Brightight

Federer left Lacroix and moved to Rolex - http://www.men-access.com/the-roger-federe...etual-day-date/

A quick google would answer your questions - http://theluxurylifestyle.blogspot.com/200...ated-rolex.html Google is your friend!!

Forgetting about the tags Reps, Frankens and Gens for a moment, I think you can reach this stage with any interest, the more keen and involved you are, the higher your standards rise, and of course the more it costs you. I have been through this a couple of times, firstly with Hi-Fi in the pre digital age, where I started off as a teenager with what was basically a music centre and was extremely happy. Through a series of years and upgrades to state of the art gear I found my old vinyl and tapes unplayable and I would not lend a record to anyone without a comparable system. I ended up more interested in the 'sound quality' and 'dynamics' than the music....... The law of diminishing returns kicks in as well, a small improvement costs one hell of a lot. As a musician I did the same with guitars and guitar related equipment. Eventually you have reached the end of the line and it's at that point you start questioning and maybe selling stuff off. It seems you have got to that stage with Frankens JJ. I'm at an early stage with watches, I currently enjoy repairing, modding, vintagizing, on a relatively small budget, but as the knowledge increases the wish for better and more accurate parts creeps in and the costs increase. It's a little depressing to realise from your post that I'm on the slippery downwards slope leading to eventual genhood and bankruptcy!

Yes I got caught on the bleach the first time like that! I now have a virtually unuseable insert. Good luck with the rest of the aging.

I use wood dye soluble in alcohol (methylated spirits/denatured alcohol). It is completely controllable, you can mix the colour you require and dilute to taste then try it out on paper. It also does not have the tendency to bead as water based dyes, etc, do.

I assume you mean the bezel insert? If so, bleach is the answer, but be careful, don't leave it in too long or you get the followng result - For case aging I've used a box full of car bolts and nuts, shaken the case around inside (after removing the crystal and blocking the inside with paper) to create the larger dings and scratches, also a wire brush on a Dremel can give those smaller 'scratches'. It's a case of experiment and see what works for you

Totally agree Freddy. It is forgotten. Thanks to all for the comments negative and positive, much appreciated.

And with all due respect Freddy, I did point out that this was my first attempt and I did put a lot of work, perhaps misguided, into this. We all start somewhere and the only way we can progress is through research and the assistance of more knowledgeable people. If you felt it was beyond redemption, it would have been better had you said so or refrained from saying anything at all. All the sarcastic comment told me was that you were trying to be clever at my expense and I will not be patronised particularly as I was not trying to suggest I'd done a wonderful job. I was genuinely disappointed with your response. However, apologies all round seem to be the order of the day. I would still like to know where the major inaccuracies lie. The case I am led to believe is an MBW which from what I've read seemed a good basis, but you may know better. The dial is an ETA fit one, I will need to work out why it is out of alignment as the movement is spot on, the stem straight in and the crown a pleasure to use.

I think coins are too soft, particularly those d*mn Euro things which are small

Thanks Stephane, a voice of reason, and sorry I didn't get round to answering yor question. I have a plastic box full of car size nuts and bolts, basically that did a little of the damage along with the odd bit of filing, wire brushing, etc wth a Dremel The insert was hand scratched with a screwdriver. Thewhole thing actually doesn't look as bad in the flesh, the macro does seem to exaggerate a little.

So you have to be an a**hole or a sycophant to be a member of this forum? A new member should expect to be flamed?

And I'm afraid here is an example of someone not understanding what this thread is about.... I have not criticised anything Freddy has done Rolex wise or criticised his knowledge. I have not suggested I know anthing about vintage Rollies. I posted pics of my FIRST vintagizing project and got a sarcastic comment from the sainted Freddy about being mugged on Canal Street. It would have been a lot more helpful from someone so knowledgeable if he had pointed out where I had gone wrong. Saying the watch looked like it got mugged on Canal Street might be an opinion, it might be true and I am not disputing that, but it is an extremely unhelpful, sarcastic and insulting opinion. That is the problem with 'experts', they get so up themselves they sit in their ivory towers and sneer at the ignorant, dropping their 'bon mots' for the benefit of their inner circle. I'm afraid I cannot respect anyone like that.

Offended? Good grief no! Disappointed? Most definitely. You seem to be the type of person who mocks five year olds for not being able to do calculus. I expected a critique from you of what was right and what was wrong and would have respected and appreciated that. Perhaps one day you may understand that with knowledge comes responsibility.

Thanks for the encouragement Freddy! You know there's an old saying which you might take note of - if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

That's a question I don't know the answer to. All I can say is I use T Cut and an electric buffer to put the final polish on guitars finished in nitrocellulose lacquer, and that's after going up to about 8000 grit with Micromesh (which is used for polishing aircraft acrylic window panels) so it is fairly gentle. And you have to ask yourself - will a dial with a nice white smile be convincing................. And you can get T Cut in Halfords, a bottle will last years and years (as long as you don't use it on your car!) You can also use Brasso but that is even more gentle than T Cut. Probably very good on acrylic crystals as a final polish. Thanks all for your comments, all I will say is thank goodness the world is not full of Freddies, I wouldn't dare go outside the house wearing this watch if so, but thank goodness there is one on this forum, that level of knowledge is incredble!!

For those who have seen my James Bond Sub thread, which was my second vintage project, here are pics of my first, a very beat up Double Red Sea Dweller. It is fitted with an ETA 2824-2 and the date wheel has slipped a fraction, I must sort that out soon...... Since these pics were taken, the bezel, which was just a little pristine, and the strap, which was new, have been subject to a bit of abuse which has improved (or not depending on your point of view!) the overall look.

Thanks to all who have viewed and commented. Freddy, thanks for the pic, that makes it very clear. However I cannot see it will be easy to pick up a rep dial with that level of detail!! Incidentally the main purpose for embarking on this project was to experiment further with vintagizing methods and to provide myself with a daily beater (I'll post pics of my first attempt, a beat up DRSD in a new thread) so the inaccuracies are really of little consequence. In additon the chances of running into someone who recognises the inaccuracies of this watch at a distance are remote to say the least. There would be more likelihood of this happening with a standard rep. It is great to have your feedback though, I have learned some new things and will hopefully be able to able to utilise this knowledge to make the next project a little better. Tee-Jay, the depth marking was polished out of the dial using T-Cut (car polishing product, slightly abrasive). It required careful use of masks and even more careful rubbing! RoninQ, sorry I have no before pics but the pic below shows a watch with the same dial I obtained (with feet to suit ETA) - As for vintagizing, I have for a number of years had a small guitar business concentrating mainly on restoring vintage guitars, so am quite used to vintagizing techniques, albeit on a larger level, and have a stock of chemicals, stains, etc. For this watch I used light fast metallic dyes/stains, and the insert was bleached. The dial, after work completion was sprayed wth a satin finih clear acrylic lacquer.

Thanks for your comments, it's nice to have an expert's view. I was working from http://www.vintagesubmariner.com/gallery.html, the first two pics the 6204 and 5508, both of which appear to have metallized dials, though that may be just the pic, not that I had any real choice unless I heavily modified the dial a lot further which might have been a mod too far. The case and bezel was the closest I could get. I know the insert is incorrect but again, difficult to obtain the correct thing and as most pics of vintage watches show, inserts have been changed in the intervening years, at least that is my justification! I never expected it would be good enough to fool the experts and of course seeing macro shots or studying with a loupe, the flaws are even clearer. However, considering this was done on a budget, the whole thing cost me less than $150, and was done entirely with rep parts, I can live with the flaws! This is only my second attempt at vintagizing, so I'm still learning big style.

I hadn't read your post Freddy, but again you talk abut a screen shot. That has to be digital correct? It is that which creates the doubt in my mind. These red strips do not seem to have been noticed in the film stock I assume. I do stress that you may well be right, but for me at the moment there is doubt, and I don't like the look of the straps with the red strips in any case so I'll keep the grey/black one. Also the grey/black one is so ingrained with the public at large I don't want to give the great unwashed another reason to say "That's a fake, the strap is all wrong"

.... from Stormtooper4, and here's what I did with it! Early James Bond Rolex Submariner The case is actually a GMT 6452 but I believe is otherwise the same as the 6538 Sub case. It has the period correct 'coin edge' bezel - The case was aged a little. The dial is a standard no date dial with the depth marking removed, the remaining writing coloured to look gold and the entire dial and markers aged, then sprayed in clear satin lacquer. I couldn't remove the 'Swiss Made' on the dial but I can live with that even if it is not correct. The movement is a 2824 I bought damaged and repaired. The hands are gold ETA fit, again aged. The crown, which will be replaced when I can obtain the correct 'Brevet' crown (if ever!), is a Rolex 'Generic' part from Cousins which of course is not marked. The crystal is a high dome plexi. I obtained a No 19 Tropic plexi but it didn't look right according to the pics I have, so that is kept for a later project. The insert also came from Cousins and was aged a little. The strap, of course, is a black and dark grey striped Nato.

I have to say I'm a bit doubtful that no-one has noticed this on the original film but when reprocessed to digital it appears. Could it be bleed between the two colours? Also the black and grey are standard regimental colours, I quote - "The colours are actually the genuine regimental colours of the General Service Corps, and it is appropriate that a spy would be attached to the General Service Corps. Military (Army) personnel employed on covert intelligence duties were seconded to the GSC whilst employed on these duties but Commander Bond RN would never have been seconded to the GSC as a Royal Navy officer. They are also the colours of a London Gentleman's private club." Bond's strap is highly unlikely to have been a specially produced one and is more likely to be one that is widely available. Have any of these straps with the thin red bands turned up anywhere? That might be a better possible proof. The jury is still out on this one as far as I am concerned. Also I like the Black/grey look!

The only purpose of guns is to kill people or animals. (The purpose of fast cars is to drive fast, not kill people. The number of people killed by fast cars is extremely small compared with the number of people killed by slow cars.) Target shooting is a red herring, you can target shoot with a BB gun, you don't need a fully automatic lethal weapon to shoot targets. Killing of animals with guns is largely a sport and unnecessary from a food point of view except arguably in extremely remote areas. (I do not include people who use guns professionally, such as game rangers or the like) Anyone who has killed another person, even in warfare, knows the effect that has on you, not to mention the person you killed. Me, I no longer want to own or use guns. A small point, drinking and driving has, by highlighting the waste of life this can cause, become socially unnaceptable, certainly in the UK. Smoking is going that way too. How many kids have to be killed in school shootings in the US before the owning of guns becomes socially unnaceptable and therefore not available to insane kids? This is the only way things will change in my opinion, you cannot really legislate against all these things.

Robb, I'm new at this game, but I had a similar dilemna and decided to go for the Breitling Bentley GT (44mm. My wrist isn't big enough for the 6.75). Also on the short list was the Tag Heuer Carrera Racing. BL02007 and TG10051 respectively on Josh's site.

As a relative newcomer to this hobby, I cannot work out what the attraction is. For 40+ years I've got along very well with Seiko and the like, my last Seiko I wore for 23 years. I'm also aware of the illegality of what are, to be frank, counterfeits, and would be unlikely to spend out the money being asked for gens. I don't mind spending money on something genuine if I think the return is worth it, but a watch................? Not sure. I can get more accurate time from my mobile phone, but without a watch on my wrist I feel naked. I would never try to fool anyone my rep was anything other than a fake though. Go figure. About a year ago a friend brought me back a

Sorry I don't keep crap lying around (joking) Like I say, take a look at Bareknuckles (www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk). Listen to the clips on the website. I had someone bring a pair of BK RifRaffs to me about three or four years ago to be fitted into an Epi SG. I had a quiet chuckle behind my hand at the money she was wasting, but when I fitted them and plugged it in............wow! The Best SG I'd heard, knocked spots off my '67 with PAFs. I phoned Tim who owns Bareknuckle, was convinced and ordered a set of his '54 Replica Strat pickups ("Apache") for a 54 replica I was building. I was blown away. This guy knows his craft. Check out the reviews on Harmony Central if in doubt. Give the man a call, tell him the guitar you have and the music you play, he'll tell you if you need a standard BK or a custom wind. I'm now a BK dealer (in the UK). Brother I am a born again Bareknuckle!! Hallelujah, I have found the holy source of tone!! Would not use anything else now.