78350 Pictorial: 6263 Daytona bracelet options

[wiesn089]

One of the most desired watches in our community is probably Rolex's Daytona Cosmograph in its vintage form, the 6263.

Excellent cases for those willing to build/have build an almost indistinguishable rep exist with DW's cases supposedly due to its excellent price tag being the most chosen alternative. No matter what route you choose on this long and very, always more than anticipated, expensive journey sooner or later you will be stuck with the decision which bracelet to fit on your Daytona.

In this pictorial I want to introduce three options and also point out their differences. I will also try to give my conclusion what I consider the most suitable one while providing everyone with good enough pictures to decide on their own.

I added some watermarks to my pictures so they won't get abused for scam ebay listings, etc. I hope these don't distract too much.

Let's go.

Overview

The contestants, all brand-new, from top to bottom: Gen Rolex 78350, Yuki 78350 and DW's stock option

Length

The first and most noticeable difference when comparing them side-by-side is their length. The gen bracelet has one link less than the other two options, they all have 5 removable links however. Also the different shape of the clasp and coronet on it are easily noticeable.

Quality and feel-wise the DW bracelet I received feels ridiculously cheap compared to the other two. It's rattling uncomfortably and the clasp won't close properly. The other two options are very much alike with Yuki's 78350 rattling a tad more and generally feeling a little less substantial than the gen.

Middle-Links

Yuki's and Rolex's bracelets middle-links are flexible while DW's aren't. This again makes those two much more comfortable to wear than the stock option.

Shine

Shine-like Rolex's gen seems a little bit duller than the other two to me. I don't know if this is due to different kinds of metal being used or why this is the case. This is only noticeable when comparing the bracelets side-by-side however.

Springbar Guide

The guide where you fit the removable endlinks by springbars is differently shaped on the gen compared to the other two options. Gen Rolex springbars fit each option nonetheless.

Clasp Coronet

Not much here which isn't very apparent. Form and position of each coronet is very different.

Rolex's coronet is beautiful, crisp and very elegant, whereas Yuki's got an "ironed-on" and clownish look to it which is only surpassed by DW's comically wrong and ugly example.

For me this huge tell is very, very bothersome on both aftermarket options.

My DW clasp doesn't close properly while on Yuki's and of course Rolex's bracelets this works flawlessly.

Clasp Back

Again I will let the pictures do most of the talking.

Rolex's engraving again is very accurate, crisp and clear. Yuki partly succeeds in imitating the Rolex logo adequately but omits information concerning reference number and (supposedly) production date code. DW's logo is noticeable wrong and though it tries to incorporate reference number and other information there are only some fantasy numbers printed in their place.

For me nothing much to worry about since hardly anyone will be close enough to examine the clasp back closely.

Open Clasp

Not much to add here.

Endings

I took pictures of both ends, but decided to show only one since they are identical on each bracelet anyway.

Rolex very small and accurate, Yuki noticeable bigger and bolder, amazingly DW manages to replicate this engraving better than Yuki. Then again this isn't important in any way.

Endlink-Fit

This is how Rolex's and Yuki's bracelet (I didn't bother to put on DW's ridiculous non-closing bracelet on my watch again) looks fitted on my case using gen 571 endlinks.

Rolex's looks slightly better since the endlinks fit the bracelet better which is supposedly due to the different shape of the springbar guide. The difference is a slightly bigger "gap" between endlink and bracelet as can be seen when you compare this on the bottom part of each picture.

Btw. this is how my DW-"assembled" 6263 looked (and still looks) when it arrived over half a year ago (minus gen Tropic 21).

Conclusion

So, which one is the winner?

Well for one: DW's definitely not. The stock bracelet is ridiculously cheap looking, cheap-feeling and a plain nuisance! Mine didn't close, rattled and almost made me throw my MM 6263 (which also arrived broken) straight in the trash.

So which one, Yuki's or Rolex?

Regarding price, I paid almost 500

[dluddy]

Great review and very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to share with the community

[lhooq]

Excellent comparison. Very informative, though slightly depressing! Special thanks for reviewing the Yuki 78350, as I don't think anyone's ever taken a close look at it before. A nice follow-up -if you're so inclined- would be to look at the rep endlinks available for 19mm Daytonas.

And that's why I stick to 7835s for my Daytonas--I'm cheap!

[alligoat]

Nice write-up!

The only thing I would add is if you look at the engraved 78350, the gen has a flat-top 3, the reps have round top 3's.

[jmb]

I love posts like this! :thumbsupsmileyanim:

[Eton]

Thanks for the review!!!

[polexpete]

Great review thanks for posting.... I think if you build a 6263 with a V72 you gotta go gen bracelet .... They just feel so goddam good to wear.

Cheers

P.

[Gorilladame]

Thank you, very impressiv pics!!!!

[freddy333]

Great review/pictorial

[rosnik]

Thank you!!!!

[hava]

Thanks great info, i take in consideration in mine Rolex 6263.

What case use for your 6263, goes to DW or Yuki. Because ND or Phong are expensive.

I now buy the valojux and need to decide what case goes to buy.

[The Red Baron]

Excellent write up, thanks! Best place to get Yuki's bracelet is on the website?

[krpster]

Impressive. Excellent attention to the details. Very clear and concise analysis too. The community thanks you

[Dizzy]

Nice comparison.

Clasps are easy to adjust. My clasp on my DW bracelet was also loose but now it snaps firmly and feels smooth.. the DW endlinks are junk though. I had to take a lot of metal off with my dremel to get them to fit properly.

[parryl]

thanks for the write up .

[envisagevi]

Where is a reliable source for the gen bracelet?

[dluddy]

Great contribution. Thanks for sharing

[wiesn089]

Where is a reliable source for the gen bracelet?

Mine's on ebay right now (search for it and tick "worldwide" on ebay.com). They seem to be pretty hard to source, I got mine from a friend of mine who is a watchmaker and won't disclose any details.

[ubiquitous]

My vote goes for gen

7835 is nice, but a hassle to size!

78350 is my preference due to ease of fitting

[Eton]

Nice Ubi!

[The Red Baron]

I just want to echo the OP's findings - my Yuki bracelet arrived and it is a HUGE improvement over the stock DW bracelet. Far nicer quality!

[ThinkBachs]

Glad I was doing some digging around and found this. Thanks for the comparisons.

[danielv2000]

Glad I was doing some digging around and found this. Thanks for the comparisons.

And thanks for the bump! I just discovered this!

TB, pulled the trigger yet on that albino?

[ThinkBachs]

All paid for. I hope it doesn't take too long to get here. I've been really down on watches less than around 42mm, throwing insults like "boys watch" and "mid-sized" out there, but it's time to grow up a little. I've been collecting as much information as I can about it and the history is interesting- especially for the Albino which no one wanted but Eric Clapton's sold for $500,00ish. My two goals are to get a gen bracelet on it and see if I can find an excellent black bezel for it. Gen versions of the black bezel are incredibly expensive.

Back to bracelets, I've been considering a Yuki riveted if I can't find a good gen at a reasonable price. The thing that struck me the most in this review was the spring bar guide on the gen- great information.

[danielv2000]

Enjoy the albino when you get it. I was really tempted but just received 2 of Soins beauties recently and i could not justify a 3rd... Not now, anyways!