DVNE

Why didn't you have it SERVICED instead?

My first project was a v1 big crown. I always regretted selling it. Easy to mod and upgrade. Then i read this review about their 16800 and almost bought one to swap the dial out with helenarou's Tudor snowflake dial. http://forums.watchuseek.com/f71/how-bad-can-part-ii-tiger-concept-684284.html#/forumsite/20758/topics/684284 Their pcg case looks great but i am not too fond of their dials Lack of lug holes could always make for a nice milsub case

I'm so tempted...

I am too poor to comment in this thread. *D'oh!*

Yowzers! Beautiful build. It looks amazing!

What year 1016 are you shooting for?

Thank you! What ever happened to this one?

The vintage bug bit me over and over again. I don't think I can ever wear a modern rep or gen. The new watches are just too big (and my wrist size is average). I too agree with the "other brands thinking"... Here are my demon divers. A budget but true military sub that saw action in 69. The 1970 with the white seconds hand didn't see as much action as the 69 but both keep excellent time. The silver printed dials keep me staring when the light hits it.

Both look nice! The wok was something I never noticed. Here is mines in all of its incorrect goodness. The disassembled for a facial make over..

For the money, its definitely not bad. Heck I built 2 cartel snowflakes - back to back! For another $300 to get the Phong, it was money well spent for the upgrades (proper case back, engraved bridges on the movement, proper crown height, better crown guards). Nanuq's build made me want one. (Heck, his whole collection makes me want 1 of everything he has. Lol)

Really? I liked yours a lot too. I remember seeing it on rwi. With the crystal off I didn't notice the rehaut wokky. I'll check again in a few days when I get one of mines back and snap a few pics.

Ooh. What dial did you put in that PT1680 and what crystal is that?

I have had both and I can tell you a cartel case will never be close to a phong or gen flake. Side by side with a gen, the cartel case is obviously a rep. Even after the RA crown guard mod. The case back can be engraved but it is still missing the groove around the ridges. The Phong flake can sometimes be great. He does not offer QC pics. The case and dial is a crap shoot. Some have the late model spec cg's and some don't. The dial can have the incorrect font size on the Tudor and no bevel in the date window. Stick to the no date dials. If the Phong is out of your budget, id rather use the helenarou 5513 case as a base. It looks 10 times better than the cartel cases!

How did you get Gen hands to work?

Looks awesome! Great build. Waterproof it and never take it off

what case set are these? I need one for me to play with..

Wow! I likey.

Please share the info once you find a local watchsmith.. and share pictures of your 1016... My 14270 says hello!

Excellent! Time to replicate a midcase!

You could always shave down a 29mm dial by attaching it to a drill and running the edge through a file... I am impressed with Helenarou's branded dials. They aren't gen spec as far as the gilt color - which is applied but the actual fonts looks nice to me. They are only offered in 29mm and 26mm. I had a Tiger Concept v.1 case which took a 29mm dial. Do the new cases come with sapphire as opposed to acrylic?

Here is my old 1601 to 1016. I used a spare set of Cartel vintage Submariner hands. I got lucky and the lume matched.

I would (and have) go for the matte yuki dial. Clip the feet and use dial dots. Then reuse your same hands and movement. It's definitely a upgrade

Wow. The Raffles dial in the JMB case looks good! Kind of silly but I had the Raffles dial and the JMB case and never thought to put the 2 together

This same video actually guided me last week. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Getting the datewheel with the DWO back on the movement was actually harder than resetting the keyless. lol.

I can't wait to see how this turns out!