Dizzy

There is no one way to do this. Inserts are different, pearls are different. You never know til you get in there and do it yourself.

Like By-Tor says, try popping the pearl out and glueing the new one in. If that doesn't work, you may have to pop the insert off and put the pearl in and reglue the insert onto the bezel. Hell, I could even see having to make the pearl hole a little bigger- either w/ a knife or a small drill bit. Worst case scenario would be screwing it up and having to buy a whole new insert, but then you might have to file the back side of it down to get it to fit in the bezel correctly. Good luck.

Yaah and depending on the insert you have now, you may want to replace that entire insert pearl and all. If not rip out that old pearl and little chrome ring. It will leave you with just a plain old hole in the metal ring. carefully glue in the new pearl without making a mess with the glue

post pics before and after

LOnnie

Ah, my dear Doc,

Have you never experimented with ceramics? Although they are quite brittle, their scratch resistance is superb.

Unless a watch was never used, it would soon acquire a patina not otherwise seen on the genuine piece. To my uneducated eye this would be a dead tell.

Uneducated eye yeah right!

lol

I read in a couple of places that this new GMT case was 42mm? I havent seen a GEN yet. Im sure its the same 40mm though.

Your best bet would be to buy a GEN bezel and ceramic insert and put it on your rep. I can just imagine how much that would cost.... yikes!

Lonnie

Just curious, why would a vintage watch have a new hologram sticker on the back??

.... or why it would have a newer flip lock clasp on it especially with that new non smooth fliplock... im sure it would have been some thin folded oyster with a reg clasp?

You'd have to immediatly remove that bracelet and sticker on the back, then toss it into an empty cement mixer for a couple days then repolish it.

Lonnie

I'm not sure what's going on now. Silix told me these watches were going to be $86.00 shipped. I paid as instructed and now I get an email saying I owe them another $82.00 to get the watch.

What's up with that? Did the price go up?

gotta be a mistake somewhere. I also thought it was $58 + $28 shipping for up to two watches.

let us know what you find out

LOnnie

I love the crown!

my question is HOW did you vintagize the bracelet and get all the links looking loose and worn out? It looks like the rivits are worn and barely holding the bracelet together. Thats awesome!!

I need to know how to do this to mine!

This is one of my favorite watches on the forum! Good work!!!

cheers Lonnie

PS- how would it look with the bezel pearl missing? The pearl just looks so damn perfect for such and beaten up watch.

Let us know when it arrives and what you think. A lot of us have the same one in either Asian or swiss ETA.

Hopefully it doesnt get delivered by the "FBI rolex counterfeit task force undercover agents"....

(just kidding)

hehe

you'll have no problems and if you do, you've ordered from a great dealer that will make it right in the end.

cheers

Lonnie

www.watchmaterial.com/ pearl (PN315-16800)

http://www.doubleredseadweller.com

good ref site also

What you mean like THIS insert?

You could prob rep a good copy of that bezel with hard scratch resistant plastic of some kind..

They are both beautifull watches, but the SA just looks massive, it must be a combination of the bezel being thicker on the SA and it's larger diameter dial. Even as reps go, I would stick with an SA.

I have the bentley T and i love it. I am still waiting for a better SA rep to come out.

Lonnie

email sent

you mean the bezel? As far as i know, the new GMT Master ceramic bezel is hundreds and hundres of dollars alone for an aftermarket one... pretty pricey upgrade for a rep right now. in a year or so, some aftermarket company will be hammering these out by the millions and they will come down in price. I havent heard anything about swapping one in or if it will fit. Might be tought to sand down a ceramic bezel to fit when modding is needed. Take your dremel to your toilet or your sink and you'll see what i mean. Usually it just chips and breaks

Lonnie

I have always loved the older submariners. i think it was the lug holes that captured me. i just love the look of them. The more i read here at RWG the more i love the older watches. Now i am into 1665s and 1680s and PAM Fiddys on old worn leather.. mmm worn leather..

Lonnie

Torx head screwdriver

HAHA probably the display was designed by the same goof that designed thier new "Yachtmaster II" ha ha ha

Ya those Rolex dolphin displays are kinda strange LOL

I'd love to know if they made it possible to get a 'higher crown'... that would be the most important thing to me. The crown of the rep digs into your wrist all the time and that's quite anoying!

The dial and case thickness looks good...

Yeah i hope they use a better crown than in those pics.. yuck!! and make the rehaut straight down, not conical. The crown height isnt something easily fixed. if you raise the crown, you raise the movement and have a shallower rehaut. i'd rather have a proper rehaut than a proper crown height. The crown height is less detectable IMHO.

Any idea on price on this one?

I actually hope they make it with a solid midlink bracelet too, even though its incorrect.. i really HATE the new hollow midlinks even on the Gens.. makes the watch too light and it just "feels" wrong to me. Someone should call Rolex and tell them to smarten up! haha

Lift the bezel insert off of the bezel (the metal part) with an x-acto knife or similar sharp object and then pop the pearl off from the back. Pop the pearl out of the watchmaterial insert and glue it into the noobmariner insert. Then you clean the glue off of the bezel and insert and reglue. You can use 5 minute epoxy, GS hypo-cement, not superglue.

Or,

You might be able to just pop the noob pearl off and the glue the watchmaterial pearl in the hole. Just use the glue sparingly so you don't glue the bezel in place!

Trial and error is the key here!

I used "crazyglue Gel" on my last insert i glued into my Noobmariner and then i tried to swap it out again one day and well uhm.. nope.. shes glued in there forever i think LOL. whoops. I did all the prep.. grinded down the back and edges of the insert and scuffed up the inside of the bezel for better adhesion, and cleaned it all with rubbing alcohol... well its never coming out now (not without destroying the insert anyways). And yeah its really easy to glue the whole bezel in place and it will never turn again if you do.

I cant see the collector area either. I am patiently waiting to upgrade....

i'd strongly suggest removing the movement before filing the tube....you dont want to get filings into the movement =)

I did forgot to mention it though.. im far too excited right now to remember ALL the details ha ha ha

Lonnie

i just pulled my crown and tube on the Noob and modded the inner guards! HAHA I'm getting brave now! I tried the old swiss crown but it doesnt sit close enough to the case (about 1mm gap) when tight... hhmmm.. countersink the tube i guess hey?

Seems like becasue the crown is thinner, it wont screw down all the way and bet the end of the tube is hitting the inside of the crown (the original tube from this crown is all stripped)

maybe i can file off some of the end of the tube...

back to the work bench.. haha

Lonnie

Well i received my oyster caseback opener tool today to i decieded to perform surgery on a box of old busted Submariner reps i have. I had no idea what i was doing but after 3 hours i have a watch that actually works LOL

I took an old swiss rep case (8 yrs old and good date mag and deep straight rehaut) and filed down the crown guards. I then put in an old Asian Sub dial and movement that still works well. I took the crown tube off another swiss case to replace the stripped one on the project watch. My only problem is that when i take the swiss crown and install the Asian movement stem onto it, its then too short. So instead of using a really really good old swiss rep crown i am using the asian bigger crown with asian stem. Oh well.. i was just amazed that it works HAHAHA!!

I am gunna save the swiss crown and ETA stem for another project. Its very close to gen and not wide like all the new reps. I wonder if this old crown will fit onto my ETA Noobmariner i have... hmmmmm

would be a good excuse to mod them pesky crown guards... hehe

I would post a pic of what i just built but i dont have a digi camera here right now. I'll try to take some pics later in the week

Cheers

Lonnie

yeah your right the MBW or TW seems to be the best choice as a base to start with. Rehaut is important on a good franken.

With the Navitimer with sub dials at 12,9,6, you dont get the recessed date problem, and yes the newer asian movement is better than the older one.

I have both layouts, and I like the 12,9,6 two tone version more than the other stainless steel one I own with 3,6,9 layout. It looks particularly good on the leather strap.

haha the date on my Breitling Bentley chrono T rep is so recessed into the dial you can barely see it. All you see half the time is a shadow from the date window cutout way above the datewheel LOL LOL . Its definatly defferent from the Gen and first thing i look at on a good Breitling rep to see if its real or not. Its my #1 check point just like the crown guards on a Submariner

Cheers

Lonnie

Stunning!

Stephane, are you contemplating aquiring any genuine movements. I have read that the movement of the second hand is a dead give away. Is this so?

Does Ro!ex 1570 fit in a MBW?

You are Rep Crazy! (Apologies to McGuier's)

The beat rate on this rep would be smoother than the GEN if im not mistaken. This 1665 came with a slow beat movement.

I wouldnt say it would be a dead giveaway except to some of the eagle eye rolex experts like a lot of the guys here, and even still i think they would have to take a second or third close look I think the difference is something like slow beat 5 ticks per second and the ETA 28,800 is about 8 ticks per second (smoother)

I drank a lot last night to maybe im wrong here haha. I'm not thinking too clearly right now

As for the 1570 into the MBW.. read this recent post and see the details

http://www.rwg.cc/members/Finished-result-...ent-t37587.html

Lonnie

One question. Is the rivited bracelet correct for the 1665? I personally think it looks really good but i have never seen a GEN with a rivited oyster. I would be interested to know from one of the experts.

My 1665 also has a rivited bracelet but i was gunna put on a hollow endlink bracelet and save the rivited for my 1680 project.

Lonnie