Lo'

I hear you! I would never part from mine especially now that the quotations of such pieces has gone through the roof.

There you go J. As you'd have it a picture is better than many words to 'splain oneself

Not sure either as the 5504 basically is a ‘poor-man’s’ 1016 with no COSC certification. Both models have different dials - and hands in the case of the Air King - but they share the same case construction and in some cases the same (1530) movement. As such 5504 models are not bubble backs but will rather sport the same flat caseback as their 1016 cousins. A couple of pics of my gen 5504 to illustrate the point:

Two wheels for me (daily commutes) 2016 C450 Amg Wagon for family and long haul.

Thanks for chiming in Civic. Since this build needs repairs I think I'll get in touch with Natas to gauge his eagerness to take this project on. Given what he has been able to achieve I am convinced he'd be able to make it fly.

Such beauties!

My 2ç on the subject as the proud owner of a few gens and a couple of replicas: 1) Gen is gen. Preservation of worth is obviously much better and, in some cases, your piece value will increase with time. 2) On the other hand building your own watch has got a somewhat romantic flavour. That piece might be the replica of a production model, but it will nonetheless be special because your work, passion, time, attention to detail, study, patience and whatnot will be in there. Some builds have litterally taken years to complete and, during all that time, the owner has gone through countless hours of enjoyment, elation, frustration etc. There's not an ounce of that in the gen you pay and carry away. 3) Often times a gen piece will have its own story, which might not be relevant or worth mentioning in any way, but it will have been loved by someone, passed on, sold, bought, re-sold until it landed on your wrist. Patina does not only come from time. I could go on and on but the short story is that in my opinion it does not matter whether the piece on your wrist is genuine or a replica, it all boils down to what it represents for you. If you are all for the practical aspects of owning a vintage watch you will be able to resell to, at least, get back what you paid for it go gen you can't get wrong. If like me, you also consider the "hidden value" of something which is unique because you had a part in creating it, gen paradoxically won't be enough to satisfy you.

Glad I apparently have a “raw gem” in my hands I did not know about. Fact is that I bought this on a whim given the very low asking price, and not being a big watches fan has prevented me from further researching once I realized that it was broken out of the box and would need repairs and whatnot. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Thanks a lot Natas. Will most definitely follow your advice regarding the repairs. For what is about a new dial and hands i would not know where and what to look for since I have zero knowledge on the vintage-Pam subject.

Thanks for the uber-fast reply Natas! Would you care to elaborate on the mods necessary to, as you say, transform this piece into something special?

Hi all, This has emerged from a drawer the other day. It's been sitting in there for so long that I had forgotten about its existence. I had bought it for peanuts years ago but since it reached me with a broken stem and the minutes hand floating around the dial to the bin it went. Long story short, now I'm entertaining the thought of having it repaired but I'm not sure whether the piece is worth it. It looks quite good to my untrained eye but I would appreciate your contribution: According to you is this a viable replica worth shelling the extra buck to bring it back to life or should I just lay down and avoid? Thanks in advance!

Will do J. Lots of pics. Can’t wait for that to happen [emoji847]

And since I’m here, a quick update on my new build: I have been sending all the parts to SSteel which received it yesterday. I’m waiting for him to start working his magic on that and turn the ugly duckling into a beautiful swan...[emoji882] You’re right J. Wrong word! Plexi, not crystal... Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

I wouldn’t be able to do a decent job even with the proper tools. Once I tried doing something as simple as fixing a badly glued insert on a rep 6538... ended up messing the whole build and broke both the crystal and the insert. Now it sits in a little box hopefully waiting to be rebuilt... if I will ever be able to source a new crystal and compatible insert that is. 🤣

That’s a great build you’ve got there J. Lume doesn’t look half bad judging from the pics. I wish I had your knowledge and skills... speaking of which I still remember when I tried to swap hands on my BD 1016 ... what a massacre!! [emoji1] Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

Pics or it didn’t happen! [emoji6] Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

Err…. yeah! Attention span's not what it used to be anymore… sorry….

Hey there M. Nice to see you in here. #3 looks nice and solid. Would you care to let us have a breakdown of that build? Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

Yay!! [emoji847] Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

You’re welcome GH. Dials-wise, and again if memory serves, the best out there are (or used to be when I still was in the know on such things): gen, Whoopy, Ingod44, Ndt, Yuki and so on. Mbk’s stuff used to be pretty lousy, Trusty’s looked great in pics but would be quite deceiving in real. Of course there also was Phong but he was pretty hard to deal with and insanely overpriced, with no guarantee whatsoever that one would ultimately get something worth the money he’d shelled. Helena being more centered on Submariners did not at the time offer a 1016 dial... can’t remember any other modded/td worth mentioning right now. Jmb’s V2 is very good, I still have one stashed somewhere which I kept because back then J would offer custom engravings. Mine therefore bears a correct “1016” on one side and a relevant serial number, matching the production year on the inside of the caseback, on the other. Then again Jmb’s caseback is flat as gen. I think that a gen service dial on a Jmb case would definitely be a great combo. I wonder whether Rolojack is still active on the forums, his were some of the most gorgeous 101x and 55xx builds I have ever seen... indistinguishable from gen, at least per the pictures I saw.

Nice piece you’ve got there. What irks me a bit (just an uneducated guess), however is the gilt that has been used on all the dial markings except the “Space Dweller” bit. To my (very limited) knowledge there are no gilt-dialed SDs, much less bi-colored ones.That said the triangle shape and height look good, fonts do not seem off (at least in my eye), numbers and indices are ok. A couple of shots of both sides would help getting an idea of the lugs shape and of the bezel and caseback shape and height. As far as I know the best bezel out there is Jmb’s. This part alone can drastically change the watch’s overall look thus making it more coherent with gen. Caseback is quite important too as those in gen pieces are very flat and almost flush with the middle case. Another fundamental part is the crystal: vintage ones (50s to 60s) generally will require a Superdome, while more recent pieces (from 70s forward) will require a flatter crystal (T21 if memory serves). Hands: TCs are amongst the best Mercedes sets According to me, Helenarou’s also are quite good, unless you can source gen that is. Finer details would concern movement which should be low-beat on older pieces and hacking on models replicating pieces from the 1970s onward. This is more or less what I know (or believe I know) about this fascinating watch. For more-in-depth infos (and much more accurate than mine), you could use the search function on here and look for any 1016-related post from my good friend LHOOQ and BLUE, which are the two ops I deem the most knowledgeable on the argument, bar none. Hth, enjoy this great place and its friendly people. Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

Small update: I got in touch with SSteel. The 1016 is going away within the end of the current week to undergo a complete overhaul. Will open a new thread on this to show off the outcome of a new project I look forward to. [emoji6] Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

Lug notes? It might be just me but I find the 1016-nato strap combo awful. Straps are ok but bracelet is definitely much better, especially in summer.

Hello again, sorry for the late and, as such, uninteresting reply but things have been kinda hectic back here as of lately, due to my son's graduation from high school, work, burocracy and whatnot... Back on track. The watch finally arrived. The case is not half bad once I have replaced the bezel with one of JMB's (correct shape and height), the caseback with a (correctly) flat one and the T21 with a gen Superdome from my "box-o'-stuff". The dial is Yuki's standard with a decent lume. The triangle is a bit small although coherent with those which can be found on rail dialed 1016s, therefore not a real teller. The coronet is not terrible, the SCOC font is a tad off but not a big issue, at least in my eye. I don't like Yuki's hand very much, especially the second one which appears too short and almost truncated. I have checked it against Helena's and the latter are definitely better. The real issue here is that my watchmaker's skillz are sub-par, I have tried replacing hands or recasing a movement before and it ended in tears every time. I will try to get in touch with Domi and see if he manages to take the job...