 24 hours hand, no quickset date and winding like a 1570. Sorry, no photo, I will not open this watch My appreciation Some of you might be bothered by the general "used" state of the watch. As you know now, I love that. The extra aged bezel or the stretch in the 7836 bracelet adds so much to the genuine feeling of this vintage watch! This is probably the most convincing watch I saw in the flesh till today. I recently had the occasion to show my previous 1655 to a collector of genuine Rolex owning a gen 1655 himself. He couldn't believe it was a franken. I bet when I will show him this one, with a gen bezel and 7836, he will say "Hey you got an original one this time!". The only way this one could be spotted as a Franken, is the movement and serial in my opinion. Thank you very much for looking and reading. Cheers Stephane

Hey Frank, Have a look at my Snowflake when you're at Domenico's, wouldn't mind your opinion You know, the ones from girards... Cheers Stephane

Jojo, that is a great find. It's one more example of the variations of the aging for tritium dials. I know you like it more coffe and me more milk. So we have a couple here Gonna be fun to shoot some photos when we meet next time.

I think I have paid for the account but that was long ago. Didn't get charged again. But, like Robbie, no correspondance and no problems either...yet. And no Image shack is not good...I have a lot of problems viewing members photos on it...

Great to see you have another project on the bench. You have a reall good case there. I'm with Pete on the smoothing of the lugs. I'm sure it will come out very well. Thanks for sharing, Stephane

You...Eagle eye !!! A review is not needed...a pictorial for sure. But this one is so full of "special parts" that I don't see how I could even comment them...

Great shot !!! Et super classe ! Well, this is one of the most incredible day of my life. I have allways stated that a franken should be reasonable...but I failed to follow my own advice To be followed....

No bandwagon when it comes to ze great white It is the perfect compromise between very vintage and too modern... No doubt we are numerous to make it TOP 1.

I have it... But I play your game, right: ONLY ONE rep... So it would be the 1665 GW. Considering I would have only one rep, I would then make it even better and add a genuine mvt, and some other things... probably. But honestly, it's great (white) enough as it is now (Maybe needs some more coins treatment though.)

Oh, no problem Laz. Lupo did a great job And so did his stunning GF too... We were about to get pissed off about the service of your female friend, the barmaid, Lupo's GF and I She is such a cute girl and looks so bored ... Lupo's GF made the tranlation of some stuff Etienne and I wanted to tell her so we may see her smile eventually... And we managed to make that georgous girl smile finaly Guys, note this: slovakian ladies are really beautifull. OK Laz, next stop will be Slovenia Cheers Stephane

Some quick and dirty shots of my visit to Laz Lupo, Laz, Tribal and I

Good memories here. Don't forget your dremel Boys, I can't wait to be may 23rd...

Welcome to RWG Domenico. Good to see you here. It proves you are not a mystery watch maker proposed to our community by third parties. That is good. As for language...I think our german watch expert members, like you Frank, will have to help us to write notes to you in german about what we exactly want done on our watches when we send them. Thanks in advance Frank Stephane

1. For sure 2. Good move Let's be straight: we do love watch and we are allowed to do so. I see no point in looking at BT or anybody of RWG as a counterfeit goods collector, insinuating "poor bastard". We simply collect watches and do so within our own budget limits. Probably 90% of the people reading TZ or any other gen forum have no money to afford gens anyway. Let me guess...oh, yeah they buy fakes, like us... The big difference between RWG and gen forums? We recognize we do not have enough money to buy all our grail watches, so we build them for less money and learn to love them as much as we would love the real thing. It's so stupidly human to find excuses. Like the guy who doesn't have leather seats in his car because it's cold in winter He simply cannot afford that option, nothing wrong with that, neither saying it. I sincerely think there is more honesty here, on RWG, than out there. I confess that if I had more money myself I would buy only gens, including vintages. I'm sure a lot of you would do the same. But at 20K for a perfect 1665 GW or 40 for a 1665 DR, I'm simply not wealthy enough I have three gen Rolex. The envelop of money they represent is the maximum I can spend. So, in example, if I would want a 1680 I would have to let a 16800 and a 16600 go. Simple math! That's a lot of text for a simple observation: gens are pricey, that is why reps exists MyTwoCents! Stephane

Ok, so this is not going to be a surprise for those of you who knows him! Domenico did already replied to me my email. Watch will leave from me to him tomorrow

I'm with Kruzer here, lets be prudent in posting publicly such statements But as I know Rosnik, I will take his advice as trully trustable. If on top, he is a good friend of Yello, the we should be even more safe. I will contact the Dmuit, and finalise my SnowFlake with him...we'll see what come out. Grazie mille! Tanti auguri, Stephane

Allthough this is certainly not my favourite Rolex... Congrats Skool. It's a great looking franken. Takes a lot of time to build such beauties. You know what, it would be cool if you could elaborate a bit and let us know the sory behind it

Well Reg, this is not fair !!! You are out of competition...to many horrors here

Ciao Alex, try this: http://www.precioustime-uk.com/ I think the Ceramic GMTII is good enough Cheers Stephane

I'm afraid I cannot help with the choice. But I couldn't resist to shout loud: WEAR YOUR GEN ... That is why they are made

Sorry, couldn't resist to bump this one... Maybe there are more of these beauties out there that were not yet added

Doc, you made me want to wear my sub today. Bravo for your WM9, it's brilliant!

Very lovely start in terms of collection and photography. Keep them coming, the photos

Ok, we'll let this thread go for a while and then go for a new one and close this one. I think it should happen end of march Then I'll ask my good friend Andy to shime in with his usual sense of discipline and we'll start to book planes, trains, cars, hotels, catering, liquids.... Feel free to post in this thread as much as you want ...but do not forget to confirm if you will attend or not... This is very important as we must end with a final proposal in terms of food/drinks and budget. Again I say "we" = Andy and me. Our intention is to make it as cheap as possible with as much food/drink possible for you ... We have no control on planes/trains/hotels but we might have some or a lot of control on the catering...I hope. Still working on a deal for "advertising on my medias=more food and drinks for free for our group" Can't wait to see this happen again! And please, I know a lot of members are reading this thread...don't be shy, join us... Before the rush