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I thought I'd share my initial attempts at putting together a couple of watches. I've only recently started to dip my toe in the rep market but being slightly obsessive about things, dipping my toe in was never going to be enough, so I ended up diving in head first. I've always loved divers and Rolexes, so the Rolex milsub was a perfect place to start. I started by reading all the posts on the forum about people's milsub projects and took things from there. I started by buying a couple of 5517s from dealers with a view to using the cases and any other decent parts to build up at least one fairly good milsub. I then used all the information on this forum to research the various parts that would go towards making at least a half-decent rendition of a 5517. Some of the milsub work documented here is brilliant and this gave me inspiration and something to aim for. I'd never even removed the back of a case from an automatic watch when I started tinkering, so there was a distinct possibility that things would go pear shaped. I bought a cheap set of the various tools that I thought I would need and went from there. The whole experience has been a baptism of fire. Many evenings my wife has had to listen to me screaming and cursing when things have not been going well and to be honest things went badly more than they went well. However, I have learnt a lot from my mistakes. I lost count of the number of times that I ended up crawling on my hands and knees looking for a dropped watch hand or a screw. I've knackered a movement, cracked a couple of crystals, ruined sets of hands and bent a bezel insert so much that it snapped but, like I say, I have learnt a lot from my mistakes and have slowly developed an understanding that working with watches is all about patience and finesse. The result of my ham-fisted tinkering is a couple of milsubs that I know are not perfect but do, at least, reflect aspects of the original and give me decent starting points for further tinkering. Specs: The case on the watch with the fixed lug bars and darker lumed dial is a HR 5517. The case on the watch with the lighter lumed dial is from Joshua. Both dials and sets of hands are from HR. The movement in the darker lumed watch is a Swiss slow beat eta. The movement in the lighter lumed watched is an Asian eta. Both crowns are the ones that came with the cases. On the darker lumed watch, the bezel and insert is from WSO. On the lighter watch, the bezel is from WSO and the insert is from roleyshop on eBay. Both crystals are Clarks Tropic 19. Both straps are Phoenix natos- one in black, one in admiralty grey. I know that the second hands could do with trimming, the bezel pearls should be replaced with acrylic ones, one of the cases needs fixed lug bars and each watch could do with a bit of subtle ageing to improve the overall look. These are things that I'll look at when I've lived with them for a bit. Although intensely frustrating at times, I've found the whole process extremely rewarding. It has all been inspired and guided by the amazing people that have shared their expertise and advice on this forum, so many thanks to all. Apologies for the 'iPad photography'. PS The last photo is my highly disorganised workstation, which I have subsequently sorted out into a state which is not quite so embarrassing...

Another amazing watch hidden away surfaces. This 5517 came up on the Antiques Roadshow a while back, it was valued on the show at £40k and later sold at Bonhams for £120k. The original second hand was swapped at some stage, which wasn't mentioned in the appraisal (starts at 43.30): https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22790/lot/129/

Hi, I'm obviously new here but have been lurking on the rep forums for a little while. Just picked up a pure time 5517 to get my feet wet and have a couple questions that I haven't seen asked anywhere. People seem to be using ETA or DG movements that have close but not exact beat counts. I'm thinking I'll pull the ETA2846 out and use an old omega caliber 552 or 565 or 5xx, but I'm wondering why this isn't common practice. The 5xx has the exact same bph as the1520/1530 and is at least as accurate as the gen rolex movement. Has anyone done this yet? Size is very close on the omega as well, and obviously seamaster hands will fit since this is the engine in the seamaster 300. For anyone out there that's in the know, what problems do you foresee? i.e. is there some issue with adapting the winding stem to the crown or will the omega sit at the wrong depth? Thanks in advance for your insight. If things go well I may end up taking the $650 yuki case plunge and build myself a franken. Until then an omega powered rep sounds cool to me. Jake

Hey everyone, thought I'd start a new thread as the previous two were getting a bit cluttered. Dials arrived today! I would have taken more pictures, but I only have a crappy iphone camera to work with atm. First thoughts: I'm amazed at the level of consistency in regards QC. No dials have any discernible print problems - everything looks crisp as it should. I will be setting up a post in the "parts" section, as I have more dials from this batch available. While I'm extremely happy with the outcome of this batch, I will not be doing another run (so please don't ask me). I want to thank all of the preorderer's on rwg that made this possible. If it wasn't for you, this wouldn't have ever picked up steam! Also, big shout out to aero dave for spearheading the preordering

My 5517 from Joshua was looking a little too clean. So I thought I'd have a go at giving it some "patina". The effect on the dial was achieved with an old tea bag, water, alcohol and a halogen lamp. I also roughed up the case, insert and nato strap too. I'm in two minds whether to tackle the pearl or not...