kyldare

On 10/19/2021 at 3:15 PM, freddy333 said:

 

Finding hands & pushers should not be difficult (or terribly costly). But the cost of a decent gen (62xx Daytona) dial will likely match or exceed $35k today.
Accurate aftermarket 62xx bezels can be found, but good luck finding a proper gen folded-link/rivet bracelet with the correct set of 62xx Daytona end links for anything less than a king's ransom. Hell, even gen steel 19mm 7835/357 bracelets, which fit (but were not made for) 62xx Daytonas, are starting to exceed the $1k mark.

Whelp, as a follow-up to this conundrum, I bought what amounts to a Genstein 6265 from Jacek at Tropical Watch. It's a 6265 with some service parts. I suspect it was screwed together some time in the nineties, based on the watchmaker's markings inside the caseback. At some point, the 727 was swapped out for a 722. I paid a lot for it; There's now way around that. Call me a fool if you'd like. But I paid a LOT less than for an all-original 6265. And while my wallet stings, I don't think you could have built this watch with Gen parts for any less than I paid for it. And now I don't suffer the nagging annoyance when I look down at my wrist that things aren't quite perfect. I've seen and handled quite a few aftermarket Daytona cases now, and none of them get the proportions just right. Also the solidity, precision, and resistance while winding the 722 feels worlds different than any V72 or V727 I've owned. It's a much more refined and robust experience, to my mind. Could be that I'm justifying my purchase, as I'm sure someone on this forum will tell me a Franken could be built that matches this watch. In the end, I wanted all Gen parts and I paid for it. But it's fitting that, in some way, the watch is a Franken, as my journey as a watch enthusiast began by piecing together five-digit Datejusts from eBay listings.

This watch represents the end of the road for me, honestly. I'm liquidating everything else in my collection at this point, until I've got this 6265 and my trusty Seiko 7002 (plus a G-Shock). I got to ride the collecting and modding hobby up this wild appreciation curve and I truly enjoyed it. But now I'm cashing in my chips. If anybody's interested in my PN Franken Daytona, I'll be posting that for sale in the coming week. Will sell off my Gen watches elsewhere. 

15 hours ago, Nanuq said:

 

Tell ya what... send me $35,000 and I'll send you a spectacular plexi Daytona.  Absolutely indistinguishable from the naked eye, with the caveat you don't get to open it.  It will be gen, or it will be a great Franken.  But it will look, act and feel like a gen in every way.  I'll invest the difference from what it cost me (if there's any left over) and you enjoy the watch.  After 5 years if it doesn't scratch the itch any more, send it back, I'll resell it for 20% more than I paid for it, and refund your money.  

 

I'll make out like a bandit and you'll have no way of knowing if it's real or not.  It's a gamble, and it's NOT a gamble at the same time.

 

 

 

(an illustration about intangibles and our unreasonable hearts)

Honestly, at this point, I'd pay a very good price (not $35k haha) for a V72 Franken that had a Gen dial, hands, pushers, and bezel, all housed in a case that got the profile/feel perfect. My franken 6263 is fun occasionally, but the aftermarket case doesn't have the right lug length and profile, and the bezel/dial/hands have some minor flaws. Altogether, it's not quite close enough to Gen for me, and prices for Gen dials/hands/bezels have really run away. 

I cringe, because I had a full Gen 6262 case set, complete with bezel and pushers, sitting in my desk drawer for YEARS. Sold it because I didn't want a pump pusher Daytona. Those parts would buy me.... well I don't want to think about it. 

On 10/14/2021 at 11:37 AM, freddy333 said:

 

If, by 'rep', you mean 100% (generally Asian-made) aftermarket, then I think the satisfaction depends on the quality of the particular rep, your knowledge/experience with the real thing & expectations.
If you take a low-end Rolex Sub rep & replace the crown/crown tube with gen parts, you will greatly improve the feel of that rep when winding/time-setting. However, the case, crystal, bracelet will still have a low-end feel. The more components you replace with gens, the more the rep's overall feel will match the gen's (ie, improve).

But since you added the qualifier 'well-built', I am guessing you are actually referring to frankens -- either a 100% genuine collection of Rolex parts assembled by someone other than Rolex, or a combination of aftermarket & gen parts assembled by someone other than Rolex.
In the case of the former, since you are dealing with all gen parts & assuming the watch is properly assembled, there should be no difference in the feel of this watch & the same model built by Rolex.
In the case of the latter, the feel will be dependent on the ability/knowledge/effort of the assembler & your knowledge/experience with the (Rolex factory-made) gen.

In my experience, a well-crafted franken, where all of the user-accessible components are gen, will have the same feel as the gen.

I've been fortunate to have just about every Gen vintage Rolex I ever wanted after getting into the hobby by building frankens. The only full Gen I haven't had is a plexi Daytona; Only had that nice Franken, which always left me with just a niggling sliver of desire for the real thing. So I sold the watch for a Gen Sub, with the understanding I'd never get to fully scratch that Daytona itch.

That said, I sold that Franken Daytona about five years ago, and I've missed it like crazy ever since. Contacted the buyer to try and get it back, but to no avail. I bought another franken Daytona, but it still leaves me with a bit of that longing for the real deal. However, with the price disparity between a crappy Gen and a great Franken being well into five figures, I'm not sure that extra cost is worth the shred of satisfaction. But I thought I'd ask. 

I guess my question was more philosophical, and aimed squarely at the Gen Daytona and its Franken ilk. 

Wow! Lovely watches. Does the satisfaction of a well-built Daytona rep touch the feeling of a real one?

I had a GenStein 6265 (literally all Gen, save the V72). Miss it more than any other watch I've had - Gen or not. Would love to have a Gen plexi Daytona, but now they're $60k or more. 

5 hours ago, Bart Cordell said:

Ordered 20 bars, I should receive them within a week.
10 for me, If anyone is interested in the other 10.

I'll take them unless someone else has claimed them.

PM me your PayPal address and I can send money for the spring bars + shipping!

Wow... great catch. I'm always amazed at the knowledge on forums (especially this one). 

Makes me so wary to buy another high-value vintage Rolex and makes the modding community so much more enticing.

Still have it. Trying to find some hands to complete the build!

Yeah, it was a real beauty. I miss it

Hopefully I can get my 6262 finished the fill the void it left in my soul. 

I don't have calipers, but I might be able to find a set to get a measurement for you. I'll see what I can do this weekend. 

Thanks for the advice on the movement for my case!!! I read a lot of opinions about what to use without any links or much context. I really appreciate it. 

On 3/3/2016 at 6:27 PM, Nightwatch said:

Hi and thanks. No modifications for the movement necessary as it came with the base 1655: http://www.ttw8488.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_4&products_id=6561 this ETA-clone replacement with R- dwo would also do with an ETA dial and hands (seller on ebay too): http://www.helenarou.com/hangzhou-6460-automatic-gmt-movement-date-at-300-eta-283646030028362.html. 

For fitting the all gen parts, You would need a Yuki 3135 movement modified to 3185 (check Yukiwatches) and contact Misikpied to modify it (with movement/parts/service and modification You´re talking +-$around $835). Verify first if this really does fit the 1675 case (and stem height/placement).

For interest: what is the overall thickness of the gen 1675 including plexi (without cyclops) measured at the center and at the 2 o´clock corner if You have some calipers

Gorgeous build! I can only imagine the satisfaction of having finished a project that lengthy. Congrats!

Where did you source the 2836-2? 

Did you have to modify it much to fit in the case or to accept the hands at all?

I'm looking for a GMT movement to use with my gen 1675 hands/dial/case and am trying to decide what will be most accurate to the original movement and least complex to get into my case with a gen date wheel. Originally had planned on a 2893-2, but would like to know about this route a bit more...

My god, that's beautiful!

Update time!

It's been about a year since my first post here and a lot has changed! I've learned a ton more and invested a lot more time (and money  :|  ) into the hobby.

First off, the 6265 was sold to a gentleman that contacted me through eBay. IIRC he is an RWG member. Maybe he'll reveal himself at some point. So long sweet prince!

In the past year I've bought and sold a few more 16013 projects. Still have this one that I'm working on, all Gen parts:

I just bought a set of pin vices and a small file to shorten the stem. Not sure how to replace the crystal without the proper tool. Might have to get get a press!

With the money from my Franken 6265, I purchased this Gen 6262 mid-case, bezel, crown and pushers to begin a grail build of sorts. Has a 6265 caseback. 

I'm still waiting to see if I can find a Gen dial and hands in good shape. My search so far for a Gen 6239/6262 dial has been fruitless! Can't decide if I want to get the best rep Newman dial I can get my hands on and pop that in there with a V72 for the time being, or just hold out for the Gen dial. 

With funds from flipping some non-Rolex watches and the 16000s over the past year, I made a BuyItNow impulse buy on theBay.

It's nothing particularly rare or special, just a clean Gen 1680 with good patina for a great price. 

Finally, I'm selling a Gen 1016 that I found on eBay:

The dial appears to have been refinished and I have to clear out something. It's beautiful, but the dial is a turn-off for me and I'm a bit strapped for cash with all these half-finished projects in my watch drawer! Either this or the 1680 has to go. I can't decide!

Bonus content:

Here's a pic of a Heuer Camaro case/dial I found on eBay:

Still need to find a movement and some hands. 

Also, I was looking through a thrift shop and found this box for $4. Going to try and refinish it and replace the felt on the inside to turn into a watch box. 

Does Ivan have a site? Is he on this site?

What movement are you guys using in your 1675s?

I got a Gen case/dial/hands on eBay and need to find a movement similar to the 1575 to use in the build. 

I had my eye on the 5513 midcase he was selling. Glad I bumped into this thread! Still doesn't take the sting out of the 1665 case I missed out on last week though

Open up the crown... Point it up... Heat with hairdryer...

Simple physics is too complicated for me haha.

Plus now I'm extremely bothered by the fact that I can't get this damn case back open!!! aggghhhhh

Honestly, I'm about 100x more excited about all the new Tudor models just announced.

I went and checked out a heritage ranger a few weeks ago and it looked fantastic. Excited to check out the new models when they hit showrooms. 

Just an update or two on the projects!

Sold the 16013 on the bay.

The 6265 developed some condensation issues following a long roadtrip across my state. 

You can see some of it in the photo here:

But it was MUCH worse after I got back home from about 700 miles of driving over a weekend. There were very large droplets of water on the inside of the crystal, so I let it sit for a few days and now it looks like it does in the picture. 

Soooo I looked around on the forums to see how to fix it.

First, I tried getting the caseback open with my trusty old rubber gloves. Didn't work. Then I bought one of those blue rubber balls on amazon. The thing broke after like 5 tries and now it's useless. Okay... so then I go onto amazon and order one of these:

It's supposed to replicate the Bergeron (or however you spell that) kit at a lower price. 

Soooooo.,..... I tried that kit and even the largest bit ended up being a tiny bit too small to open the caseback. The caseback isn't gen, and it appears to be slightly larger than the 29.50mm bit. Was this an oversight on my part? Or would that largest bit work on a gen Rolex caseback?

Also picked up some silica gel to try and dry out the moisture before I re-seal this puppy:

Anyone have tips for opening the caseback? Or a tool that you've used successfully?

Also, I'm trying to find an eta movement to finally finish my 1675 project. I'd like to buy an eta, but I've been seeing people using the chinese clone movements. Is it worth it to spring for an eta? Does anyone know the most plug-and-play eta solution? Or will all of the eta movements require a bit of modification to get the GMT function to work in that case size?

Do yourself the favor and justice of making that build 100% gen on the outside - you'll never regret it!  I know I never have..

 

 

What movement is in yours?

Yeah, I checked everything to make sure it was a gen movement. Turned out alright for me! Thanks for the warning though. 

I'll update this thread with some more pics tomorrow. Got a couple new developments (sold one 16013, got another case and got scammed on a Tudor case). 

Wow, that's a beautiful piece. 

I love it on the strap in the photos. Really fits the tool-watch vibe. 

Hey guys Im searching for a rivet pin that holds the fold over lever on the clasp. Does anybody know what size it is in diameter and length. Much appreciated. 

Just wanted to bump this thread because I'm looking for the same thing for my 78350 bracelet. I searched through some old threads but didn't find anything definitive.

I'm guessing I could just get a generic one from Ofrei ( http://www.ofrei.com/shop-bin/sc/productsearch.cgi?search_field=rivet&storeid=*18c7206db05b662fec69a4cc40b9), but was wondering if anyone had found a better or gen option?

The one right between us on Dearborn. You gonna go buy all the vases full of watches? I'll help sort...

We may need a case of Elysian beer to help us sort.

Wow, beautiful joints!

Looking forward to seeing the finished product. 

Which Goodwill is that?