Comex Sea-Dweller

[Dudemeister]

Let me start by saying that I know nearly nothing about vintage Rolex (if this can be labeled vintage), but I got this as part of a bundle of watches a few weeks back, and I think the watch is great.

I would like to invite comments from those that are familiar with the watch, that could tell me what is out of place or simply wrong, and if any of those wrongs can or should be fixed.

A few notes:

The flash washed out the real color of the hands and the hour dots, the fourth image which I took without a flash is closer to the real color, the markers are pale yellow, while the hands have more of a tan color to them. Oh, and sorry about the Breitling background, that's all I could find at the moment.

While I didn't test the watch under pressure, I did submerge the case (without the movement) in a glass of water for about an hour and there were no signs of internal leakage. Also, does that thing in circled in red look like a "working" He valve?

The watch has what appears to be an Asian copy of a ETA 2836-2 which works great, but I also have another 2836-2 movement (shown in the last pic), that I'm thinking about dropping in there. What do you think?

Thanks for the input.

[Jack1024]

Is this the one from Josh/Andrew?

There is absolutely no point in subbing in your gen ETA. The clone ETA is reasonably reliable and the sweep is the same.

If anything, find yourself an ETA 2846, which has (close to) the correct beat for this watch.

Edited November 8, 2009 by Jack1024

[Dudemeister]

I don't really know, I bought it from one of our members, not a dealer.

[rosnik]

SEL Bracelet is OUT here.

A lot of work to do too.....

[Dudemeister]

If anything, find yourself an ETA 2846, which has (close to) the correct beat for this watch.

The 2846 is a 21,600bph if I'm not mistaken, are you saying that the Sea-Dweller is a slow beat watch?

[freddy333]

The 2846 is a 21,600bph if I'm not mistaken, are you saying that the Sea-Dweller is a slow beat watch?

The 1665, powered by the 1575, beats at 19,800bph (the later 16660, powered by the 3035, beats at 28,800bph), so the 'slow beat' 2846 is generally considered to be the motor of choice for vintage Subs & SDs (unless you want to do something insane like installing a gen ticker ).

[Dudemeister]

The 1665, powered by the 1575, beats at 19,800bph (the later 16660, powered by the 3035, beats at 28,800bph)...

Very interesting, I never knew that. IS this the case with most "vintage" Rolex watches? I seem to remember looking at fairly old Rolexes a while ago, and their seconds sweep looked smooth to me, certainly smoother than your typical 21,600bph movement. Does the 1665 have some kind of special gearing that increases the number of "ticks" per second and makes it look smooth, or does it look smooth? I've never seen a gen sea dweller.

And lastly, when did they start using hi-beat movements in their watches?

[kbh]

That's not one of Josh's new 1665's. His HE valve is totally non functional. The valve hole doesn't go all the way through the case.

[freddy333]

IS this the case with most "vintage" Rolex watches?

Yes.

Does the 1665 have some kind of special gearing that increases the number of "ticks" per second and makes it look smooth, or does it look smooth?

No. Maybe others have better eyes than I have, but I cannot tell a movement by watching the ticks, except when there are gross variations between them (like comparing a 18k bph to a 28.8kbph). However, I can hear the difference.

And lastly, when did they start using hi-beat movements in their watches?

When they released the 16660 (see comments above). Other models, from the late 70s on.

[Dudemeister]

Thank you, that's a lot of useful information there.

So the question remains, should I do any changes to this? does it look good as is?

BTW, I'm the exact opposite from you, I can see the difference, but my hearing is shot after nearly 40 years of loud rock, so I can't even hear the ticking at all.