Pete Sinclair

Excellent , sounds like the same guy from eBay probably. That’s inflation for you [emoji2]Great picture of your grandfather and the watch looks amazing, a real icon. I can understand your love for it . Enjoy wearing it in good health. You’ll find yourself looking down at your wrist a lot! [emoji1303] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Rob Congratulations on your very nice inheritance! Your grandfather had great taste! That looks like a great dial, and original hand set, obviously unusual to see a sub bezel fitted ,obviously the reason for your search. The sub bezel must be worth a tidy bit. That also looks like it could well be a Gay Freres bracelet which are quite rare. I don’t know if you read the earlier part of the thread about my experience and thoughts on the purchase from eBay . It’s at the top of this thread. I basically stuck with that aftermarket “Fakelite “bezel. It is by no means perfect but does look nice as it looks like how the originals darken over time. There is a guy who often pops up on eBay from the states who makes his own very authentic looking bezels for around $370. There’s also a guy on RWC ( I think his names JoeyB it’s in the thread) who makes some nice ones. Who like the guy who makes his own on eBay manages to make them look weathered and are very good. I also managed to get an original service bezel and aluminium Pepsi insert so I can swop them around with either a jubilee or rivet bracelet. I was also lucky to pick it up for only £800 for both which was a good deal. Real Bakelites are way out of my price range starting at £10,000 ! I hope you get on well in your search. May I respectfully suggest you join and post on Vintage Rolex Forum if not done already. You’ll get a great deal of interest and great advice from the great members on there . Above all don’t touch anything leave it all as is except the bezel of course ! Anyway get back in touch if you want to know more. Kind regards Pete Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks JSebWC totally agree 👍🏻

Thanks Nanuq, it is very comfortable and is a genuine Rolex jubilee as is the watch , Just the bezel which is aftermarket with a Fakelite insert. Cheers Pete

Cheers alligoat and thanks for your help, much appreciated 👏🏻

This time on a jubilee [emoji1303] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi to the good folks on the forum. I thought I’d just post a wrist shot with my watch on a jubilee, I’m starting to think I prefer it more than the rivet bracelet 🤔 Nice dilemma to have though 👍🏻

It would be rude not to [emoji1303] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Oops no idea why there’s two Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi automatico, thank you very much. Some really interesting anecdotes .I agree with your comments in regards to the average joes knowledge of the reference . I have to say it’s gone absolutely crazy with all the watches you mentioned although they are beautiful things to have. I guess it’s just supply and demand and people want these beautiful and amazing timepieces . I’m extremely lucky and I agree with you as my preferred option will definitely be the bakelite style. Who knows I may decide never to swop it over with a Pepsi one but it’s a great dilemma to have, regards Pete

Ideal, thanks for the info, I have found a supplier over here so sounds like another good option to consider, regards Pete

Hi JSebWC thanks , it’s taken a while lol. Thanks for your sound advice which I’ll look into. That’s very generous of you for the offer but don’t worry I’ll get some over here across the pond!. Thanks for the encouragement to achieve my aim. Wear yours in good health. Kind regards Pete

Thanks Joeyb I have seen those with the cutouts on the vintage forum website , so that makes sense . Thanks for the advice, forgive my ignorance RTV ? Thanks Pete Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You’re most welcome, kind regards Pete Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bezel Update So the bezel set arrived . Overall I’m very happy with the package with a slight reservation. So this is what you get in the pack; the brass (Nickel plated) bezel with spring fitted; spare spring; plus another wire ( presumably to make up another spring if required) which is handy, two different crystal retaining rings of different thicknesses; a very nice replica Bakelite insert and the bonus of an extra faux faded Pepsi insert. First the good, the bezel looks well engineered although not perfect it’s pretty close. The Bakelite (I’ll call it) looks amazing, but here’s the not so good, the insert does not fit tightly in the bezel so would require glueing. For me something like contact adhesive (so removal would be possible later ) would be required. Not ideal and a bit of a faff but to me this scenario may be preferable as I may want to occasionally change the inserts and I could foresee a problem if the insert was too tight a fit and being plastic it could be liable to breaking when trying to pop it out and bang goes the look. So not a deal breaker for me . If you don’t want to change out the inserts and keep the Bakelite look, then not an issue really, just glue it and forget about it. So in truth I personally find that perfectly acceptable all things considered. I’ve no doubt not everybody will see it that way and may want to look elsewhere . Note the Bakelite is also luminous (see picture).The Pepsi style insert fits in tight as it should but obviously being aftermarket it is not the quality of the genuine article, (as expected) and it’s quite thin and flexible, so inserting and removing on a regular basis could possibly distort it I suspect, but it does the job. It’s not really to my taste although they’ve made a reasonable attempt at the fonts (not hooked 2’s etc) it’s just about passable. I prefer to get a genuine Pepsi insert in any event and fit that. As I mentioned the bezel itself is decent quality. It fitted over the original 6542 crystal retaining ring ok with a bit of manipulation with a nice solid click but it’s a bit tight to click turn the bezel easily. I have read on the web where others also with genuine 6542’s have used aftermarket bezel assemblies and ended up having to use the crystal retaining rings supplied with them for it function correctly as the original was very slightly too big , or should I say the replacement is too small. I believe I have the same scenario, so will attempt that at a later date via my watch repairer. All in all I’m very happy with the look of the set despite the issues I’ve mentioned. My honest opinion from what I've seen is Joeyb's on this forum would be be better, but I can't grumble as it has an added insert and spare. It’s certainly better than staring down at a crystal retaining ring and it does give a beautiful watch that authentic look, (albeit non original). This would otherwise be almost impossible to achieve nowadays unless you want to pay the insane prices (£5,800 the eBay asking price presently for just a bare bezel ! ) Double that for a decent Bakelite if you could ever find one! I’ve attached a few pictures showing both inserts. You can make your own minds up as to whether they'd fit the bill for your particular project if you're in the market for one. Hope this is of use. PM me if you want all the dimensions of the parts. All the best Pete

Wow that looks amazing, no wonder you’re pleased! Just hope mine can stack up against that! Just finishes it off to near as dammit perfection [emoji1303] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk