droptopman

^^^^what CC said. I spent almost 3K building my Yuki and while it is a very nice watch and would be fine if I was going to keep it forever, but I tend to be a serial flipper and I am always looking for the next thing. The trouble with spending this much on a franken is resale is really tough and I hate parting out good watches that are already built. I am looking for a gen 5513 now and at some point will end up selling my Yuki at a huge loss. There seems to be a fine line between cost to build a franken versus just buying a gen. If you can be patient you can find a set up like CC is talking about. There is/was one for sale over on TRF from a very reputable vintage dealer. It is a redial and if I remember was around 5K. Especially if the set up has some hard to find parts like an MKII or III insert, dome plexi, 700 crown and so on. Market is stagnant right now so never hurts to make an offer. You can always sell off the parts you do not use and in the end you have a genuine 5513.

@Mendota Explorer, ^^^ this and the lugs are a little thick. Overall OTB whole case just looks "fat". You certainly can use it and it does accept gen parts so a decent option budget wise. However, if I did have a plan to have Dbane do the case work, I would have went another route for a case set. FYI GMT should be here via fedex any minute now......should be a wristy here shortly

Cool project, but it will be expensive. Gen 5513's with matte dials, late 60's and even into the early 80's Maxi dials have gone up a lot in cost over the last couple of years. A decent example is more like 7K now. Good original examples are in the 10K range. I check multiple sources everyday as I am after a birth year piece. Good collector type pieces are bringing crazy money. Gilt even more. Once in a while I see one with no bracelet and an over-polished case with a service plexi and insert in the 5K range but they usually have other issues like service hands....I did manage to pick up a really nice 1970 1675 yesterday and that took a long time to find the one I wanted. I did a Yuki build and it turned out really nice, Be happy to share some information with you. The case needed some serious modding though. Little too thick from Yuki, but with some good mods it can look very gen like. I used the Yuki dial and hands and an ETA to reduce costs. I was trying to make a 1966 model. The most expensive parts other than the case were the gen 700 crown and tube and the gen MKIII insert. Those inserts are going for $800 and up now if they are in good shape. I had a gen 1966 7206 already from my big crown build but that would be another $1200-1500 for one in decent shape. CWP or ABC watchwerks plexi is a good dome plexi and reasonably priced. Sometimes you see "gen" t-19's for sale, but everyone I trust says they are not NOS gen so I have passed on those. I do not think dbane is taking on any work or I would suggest him for the case mods and build. Not sure who else may be able to help with the case. Miseikped does some really good work. Matt is great for assembly but you would need to find someone else to do the case. Good luck. If you want some pictures of anything specific on the Yuki PM me.

This one for sale in the sales area.

Nice. Misiekped just had a really nice hand set for sale but sold already. Good luck on the project.

Hello and welcome to RWG. I have seen your work over on the other forum. You do some nice work. You will fit in great here. Many modders and vintage connoisseurs here.

Never tried Displex, I have used polywatch many times and it works OK. IMHO toothpaste works as well as anything else I have tried. If the scratches are deeper I will use my dremel with a horse hair or really soft cotton wheel.

Happy Birthday Marti[emoji322][emoji320][emoji322] Beautiful sunrise this morning in central WA.

If I remember we used a 5513 CB from rafflestimes. Much flatter. Watch is out being serviced or I would get you some pics. Check Rolex Addicts area over on Repgeek he has a thread with this info.

Drove over to the city to service my Audi. Had appointment at the AD. I have not spent much time looking at the modern offerings so spent some time checking out the all the new models. In the end the GMT with smaller case back fit me the best. The BLNR is more like a dress watch than I expected with the PCL's and glossy bezel. Beautiful watch. I also really liked the Pelagos. It is very light and the matte finish of the bracelet, dial and bezel make for a great casual daily wearer. The 216750 also wears nice and has strong wrist presence with the big white dial. Almost bought the BLNR but decided to wait knowing I can save some money and buy online from a trusted dealer. Or.....maybe I am just a four and five digit guy[emoji780] Certainly be easier to just buy a new one considering I have been looking for another vintage piece for a long time now. One thing that surprised me, the AD did not know Rolex very well...they do have a great selection though, he even had 3 SS Daytonas. Couple pics

Interesting, the serial number is from 1965/66, but case back is from 68 and the dial is an earlier format. Pictures are terrible so it is tough to tell. I have seen other logo dials but I could not find one when searching for a 5513 reference with the "Arab Shield".

I absolutely love the look of the 1665 especially the early double reds. Love the no cyclops dome with a date function. Like the perfect sport watch. I would love the have one, only problem with my wrist they just sit to high and do not wear good on me. Really unfortunate as it is one of my favorite models. Oh and now days a DRSD in decent shape is 30K+ and climbing all the time.

You should talk to mymanmatt. He has built more of these than anyone around.

Sorry to hear this AJ. We all know you as a stand up guy and you have been more than patient. At some point you have to set a boundary which you have done. If he does not respond the community certainly needs to know the details to avoid further issues. Good luck.

^^^this, Rolexes are bought and sold all the time without papers. That is not a reason that a pawn shop would not buy it. Some products you can run across good deals on, but Rolex is generally not one of them. Too many people know about them so you rarely see the "barnyard" find or deals way below market value. The only Rolex deals I have ran across of late were either fakes, scams or stolen items. I mean think about it, if it is a 16610 in decent condition just about any jeweler would give him more than 1K for it. Sounds a little fishy, but best of luck.

Cool shot on the way to work