Revere

since this is a genuine movement and genuine dial your best bet is bringing this to a good watchmaker. i'm certain there is someone on this forum that could do the work but because this is a gen-franken there's no reason to limit yourself to RWG in your search for a watchmaker. when you reach out to a watchmaker just tell them that you have a genuine rolex that's had some parts swapped in and out over the years, and it needs some work on the movement to get running.

The parts are with the integrator right now. There's a good bit of work to do on both: swap crystal to gen T17 crystal swap crown and tube to Athaya crown assemble watch (which has some nuances due to parts incompatibility)

Answering your first question: let your parts compatibility and priorities do the downselection for you. It sounds like you are hesitant to avoid modifying the dial, so this means you'll be using a 3135 movement instead of a 28xx movement. Take a look at these web pages on Ranfft which have details about the movements you're considering, and take a look at the dimensions under "data." Look through the link "comments about the data" underneath to understand what each of these parameters physically refers to on the movement. http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&ETA_2824_2 http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&ETA_2836_1 http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&Rolex_3035 You will understand that a case designed to fit a 2824 might not fit a 2836, and might not fit a 3135 movement. This is because of different stem heights and diameters of the movements. Clever uses of spacers/shims can allow a case to be used for multiple movements, but unless there is an explicit statement in the listing saying it'll fit a 3135 movement (or unless you have confirmation from someone knowledgeable), I would not buy that case. Focus on finding a case that will fit a 3135 movement. To answer your second question: it would fit the movement you want to use, but it's possible your dial will be too small for the dial opening in the case. In a watch the dial with diameter D is pressed against a "dial lip" which has a diameter slightly lower than D. This means the outer periphery of the dial is hidden underneath the dial lip when viewing the watch from in front. If your dial is too small, it'll "fall through" the dial lip into the area underneath the crystal, and this means the whole movement/dial assembly will be floppy within the case (i.e. this does not work, you must find a case that fits your dial). If you know the diameter of the dial that's supposed to fit that watch, and if it's within a small range of your dial, then it'll work. If the case is cheap enough you could buy it, get some calipers, take some measurements, do the same with your dial, then draw a conclusion.

Also, if you trim the dial feet and fit to an ETA, you will need a good "date wheel overlay" or DWO for the movement to show the date correctly in the window. Mounting this DWO is a huge pain in the ass, and finding a nice one is a bit of a challenge these days I think. if it were me i'd use a 3135 clone movement and find a nice case for it. I think that would be easier overall, but might require more patience

You'd have to cut the dial feet off and mount new feet to the dial (kinda difficult for a novice, and is irreversible in a literal sense, though you can install feet in the original positions again if you wish). What type of DJ is this dial for? You might be able to get a nice rep case, or just hunt for a gen case if it's a vintage model. Maybe some of the usual suspects like raffles/MQ/phong/Ruby will have DJ cases, though maybe unlikely since these are comparatively less popular models

The "damage" did turn out to be residue placed there intentionally, presumably to not cause any customs issues, so the cases are A-OK. Ruby was prompt in responding to me and letting me know to use acetone to remove the residue. Seems I got all worked up about nothing, fortunately

Ruby says to remove this residue by trying acetone. Will give it a shot tomorrow!

Got my cases in from Ruby today, the engraving areas are all scratched/damaged. Super annoying... Let this be a warning for whoever orders from Ruby: the real product may vary from what you ordered. I checked the photo she sent prior to shipping; the casebacks are conveniently facing downwards but you can just barely see the damage between the lugs. I told Ruby this isn't acceptable and asked whether she can replace the cases. Will update...

Both of these are going to go into Ruby cases with ETA 28xx movements. I have a nice 6538 with an identical dial and gen movement but it doesn’t get much wrist time owing to the fact that the movement is delicate and I wear the crap out of my watches. I’m working with some folks on this forum to get the dials onto ETA 28xx movements. I’ll share more details once the project is moved along further

Hi everyone, long time without sharing a post about my projects here. I recently received 2x 6538 dials, very nice ones. Current plan is to use these in two builds, one for me and one for my father. I'll share more details later on - probably a few months. Just a teaser share for now.

Talk to @mymanmatt, he can probably enlighten you.

Awesome build! Old post indeed, but I still haven't gotten around to making a Commando. That might change now - thanks!

Very pretty. What hands did you use?

+1 to NDT being long gone. I wanted to source a dial from them back in 2015 I think, and they were apparently not doing business at that point.

The Noob CHS movement is not reliable. Thoroughly documented and you are kidding yourself if you think yours will be the good one. Two factories (ARF and VRF I believe) came out with their proper CHS movement clones for the 116710 a few weeks ago. Only a matter of time until the 126710 gets the same treatment, so I'd be patient and wait for that