Dizzy

Try ebay for a donor watch... Or gen forums like timezone.com dizz

You can definatly see the rehaut thickness in your pic BT, and it sure is a big difference comparerd to the rep. Dont get me wrong BT, without your opinion, we wouldnt know what to buy half the time, and im sure your reviews have changed the way a lot of watches have been improved over the years. I know a lot of the dealers respect your reviews and info is passed along to the factories. It takes someone to come out and say "this rehaut sucks" or "these crown guards are rediculous" otherwise reps would never imrpove

I see that your pool isnt heated.... hehe Soooo..... are you gunna part with the old franken-tona??? I'd hate to see that inferior watch just get tossed into a drawer somewhere and forgotten lol dizz

A lot of us here have these level of replicas with gen movements or the Valjoux 72 or Val 23 movement conversions (old daytonas). They can cost upwards of $5000 or more to build. Are those solid gold daytona cases? How much for the daytonas? How much for something like GMT or EXP II? These watches are built by a lot members here and pop up in the for sale section regularly, and usually sell quite fast. Dizz

What movement does the watch have? If its an ETA then yes there are parts available... If its a cheap asian/Japanese movement from 10 yrs ago then no there are probably no parts available. Post up some pics or give us some more info and we will help you out. You can always just buy a whole replacement movement and have in installed, then you know the watch is good for another 10 years Or you can replace the whole watch with one of the newer ones made now. Theres some HIGH quality stuff coming out for only a couple hundred bucks these days! The new vintage ETA sport rolex reps from Puretime and the new vintage exp II from the cartel. Or maybe a new ceramic 2010 submariner from the noobfactory. Lots of choices!! dizz

And as for this WM9 Sea-dweller, for those who paid money a year ago or more.. I would be [censored] off and wondering why NOBODY has any answers about this watch and we havent sven seen any pre-production pics like we used to get with the 16610 from them. It seems like every 3 or 4 months we get an update saying its going to be another 3 or 4 months.... After all he said like 6 months ago he was waiting on the dial manufacturer? How long does it take someone to make up a couple hundred dials so he can fill some pre-orders??? When i actually see this watch i think i will honestly be surprised because as of right now i dont think it exists Plus it will be a version 1, so it will have flaws anyways, thats why we have a WM9 16610 Version 3 now hahahaha! Im not trying to make fun of WM9, i just think there are too many customers waiting far too long without any answers. dizz

Even the WM9 models need to be modded (CG;s, crown, bezel insert etc) so I'd rather start with a $200 base than a $600 base. I still fail to see why the WM9 is $600 but thats just me. I personally think its WAY overpriced. I guess it depends how picky you are. Rehaut thickness and hand stacks and all that crap doesnt bother me. Its very minor when you look at the big picture. The big tells on a Rolex sport watch are going to be: In no specific order... These are things you can see from arms length away - Crown size and accuracy - Rehaut depth and wokkyness - crown guards - Bracelet (SEL etc) After that its (close up inspection) - dial quality and accuracy - crown position - crystal height, engraved crown - rehaut width - bezel pearl etc etc etc These lists are just an example.. some things are more important for some people, but these are sort of my guidelines. For me, this isnt a game of perfection... I try to make a rep accurate enough so i can wear it every day and be happy with it and not have to worry about the avg 'watch guy' calling me out while its on my wrist. After all, how often do you hand your watches over to jewellers or WIS's for closer inspection??? I bet you could take a super sea-dweller out of the box, take it to any jeweller that doesnt sell high end watches and they would swear it was gen (without opening it). i think sometimes we get too excited and forget how good the replicas of today really are Like we always say, if you expect perfection and want a watch you can wear into an AD and get away with it, the buy a gen, because a rep will obviously never make you happy. Buy, trade, collect, modify, learn and most importantly HAVE FUN! [Edited for spelling]

Yeah just like the "aftermarket case with refinished dial and gen 1570 movement"... This could also be a couple of damaged watched mashed together to make something worth selling, but im willing to bet its an aftermarket case with refinished dial and probably a worn out or water damaged 3185. Have a look at his other auctions.. a couple other questionable watches.

Lube??? uhm...

What i would do is glue the date wheel right to the back of the dial. Who cares if it doesnt work, at least it will look like gen. Just say u never use the date so u never set it or perhaps you can do the datewheel spacer mod if it applies to this setup. Oh yeah.. and send that crystal out for double AR

take a small file and flatten out that big lump of a rivit so it fits inside the clasp.

You need to remove the bezel from the watch. I guess you can leave the insert in the bezel if you want. The bezel comes off easy on these, you just pry it off. Its just held on with a round retention ring. dizzz

Actually the Tudor clasp wasnt that bad. The rivit pin thing holding the fliplock on was worn through. I have all the pieces in my parts trays. Im sure i'll be able to use it for something I'll try to get some pics of the 5514 as soon as possible.. i just finished putting the insert back in, and did some banging, scratching and repolishing of the crystal. Im just waiting to come across a nice clasp for this bracelet. The 93150 clasp just doesnt look right on this beaten and stretched folded oyster. I think i might try using the regular clasp off a datejust or rivit bracelet and see how it looks... what do you guys think? I dont care if its 100% correct, but i just want it to look cool. Its ok if its a datejust style clasp because a 40 year old watch might be hacked together to keep it in working order. dizz

This is exactly how i do it.. 50/50 bleach and water. I start with a 5 min dip then rinse off under the tap. Inspect and repeat. Different inserts will take different times in the solution depending on quality, paint type etc etc. If you want scratches on it or damage, be sure to inflict this prior to bleaching for best result BEFORE AFTER

The rehaut doesnt bother me all that much. I dont care for the big etched crown though For the price, the super sea-dweller is the best version made thus far and it can be modded to be better. Has anyone even seen pics of this WM9 sea-dweller? Even pre-production pics? The pics on his site are of the gen rolex that they apparently used for the replication process. I heard they were just waiting on the dials to be reprinted. Has anyone even seen the case or bracelet or anything?? It seems like a phantom project that doesnt exist. Wasnt it supposed to be released like a year ago? hahaha dizz

Yes the Super Sea-Dweller is a VERY good rep. Shave the crown guards a little bit and you're good to go. The stock crown is prettty good and has a gen size tube. You would swap out the bezel insert also and thats about all it needs. I've had one for years and its a very accurate rep. Its the only 16600 with the correct thickness case, bezel and gen looking HEV. They make a version 1 and a version 2, the V2 has a thicker bezel and bettter bracelet screws. dizz

i agree.. $100 for the most simple of movements.. $200 for chronographs seems about right.. The last 7750 i got done was $175. I had a gen Bentley Flying B jump hour serviced with parts and it was $350 but as you know thats a unique setup.

+1

I wore my seconds@6 daytona ONCE and it was dead... now its a paper weight...

If you look at his past auctions, they are mostly for $10 items and one or two around $200.. well euros i guess they are... total scam.

I would assume the gasket inside the crown is becomming compressed. As long as the gaskets are kept lubed it should be water resistant. You should probably pull the crown off and have a look at the gaskets and replace them if necessary. dizz

Where do you get an MBW daytona case?? I heard they used to make them but i have never seen one before... This must have come with one of the old wide spaced subdial ETA7750 movements?? Very cool project!!

wonder if its possible to use the newer daytonas like the sec@6 made in the Noobfactory. Its thicker than gen, but i wonder if a proper flatter caseback would help? Or perhaps one of the thinner cases floating around from one of the better faux subdial daytonas. Some of these cases are fairly accurate and can be modded with gen pushers, crown/tube beze etc etc Just an idea Dizz

wow good link... Im gunna make a coffee and read it right now!!

Awesome!!