Brightight

2836's costing $100 factory fresh and keeping +2/day - would you mind sharing your source, I could do with a few of those?

I would go for the clone, it's a good movement BUT put the extra into a service, the QC is poor on the clones IMO. The pic below, from a brand new watch "making a noise" was taken just yesterday - This will be stripped, cleaned and serviced before it goes back to the customer! Beware also the Clones with the red (painted) ratchet gear for Rolex, the paint flakes off and ends up in the movement. Not good, and the paint should be removed during service. The Rolex 3135 clone is no better, last one I had in had the rotor screw plus the dummy balance wheel bridge and screw floating around inside the case! As an aside, I find it best to remove the stem from a clone in the handset position. I always used to do it in the winding position on swiss ETAs without problems but, presumably because of poor tolerances on the plate, when you replace the stem in a clone in the winding position the clutch pinion is always displaced requiring the keyless works to be stripped and fixed. Obviously you can't generalise and assume these problems apply to, or the tolerances are poor on, every clone, but given that they probably are not lubed properly and may have dirt particles in the movement, it does make good sense to have it serviced sooner rather than later.

If the boot fits Same boot as is used for Robert (PWC). A nod's as good as a wink to a blind bat!

Funny how the 'usual suspects' are always ready to put the boot in........................

Beware of Yuki's cases, I've just had some bad experiences with Yuki parts for a 1016 Explorer I project. First the dial was poor, and nothing like the pic on his site, then the 7206 bracelet turned up with 'Rolex' upside down on the clasp and it didn't take gen 2.0 mm springbars, finally the crystal and bezel came off during a hot water leakage test. The crystal did not fit the case properly and had been glued, it was stuck fast into the bezel. I ordered a T22 replacement which didn't fit, the dimensions of the case were badly off, Every single bit had to be returned, Yuki was at least good about refunding, but still cost me quite a bit in duty, VAT and handling and return postage. The project is now on hold for the forseeable future. Not good.

Nice one! And nice informative review. I'm looking forward to receiving mine from Mary after the Yuki fiasco!

Totally agree, it doesn't seem to matter with swiss ETA whether you remove the stem in winding or hack position, but the Clones seem to have to have the stems removed in hacking position or pushing the stem back in will dislodge the castle gear every time. I guess it's a tolerance issue in manufacture.

Note that this post is from 18 months ago and very out of date. It can be dangerous to post in such old threads and bring them to the fore as not every noob will look at the dates. Eurotimez for example is defunct.

"0bvious dial refinish..."

Bad news, and for me the last straw. My 1016 Franken is, for now, officially dead. My Clarks Tropic 22 arrived today but it neither fits on the case, nor does the bezel fit over it. The old crystal was very tight in the bezel so I pressed it out and measured properly - I have emailed Yuki to arrange a return and refund. I'm afraid I cannot recommend this case as the basis for a franken. I really don't think it is acceptable that it arrives with a broken and incorrect crystal that doesn't fit and leaks like a sieve. And to have to have the case and bezel machined after paying $450 also doesn't sit right with me. After the disappointment with the incorrect dial and the flawed 7206 bracelet (upside down "Rolex on the clasp, and doesn't take gen springbars), I'm going to have to do a rethink on this entire project. Yuki has been no problem to deal with and his refunds have been immediate, just a pity the product is so badly flawed.

Great photos M! And that dial is incredibly close. Beautiful job, I love it.

Sorry but starting a PP dispute is a no-no, particularly not without trying other avenues first. From personal experience HackR is a great guy and an absolute pleasure to deal with. Sorry Hank, I'm sure you felt you had a case or you wouldn't have done it, but the results of all this pettiness over a $135 watch is that people won't want to buy from or sell to you in future.

Beautiful!

Beautiful M, JB has done a great job on the insert and I do agree with you, polished it has to be unless you are going for a beaten up look. I love the Space Dweller dial too. I should have gone for the 7206 expanding seemingly for my 1016 build as the 7206 non spring they sent me didn't take gen 2mm spring bars. By the way, Yuki have just added a 7836 folded link bracelet to their stock list - http://www.yukiwatch.com/catalog/item/6784664/8082246.htm - no idea yet what springbars that takes!

Unfortunately the ones I have are 1.2mm and 1.8mm respectively (in lengths from 10mm to 24mm. If no one else has any and you get stuck, CousinsUK does a similar box of 1mm ones, L20013, for

Dizzy, if you measure it up, length, diameter and head diameter I'll see if I have one, I bought a box of these from Cousins UK to fix a gen Tag for a friend of mine.

I'm not disagreeing with you BT, and I know the 7750 is fragile in this area, I've seen The Zigmeister's pics. I'm just saying the odd hand wind on a 28xx is going to do no harm whatsoever, and there seems to be little evidence to the contrary. When I service a 28xx I always hand wind it fully to check the power reserve and (manually) callibrate which may require a few days worth of winding. I have no intention of putting the movement in a case, wearing it and waving it around on my wrist to wind it up!! In normal use there should indeed be no reason to do so and I never hand wind my daily wear. However if I was to put on a watch which had completely run down I would give it a few winds first. My main point, backing up what you say about chinese wonders, and coupled with the state of that ETA Clone in my pic, is that if there is resistance felt when winding, there may well be something wrong unless the watch is fully wound and I would recommend the OP gets this checked. It is quite a simple matter to remove the watch back and see if there is anything amiss in the winding process, no need to remove the movement or dismantle anything. The loose ratchet gear in my pic could have eventually caused a lot of damage. Incidentally the clone had more than its fair share of dirt and showed little sign of having been oiled.

+1 Not easy to tell from the photo which is a bit blurry but does indeed seem to be Swiss and not Clone.

While you shouldn't have to wind it, there should be no harm caused winding it occasionally. On the ETA 28xx movements there are only three gears involved in the winding, the winding pinion on the stem, the crown wheel and the ratchet wheel attached to the spring barel arbor. The ratchet wheel is also operated on by the auto wind movement and is the only one of these three I can visualize sustaining damage and costs only a few dollars. I have stripped many old movements from vintage watches and never seen any damage to any of these gears. However winding should not feel like pushing through oil unless the movement is fully wound (when winding causes the mainspring to slip in the barrel, a safety measure to prevent the auto overwinding the spring). I suggest however you get the watch looked at if you can as I assume this is what is known as an Asian Clone 2836 and I found a worrying lack of quality control when stripping an almost new clone yesterday and found the ratchet wheel was loose and the screw which should secure it hanging, literally, by a thread, arrowed in the pic below -

Yes the price does look high when you can buy a complete watch for not a lot more from Narikaa and others. I don't think they're sterile though, I reckon they're standard rep, some of his pics show the caseback has the usual details, and the etched numbers/writing between the lugs show in a couple of pics. He also gives the impression that some of his stuff is sterile but if you ask it can have other marks on it, for example his crowns say "Signed crowns are available too". I've bought a couple of things from him and he ships reasonably fast and postal charges are very reasonable. He also answers questions quickly, I asked what size dial the Explorer case took and got a quick response.

Thanks Freddy, I'll do that. yes the engravings are indeed engravings and not etchings. The dings don't worry me, though as it is in theory brand new, they shouldn't be there till I add them

I'm going to order up a T22 from Clarks and see how I get on. Unfortunately Cousins have both gen and aftermarket T22 crystals shown as "Currently part restricted/unavailable". Yuki had the case made to order apparently (I had to wait a few weeks for it), they don't actually stock it, so I don't think an exchange is necessarily an option. However if I've got to find someone with a lathe to take a gnat's pubic hair off the crystal mount, it's not the end of the world. I have a 2783 fully cleaned and serviced and lined up to go in there (I like the 2783 it seems a slightly better quality movement than the 2846) just waiting for a two position setting lever spring to arrive and fit, also a 2846, 2836.2 and 2824.2 waiting on the sidelines just in case. Exciting times!

For all those interested in the results of the Yuki 1016 case, please see some pics below, all comments welcome! The case seems reasonable, though I am not in any way, shape or form an expert. One thing that does worry me, and again I would appreciate opinions, is after taking these pics, I put it in the Ultrasonic to clear off any dirt or oil during which the bezel complete with crystal popped off with evidence of glue/sealant on the bezel to case joint.. I have measured the outside diameter of the crystal mount and it is 30mm which is 0.5mm bigger than I expected it to be. The inner diameter of the bezel is correct at 31mm but I have doubts about whether a Tropic 22 with fit without modifications. The crystal supplied is well and truly wedged in the bezel but is a push fit on the case so obviously not quite correct (I did expect and intend to replace the crystal). I've fitted a gen 6mm crown for the pics. The case arrived with a few small 'dings' in the bezel, possibly from being gripped ina vice or chuck, though as these are similar to what I would expect after a week's wear I am not too bothered.

I received this yesterday and thought it hilarious. No source mentioned at present so please don't speculate in public as I will not confirm or deny. A replacement is on its way to me shortly with profuse apologies from the dealer concerned, I'll be able to confirm then that this was a one-off -

Nice one Rob, I saw those dials on ebay and was tempted I have to admit .................... Love the fluted bezel too, such a classic Rollie look. I would guess those are the same as Datejust hands which you can find to fit ETA on the bay if you wanted to upgrade. Personally I dislike those 21Js because they're so variable, sometimes they run for years, sometimes not, and it's not worth the effort to strip, clean and service them, it's easier just to throw in a new movement.