RickFlorida

Who is Dung and how do I find him? I'm looking for a 5513 dial.

Great, thanks for the information. Ironically, I find the MQ Vietnam cases not very expensive at all for being good replicas. But I have read that some MQ dials cost 1K. A complete 5513 replica case is much cheaper than a dial from there so it's kind of weird. I also thought the Singer labeled 5513 repainted dials on ebay are probably fake. I like my HR ETA 5513 dial although the lume had to be corrected. Guess I'll keep thinking of which way I want to go. Thanks.

Hello everyone, I'm thinking of what 5513 dial and hands to get when I finally get a 1520, 1530, or 1570 movement. ( I don't have a preference because my case is not genuine anyways, I consider my MQ Vietnam based 5513 a kind of custom watch, obviously not genuine or original so only getting a 1520 doesn't mean much to me). I am not expert at all on rolex dials. Do I understand correctly that there are two main types of genuine dials. One, is an variety that came with the watch the first go around, and then "service" dials that are often used to replace them? Are those the ones that say "Singer" on the back? Are the common Ebay 5513 dials that say they are "repainted" and have "singer" on them service dials that have been repainted? What is the opinion on MQ Vietnam dials and hands for 5513. Is this the most "bang" for your buck? Thank you.

Thank you for the heads up on that movement. Thank you, sir!

5513 I just finished

Thank you Automatico, JackFlash, and a lot of other people in addition to the whole forum who helped me over the years I've been learning. This 5513 is by no means perfect but I definitely could not have gotten this far with getting the look I want without this forum. Thank you! The dial and hands are HR and I used watercolor markers to make the indicators and hands slightly yellowed. The key is to use one that is ochre colored and to also use a clear one so you can blend or erase. The dial was given a light spray of matte lacquer. The pictures don't show it but it really gives it a nice matte finish and you have to do this if you use water colors on the indicators or they would change/disappear. The crystal is a PA 462-67 from Otto Frei. This was the only Tropic 19 from Otto Frei that seemed to fit. The MQ case definitely uses 28.2mm as the case neck and not the smaller 28.03mm diameter found on early submariners. So the other generic tropic 19's were too small and would crack. It would be interesting to try other tropic 19's though, I wonder if other famous crystals like the german Tropic 19 or genuine Rolex tropic 19's would work? The midcase is a 5513 replica from MQ Vietnam. The caseback is a HR 5513 caseback. (It not only fits perfectly, but even the genuine spec O-ring gaskets fit perfectly so I think HR really replicated the 5513 caseback. I wonder why he won't try to make gen. spec 5513 midcases? The bezel assembly minus the pearl is from Watchman408 on Ebay. (Great guy, highly recommend, he makes sure the insert fits snugly into the bezel and that the bezel snaps onto the retaining ring if you ask him to check before shipping) WSO parts from Ebay never fit and are utter crap in my experience. I bleached the insert before attaching the Athaya pearl. The 702 crown replica and the pearl are from Athaya The movement (for now) is a SeaGull 2824-2 with datewheel removed and no spacer since that's all that will fit in a gen. spec 5513 case until I buy a 1520, 1530, or 1570 movement in the near future. I used a Yuki ETA adapter movement holding ring which was a little too big in diameter so I had to gently remove material until it fit perfect. This was fine because it's Okay if it's too big, you can always remove material but not add any. I don't know if Yuki error's on the side of too big so you can remove or if maybe Seagull 2824-2's are .3 or .5 mm bigger in diameter than Gen. ETA 2824-2? Either way, not big deal. I took my time to lock the movement down really snug, because I wear my watches hard so I didn't want any slop. Just like you guys taught me, the stem will still not perfectly line up when you put a 2824-2 in a 5513 case. It will work but I notice the stem has weird problems when you try to install, remove, or set the times every now and then. I got it working and the watch is watertight to at least over 200 feet so I'll just leave it as it until I buy a rolex movement. I used a DIY waterproof tester and the watch easily passed 200 feet of water resistance. I think it can go higher but the DIY waterpoof tester might explode if I go beyond 200 feet of water pressure and unlike you lucky bastards across the pond, hospital visits are expensive for me. I paddleboard in the ocean fishing and lobster diving (only to 35 feet) and surf. I can't take a phone with me and I lose track of time out on the water so it's good to have a watch back on my wrist. I'm hoping to find a 1520 or 1570 no date movement which if I understand correctly, will drop right in to gen. 5513 spec cases so at that time I will probably just buy a Vietnam dial and hands.

Hello, I recently discovered what Vostok Amphibia watches are from watching youtube. That is an amazing and interesting design and history. I find it really smart how they created a two part locking caseback that prevents the extreme shearing and distortion of O-rings like on traditional oyster cases. That was really smart. As well as the crystal becoming more watertight as pressure increases. But......... I think there is a major flaw at least in the ones made today (if the older ones were different?). While learning about Vostok Amphibia watches I see that the crown and bezel are made of brass or something other than stainless steel but is chrome plated while the other parts like case and caseback are stainless. I can't believe they did this because that is probably a fatal flaw if they really designed Vostok Amphibia's to be tough military dive watches. I fish and surf in the ocean almost every week of the year except maybe a few weeks in the winter. One thing I've learned is that if you place two dissimilar metals or alloys against each other and expose them to saltwater, they are subject to galvanic corrosion. Usually exposed copper is the worst but even though the brass parts of the vostok watch are chrome plated, I would think the galvanic corrosion would still occur. So here is my question, did Vostok Amphibia's originally made for the military divers of russia compose of only stainless steel and only the newly made Vostok for commercial are composed of brass parts mixed with stainless or did they always have this flaw?

Thank you but I don’t want to remove the dial and hands so I need the other method. Thank you guys as I did get enough answers from all of you.

Hello everyone, I'm going to attempt to repair my keyless works on a 2824-2 and with friendly help and the power of youtube, I think I know the steps to fix the keyless works except for removing the power from the main spring. I'm assuming you are not supposed to just let the watch wind down but you have to actually do something to remove or stop power from spring before working on keyless works? My oscillating weight is removed but I think there is still power in there as soon as you touch or move the movement. I don't know all part names or numbers so a link to a video would be great if you have it. Thank you.

Thank you! I’ll use a dial protector and do this.

I put my first watch together and realized my minute hand is bent upwards away from face a little too much. I know to bend them up you can slide plastic under them but is there a way to bend them *down* without removing them? I really don’t want to uninstall my seconds hand. Thanks for any tips! Rick

WSO stuff is really bad. I use Clarks brand aftermarket assemblies now. The WSO bezel assemblies always had bad fitting retaining rings that would not snap into the bezel. And the inserts would not snap into the bezel either.

Thank you Nanuq and all. While a metal die would move the retaining ring better, the pvc method is pretty good. I made my own like Nanuq. Works good but I might make a bronze or aluminum die for the future.

Nice thanks!

Fair enough. I think my main problem is not having a tool that fits over the the retaining ring wall and is deep enough for height of the crystal. I’d love to see what watch makers use on 5513 or 1680 crystals to press.

Buying 7 or 8 crystals and none of them fitting a 5513 replacement case is lunacy. Freezing stainless steel....It’s how we install tight fitting bearings on car wheels. If you have a better fitting crystal to avoid this I’ll buy it. The real lunacy too is that without the right tool, it’s hard to push the retaining ring straight. Does anyone know what tool is used ? Crystal presses do not have clearance for the dome crystal and depth of the retaining ring.

Thanks so much. It’s 28.18mm according to my cheap caliper. The Vietnam 5513 is supposed to be a pretty direct copy of the 5513 case. But even original 5513’s use different crystals I guess. my install may work out since it’s not cracked yet ( I did use magnification after install). I have an idea for next time. To put less stress on the crystal, I can use the same size next time but freeze the case to make is slightly smaller and then force the crystal on which in theory, may prevent stress.

Hi guys (and ladies if there are any here as well), I have up'd my game up and got a MQ Vietnam 5513 midcase so that I can use an ETA for now with a Yuki 55XX ETA adapter and will buy a 1520 movement in the near future. Anyways, I bought 3 different tropic 19 crystals. The GS PA 462-66, the GS PA 462-67, and some unknown tropic 19 from Ebay. The 462-67 which is at 30.48 mm is too big, when I place the crystal on the case, the retaining ring will not go over the crystal. The 462-66 which is 30.45mm will allow the retaining ring to go over the crystal but it took a lot of force and i had to use a PVC adapter method with a vice and lots of cushioning to get it done. I think it took too much force and the crystal may begin cracking in the future. It passed a water pressure test I did at 10 BAR but I think they sometimes crack over time if too tight? The third crystal was way too loose. Does anyone know which crystal works perfect on an MQ Vietnam 5513 Case? I would order one from him but it was such a pain the ass to wire money from the USA to him that I'd rather source a crystal myself if possible. And finally, my original question: What the heck tool do professional watch makers use to press 5513 retaining rings on with? I see the PVC method here and that helped but it's not perfect. The fit is not exact so it's difficult to center the retaining ring with the PVC tube method. I tried like an idiot using a crystal press and didn't realize that the dome shape and depth of 5513 crystals do not allow enough travel of crystal presses. It's impossible! I would really appreciate seeing a tool that rolex watch makers use so I can perhaps create my own tool. (I make jewelry by hobby and have some knowledge of making tools like presses). Thank you!

Cool, what movement does it have in it out of curiosity?

It's not bad if you just want to use the case and make a good rep. with it. It's also really good practice to build your own from the parts before you invest in more expensive parts. So the money is worth if for learning. The thing that worries me is that these makers don't care real hard about making everything to gen. spec. But if you spend the money on MQ Vietnam 5513 case/parts or Phong, etc, they make everything fit Gen. as a standard.

I heard a rumor that the cartel 5513 may not have correct specs anymore in terms of midcase crystal neck not being 28.2 mm? Is this rumor untrue?

Yes, the Helenarou 5513 caseback seems to be just like genuine since it fits my MQ Vietnam 5513 replacement case perfectly. So it is indeed 30.9mm.

Thank you to both of you. Sorry that is what not obvious enough to me but with the frustrations I get from keeping lint and dust off of crystals and dials, I wanted to minimize the amount of times I have to insert or flip things. So thank you very much.

After struggling with cartel cases, which don't even have good specs anymore I heard... I decided to shell out 500 bucks for a Vietnam MQ 5513 replacement case. The idea is that you could use a real rolex 1520 movement later down the road but for now I can install a ETA 28XX using the Yuki Adapter ring. The struggles to make the bezel and crystals work correctly are just so great that you mind as well spend 500 or 800 bucks on a quality 5513 case/set.

Hello everyone. When using the Yuki ETA adapter for 15XX cases, do I understand correctly that the adapter serves as a movement ring and I'm looking at the back of my case, I would inst all the movement and then this Yuki adapter with the flat side up? I thought I would ask so I don't have to do too may trial and errors. The Yuki photos looks like the adapter is used with the flat side up but I wasn't sure if that is correct or just staged for demonstration. Thanks, Rick