RickFlorida

Just for a follow up....I would definitely only recommend using a pin vise instead of crushing the tube with a large vise unless you intend to not reuse the part that is getting crushed. I would think it's almost impossible not to deform that part if you use a large benchtop vise.

I think it's harder to get white Vietnam lumed 5513 or 1680 dials than you think. At least the guy I use from Ho Chi Minh only has various shades of yellow or brown. I specifically asked him for a white 5513 lumed dial and he said he has none. And when you look on eBay, all of the Vietnam dials are without white Lume as well.

If I get a chance I suppose I can post a picture but it isn't just the plots that I want whiter. When I purchased my Vietnam Dial, the guy in Ho Chi Minh let me pick out my dial from his many dials by whatsapp images. Which was great and I got to pick out what I wanted. But when I got the dial in hand and installed in my watch, I now realize the matte black is much too grey and not black compared to just about any 5513 dial. I know we can fret over little things and get obsessive in this rabbit hole of looking for perfection. But I just think my dial is too grey and the well known refinisher in Poland told me he can make the dial more accurate in addition to using quality new lume. I know here in America, we have crap loads of dial makers who will make those datejust diamond dials jobs all day long but I don't see any American places online that reprint matte dials and hand lume them. Do they not advertise like the crap tone of datejust or president diamond dial guys?

I'm in the same boat. Got a Vietnam dial and I'm just learning more that it's not very accurate. I looked into having the dial reprinted and lumed white but only found a well known dial restorer in Poland so far. He quoted 350. Is there anyone in America that refinished matte dials and relumes? Shipping from Eastern Europe took 3 months last time I bought something

Thank you so much Freddy! Holy crap I love you for this. Your pictures and explanation are perfect, I see it is indeed threaded so I can remove it, then I can deburr or remove the very first part of the thread, then put it all back together with a new gasket. Thanks!

I found this fantastic image but it doesn't really how how the larger tube in installed on the crown. It says the smaller part (piston clutch ring) is soldered to the sleeve of the crown. But it doesn't say how the largest tube on the crown is secured to the crown. Is that larger part pressed fit, soldered, or screwed in?

I have a genuine 703 crown that I want to use. But the very first internal thread that goes onto the tube has it's first .1 or .2mm deformed. The entire rest of the thread looks fine so it's a shame to throw away or never use. (It will not screw onto tubes, even brand new tubes that I have tried due to that deformed first .1 or .2mm of thread). I saw online that a jeweler says he sometimes uses a lathe or a file to remove some of the first thread to use the crown. This crown I have is a perfect candidate but to me, there is not a good way to deburr that beginning of the thread without removing the clutch spring pusher. Can it be removed or are these permanently pressed in or something? I don't understand how they are constructed. With a ultra small lathe tool, I suppose you can deburr without removing the clutch spring pusher. But with a file, you need more room I think. Thanks for any advice. Rick

I would like to be able to replace old and tired knurled pins in an oyster bracelet but wasn't sure if it's really possible with those fancy Jubilee and oyster pin removing tools that cost up to 800 bucks. Has anyone make their own tool to separate the Oyster links of a 93150 bracelet and then replace the knurled pins? I suppose it's a matter of evenly separating the pins from the top and the bottom. I'm patient and would rather build a jig than pay 400 to 800 bucks for the tool. I think the Jubillee separating tool actually is the more complicated tool to build comparted to the Oyster but it's hard to tell just from photo graphs. I almost am tempted to buy one, then take all the measurements, and then return it and try to build my own. But has anyone found a fast way to do this? (remove the links and replace without a really fancy jig )?

That is an extremely nice dial. I love it. But I don't know if that is a lollipop dial Mk3. The dial plots are the same size as other maxi dials. But wow, nice dial!

I believe the Mk3 dials (lollipop) have a slightly enlarged dial plot to where it almost "kisses" the minute markers. I guess I'm super OCD if I only notice it compared to most people. But I really like them and the case I have being made now is going to match the late 70's. I don't like the quality of Rubywatch dials. From the photos, the overall quality of the dial are not high enough so now my idea is to get a different dial and simply have someone enlarge the plots by hand. I think that is the only difference anways. I think the hands are the same size and only the plots are slightly bigger. The Lollipop version of Tudor Subs is a different animal altogether and does have different hands and different dials. But for the Rolex 5513, only the plots on the dial are different (just slightly larger). Below is a lollipop Mk3 dial. The plots just about touch the minute markers because the plot is slightly larger by being elongated. I just need to find someone who can elongate the plots by hand if I get a regular dial I assume. They are called lollipop because with the round lot touching the minute hand, it's like a lollipop. (But you have to turn your head for the correct orientation, get it?) I didn't get it either at first.

I guess I should have asked.... who makes custom dials so I can have one made.

Rubywatch has the dial on her/his site and then when I emailed, she/said yes to the dial but that the hands are not available. That made me realize the hands were different I assume.

Something I didn't think about is the hands. Did the 5513 Mk3 dial (lollipop) have specific/different hands too? So even if I find a dial, I may need different hands. This project sounds impossible now.

I didn't know Helenarou made an Eta adapter to put ETA's in genuine spec Rolex 15xx cases. I thought only Yuki did? Is one better than the other for anyone whose tried both?

Thank you Jackflash and Hologramet. I have a Vietnam midcase that came with no crown so I indeed use an Athaya 702 and have to admit it has not had a water intrusion problem. However, I recently received a genuine sub crown that came with a 1520 movement and what I noticed is the inside gasket was massive and heavy duty looking. I think the crown is a 704 or maybe a 703. It just looks so much better and heavier duty looking. But I understand the period correctness for 5517 you are talking about. I guess I was kind of high jacking the thread to understand the construction of the Ruby case crown but I think it's helpful to know for this build here as well the information about either crown. It sounds like the crown that comes with a Vietnam case is clunky and not good anyways so it sounds like a good idea to always use Athaya or a gen on it for any build. So thank you, this has been helpful and I think helpful for this cool 5517 project here.

If we buy a complete Ruby case, what is the need for an Athaya 702 crown? What version of the crown comes on Ruby case and what are the advantages disadvantages? I know the Athaya 702 looks incredible but the clutch springs in crowns are weak. Plus, if the Ruby crown is 703 or 704, it will be more water proof than the Athaya 702. I'm about to order a Ruby case so I really would like to please know.

Does anyone know where I could get an aftermarket 5513 mk3 lollipop dial from for genuine movements? The Vietnam sources are awesome but it's confusing to know if all 3 just get their stuff from the same sources? I ask because the Vietnam source I currently use, does not seem to have mk3 lollipop dials even though the dials are a simple matte dial. Does no one really make these perhaps? You would think the explorer sub dial and the mk3 lollipop would be very popular aftermarket dials or does the Vietnam source like to not make these because they would get too much attention? The explorer sub dial is supposed to be glossy and not matte so that is harder to make right I bet. But wouldn't the mk3 lollipop dial be easy to make?

You make excellent points, Automatico, and I appreciate your details and knowledge here.

I totally understand your logic and agree that it's more cost effective to try and modify Cartel cases. But I don't believe that's really possible anymore and please let me know if I'm wrong. I thought I heard that the new Cartel 5513 cases don't have genuine spec crystal "necks". (the part that is around 28.2 mm for the rystal). I also find it hard to imagine that the inside of the case can really be machined to not only fit the 15XX movements but to also have the right stem height. Since Cartel cases use movement rings and rolex cases do not, there must be a lot more "slop" and space inside the cartel case. It's hard for me to hope that you could ever get the right stem height. But like I mentioned before, I could swear that the new cartel cases for 5513 have non genuine size crystal necks. We don't really have a choice anymore to build 5513's. What's really really frustrating is I see a butt load of aftermarket seiko diver cases being made in high quality and for as little as 37 dollars. It cant' be this hard to make a 5513 case and I think with determination we can hopefully once day solve this problem.

Does Big Dazza have a website?

nice! Yeah, how are you gonna pick out a case? Gen case are like 4 to 9K now and Phong and son are completely off the radar. They don't respond to emails at least from new customers. Yuki stopped making 5513 cases. The only people who make cases are both connected to each other and in Vietnam. I think we are lucky that MQ and Rubywatch does not raise their prices as they are the last people who can make cases as far as I know.

Ah, I see why your's looks so different. Very cool!

Nice watch, JackFlash! I like your bezel/insert! My insert I designed is obviously more flat that the traditional fifty fathoms style of the diamond lume I used but I wanted to make it flat and simple after seeing other mods like that. I might play around and make a traditional insert with 15, 45 markers and the lines but I will personally use the simple one. You are in the UK? It was ill be interesting to see how long my vostok takes to get here to the USA with the pandemic. I ordered my Amphibian 2 weeks ago and they warned me how long things are taking. So I'll have time to paint my insert once I get it.

There is no audio but here is how I made an insert for a vostok amphibian on the way to me. I bought a bezel that fits seiko inserts but due to the pandemic, shipping costs are outrageous from Dagaz or other insert dealers. So I made my own insert and will have Shapeways print it in aluminum. Then I'll paint it black and fill the lume hole I made with yellow or cream lume. https://us.bbcollab.com/collab/ui/session/playback/load/da434f68fed841bfac8d3c228fc774ff

Some updates yes. They are good and bad. The good is that I'm learning a lot about how this is done and possible. There are tolerance terms like "constrained" and many different technologies that I didn't even know for how to reverse engineer. The bad news is that it's rather expensive. (Some quotes were 3600 dollars). I did get some quotes as low as 600 dollars to reverse engineer but what I'm worried about is that once I pay to have it reverse engineered, what if I find out the cost to have a single case made from the CNC file exceeds the 600 dollar cost from Rubywatch or MQ? Although there is the danger they may stop making cases like everyone else has. (Yuki stopped making 5513's, Phong and his son are impossible to reach right now, etc.) Sadly, the most eager and lowest cost engineer I found who wants to replicate my sterile MQ case is in Slovenia and the shipping costs due to pandemic make the cost 137 dollars just to ship the small case to him! That's one way! Russia is still air mailing things cheap as i bought a Vostok watch and shipping was 9 bucks last week. But every other country wants incredible shipping costs. So I'm trying to keep my reverse engineer quote in the USA where I am. I found a guy who will do it for 450 for just the midcase. I'm still hesitant until I talk to another guy next week so stay tuned. Once I know what the cost to have one made from the file is, then I'll be more likely to find the money to have the reverse engineering done.