Want to build a 1680

[sly]

Hi,

Just found this forum and I want to get your guys' help in building a 1680. Can I get some help on where to get everything I need. I've checked out yukiwatch and everything I need seems to be there. Can anybody suggest where to get case etc. other than yuki for a fair price. Help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[username here]

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[panerai153]

Welcome to the forum. There are literally hundreds of posts about the 1680. this is by far the most popular Rolex vintage, and the most modded. You have many different avenues to approach building a 1680. you can start with an early model MBW and go from there with genuine parts, or you can start from scratch with a Yuki,etc. case and throw in a genuine movement or an ETA with the correct spacer.You can spend a ton if you want to go the route of all genuine,i.e. Dial, Bezel/bezel insert, hands, crown/tube, crystal, movement,bracelet,endlinks,springbars. What you want to build will be determined by your budget and time that you can spend looking for parts, etc.

My advice to you would be to spend a lot of time reading about the options open to you before you jump into the project. We quite often see unfinished "project' watches for sale on the sales forum, put there by sellers who have given up on the project because either the funds ran out or they became frustrated by the speed of the project. another caveat, no matter how close to genuine you make a "super franken", it's still not a genuine 1680. Should you decide to sell it later, your options are limited to the replica sales forums. There are quite a few modders here on this forum that have wonderful "super frankens' that they built. A lot of these are watches that the owner has 2-3 thousand dollars investeed in. The only problem here is should you want to sell, watches in that price range are only desirable to a very small number of buyers, so keep in mind that should you loose interest or need to sell. you may be looking at taking a loss.

Good luck

[mjmj]

I agree with Panerai153. 6 months ago I had no idea on where to start but after spending lots of time on this great forum and doing my research, I can now put together in my opinion a decent 1680 with the right parts for my small budgets. So, spend some time here and you will be saying the same thing to a new member in the near future. Furthermore, the established members here are happy to help if you are stuck.

[FxrAndy]

Welcome to RWG

Yep this is the right place

[sly]

Thanks for the welcome and the advise. I just want to go cheap as possible but looks good and by adding up parts from yuki I should be able to build one for under $1,000. Is that a good price with all parts from yuki? Will it be a decent 1680. Again thanks for the help.

[By-Tor]

Panerai153 said it perfectly.

Our members own some spectacularly modded vintage Rolexes but making that kind of franken is super expensive. Out of the box the vintage Rolexes are nowhere near close to the gens. If you want something that FXRandy posted, prepare for a lot of patience and financial sacrifices.

That's the sad fact... replicas of the vintage models (without excessive mods) aren't that good. Something like modern 16610 WM9 is much better and easier option.

[Guest al12]

I think the best option if you want to go cheap is new one's from PT. With a little mods it can be a very good rep for a buck.

[alligoat]

I think the best option if you want to go cheap is new one's from PT. With a little mods it can be a very good rep for a buck.

+1

http://www.puretimewatch.com/product/vinatage-red-submariner-1680-200m660ft/

This is a great starter watch, IMO.

Or you could opt for the white dial.

Both have a lot of great features

slow beat 2846-2

correct date wheel

correct 93150 bracelet and end pieces (580's)

nice 2mm spring bars

If you put a smaller gen crown on and trim the crown guards, you're off to the races.

MBW's are hard to find right now and require a lot more work, but they are a better case and will take a gen T-127 typically. But you start at around $400 and need $200-300 worth of mods to get to an acceptable point. And you could easily spend $1000 all told.

Yukis are the whole next level up from there and you're looking at $1000-2000, possibly more if you build a franken w/ a 1575 movt.

[Guest al12]

+1

http://www.puretimewatch.com/product/vinatage-red-submariner-1680-200m660ft/

This is a great starter watch, IMO.

Or you could opt for the white dial.

Both have a lot of great features

slow beat 2846-2

correct date wheel

correct 93150 bracelet and end pieces (580's)

nice 2mm spring bars

If you put a smaller gen crown on and trim the crown guards, you're off to the races.

MBW's are hard to find right now and require a lot more work, but they are a better case and will take a gen T-127 typically. But you start at around $400 and need $200-300 worth of mods to get to an acceptable point. And you could easily spend $1000 all told.

Yukis are the whole next level up from there and you're looking at $1000-2000, possibly more if you build a franken w/ a 1575 movt.

I agree with alligoat. Plus with the jmb retention ring you can fit the gen T-127 as well on PT case.

[Cats]

Key is that you invest a lot of time in research and finding out what you exactly want.

I have some watches were some mods were done twice to get them correct ( IMO ).

That will cost you a lot of money and time.

Patience is the best option to collect your parts.

It's easy to buy a gen tropic 39 for

[Dizzy]

what does Yuki charge for a 1680 case? I see he has no prices on his website.

I agree that getting a watch from PT and then mod it from there is the best bet. For $200 you cant go wrong with the ETA slow beat and pretty good dial, silver flat top 3 datewheel etc. Thats going to be the base for my next franken for sure. I'll build a red 1680 this way and see how it "feels" compared to my expensive MBW 1680 franken.

[vlydog]

what does Yuki charge for a 1680 case? I see he has no prices on his website.

I agree that getting a watch from PT and then mod it from there is the best bet. For $200 you cant go wrong with the ETA slow beat and pretty good dial, silver flat top 3 datewheel etc. Thats going to be the base for my next franken for sure. I'll build a red 1680 this way and see how it "feels" compared to my expensive MBW 1680 franken.

Yuki charges 420 for a 1680 case-set. I purchased one and it was very disappointing. Fortunately, he accepted it back for a refund.

[dbutlerman]

+1

http://www.puretimewatch.com/product/vinatage-red-submariner-1680-200m660ft/

This is a great starter watch, IMO.

Or you could opt for the white dial.

Both have a lot of great features

slow beat 2846-2

correct date wheel

correct 93150 bracelet and end pieces (580's)

nice 2mm spring bars

If you put a smaller gen crown on and trim the crown guards, you're off to the races.

MBW's are hard to find right now and require a lot more work, but they are a better case and will take a gen T-127 typically. But you start at around $400 and need $200-300 worth of mods to get to an acceptable point. And you could easily spend $1000 all told.

Yukis are the whole next level up from there and you're looking at $1000-2000, possibly more if you build a franken w/ a 1575 movt.

How are these at accepting Gen parts (Bezel/Datewheel/Dial etc...)

[alligoat]

How are these at accepting Gen parts (Bezel/Datewheel/Dial etc...)

If you're talking about the PT1680, you could install a gen insert, and a gen crown.

I wouldn't spend the money on a gen dial and a gen DW won't work- it goes in the opposite direction.

As Al12 says, you could get a retention ring from jmb and install a gen crystal, but that would be another $150 or so.

A gen dial won't fit in an MBW case. It will take a gen insert and T-127.

If you go to a Yuki case, well, as vlydog says, he sent it back, so forget about gen parts, I guess. NDT and J&W are other expensive options. At some point you just buy a gen

[dbutlerman]

Thanks alligoat...

[chiman12]

Buy the PT 1680, refinish the crown guards, change the crown/tube out and wear it. Don't worry about being called out, if YOU like it, that is all that matters. 90% of the population won't even know what a 1680 is, only that it is a Rolex. Because you own a Rolex, most people are going to assume it is fake anyway.

If the color of the red dial bothers you that much...go to a white dial 1680 or source another dial. You could even retrofit one from NDT/Yuki/etc. Just make sure that it fits. Based from my experience, I've noticed that dealer vintage dials tend to be a little larger in diameter than gen-like dials. There are a LOT of aftermarket dials out there now and they do not come from the same factory.

[Guest al12]

Personally I would go with the white one from PT.

[sly]

Thanks for all the replies and I wanted white to begin with. Is PT a trusted seller on this site? Also, I don't. want to touch that CG is there anybody that does it on this site. Thanks

Edited June 9, 2010 by sly

[panerai153]

PT is a trusted dealer. If you get the parts together, Crown.tube, insert, etc.there are several watchmakers on the forum who can do the work. If you are in the USA, Canada, you can send it to The Zigmeister or Vac. No problems with customs, etc. In the EU there is Domi, and probably several others. There are quite a few members who do a little modding on the side and are quite good at it. You just need to ask around and read the old posts. Shaping the crown guards, genuine crown /tube and insert will go a long way, then if you want to spring for one of jmb's retention rings and a genuine crystal, you will have a very nice watch. Another thing I would do if it were me, if you buy one with a 2846 slow beat movement, have the movement serviced when you have the mods done. These are old movements and most of them are dry and dirty. It will improve the longivity and accuracy of the movement.Movement service is something that is often overlooked by most of us, but it will be worth it in the long run.

As chiMan12 said, don't worry about someone tryinjg to rip your watch off your wrist because it's a fake!! I would say 99.99% of the population don't know one Rolex from the rest, they just see the Coronet and Rolex on the dial and know it's a Rolex. and as he said, probably think it's a fake!!Buy it, mod it as far as you want to go and wear the Hell out of it. It's a watch, it's made for wearing and getting beat up.

[sly]

Thanks a lot, I will pull the trigger on the PT white 1680. Since I'm new to all of this modding where can i source crown/tube (is it 7mm),crystal and insert. Dumb question, what is the retention ring for?. This will be my daily wear so my 1601 can rest.

Thanks Again, Very helpful people here.

[automatico]

Based from my experience, I've noticed that dealer vintage dials tend to be a little larger in diameter than gen-like dials. There are a LOT of aftermarket dials out there now and they do not come from the same factory.

I measured a genuine 1680 dial a couple weeks ago and it was about 26.4mm. The dial was still on the movement but this is pretty close.

I also measured 1680 and no date 'comex' dials from 'Paul' (aBay/Pam111) watches that I got 5 or 6 years ago and they were 26.55mm.

Iirc, the watches I got from 'Paul' back then were close to genuine in overall size but the bezels just pressed over the crystal and fell off sooner or later. There were no inner bezels on the cases.

I stuck a 2846 in the 'comex' along with a generic 19 crystal and glued the bezel to the case/crystal with epoxy. It is still holding together.

It might pass for genuine...passing by at 70 miles per hour.