AllergyDoc Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 I picked this watch up from RolexAddict. It came with both Pepsi and black bezels, so it's a "transformer". Here is his description of mods (complete with his Frenlish spelling ): Re-cut and re-worked bezel ring, Rolex original specs 4mm wide insert. Tropic 116 plexi, 1,3mm diameter drilled lug holes, Rolex spring bars, re-lumed and aged/patined markers and hands, repainted GMT hand with the true red. Like on gens the tritium has a granular aspect and a passed white / eggs shell color markers and the dial is dulled. This transformer is delivered with 2 bezels : Pepsi and black. The 1675 was produced with pepsi and black inserts only. 1) THE BEZEL RING The bezel ring inside diameter is enlarged and the external serrations have material removed. I started to do that with a lathe but bezels often collapsed as they are to thin for basic machinery. Makers have CNC, no lathes. Now I convert by hand with dremel cutter and grinding tools. The bezel ring after the re-cut accepts gens or aftermarket original inserts desigh, 4mm wide. All other rep inserts are vrong and will not fit or match 2) THE PLEXI The domed plexi is removed and an aftermarket cyclop 116 is glued in the case. This is a tricky job, as the original cyclop 116 will not fit and has to be centered and the space of half a millimeter between the case side and the plexi has to be filled with epoxy. 3) LUG HOLES The springbar shoulders are 2mm diameter. The lug holes are drilled at 1,3mm to allow a perfect clearance with the springbars and a perfect fitting without play. 4) DIAL AND HANDS The dial is dulled using a Swiss product, used by artists to fix oil/watercolors paintings and so. For the lume I use German and Japanese acrylic material, it doesn't glove a long time, but on these supposed 40 years old watches, the lume is away. The goal is to get the patina and this granular aspect on dots and hands. I use a light red color for the GMT hand. INSERTS Inserts are aged using bleach and carbonate powder, I don't know the English name, -i would say -baking soda- It's the same chemical product I use when I do hot bluing job on gun parts to stop the salts action. Difficult to explain. Anyway, I can control the " virtual age" of the insert. The close ups let you see how well the aging was done. I forgot to shoot the back of the extra bezel. If you're familiar with BK's excellent "Transformer" GMT, RA's bezels are held in place in a similar manner, except the wire is much thicker and holds the bezel much more securely than BK's (or at least the one I had). BK's bezel popped off once when I was wearing a French cuffed shirt. There's no way this one could pop off that easy. He's also working on a 1675 "El Cornin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Wow doc! That looks amazing! This is a product offering from RolexAddict? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 looks great! I especially like the dial markers and the side shots of the case. I also like how the insert is just slightly aged just so it doesnt look new, yet its not faded too much. The bracelet looks a little "new" compared to the head. A little sandpaper, some rattleing around in a jar of coins and then a nice polishing would add about 20 years of wear to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cats Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Great catch Doc very nice looking 1675. Wear it well Cats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Very Nice Love the bracelet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member X Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Damn you, AD Soon I will be even, sooooooon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 The overall look is really nice, I especially like the dial markers, texture and colour. After reading the details of the work that was done, I have to admit I was disapointed to see the bezel insert fitment. Picture number 2 you can see completely under the insert, and in picture 3, there is a large side gap between the insert and bezel. I was expecting to see the insert sitting below the bezel lip, not above it, and no gap on the outer edge. It almost looks as if the glue either expanded as it dried and lifted the insert up, or that the insert and bezel seat needs to be scraped clean, and the insert re-glued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krpster Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Overall a nice looking piece! Great pick up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member X Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 The overall look is really nice, I especially like the dial markers, texture and colour. After reading the details of the work that was done, I have to admit I was disapointed to see the bezel insert fitment. Picture number 2 you can see completely under the insert, and in picture 3, there is a large side gap between the insert and bezel. I was expecting to see the insert sitting below the bezel lip, not above it, and no gap on the outer edge. It almost looks as if the glue either expanded as it dried and lifted the insert up, or that the insert and bezel seat needs to be scraped clean, and the insert re-glued. Thanks for your input on this, Zigmeister You're saying that either less glue should have been used (potentially dangerous! lol) or more material should have been taken out from underneath the insert to make it level with the bezel, and that the 'hole' for the insert was cut a bit too wide? It's not a bad job seeing as it was done all by hand but I'm sure RA won't be averse to constructive feedback for future ones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiman12 Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Super nice Doc! Love the pointed CG's!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce79 Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Very nice build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 what are the ingredients to this one, case dial ect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Thanks for your input on this, Zigmeister You're saying that either less glue should have been used (potentially dangerous! lol) or more material should have been taken out from underneath the insert to make it level with the bezel, and that the 'hole' for the insert was cut a bit too wide? It's not a bad job seeing as it was done all by hand but I'm sure RA won't be averse to constructive feedback for future ones! I do all my work by hand, as does probably everyone else. Typically you don't modify the actual bezel, but instead modify the insert, thin it down, and cut the outer edge as required for a snug fit. I have not had any problems getting inserts to fit tight up against the sides of the bezel with no gap, and to get it to sit below the bezel edge. So something needs to be looked at and corrected on this one. The insert should "snap" into place like the gen, and then only needs a bit of glue to hold it securely. We all know how picky our members are about this stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member X Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Typically you don't modify the actual bezel, but instead modify the insert, thin it down, and cut the outer edge as required for a snug fit. I have not had any problems getting inserts to fit tight up against the sides of the bezel with no gap, and to get it to sit below the bezel edge. I think this might be where RA is doing it differently. I hope he doesn't mind me posting the pic but this is the picture he has used to illustrate the process: So he is modifying the bezel to enable an untrimmed gen insert to fit, rather than trimming the gen insert to enable it to fit into the existing bezel. As he says, he is doing this by hand with a dremel and grinding tools! so I understand that this may mean tolerances aren't as tight as they might be. I imagine that more practice will yield a better result though, but I will wait for him to respond to the thread and express his own thoughts We all know how picky our members are about this stuff... I couldn't possibly comment... LoL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Understood. Very difficult to achieve an even round circle on something like this, without putting it in a lathe to do the cutting. There are limits to the accuracy you can achieve freehand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllergyDoc Posted June 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 what are the ingredients to this one, case dial ect He started with a 3-year-old "Retro" GMT from Josh which has, apparently, changed: Regrettably, now Josh and Andrew both sell vintage GMT Master from a new batch, sounds like the old stock of cases with the thick crown guards is finished. Before, cases had thick crown guards and were cut depending of the tube and crown diameter used. Now makers adapt tubes and twinlock small diameter crowns direct on Sub cases to produce GMT !! The space betwin the crown guards and crown is to wide and the crown guards are to narrow. This looks ugly and 200% vrong. Don't buy these watches So we have to source the old style case. I think Sillix have them. The dial is also from the old Retro watch. If the dial had surrounds , it would be correct for the MK.4 and MK.5 GMT dials: My watch is a prototype of sorts. He does need to figure out how to make the bezel insert fit better and one end links fits poorly on the watch. I believe he will offer these for sale when he gets some of these issues ironed out. I would like to upgrade towards Yuki. But lot of problems also. The regular GMT dial they have for sale actually is complete vrong. Never existed, and I don't want those with Arabic insigna. Also I emailed and they gave me the case set price. Pricy. Also, I am not convicted by the caseback flat brushed style design. This is not a 1675 caseback. And the case body looks too thick on pics. So buy such material is risky, for the price I can get 3 GMT master from Sillix-prime and mod them like I did : and with the recurring problem of DATE and 5513 engravings... Maybe this watch is closer to a 16750? The dial is more 1984ish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 That's really too bad, but not all that surprising, that the dealers stopped selling that particular case. It really does look pretty great! Can't wait to see more from RolexAddict - especially if these are going to be made available for purchase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolexaddict Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 (edited) Hello guys, Thanks to all for your interest, I don't come a lot here, just because I don't have enough time to jump on several boards. But I admit I like here also and have learn lot of things. Also thank you AllergyDoc for this review. I was not convicted as I know than here a lot of "Eagle Eyed" are flying around here... no good for me Second, thank you Zigi for your comment about the lume process and also for your positive critics about the bezel ring and insert re-work. You have done a good observation and you are technically right about the method I used and errors. I made 3 watches and they are prototypes. The work on the bezels has to be improved of course. The bezel rings are originally Sub design rings, and I tried to convert them in GMT bezel rings... No way to adapt gen or aftermarket ring-retaining ring-spring Rolex design on these cases. Just to precise, all these rep "vintage" GMT Master sold by all dealers are made with a Sub 5513 background. But what is interesting is that these rep cases are very accurate especially the crown guards design, and case thickness : gen 1675 cases are very thin Other problem, as you pointed out, the insert has to be positionned deeper, means I should have to remove more material inside the ring or/and from the back of the insert. Its not a glue problem. My conclusion : no one rep has a click/pop insert system. All Rolex reps -GMT, Subs, SD, - are based on inserts glued on the bezel ring. My prototypes were modded according to basic rep vintage Rolex GMT with glued inserts. BTW, Bezel rings were re-worked to accept oversized 1675 gen/aftermarket specified inserts. Glued. Of course, It would be possible to profesionally machine properly the bezel ring to pop-in a gen insert,the cost would be so consequent that I would say : stop, by a gen. A gen 1675 is only 4500 euros. The Rolex GMT master 1675 is the most difficult rep to copy, as no one Chinese maker has made an accurate case, bezel ring,insert etc. The worse : the dial. And these "gen Singer refinished" will not fit on rep cases. Not a feet position problem but a size problem, they are anounced around 26mm diameter, rep GMT 1675 rehaut inside diameter is 27-28mm... And all these called Singer have just the name, they are just simple Singer reps. Thanks to all to appreciate my home made 1675 Edited June 10, 2010 by Rolexaddict Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dluddy Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Awesome looking RA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Amazing work RA! Please keep us informed of your progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Thanks for the further information. These bezel rings are very hard metal and a real challenge to machine, even on a lathe. I am amazed that you got the results you did by doing it freehand. With all reps, there are always accurate parts, and not so accurate parts, it's too bad they just can't make one model totally correct. Well done, looking forward to more of your handiwork. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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