predfan2001

My latest addition

I guess it will be this one for a few days

Here's the final results. I didn't vintage the dial or hands any more than they already were. I did bleach and age the bezel insert.

I figured this out today by accident. It's not perfect but it's pretty good. I was fooling around with one of my 5517s and one of the fixed bars was "not so" fixed. It came out. So I knocked the other one out. A set of gen spring bars fit though a little loose in the lugholes. But they are larger than the holes so no worries, they're not going anywhere. What this means is you can get a 5517 military Sub. Take out the bars (with a twist from vise grips-comes out towards the knurled end) and install a Oyster band. Pull the movement and gently remove the "T" and install Sub hands. Then you have the "non-existant" 5513 with white fonts. Granted the lugholes are 1 size larger than correct but that's not that big of a deal to me, much cheaper than a MBW plus a gen dial. I'm not a fan of all of those 5513s with yellow script. I wish I had known this about 3 reps ago, I'd have saved money! Ok here's all I have so far. I pulled the bars out. Beveled and buffed the lugholes. Drilled the ends of a good solid link band and drilled the inner end link eyelets. Installed the Oyster with gen springbars and added a 5513 bezel insert in place of the 5517 (ever notice the difference. Look at the pic in my sig ): Tomorrow the "T" comes off and Submariner hands go on. Here's the last 5517 dial that I removed the "T" off of. Just a few strokes of ultra fine sandpaper and a shot of Testors Dullcoat: I really like these 5517s and I hope they keep making them awhile. It's the most versitile starting point for mod's at a low price that I know of. It has a gen sized dial. Accepts a Tropic and now I know that it will accept an Oyster band.

Man you guys have some fine vintages. Azgjav, you know I'm a fan. Great watches. I see you did something with that old blue Tudor dial. Cool. Justasgood, one of the best. And I do like the vintage dial better. TMG, your nodate Tudor is a disgrace! You should send it to me. I'll take it off your hands as a favor . Jojo35, What can I say? A vintage 5512 with a faded bezel. This is my fav. rep nodate. Yes, this particular one! Maybe someday I'll get my hands on a MBW!

Not quite. My good friend Andrew works at a local dealer and since I was off, he offered for me to use their digital scales today. I took a bunch of my rep Sub parts and weighed them. (BTW Andrew is a rep fan too) Bracelets, clasps, case backs, bezels and even crowns. Don't ask me a bunch of technical questions but we took all of the heaviest parts (as long as they looked ok) and put them on my 5513. What a difference. This thing is actually kind of heavy now. We found the biggest differences were a thicker/heavier solid link band and a bezel off of my old Trusty Ultimate. That bezel was way heavier than any of the others. I did have to grind the teeth off of the back for this case but the difference in the way this watch feels is amazing. I probably didn't have to have the scales to figure this out, but since Andrew offered, I used it. Man what a difference. This watch isn't that accurate anyway, at least it feels right.

Just swapped the movement and Hydro dial out of my rep 5517 case into a 5514 case....it fit so it has a ss band now.

Any other good ones? I have 2 of the black GMT Seamasters and I've been more than pleased. They perform as good as my ETA reps so far, just the second hand is a little jumpy. I'm thinking about a new Omega rep and since the holidays, $$$ is a little tight. Any other descent asian Omega reps you would recommend?? I already have an ETA UPO but I was thinking Seamaster, Aqua Terra or ????

A NOS Elgin clock dial as used in the famous P-40 fighter from WWII. It measures 47.3mm in diameter. I wish it would fit in something like an Omega Railmaster case.....or maybe just a desk clock??? Any ideas??

I've never been a fan of the Speedmaster style band that comes on the GMTs so I installed a gen SMP bracelet on my first one. I wanted a rubber strap on the second one but haven't found one yet. I've got a black NATO on it for now.

I ordered a SMP bracelet for my GMT and it was too flat...very bad. The best part is this. Read the clasp: I gave up on rep bracelets and went gen:

Mine aren't great, but here's what I do have:

For me it's KFM (Kawasaki motorcycle forum), Repgeek and Rolexforums (just to spy on those gen guys). I like forums....any other fun ones?

10,000? Congrats on that! You should get a gold watch...but it would be a rep

Yes, that's it. Like the moderators ask for a discount for members (say who have over 100 posts) here in RWG. It's only fair. The response would be interesting!!!!

Not always the case. Brand9ave is one of my favs no matter what people say. At least they conceal the item, a better chance of customs passage. They've treated me better than most "collectors" here. Here lately I've bought several from Silix and have no complaints but never any problems so I can't comment on their customer service. I just bought one from PerfectClones and the communication is great....I'll report later on the product.

Over half of the watches I bought from Trusty had problems, none from Silix have. I just assumed Silix QC'd their watches but maybe it was just luck

Be it good or bad, they sure get alot of press here. If they do their job (no drop shipping, QC and good customer service) it is all positive and their sales show it. I was wondering if any of the collectors are appreciative enough to offer RWG discounts? As an example, I'm sure Silix sold quite a few "no cg" Subs from all of the whooplah generated here. I'm also sure many SSDs were sold via comments here. Is there a chance any of our collectors would be willing to offer a discount to members?

Oh my, I hate those drug tests

Just got my new black NATO from "watchbandgirl" so this one will be on a few days Sub 5517 rep with date movement and a Tudor dial.

Testors makes a flat tan for military models. Pick up a bottle of the tan and a bottle of the flat white along with some thinner. You can mix the tan and white to make a nice ivory color like your markers (you can also blend in Testors rust color for a really vintage look). I picked up a pint can of clear urethane at the local Walmart that I use to coat the pearl.

Yeah, what he said! I tint mine with a little bit of thinned enamel and then clear urethane. (but I really prefer no pearl on vintage models )

Hope you have better luck than me. I've been trying to get a set of Sub hands for an ETA 2836-2 for months now, eBay sellers keep sending me the wrong stuff. I'm sick of wasting my money. It would be different if hands were .99 cents but they are charging alot of $$$$.

My vintage 5513 Submariner. I started with a case and went from there. I made sure it is water tight. The new ETA movement is dead on accurate. I'm not 100% satisfied with the dial but other than that, I'd put it up against any gen I've owned.