Watchmeister

A 616 requires a 47mm case and most likely a new spacer ring. You will also need to make up a custom stem as they usually require a 1.50 stem going into the movement but you will have to taper and rethread it down to 1.2 if using the usual 6498 crowns found on the vintages sold by dealers.

Thanks for everyone's kind thoughts. A perfect weekday birthday - go to work, pretend to work , yap with friends and home for a nice family barbecue. No specific birthday watches in mind. Just continuing down the path of trying to complete a few frankens and a vintage or two before the end of the Summer.

Thanks for all your kind wishes. I am not getting older...I am getting better (at least that is what I keep telling myself)

It is the same seller as the crowns and he is reliable. His price is a tad high but basically right. For someone who is looking to do a cortebert project it is probably a good buy.

Thanks for the warning. I must say that you take one look at this versus the current offerings and you know that it is coming from a lower end factory. And why do they offer it now? Because that is what is available. I am very much looking forward to seeing the next version. Between the ti, ceramic and everything else going on with this watch it will be one of the toughest to rep.

I am guessing that you have an asian 21j. Pick up an ETA or newer Asian 7750. They are the only ones that are still made that have given me trouble.

Great to see you here. Although I mourn the loss of TRC as well it is really nice to see folks migrating over here.

A big welcome to RWG. Enjoy it. Looking forward to more excellent pics.

Congrats on a fabulous collection. You even have the wrist to carry them. And on the cars there really is nothing else to say except "Drive them well." And it is not hard to figure out why you have a lot of chronos. What I want to know is how many tickets you get a year.

You are right that Americans are spoiled. But we also have that wild west mentality where it is considered a cool rite of passage to drive across America which is more akin to driving across the European continent. So we have some major adjusting to do. And the reality is that we are all stuck with our gas guzzlers until our respective leases / loans come to an end.

VDB- That is a stunning crown.

It looks like the crown is screwed in on the DSN picture. And it looks like it is flush against the case (or at least the case tube). It may well be that the crown on his is simply shaped a little differently. If it is the case tube you can always file down the case tube a smidgen and shorten the stem a little to match. You should also bear in mind that on the original true PAM vintages there were dramatic differences from watch to watch includng crystals, hands, crowns, etc.

How good is the date section on this watch? Is it the correct font and is the magnification reasonably good. I assume it is a sandwich crystal.

The locals are in the process of organizing. The problem is the travelers seem not to be able to make up their minds when they are actually coming. And no, having it nailed down to the month is not helpful.

Beautiful watch. It is my current favorite HBB.

You have to be kidding me! Welcome to the grey market capital of the world. You will be broke but happy. PM me with the exact dates.

T- That is absolutely stunning. Wear it well. And as for you Ziggy - fabulous work - then again I expect no less.

Eurotimez sells the whole MBW line. And I do wish him luck on his latest project. Simply going to the trouble to source the best parts from various places is a huge leap forward. And the answer to the question on why not buy a gen and dissect it is that it is now a common occurrence for the $500 + reps. But at the end of the day the manufacturer has to trade off accuracy with cost. Modding at the dealer level for all the reasons mentioned above is unlikely and would be IMHO a disaster. But there is no question that the factories are going to greater lengths to make more accurate watches and demanding higher prices for it. It is unclear to me how you solve the QC issue as now watches are often made in batches of a 1,000.

If it is a scam it has been going on for years and the $350 amount has always been the same amount. This goes nowhere unless you actually sign and pay them the $350 or send them the watches. We call that admission of guilt in this country. With no physical evidence there is no case. And who is to say the pictures you used to offer the items are pictures of the actual items. I think you catch my drift. So I would suggest you take it seriously and also seriously "legally" ignore it. I have never heard of one of these cases being pursued. But I certainly wouldn't offer the items in a public forum. And if you think about it for the cost of 5 minutes of legal time Rolex has slowed down one theoretical dealer. It is actually pretty smart. It works for everyone (except you of course). Rolex scares a few people and the lawyers are paid per letter sent.

PF- Please try and resolve this privately unless this has something to do with the thread. -Kruz

Beautiful watch and strap. The PVD looks great as well. But I expect nothing less from you.

As I am staring at comparable rep and gen pictures I am now convinced the date placement is correct. The issue is definitely the inner bezel. It is too flanged versus the texture on the dial. That could be an easy fix. Does anyone have an opinion as to whether the cyclops is the right size?

Unbelievably fast. It is good to see dealers are responding so quickly. I asked elsewhere but does anyone want to venture a guess as to whether the inner bezel from the MBW will fit on this one? It would leave the date in the right place as the steeper inner bezel (shallower on the dial) would leave more room between date and inner bezel. Of course far brighter minds than myself came up with that one.

Lani- I have no idea whether either ideas will work. I don't have the new one. Do you have both? If so please eyeball it. Not looking for a definitive yes - I will take that risk. But if it is an obvious no simply from looking at both together I would opt to get a different dial on the new one and keep the MBW in one piece.

Lani- Speaking of tilting at wind mills I am going to take a shot at correcting the date placement and window issue. A little cannibalization from the original MBW. Move the date placement that 1 mm further away from the side with the MBW inner bezel ring which is "steeper" and thus leaves more room between the dial numbers and the bezel, attempt to steal the "date window insert" (will have to take the dial apart to see how it is set up) and contemplate bracelet swap as I can't imagine the bracelet on this one is as good as the first generation MBW. Whadda ya think?