chiman12 Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 Had some extra gen Rolex parts floating around in my parts box. Was bored and decided to create a franken. I took the 1570 out of the Rolex Date and it went to a better place Because of it's size (34mm), it's not something that you see very often, but I had fun building it and it is my very first Datejust/Date franken. It's a gen gold shelled Rolex/dial/handset/buckle with a modified 2836 ETA. The watch looks rather classy with the burgandy leather strap. The gold shelled cases wear better than gold plated and has the more consistent gold color...no brassiness here... The buckle is a solid gold gen buckle... The pic of the ETA. I used a gold date wheel overlay that I had handy. One day I'll figure out how to make the gen date wheel thin enough as an overlay as this would really finish off this gold franken beauty. The ETA was modified so that the quickset date and the hack function was disabled as per the gen of the time period. The gen gold hands were broached to the proper size to fit the ETA. Thanks for looking!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo35 Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 Great job on a classic design! congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilty Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 she looks good, the date overlay does not look bad either. If you do go with a gen date disc, the only one you will be able to use is either a 3135 (wrong font), or 3055 with open 6 & 9. (wrong font, but closer) The flat top 3 disc from the 1570 date progression is opposite of eta so will not work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiman12 Posted April 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 Thanks guys! @stilty...thanks for the info provided! The overlay that I'm using has that inherent rep problem in which not all the days are centered in the date window. I probably spent an hour trying to find a "fine balance" on the centering issue.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted April 12, 2010 Report Share Posted April 12, 2010 Beautiful job, Chi. I'm a big fan of 1500 Dates- own two of the gens My gold shell has a white faceted dial and a white datewheel with the flat top 3's etc. Hacking 1575 movt- it dates from the early 70's. It's a model 1550. The ss 1500 is from 1966, datewheel has closed 6's and 9's and round top 3's- I don't know if the DW is original or a later replacement. BTW, it looks like you have a 2834-2 in there from your mmovement pic. But, I'm excited, I have an extra 1500 case, now I just need to come up with a dial. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiman12 Posted April 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2010 Beautiful Alligoat! Yikes! It looks like you are correct! I made the assumption that all the movements in my parts box is 2836! Thanks for the catch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raijor Posted April 12, 2010 Report Share Posted April 12, 2010 Very nice watch you have there. Here is some info I picked up on the Rolex gold shell cases. Rolex service in Toronto, Canada informed me that the gold on these cases is 40mm thick and it is an actual layer of solid 14k fused onto the stainless steel. I had a gold shell case that was worn in a spot and I wanted the gold removed so to use the case as a solid stainless steel Date case. A jeweler friend went to work to remove the gold and in the end had to sand blast it off. He tells me it was a far tougher job than he expected. In the end he removed all the gold but it took a lot of work. These gold shell cases from Rolex are far different than a simple gold plated case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted April 12, 2010 Report Share Posted April 12, 2010 Actually, Chi, I think stem position for the 2834 and 2836 is about the same, they both are day/date movements. The 2834 has a larger OD though because of the way the Day is positioned on the dial. I used a 2834-2 in my 16800 franken, which is housed in a noobmariner case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted April 12, 2010 Report Share Posted April 12, 2010 Nice work, i wish i had parts like that just sitting round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Beautiful result! Nice use of parts in the box Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiman12 Posted April 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Thanks for all the great comments guys and also all the additional info that everyone provided!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlydog Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Nice work, i wish i had parts like that just sitting round. I have some parts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlydog Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Thanks for all the great comments guys and also all the additional info that everyone provided!!! I was wondering if an eta could be used in a 1500 case. Beautiful work ChiMan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preacher62 Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Very nice watch you have there. Here is some info I picked up on the Rolex gold shell cases. Rolex service in Toronto, Canada informed me that the gold on these cases is 40mm thick and it is an actual layer of solid 14k fused onto the stainless steel. I had a gold shell case that was worn in a spot and I wanted the gold removed so to use the case as a solid stainless steel Date case. A jeweler friend went to work to remove the gold and in the end had to sand blast it off. He tells me it was a far tougher job than he expected. In the end he removed all the gold but it took a lot of work. These gold shell cases from Rolex are far different than a simple gold plated case. A 40mm thick layer of gold is a layer of gold the thickness of the diameter of a Submariner. Probably 40mils thick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilty Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 I was wondering if an eta could be used in a 1500 case. yes they can be used. I'm having some holders made for 1680 projects, and they can be used in 1500 as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raijor Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 A 40mm thick layer of gold is a layer of gold the thickness of the diameter of a Submariner. Probably 40mils thick. Yes that is what I meant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shundi Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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