Search the Community

" so you like Pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain......" Pour yourself a drink and settle in for the build story... So as some of you may know, I am not a sub guy, but then built a 5513 a few months back and now I think that is starting to change. I have always admired the early subs but never got around to building one....well that day finally came. Raffles released a new tropical dial for the 6205 so I added it to my last order with a 6538 case set . (check the forum for my earlier tropical explorer build thread) Parts arrived and I was very pleased with the fit and finish of the case set and the dial. value for the money is quite high with these parts from raffles. machining on the case is great. Yes the bezel still has the wire retaining spring but overall very impressed , I asked raffles if a 6mm crown would fit the tube on the case and he said no, but it sure does. no issues. saves me alot of work swapping tubes. the crystal popped out no problem ( no glue) and it has a gasket , which was a bit of a surprise. I wonder if a Clarks T19 would fit on this case without a gasket. may be something worth trying. Anyway I started off by aging the case set. dulled the polished sides and added a few dents and scratches.. decided to stop here, wanted warn and used and old looking but not over the top. I can always do more, but its really hard to go back if go too far.. you will see how I prove that later on . Used an Asian 2824 clone with a modified setting lever for 2 positions and removed the date wheel. I like these clone movements because they are lower beat than gens. they beat around 21800 and have a bit of a choppy sweep, The keyless is a PITA as many of you know... Aged the lume a bit with some brown air brush paints to break up the evenness of the lume colour and give it some depth. installed the dial and hands and was in the home stretch and then noticed that the keyless was out of wack. no biggie, since becoming proficient in fixing the keyless , its just an extra step so I stripped it down , fixed it and reinstalled the dial and hands , checked the alignment of the hands and not noticing that the dial was not completed seated flat against the movement, the hour hand puts a nice scratch on the dial! DOH! armature bone head move glad it was only a 35 dollar dial and not a one off Vietnam piece..... anyway , since it stuck out like soar thumb. I decided to take the ageing further on the dial with some water damage and gave the dial a "spritz " of the same brown paint. it disguised the scratch quite well and was less obvious so It worked out.. Gently faded the bezel but it needed to go further with this , it looked more like a tire, because of the contrast between it and the dial.... but this past week was filled with obstacles... work, coming down with the sniffles, -30 temps and a dead car battery all added to it Anyway. made it to my studio so that I can continue the ageing of the case. I brassed the bezel which I knew was mandatory and was very happy with how that came out , so I headed back to the lab to get this build complete. DIAL: Back to the dial , since I had already scratch it , I figured I would experiment a bit so I tried adding some dry paints to give it a bit of a faded appearance..., wasn't there so then I gave it a quick spritz with some vinegar and popped it in the oven around 275-300 for a few mins and this was the result. The lume darkened, and the vinegar damaged the print in a few spots, but the paint masked it so it looks just like movement grease and dirt...so not a total disaster!! ? not what I was after but again, better than a new looking dial with a scratch on it , for a 70 year old watch. HANDS: So I had to go back and touch up the lume on the hands to better match the darker lume on the dial and after reading a few older modding threads I seen that some guys would brush the gilt hands on their watches to give it an older look... my scotch pad was a bit too new and I feel I went a bit far with it. lesson learned , these were the wrong hands for this ref so no biggie. I am going to swap in a set of pencil hands anyway. I will be using an older pad and a lighter touch for the next attempt. again....errors are part of the process. The bezel is wrong for a 6205 as it should have a no hash bezel. I happen to have in my parts bin, a tiger concepts red triangle no hash so I I test fit , needed a bit of work but got it to fit the bezel....now it was on to ageing it. I decided to bake it, after having success with my previous insert on my 5513 I figured , that was the route I wanted to go. first I scuffed it up a bit with some 2000 grit to knock off the top finish and gave it a soak in some bleach....then into the oven....set to broil for the better part of an hour. checking it occasionally .....the final time I pulled it out and WOW!! so after it cooled I completed the assembly and snapped some pics. a few teaser pics before the big reveal...... love how the bezel turned out....better than expected really. not seated properly but you get a peak....what color is it?? how did the bezel turn out??!! Ladies and Gents... I present to you my 6205 tropical sunrise.. tried a few bracelets , including my Ruby rivet but settled on my custom straight end link raffles rivet it just encapsulates the 50s tool watch look. A watch that spent most of its life out on the seas in the tropics , soaking up the rays ...only to find a pampered retirement after nearly 70 years.....so the story goes. The fade on the bezel is unreal!! I am very pleased with how it turned out!! a metallic brown that ties the brassed bezel and tropical dial together beautifully!! I just cant bring myself to distress the bezel with some marks....until I can replicate this effect I am gonna leave it as is and let it happen naturally with wear...as I am no doubt going to wear the [censored] out of this piece for a while. The red triangle wasn't common on this ref in fact very rare, I have only seen one gen with one and it was from the original owner. so its plausible. but the red does kinda stick out against the browns. I will order another silver one from TC and see if I can replicate this effect!...but DAMN!! Imagine if this bezel was gen? I could sell it and retire to the beach , but to find a watch with both a tropical dial and bezel...1 in a million... plausible I suppose but the odds are off the charts...unless you happen to build it yourself.!! in the variance of light , you can see it goes from a blackish brown to a warm chestnut. pretty wild. The dial did fade out and look baked by the Caribbean sun , despite its damage It looks the part, especially on the wrist. overall I cant complain it looks old and chocolate tropical , compared to how it appeared new out of the box. artsy I do plan on swapping the hands with pencil hands and go another round with another proper bezel ...I have a 6mm +brevet crown that I am going to shape and swap as well to complete the build. tossed it on an old light brown nato, now single pass strap ....talk about a warm rich color combo. It reminds me of a black bay bronze. Is it too much? that is for you to decide. Like it or hate it. this is where were at. I will update this post once I have swapped the parts in. Would be nice of there was a slightly smaller case and bezel option for the 6205 as it was 37mm where this one is over 38 at case and 39 at the bezel .but now were just splitting hairs...need to find a bubble back that fits this case maybe JMB can machine the back for me like he has done on my 6350 As always, comments and questions welcome. Thanks for looking. p.s sorry for the ear worm if you picked up on the song lyrics , it was a theme party after all.. lol

Hello! I have found a 116610 sub replica that looks good to me for very cheap price. It comes broken, without bezel. I need help with finding bezel parts that will be best suited for it. I have already seen hack with springs and metal balls for spring clickers but don't know what to buy to assemble the bezel. Please write your opinion🙂 here are pictures from seller I'm waiting a delivery so wanted to start buying parts before it arrives.

Here is what can be done without a single expensive part: Silx case, HR dial and hands, Athaya crown and Yuki bracelet. The case was totally reshaped, the steel bezel was reshaped, then sandblasted and brass plated. The hands were stripped down to the bear brass and the Yuki bracelet was repolished for a more accurate look. A very honest watch with lots of character !!!!

That watch was something else to do !!! Imagine: it started as a 1680 case ! Yes, the only cartel case correct for a 2824 movement I could find was a PT 1680. It was intensively modified as you can see. Trimmed from the top down to appear super slim. Bezel and dial are from Vietnam... CWP T19 super dome. TC 16610 hands aged to match the dial. Caseback was the 1680 caseback totally modified. Inside runs a swiss made 2824. Voilà !!! Something else really, and lots of character on the wrist. Ah, and of course engravings by Neckyzips. Beautiful as usual.

I've been selling all the watches for some time ... And I bought one again and made some pictures of it. Regards.

Dear Brothers, I have just ordered my first Rolex Replica online. I have purchased many replicas in the past before, in my home country Vietnam, but this is the first time I have ordered one online. I was wondering if anyone could help me with the quality check on this watch... The model is: BP Maker Submariner Blue Ceramic Swiss ETA 2836 28800 SS and I have paid $325 after shipping. I have included an image of what I see to be are some problems, but I believe an extra set of eyes from thus community could help me make a better purchase. Thank you for any help that you guys are able to provide. Screenshot_2016-05-18-18-39-42

Dear Brothers, I have just ordered my first Rolex Replica online. I have purchased many replicas in the past before, in my home country Vietnam, but this is the first time I have ordered one online. I was wondering if anyone could help me with the quality check on this watch... The model is: BP Maker Submariner Blue Ceramic Swiss ETA 2836 28800 SS and I have paid $325 after shipping. I have included an image of what I see to be are some problems, but I believe an extra set of eyes from thus community could help me make a better purchase. Thank you for any help that you guys are able to provide.

Here it is again for your eyes: my PCG. Now fitted with a repolished Yuki bracelet... This looks so much better than the folded one! For those who don't know this watch, here are the specs: Polex mid case re milled (1mm less on the upper part and bottom reshaped) to reach the gen thickness and have the crown appear higher. CG side welded and recarved with gen spec height and shape PCG, Vietnam bezel assy, Yuki dial and bracelet, Athaya crown...

Ha !!! I did it ! A '59 sub with SCG ! Like many of these non SCOC babes, the original gilt gloss dial was changed in the 70's by a modern 5513, along with the bezel. So was the gen I based my watch on..... This was my last Vietnam case set (same mid case as the one I sold two weeks ago on the sales area). Dial origin is unknown, but the quality is great. Inside runs a gen 1520, Yuki hands, gen SB, DW 700, DW insert and SK T19.

An other project I completed this summer. For those who remember this 1680, it used to be fitted in a pretty poor mid case.... Now, it is all correct !!! Vietnam mid case and bezel, DW caseback, PT 702, PT dial, DW DWO, Cartel links, Gen clasp, Verlux crystal, gen ETA slow beat, PT dial.

Hi there I'm a newby, so apologise if I don't follow all the strict conventions of your forum. However I'm wondering if I could get some advice, comment, or assistance from forum members with a problem I have. I purchased a Rolex Submariner from Trusty Time Watches a while ago. QC pix of the watch prior to dispatch etc. were provided. I paid extra to have a Swiss movement . It seems a beautiful replica as far as the case and bracelet are concerned. However, time keeping was soon an issue. Initially it was gaining about 15 second a day, and then losing about the same. I returned it under ? warranty. After quite some delay it was returned supposedly 'fixed'. Time keeping was the same; initially fast then slow and finally it stopped. It became clear that the automatic winding mechanism was not working and the time keeping variation probably associated with inconsistent spring tension on the escapement. I don't think that this should be present in a "Swiss" movement should it? Trusty Time have said to return it AGAIN for repair, but I think replacement is in order. What do members think? YES I'm a newby. YES I'm probably too trusting. YES I've probably gone about this purchase in the wrong way, but I thought Trusty Time was one of your 'approved' dealers. More importantly, what should I do now. The case and bracelet are great, but a lovely looking watch isn't much good without decent and reliable time keeping is it? Many thanks for your assistance Merlinau

Like the title says … Yeah, it's been a while. I'm out of touch.

Hi all, what do you think of that built? I still have to change the case -this one started as a cartel case, I'll have a fully engraved one soon- and the crown and I'll be done with it ! I'll put up for sale that case in december. If someone needs it just PM me. BTW, I'm back in China... If anyone needs some cartel watch parts or discontinued models : let me know !!! Mabye can I help.

I have never liked the green bezel on the Submariner 16610LV but somehow the green grows in me and I like it much better now. Before I begin the review I want to list the problems with the LV Sub I got from my seller. For these LV Subs I'd just call it TC factory direct LV Sub. They are built by my seller's watchmaker, they are made in China, so "factory direct" suits the description the best. First the original bracelet that comes with the LV Sub is bad. What you see in the picture is one of TC 93250 V2 bracelet. The lug width of the factory direct LV Sub is 20.06, TC V2 bracelet SEL width is 20.13 I couldn't fit the SEL onto the case in the beginning. I had to trim the SEL then get it fit. The fitment doesn't look bad at all. The dial indices of 6 and 9 were crooked I had to bent it to alignment with a steel ruler. An easy task but takes extreme focus. I bought 5 TC factory direct LV Subs back and all 5 have the same issues, bad bracelet, bad SEL, and crooked indices at 6 and 9 on the dial. Once getting rid off these ugly factors, the LV Sub actually looks darn good. The crystal on the TC factory direct LV Sub is a 2.0 mm crystal. It's the same crystal I used on the M-series TC Subs. The clarity is not bad at all. People say rep crystal clarity is not as good as gen I think that's just because gen indices reflect much sharper brightness then rep indices. Top is TC factory direct LV Sub; bottom gen Sub without bezel insert. I will talk about the dial print quality later. Let's take a look at the case and crown first. I believe the watch case maker somehow drilled the tube hole too deep. There must be a reason for this I will ask my seller the next time I meet him. Crown guard shape is alright, and from the back one could tell the watch case is very well machined. The back case teeth shape and depth are excellent! TC factory direct LV Sub comes with TC's Date Wheel Overlay. I said somewhere before, there are thousands DWO maker in GD province, only a couple has the right equipment and skill to make a DWO like this. Coolchu made a post about gen crystal height versus bezel insert. The M-series gen does have the most protrude crystal height than other gen series. That feature is on TC factory direct LV Sub as well. The LV bezel insert is far better than the black bezel insert I have. The pearl is of the right shape, there's a clear coating over the lume. It actually looks better than Clark insert with WM pearl combo. The green color of this insert has excellent match to gen. It reflects a yellowish tint at an angle like a gen. I'm impressed by this as I have never seen one rep maker done it right. Now let's check dial print quality. Notice print raised high gloss? Needless to say a gen feature that doesn't exist on other Rolex reps. TC factory direct LV Sub's crown position sits just a tad lower than gen or TC Sub V-series crown position. My theory to this the case maker wanted to make a case could house also 2824 or 2836. The movement inside is a Sellita SW200. There is no stem tension when operation I'd say the case maker did a brilliant job! Thanks for reading! TC

Part I A member asked me if the TC Submariner watchcase can take gen parts. I didn't know what does that mean at first. After massively reading and researching the forums, I conclude "taking gen parts" by strict definition, means the watchcase should be able to 1. house gen 3135 movement without any modification, that is to say the gen dial should flush into the watchcase opening without any modifcation as well. 2. take gen 2.5 mm gasket and gen 25-295-c crystal and the magnification should still reads at 2.5x. 3. tube takes gen crown with no problem. 4. bezel assembly takes gen bezel insert. 5. take gen caseback. So I'm determined to make an experiment on the TC Sub watchcase I brought back. An experiment that may damage my gen Submariner - I am going to swap the gen guts into the TC Sub watchcase, and see if all these gen parts could fit on it. Let's take a final good look at the gen Submariner one last time. Here is the TC Submariner watchcase that is ready to receive transplant. Note that the laser etching "X" is aligned to the tube. This is a good sign of attending to details. Gen Submariner 16610 crown guard shape: TC Submariner crown guard shape: Ok, let's open the gen Sub caseback: Gen Rolex 3135 movement. It is beautiful! Note the screws on the sides of the 3135 movement. This is how Rolex mounts its movement to the watchcase. Let's then check the crown and tube: There are 2 O-rings within the tube: Let's make a side by side comparison of gen caseback (to the left) and TC Submariner caseback (to the right). The diameters of the two casebacks are the same. So I assume gen caseback could fit on TC Sub watchcase and vise versa. Finish of the gen caseback looks better though. Then the lugs shape: Other observations: I noticed my gen Submariner's 25-295-c crystal has an AR coating applied underneath the cyclops. I looked my other gen, a 2002 k-series Yacht-Master, a 2006 z-series two-tone Submariner, and found there's no AR coating applied underneath the cyclops. I don't know if it is a new upgrade, but it does make easier to read the date through cyclops. Here's one thing I found TC Sub watchcase is different from the gen. This is gen movement receiving hole: Here's TC Sub watchcase movement receiving hole. Note the gen receiving hole is located at 8 o'clock with a slightly bigger R curve. TC Sub watchcase has a smaller R curve receiving hole located at 9 o'clock. Nonetheless the gen dial and 3135 movement flushes into TC Sub watchcase smoothly. Placing a silicone oil greased O-ring: Unscrewing the screws until they touches the watchcase chapter and fastened the movement to the watchcase: Let's see how gen caseback fits on TC Sub watchcase. Fits perfectly. Let's see how the laser engravings aligns with gen dial minute lines: Let's see how a gen 25-295-c crystal with a 2.5mm gasket fits. This is taken from my gen Sub LV. Other observations: My gen Sub LV is of m-series. The crystal does not have AR applied underneath the cyclops, so I believe it must be an upgraded feature since v-series. My gen Sub 16610 is v-series. End of Part I

Part II Let's then take a look at how gen crown fits TC Sub tube. Crown screw in, screw out, pull out the crown to the "heck" position, push in the crown to winding position, it operates smoothly just like the crown is with the gen tube. Let's take a look at TC Sub's bezel assembly and then mount it on the watchcase: Then screwing the crown down to the watchcase end, with the bezel assembly mounted. So far, it is confirmed that TC Submariner watchcase can 1. house a gen 3135 including gen dial, gen hands, with no additional modification, checked. 2. take gen 25-295-c crystal with gen 2.5 mm gasket and the date mag still reads at 2.5x, checked. 3. tube takes gen crown, checked. 4. take gen caseback, checked. I'm going to dis-assemble the gen bezel assembly then take gen bezel insert to see if it fits TC Sub bezel assembly. Here's the tool: Steady and easy: Pearl on the gen bezel insert. This is the last mile: Side by side comparison of gen bezel assembly and TC Sub bezel assembly: I put the gen guts back to the gen Sub watchcase, leaving only gen bezel insert ready to be mounted on TC Sub bezel assembly. Here it is. The gen bezel insert fits on TC Submariner bezel assembly perfectly, it clicks into TC Sub bezel ring just like popping into its own gen bezel ring. No additional modifications needed. Let's take a look the laser engravings between the lugs. Apparently the fonts are different. The engravings on the gen looks far smoother than on TC's, but I don't really care about this. Finally, let's take a look at the crown position, gen vs. TC side by side: Now I confirm that TC Submariner watchcase fits the description of "taking gen parts". It can 1. house gen 3135 movement, and gen dial flushes into the watchcase opening without any modifcation. 2. take gen 2.5 mm gasket and gen 25-295-c crystal and the magnification still reads at 2.5x. 3. TC Sub's tube takes gen crown with no problem. 4. bezel assembly takes gen bezel insert. 5. take gen caseback. 6. TC Sub's crown position is identical to gen. and 7. This watchcase is designed to house ETA 2824, Sellita SW200, ETA 2892, and so on. 8. My seller also told me, with a proper movement holder, this watchcase could house an ETA 2836 or Sellita SW220. This watchcase is one of the 3 major parts that are expansive to me in my project to build the perfect Submariner replica. However, it stands out from all the other competitors. I didn't know how good it is as a base kit until now. I want to thank to the member who asked me the question, "could your TC Sub watchcase take gen parts?" Yes, it can! Thanks for reading. TC.

Part I of II A member asked me if I could cost down a little bit as spending $500 plus for a rep watch is extreme. While I was at my seller's place I turned this question to him and I got an answer to this. See gen ETA 2824 is retailing for $180 nowadays and the price will only go up. Gen ETA 2678 is only retailing for $80. This is a lady's size automatic movement that functions all the same like 2824 or 2836. The power reserve is 38 hours, but it performs nothing less than its bigger brothers. So I brought back several 2678s and the movement retaining rings that is designed dedicated to house the small movement into a gen construction TC Sub watchcase. Here are the parts: we've got the watchcase, the case back, the bezel assembly, crystal, dial and hands set, the bezel insert, gen ETA 2678 with the movement retaining ring a.k.a movement holder, and crown/tube set. The movement holder is of an ingenious design! It secures the 2678 movement by movement's own screws that were used to secure the clamps. The assembled movement and movement holder works like a full size watch movement that flushes into the watchcase. Then the screws fastened the whole gut to the watchcase like a gen 3135 does to a gen watchcase. Notice there's no clamps here whatsorever. This is by far the most advanced way I have seen to house a movement, only seen in a Rolex. No big brands, not even Omega or Pams have adapted such an ingenious way to house the movement in their watchcases. A side note on observation, this movement holder is made of a chunk of solid bronze. It feels quite heavy. When assembled with the 2678 movement, the whole piece weighs very similar like holding a bare gen 3135 movement. I will ask the seller if they have made this particular movement holder out of gen 3135's weight or if the weight of the complete watch ever considered when they first designed it. The movement holder costs $20. It comes with 2 generic Rolex style screws to mount holder to watchcase. My seller offers a collections of movement holders, for 2678, for 2000, for 2824, for 2834, for 2836, and for 2892 and etc. Let's take a look at TC's date wheel overlay (DWO). I was told to place double sided tape on the ridge of the movement holder on dial's side. By doing so, it'll give enough room for date wheel overlay to jump through just beneath the dial. This is what I did. I fixed the DWO to 2678's date disc also by double sided tape. At date 30, there is a printed indicator. All I have to do is to align the indicator to the stem of the 2678 movement then press down. Let's take a closer look at the DWO. Notice how each date is finely printed the Rolex font date is raised high gloss like gen. The DWO costs $15. The maker of the DWO has a MOQ of 200. I got this DWO through my case seller's connection. I then installed the dial. There is no cutting feet, no modding needed. I just installed the dial and made micro adjustments by gently tapping the edge of the dial so the date is positioned in the center of dial's date window. Let me show you how good this DWO is: End of Part I

I want to introduce to you one of my latest findings during my CNY visits. I call it TC 93250 Bracelet V2. I had a dinner with TC Submariner watchcase maker and his family. A lot of alcohol was consumed, a lot of red envelops were given to the children, and I asked him to refer a good bracelet maker so my TC Submariner would look better. A bracelet maker that his product is better than TC 92350 V1 maker. Let's first review how gen SEL looks when fitted on gen watchcase. Notice there is no gap or play between the SEL and the case lugs. The gen SEL sits just a tiny bit lower than the lugs surface. Note these pictures are taken from macro lenses. In reality, the height difference is very, very hard to notice. This is gen mid link curve that chefcook pointed out a very important gen feature most rep bracelet makers ignored or just can't make. Let's take a look at gen SEL finish. Then the gen engravings within the trench of the SEL: I met the V2 bracelet maker the next day. I'll just call him TC 93250 V2 maker. Let's see TC 93250 V2's end link and its engraving. The construction is right, but it looks like it is a little bit thicker than gen. The laser engraving fonts and placing looks right, but it is like the laser output was turned too high it actually burnt the steel surface. Nonetheless V2 quality appears to be better than V1. Let's then check polishing job on the edge of the bracelet I mentioned lack on V1: It still has very sharp edge on surface side. Here on the reverse side, the edges is slightly polished. A good sign of a well made bracelet. I want to check how TC 93250 V2 Bracelet fits on the watchcase. Here's the fitment on TC Sub m-series: It looks very good! Let's check the 12 o'clock side, this is still with the m-series case: Notice TC 93250 V2's SEL sits just a tad higher on the m-series case than gen. Now let's take a look at how V2's SEL fits on TC Sub v-series case: V2's SEL sits at exactly the same height as gen does on v-series, as if V2's SEL is made matched to v-series case. The clasp has slightly better polishing than V1. Note the V1 clasp is already good enough. The edges of safety buckle and clasp are mirror polished they are brighter, smoother than my gen clasp. Pictures of TC 93250 V2 clasp are available in my TC Submariner 16610 M-Series post. V2 clasp operates smoothly and firmly with no play at all when opening and closing it. This is a unique feature only brand new gen clasp has. Over the time I have read on forums how good the quality legendary BK/wm9/wm10/TW Sub is. The thing surprised me is that the V2 engravings on the clasp matches the legendary BK/wm9/wm10/TW clasp from coolchu's review. Same DE6 initial and SWISS MADE without space between the two words. Did I just find the holy grail? I don't know. There are thousands of bracelet makers in GD province and I have only visited 1/10th of them. Now back to specs, width of TC 93250 V2 SEL is 20.13 mm. Length from lug to lug of TC Submariner Watchcase is 20.17 mm. There is still 0.04 mm gap in total, that is, 0.02 mm gap on each side. Gen's tolerance is only 0.01 mm in total, that is 0.005 mm on each side. In conclusion, TC 93250 V2 Bracelet is an upgrade rather than the final solution in my pursuit of the perfect Submariner. In terms of cost, the V2 bracelet maker didn't take my business directly because I could not fulfill his minimum order requirement so I was directed to his sales rep in GZ market. That guy asked $60 per piece. I pointed out so many details I don't like about, some I made up though, then we close the deal at $39. That's one thing I like doing business with Chinese, they take dollars! A side note, people are wrong about dealers in GZ market don't open for business during CNY. In fact, Jan 5 in Lunar Calendar is one of their major business day of the year they call it "Spring Gathering". Dealers from all around China, South East Asia, and Russia gathered on that day and make major trades of the year. Once deal is made, gourmet food, alcohol, girls, and unthinkable games are on the table. But it is invitation only. Sorry, no pics here, those are rated R. Thanks for reading TC