Watchmeister

I knew you would eventually come upon this thread. And lucky duck is the appropriate term. Of course it doesn't hurt to have smart friends who provide solid advice in areas where one knows little.

Thanks for the kind words guys. Luck over skill on this one. The minute I got this one I checked in with Ubi and Nanuq and they confirmed what I hoped. Original from buyer is rare and leave this one as is. I have to admit I am falling in love all over again. We won't tell the wife.

I am not opening this one. I will ask Ziggy to snap a quick pic when he is servicing it.

Yes I am the lucky winner of the recent offering by Ray0244 a long time member of the forum. The watch was offered and sold on Saturday and I had it by noon today. As the title states it is my first gen Rolex in 35 years. And this one is a beauty. The owner bought it new in 1966 and it has never been touched since. Apologies for the pics as I grabbed my camera phone but you get the gist. This one is a lifetime keeper for me. Insert and Dial are in pristeen condition. The crystal adds character. Loving that no dot crown. The crown and case tube have all their threads intact Chamfered case edges Complete with stunning bracelet which will be rebuilt: A huge thanks to Ray0244 for the wonderful offering. This is one watch which will never get near a Rolex service center or polishing cloth. And what a wonderful way to re-enter the gen Rolex world.

I understand your disappointment but this is not a mod that many people can attempt. I suspect you would find there are many more views than there are posts as people don't know what to say other than great work. So please don't get discouraged. I have read and reread your original thread several times now. It is an approach I never thought of. I have been pursuing a gen dial AP ROO for years and posted pics of the first I did a couple of years ago. I copied MBW's approach on their original franken AP ROO's a number of years ago as my priority was getting the offset pushers right. So like MBW I added an ETA/DD equivalent movement, modified the case to lower the crown and then added the gen dial and hands. But I found your write-up very interesting so please keep doing it.

That caseback looks great. Wear that one proudly.

Okabum- Thanks for the info. I just noticed that if I click on your offerings it goes to Homage forum. So let us know when you are ready to take orders again.

The watch looks fine. You just needed to reverse the crown guard.

Hidden benefit of posting your watches. You would hate to run into someone wearing a gen and him comment on that weird looking crown guard. Seriously, the strap looks great on the 29.

Franken 188 this weekend:

There really is nothing else to say. What a stunning pair. With those two I might even wear two watches at the same time.

What makes you think I am any better? :lol And yeah, it is the name I am used to but I got lucky on the one fraud attempt so Kruzer00 is history.

I had always thought a typical 9B L went for $7,500 - $8,500 but my info is probably dated. I do know of a t-dial B that recently traded just north of $15k. In any case it does look great.

Lani- We always know where to find you. Actually I always know where to find Ubi too.

I am with Don in thinking that a watch with gen dial or movement is what makes it a franken but I would also add that I expect them to have modification work done on them.

Great pics. That is one hell of a rep. Clearly a must have.

In our hobby I think of frankens as watches mixing rep/aftermarket and gen parts. After all didn't Frankenstein have some gen parts and some rep ones.

Thanks for the kind thoughts. And no I was fortunate that it didn't end up costing me anything. It is a pain in the neck to change everything though. All the best, guys.

Hi Guys- Just wanted folks to know my screen name has changed to Watchmeister. Nothing to do with this forum but a touch of financial fraud took place with my original screen name elsewhere and it was suggested I change all my log-ins/screen names where possible. Fortunately it didn't end up costing me anything but I am now Watchmeister. I will take this post down in a week but just wanted to give folks a heads up. - Kruzer00 (AKA Watchmeister)

B has an excellent point. Grab the lever from a longer and thicker historic cg and fit that in. It is also a good excuse to redo that pin and take your cg to a whole new lever.

Wonderful piece. They are labors of love. The issue with date "depth" and "size" is going to be a function of the donor movement. Since all of these movements have the cylops mounted in the back movement plate they can come with very different magnifications and fonts. I have built a number of these and the cylops in the movement coming from a Concord Ventu (for instance) will have a very different magnification and font than a stock ETA with DD module attached. In truth even AP's own versions actually vary on magnification and even font (somewhat) based on when the watch was made. I suspect we will see more uniformity going forward as they have moved to an in-house movement. Sander- This one looks great.

Welcome to the forum. Glad to see you have been lurking for a while. Hope you will continue posting as your interest (and knowledge ) increases. Enjoy the ride.

Very nice acquisition. I know you will have a lot of fun upgrading this one but it looks great as is.