My Rolex 6538 Projec t: The Neverending Story

[forrestal]

Dear friends,

I would like to submit a problem that is giving me a very hard time. I'm working on a project for the construction of a 6538 Rolex "James Bond". I've got a genuine Rolex cal.1030 movement and dial (from NTD), so I ordered a set case 6538 by Yuki. And here the nightmare started. The case came to me with many flaws: overall build somewhat crude, renhaut too wide, wrong look from the back, inner groove for securing the movement too low .... in short, I returned the case to it and I was refunded. So I decided to buy the set from NTD case (which is more expensive than Yuki). Upon arrival of the case (very well done, at first sight), yesterday, I have another surprise: the gen. 1030 movement does not enter into the case! the inner diameter of the case that should go through the movement seems too narrow, so the movement don't "entry" in the case. I wrote this morning to inform NTD for the problem. Awaiting your response, I would to say if someone had the same problem and how to solve it. I'm really angry .... For months I'm going crazy about this watch. It 's a watch that I have always loved, but I'm starting to hate him!

Yet Yuky and NTD ensure that their cases are compatible with the gen. mov. 1030!!!!

Does anyone have any suggestions ?

I send you greetings and i wish you a happy weekend (I now have irreparably ruined mine)

This is the pics of inner NTD case:The arrow indicates the ring too tight

[chiman12]

Interesting about the Yuki case forrestal, because I purchased a 6538 and the only thing wrong on it was the case back, but I fixed that. The dial and the movement fit perfectly! Sorry to hear about that, because I have been following your 6538 builds!!! You would probably need to send the case to someone so they can machine the groove down.

[freddy333]

I wonder if the problem lies with the movement? Where did you source it from? Can you post a pair of good, clear macros (1024x768) of the movement front & back? I find it hard to believe that both Yuki's & NDT's cases would not accept a gen movement.

[alligoat]

Next question is where did your 1030 movt come from, i.e. which watch was it taken from?

I found with building a V72 rep that Valjoux used different plates for different mfrs, who in turn used different cases in building their watches. Maybe Rolex did the same thing, just a thought...

Otherwise, it's just an inconsistency in the manufacturing process.

[JoJo35]

I'm not surprised to hear that the yuki case is NG. For anyone wishing to build a quality franken, I would definitely recommend staying away from the yuki case. When I sourced my components for my 6538 build, I found a 1030 donor watch (I forget which), and I went with a more expensive Vietnam case. Other than that, I used a gen crystal, gen stem, gen crown, gen tube, etc. All in all it turned out to be a great looking watch.

[kent2]

i have had the same issue twice from ndt. very aggravating. it was not the movement. i made a scraper out of a triangluar file and cut the ring down to allow the movement to drop in. the second time i chucked up a round diamond stone in a jewellers drill press and carefully with small cuts got the ring cut down and then scraped it. the scraper is just very hard steel and hollow ground on a wheel minding heat build up not to loose the temper