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DW 6238


alligoat

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I recently built DW 6239 with a 6238 dial- I referred to it as a transitional 6238/9. Powered by a Wittnauer V72 and with a J&W 6238 dial, it turned out OK.

P1000454.jpg

I got a set of black subdial hands and then I got a 6238 bezel from DW- I was on my way to building the 6238. Cases for the 6238 and the 6239 are almost identical- according to 'Rolex Daytona, a legend is born', they have the same measurement across (36mm) and top to bottom (35mm). At that point, the only difference would be the bezel. Both take a T-21 crystal.

So I installed the 6238 bezel- here it is on the left

P1010053.jpg

Watch on the right is the cartel 6238 with the a7750, symmetrical pushers and a terrible 6mm crown which I really need to change out!

As you can see, the DW 6238 has a decidely flat look to the bezel- wide and flat. The cartel watch has a better bezel with a steeper pitch to it. In a side shot, you can see the difference- DW in front, cartel in back

P1010054.jpg

I guess for a while I'll go back to the 6238/9 transitional look while I try to come up with a better bezel. It's sure too bad that the cartel watch doesn't have assymetrical pushers! It's really not a bad rep.

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They're both great looking watches. You're making me want one.

Couldn't you take the guts out of a cartel model and put it directly into a DW 7750 case? That would certainly interest me. Also, I assume the bezels aren't interchangeable on your two watches?

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I seem to recall that a couple of years ago I transplanted the bezel from a standard pre-Daytona rep (with symmetrical pushers) onto a DW case without any problem. I thought I took some pics, but they were lost (along with a couple of gigs worth of gen pics) when my computer crashed earlier this year. :bicycle:

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Thanks guys for the kind words.

Couldn't you take the guts out of a cartel model and put it directly into a DW 7750 case? That would certainly interest me. Also, I assume the bezels aren't interchangeable on your two watches?

I've got a Dw 6239/7750 case and I'm going to put a cartel 6238 movt and dial into it- just haven't got there yet. The cartel bezel and the DW bezel aren't the same size- typical chinese engineering- they build a nice 6238 but the dimensions vary from gen slightly. DW's stuff is closer to gen dimensions- I fit a T-21 on the case.

The crown-side "tumah" is not nearly as obvious as I thought it would be. Source a more accurate bezel, and that's going to look even better. I think it's a great look as-is, though I do miss the look of the redundant tachy markings!

This is an earlier DW 6239 case- all it has is a little bulge below the crown. Like you say LH, sourcing a better bezel is the key now. I put the 6239 bezel back on this morning- I do like it!

Freddy, like you say, I do have a DW 7750 case and I am going to swap in a cartel 6238 with a7750 movt.

Chi, I don't think your 623x bezel will fit my DW case/crystal, but you never know. OD of the T-21 is 30.5mm.

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10-4, J!

With a little help from LHOOQ, it ought to be a snap!

I was looking at this earlier 6036 today- look how small the bezel is, inside of the case, so to speak.

603611.jpg

By the time they came out with the 6234, it was larger

TA136-13611.jpg

And this 6238 is the look I'm after

Interwatches-Rolex-62382.jpg

I've got a spare cartel 6238 case and bezel also- I'm moving the guts into the DW 6239/7750 case (eventually). the cartel bezel is OK, it's just a tad too big!

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  • 1 year later...

Should there be a slight roundness to the top edge of the bezel? There is a certain bezel that I will try on the DW case that I received in erro from Ken at Raffles. It is meant for a 1016, but it is waay too small, yet the inside diameter(crystal side) looks correct for a t19 or 21

E

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Did this ever happen?

I did a quick eyeball estimate of the 6238 bezel way back when, but it never got to the lathing stage. If I recall correctly, fabricating a correctly-sized 6238 bezel would have resulted in a "tumah" looking far worse than ever. Of course, jmb later showed just how finely you can shave lugs, as evidenced on my FAP 6239.

The way I see it, the main difficulty in a 6238 build would be finding a good dial for it. The best available is the one from the old 7750-powered cartel reps. We know the Phong dials are lacking, and DW's own take on the silver 6238 was one big disappointment. I'd love to see one of our aftermarket suppliers produce a really good 6238 dial, but considering how hard they struggle to make a decent Daytona dial, that seems unlikely.

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  • 1 month later...

Well, let me know if you find it! I would be willing to spend more than that for a good 6238 dial. I reckon many others would, too.

I've actually seen more 6234 dials come up for sale than 6238 dials. Unfortunately, all of the 6234s I've seen are either horribly refinished, or look as if they survived an atomic exchange.

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Well, let me know if you find it! I would be willing to spend more than that for a good 6238 dial. I reckon many others would, too.

I've actually seen more 6234 dials come up for sale than 6238 dials. Unfortunately, all of the 6234s I've seen are either horribly refinished, or look as if they survived an atomic exchange.

Ditto, however, I wouldn't mind a 6234 that looks as if did see WWII and Korea ;)

E

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  • 1 month later...

I love the silver dial, but I think I love another version better. Whilst browsing the web looking for reference pictures and drinking some Scotch, I found this (courtesy of network54.com) I think is suits my style better. Now that DW is becoming harder to find, who could provide a dial like this?

ANy updates on the project?

E

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I love the silver dial, but I think I love another version better.

A black 6238 dial in near-NOS condition went up on eBay last year. Winning bid was above $30,000.

So... Should I put it in a DW case, or do I spring for a Phong? ;)

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