CptTripps

The words "Cheap" and "Manhattan" don't find themselves in the same sentence very often. If it's not a business trip (aka: my money) I usually use points and stay somewhere close to Times Square. The W there is one of my favorites.

I've used "Airbnb.com" for extended stays a few times. It's been real easy to use.

116710 on one side, and Orig Rolex Design on the other.

I'm not all that concerned with saving the $25 if that's all the case is worth. Just like playing with it. I may try my hand at re-shaping the case or something.

Cleaning out an old golf bag this weekend, I remembered that I bought a rep Sub off of a buddy that traveled to Asia a lot. In remember buying 2, but can only find this one right now. Anyway. I figured that if I was going to "learn" this hobby, no better way to start than to tear into something that I didn't know/care about.

So 10-min later, I had it apart. Well...for the most part.



I dug deeper into the movement and took the hands and dial off. Here was my first mistake. I wouldn't know about it until much later though.



Not a great movement, for certain. It didn't keep good time at all, and made a
Scratching sound when the weight spun. No bother...I'm learning. (Right?)

So I continued by seeing if I could get humpty back together again.

I didn't have too many issues, until I tried to put the second hand back on. It seems that this movement has a release that I didn't find, or maybe I just pulled too hard. Either way, I broke the stem off the second hand, and there's no way it was going back on.



So now I'm wondering what else I can do with this case? I'd like to pop an ETA movement in it, a faded bezel, vintage looking face, and perhaps make it a fun throw-back weekender. My problem is that I don't know what movements will fit it. Before I go buying anything, of like to know what WILL fit in it.

I know without measuring (mic is at home) it's hard to tell, but if I want to grab a movement that I know will fit, where should I start?

I was thinking these would be the only pieces that I'd keep. (And the dial is a "maybe")



I appreciate the help gang.

I'll post pics when I get everything later this week.

I ended up talking to Phong and found that he had almost all the parts that I wanted. The only thing that I'll be adding after-the-fact is a sapphire crystal. I'll have to see if I even want to use it after I get the watch together though.

Gen PAM-89 with a gen blue gator strap. (Still waiting on my first rep to arrive later this week.)

I wish I could find something that compared the 16750 case to the 1676 case. Those are reasonably easy to find for $3k, and if I can just swap the dial/hands/bezel. I'm still ok with just doing a 1675 like the one in that thread. That's certainly close enough for what I'm looking for.

That looks brilliant.

The more I look into it, the more I like the idea of using a gen 1675 and swapping out a few parts. Finding the appropriate case seems to be the determining factor.

Here are two watches that I didn't care for...and owned for about a week.

U-Boat and a Ball

I'm a BIG fan of Bell&Ross too.

The 03 size is just right for my skinny-ass wrist. I tried the 01 at one point, but it just never felt right.

My aforementioned PAM-88

So I'm new to "Rep" watches, so everything I have is genuine. I'm still allowed to show them off here...right?

My first "expensive" watch. Anonimo Three Glasses. (Bought because I couldn't afford a Panerai.)

Bought this Omega Seamaster in 2006 to time contractions for our first son.

My first real Rolex was this green-glass Milgauss.

I'd had a Panerai PAM-88 and regretted selling it about an hour after it shipped. Got a great deal on this PAM-89. I love the Titanium, and had House of Fleming make this Elephant strap for it.

When I saw the alarm function on this Panerai PAM-98, I had to have it.

I also have about 30 swatches, but I don't think you want to see all of those.

I aspire to build a 1655 and a 1016 soon, so you'll see some "Frankenstein" watches appear here shortly.

Anyways...enjoy.

If you are using a gen movement it's pretty much mandatory that you will need gen hands to fit it. No upgrade later!

But damn I really want to buy a gen 1675 and and swap dial, hands and bezel to make a 1655. Such a great idea.

I'd thought about that too. I can usually find a 1675 for +/- $4,500. NDT has the bezel, face, and hands for $750. I'm at about $5,200 at that point, but I've got a gen watch (for the most part)

With the right case, I can do the same thing for about $3,000. I just need to decide if an GEN watch is worth the extra $2K.

I have a gen 116400, Seamaster, a PAM-98 and PAM-89, so this would be my first rep watch. Just seems like it'd be a fun project/hobby to get in to.

I'm just heading down this same road, and found this thread helpful. I don't have an issue using a gen 1570. For me, if I'm using a gen movement and can upgrade to gen hands and dial later. I was budgeting $3K for the build, and I think I can get where I want for that.

I reached out to Yuki (no cases available) an NDTrading. Is there somewhere else I should be looking? Looks like I can get a lot of what I want from NDTrading.

I was hoping to find a thread where someone compared the different aftermarket dials and hands. I can find plenty of people on eBay that seem to have hands, but knowing who's are better quality is the trick.

It'd be great to have a few of the more important links on the front page updated. If anyone knows the right links that is.

Thanks!

I have been reading quite a bit. Larger forums with several years of content are much like my basement. I know it's there somewhere, but sometimes it's easier to buy a new one than find the old.

I'm starting with a 1655 project, and have 2-3 more to do for friends/family. Lots of reading to do. I also need to buy the tools and learn where the best suppliers for parts are.

Anywho...Thanks for the site. I have/do own several 20,000+ member forums, so I know what to expect.

Rather than start a new topic, I'll dig this one out of the drawer.

I'm starting a 1655 too, and was interested in follow-up to see how this case faired over the last few years. Has the quality of available cases improved over the last 4 years? I've reached out to Yuki, but didn't get a response. I DID find a few other places that have 1655 cases, but being a noob, it's tough to know who has the best quality pieces.

::: Back to lurking/learning :::

I like learning about stuff...like fixing vintage watches. That led me to looking for spare parts...which led me here.

Great info on this site. I'll be lurking for a bit. I can certdinly appreciate the effort that this must take.