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Any "Vintage" Oysters or Date Justs?


soonerwatch

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I would like to find a rep rolex oyster or date just. No one seems to make one. By vintage I mean stick hour markers and maybe a plexiglass crystal. I did find this from silix which seems to fit the bill. I was hoping to find one a little cheaper. Anybody know of one? I plan to put it on a nice croco strap and wear it as a dress watch.

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This one is a Datejust rep and has a vintage style band, does that make it a "vintage"? I picked it up to use in a secret project...

It was about 1/3 the price of the Silix model you listed...

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That would definitely qualify - mind saying where you got it from? I am using the term vintage pretty loosely. The silix model I linked to above does have drilled holes in the lugs and has a pexi crystal that gives it a vintage look. Silix also sells a $39 air king and $49 date just that are very close to the model I posted a link to above that sells for $190. The $190 has an ETA movement it it and a thicker plexi crystal.

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Thanks for those suggestions. I wish they made the one that comes on a strap with a sliver face, not a pink one! I pretty much have it narrowed down to this one at $190 or this one at $39

I think I might keep this a while so I am leaning toward spending more to get the ETA movement and the plexi crystal which seems to have a higher profile, something I like.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just received the $190 oysterdate from Silix and it is a really nice watch. Exactly what I was looking for. The swiss movement is very smooth. I love the domed plexi crystal and drilled lugs, gives the watch a vintage look and looks like the gen. The finish on the watch is outstanding. It has engravings between the lugs like the gen - I wasn't expecting that!

I tried on the gen air king at 34 mm and it seemed too small. But the more I wear this watch it seems just right. Smaller watches don't get a lot of respect on the forum. But they should. Here are some good reasons why. They are understated and timeless. The larger links of the bracelet on the watch make it wear larger than 35mm. And at only 10mm thick it slides easily under any dress shirt cuff.

The only flaws I have found so far are a very small piece of lint on the dial. Also the datewheel is a little sunken. And the end pieces rattle quite a bit. Any good fixes for the rattle? Probably squeezing the end pieces down a bit so they fit more snugly would do it but I want to be careful not to jack them up.

The Mrs. loves this one and she usually is no fan of reps. Once silix reopens after the chinese new year I will be ordering one for her. I also want to pick up a dark brown gator strap for this watch. I have a gen speedmaster that may not get much wrist time now. I was considering selling the speedmaster and buying this rolex in a gen model but why would I do that? This watch is like a new old stock vintage rolex without any of the dings and dents that come with vintage pieces. Silix was great to deal with and sent me some pics of the actual watch before shipping.

Now for the pics

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I have smaller wrists but pretty large hands. I think this watch wears just right.

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Someday, I might make this Gen (into) Franken and see if I can shoe in an ETA movement. (I am stealing the 1570 inside it for my 1680).

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Ronin, don't do it!

You've got a rather rare sigma dialed datejust that appears to be in great condition. If you need a 1570 movement, I've got one I might let go :)

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Your endlinks rattle not because they aren't tight enough on the pins but because of the large gaps on the sides between the watch lugs. The only way to fix that would be to find a better quality band which fit the lugs more perfectly.

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@soonerwatch

That is a great pic you show there. I am on the fence on this watch and it looks superb. My initial thought was getting a vintage gen, but looking at this watch really does look like a NOS watch. I have the Rollie 1016 Explorer and this is a great complement to that watch. Looks like another watch purchase is in the making!!!!

thanks for showing the awesome pics.

btw. would you ever consider putting on a leather strap on this?

Edited by If you see Kay
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Ronin, don't do it!

You've got a rather rare sigma dialed datejust that appears to be in great condition. If you need a 1570 movement, I've got one I might let go :)

Interesting... I was looking at a 1968 Rolex Date model 1500 that had the sigmas on the dial also. How rare are these? The watch was for sale at $1400 and I almost pulled the trigger.

PS sorry to pull the thread off topic.

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Funny you should mention a leather strap. I am searching 4 a brown gator right now. Hoping to find a deal ona slightly used one. But @ 19mm not having much luck. Will probaby bite the bullet and go with a nice new Hadley Roma and also add a rolex tang buckle. Hopefully I can do that all for under &150

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I tried an aftermarket 6694 crystal and it fit beautifully- only problem was the cyclops was too far inboard. I finally installed a T-12 which worked fine, along with MKII dial and hands. Plastic crystals have the cyclops integrally molded in so there's not much you can do there.

If anyone winds up adding a thicker crystal to this watch please post some pics and the source for the crystal. I am pleased with the thickness on the silix rep but looking at some older gens it is clear that some vintage models have thicker crystals. One thought I had was adding a thicker crystal without a cyclops. But as someone pointed out on this forum a non-cyclops crystal is a pretty big rep "tell"

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I just wish they'd fix the flaws on the dial of the airking and put it in a case with the corrrect style bezel. I bought one from silix years ago and although it is a pretty watch, these flaws shine out after mearely glancing at one at an AD, unlike any of my recent datejust purchases. Airkings have thick 369 numbers and have a thicker bezel and also I believe they have a thicker crystal. I like my airking, but the crown stripped after owning it for 3 months so it just sits. It works fine though. One dealer promised I could order parts after new year but now he wants me to make another watch order so he can source the parts. I could see that happening a mile away. Most dealers do that.

And this watch is too crude. I used to own it. I sold it a couple years ago brand new because the flaws stand out too much. http://www.silix-prime.com/rol199-p-788.html

Edited by amptor
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