Gen Tudor parts source?

[Ruprekt]

I need to find a set of 4 black gen hands (GMT style) to fit the Tudor, or an ETA (2893 or 2836) movement. Any idea where to look? Ebay just has silver ones. Do the 2893 and 2836 take the same hands? Thanks for any advice or leads

Dave

[JoeyB]

They are on Ebay, though the seller is not a popular one here. Others have the 3 hands without the GMT hand in black. WHOLESALEOUTLET990

All the ETA28xx movements take the same hour (1.50), minute(.90), second hands(.25). The GMT 4th hand on the ETA 2893-2 is .180, the same as the genuine Rolex 4th hand. The GMT 4th hand on the modified ETA 2836-2 is usually not .180, varies by Chinese factory, most I have are 2.00. I don't know of any in black.

[Ruprekt]

Here's the hands I bought from the guy you mentioned off ebay. I can't guarentee it, but I'll bet they need to be re-lumed to match the gen dial I have coming. One of these days I'll do things the easy way.....

[JoeyB]

When making a silk purse from a sow's ear is anything easy? In essence, that's what we do. We take a $100 - $300 Chinese watch and work it, build it, shape it and make it as indistinguishable as we can from a $6,000+ Swiss watch. We learn how to do it from others here, and can feel great pride in our work and effort when we post the pics of our labor and others give compliments. 

Easy? If it was easy anyone could do it. 

[panerai153]

Try Clarks, also on Ebay. Better quality, and a much more reliable and honest seller. I would bet he has what you want.

[highoeyazmuhudee]

Here's the hands I bought from the guy you mentioned off ebay. I can't guarentee it, but I'll bet they need to be re-lumed to match the gen dial I have coming. One of these days I'll do things the easy way.....

i hope you receive EXACTLY whats pictured

+1 for Clarks

[Ruprekt]

I hope so to. So how do I find Clarks? I searched both users and stores on ebay, and got nothing. If I don't get exactly the hands in the picture, eBay is going to hear about it.

[panerai153]

I hope so to. So how do I find Clarks? I searched both users and stores on ebay, and got nothing. If I don't get exactly the hands in the picture, eBay is going to hear about it.

Don't worry, Mr Slimeball aka WO990 is immune to threats and disssatisfied customers, he has so many he just shrugs it off. If you are on Ebay, search Rolex hands you will see Clark. I know he's there, because I looked yesterday. His store name is Clark Watch parts and his user name is nostalgia-2000

[Ruprekt]

Don't worry, Mr Slimeball aka WO990 is immune to threats and disssatisfied customers, he has so many he just shrugs it off. If you are on Ebay, search Rolex hands you will see Clark. I know he's there, because I looked yesterday. His store name is Clark Watch parts and his user name is nostalgia-2000

Plenty of guys like that on eBay. I found Clark's ebay shop. A point of interest is the 3 hands for a gen look virtually the same at the mounting hole, but the fourth gen GMT hand has a smaller hole than the ETA hand. (I'm on my iPad or I'd post a picture, will later) While I'll have to get the calipers out to measure the mounting hole on the gen and rep hands, the GMT gen hand could be enlarged to fit an ETA movement. I really want to use the gen hands with my gen dial if possible. I get to wait for the stuff to arrive now....Crap! Sure is a lot of stuff to go through to put a gen dial and hands on a rep. It'll be worth it in the end.

[Ruprekt]

Here's the Black 2836 hands I bought for the Explorer project I have going. The silver hands I didn't buy but are for comparison. The silver ones are Rolex GMT aftermarket hands from Clark on ebay. From what I see the holes in the hour,minute,and second hand are pretty close, but the Rolex GMT hand has a smaller hole than the black 2836 GMT hand. The Gen dial I bought comes with a set of hands, when it arrives I'm going to size them with my calipers to see how close they are to fitting compared to the black aftermarket set for the 2836. The hole on the gen GMT hand can be opened up to fit the 2836 movement I think. This may sound stupid, but can you mod gen hands to fit? I really would like to use the gen hands on the 2836. That way the lume matches up nice and bright. Opinions? Advice? Buehler?

[FxrAndy]

Rupert do you realise that the and stack from the 2836 id different form the rolex movement

2836

GMT

hour

min

second

rolex

hour

gmt

min

second

so gen hands will not work, the best solution may be to get the standard hands, and arrange a trip to ziggy for them, i belive that he can now get PVD/DLC coating done and then he could lume them as well, proberbly not cheep but you will have the best fitting hand set

[Ruprekt]

Rupert do you realise that the and stack from the 2836 id different form the rolex movement

2836

GMT

hour

min

second

rolex

hour

gmt

min

second

so gen hands will not work, the best solution may be to get the standard hands, and arrange a trip to The Zigmeister for them, i belive that he can now get PVD/DLC coating done and then he could lume them as well, proberbly not cheep but you will have the best fitting hand set

The watch I'm looking at using has the Rolex correct hand stack, and uses a modified 2836. I've seen the 2836 have both the ichs and the chs.

[Ruprekt]

Would one of your 2893's be of any benefit to this project? All this hand stack mumbo jumbo is making my noob brain hurt! All the dealers off the Explorer2 with only a modded 2836 to get the chs. They say it's reliable, but some people say is problematic. If a 2893 will fit in an Exp 2, that would help things out, yes? At this point I'm so deep into this project with all the hands and dial money spent I may as well finish it to learn something. What's another $150? Always the hard way....

[tomhorn]

The watch I'm looking at using has the Rolex correct hand stack, and uses a modified 2836. I've seen the 2836 have both the ichs and the chs.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but not sure you really want to go with the correct hand stack movement. Many posts here at RWG about how unreliable that movement is.

Also, if you've bought the watch itself recently it probably won't take the gen dial. You need one of the old Noobfactory cases from I think 2006-07 time-frame. The dials in the newer rep watches are larger than the gen dial, so they won't work.

Here are a couple of posts about it.

I also don't think the 2893 works in the proper case, but I might be wrong there. As for the hands, I'd go genuine Tudor and then have someone re-lume the GMT hand, or just send all the rep hands off to be re-lumed.

Edited November 27, 2010 by tomhorn

[panerai153]

I have to agree with Tom. I think in the end, what you are going to end up with is a sack full of parts and a whole lot of frustration. Most of the modern cases don't lend themselves well to extreme modding.Also, It's not really clear to me what you are trying to do? Are you trying to build a Explorer II or a GMT? You are going to have to start back from scratch, do a lot of research, pick the brains of some of the experts here who have tried what you are attempting. Realize that practically every permutation of modding has been TRIED on just about every Rolex model, some of these are extremely successful, others are abject failures.No matter how much you want a project to work, just willing it to work won't make it happen! Some just won't work, no matter what you try. Case in point, I have a very nice GMTIIC with a ICHS 2836-2 movement. i wanted very badly to get a 2893-2 movement into the watch. i even bought a couple of movements, sent the watch, 2893-2 up to Ziggy with great expectations. It was a no go. It just couldn't be done without so many compromises that affected reliability that Ziggy wouldn't attempt it. I'm afraid what yo are attempting is heading in that direction. First off, I would never start a project , especially one that is going to be expensive with the movement you are using. The CHS 2836-2 movement is notoriously unreliable. most of the watch repair folks here won't even work on them. Learn from others mistakes, don't invest a lot of money in a project that could be very expensive and time consuming ,only to have the watch break down and die on you in a few days, weeks or months.

[Ruprekt]

What I was trying to do was put a gen dial in a rep case. The hands I bought were really cheap, two sets for about $40. The gen dial and hands on the other the hand, were not. So I need an old Noob factory Exp2 for this to work? That's a good thing to know. Finding one may be a trick, but I'm sure somebody has one. So the incorrect hand stack is the only way to go? Not what the dealers say, but that's no surprise. Thanks for the help guys. I've been researching this for a while now, but there's so much to know, it's crazy. All part of being new I guess.

Edited November 27, 2010 by Ruprekt

[panerai153]

What I was trying to do was put a gen dial in a rep case. The hands I bought were really cheap, two sets for about $40. The gen dial and hands on the other the hand, were not. So I need an old Noob factory Exp2 for this to work? That's a good thing to know. Finding one may be a trick, but I'm sure somebody has one. So the incorrect hand stack is the only way to go? Not what the dealers say, but that's no surprise. Thanks for the help guys. I've been researching this for a while now, but there's so much to know, it's crazy. All part of being new I guess.

There isn't much info on Explorers. but there is a ton of info on GMT IIC conversions as well as GMT 1675's (Genuine has the same hand stack as the ETA movements (2836-2 and 2893-2) So a really good GMT 1675 mod would solve the hand stack problem, but finding a case that would accept genuine dial, etc may be a problem.

[Ruprekt]

This would solve everything...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rolex-Explorer-2-II-SS-Date-White-16570-Stainless-NR-/330499737412?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item4cf351c744

[tomhorn]

So I need an old Noob factory Exp2 for this to work? That's a good thing to know. Finding one may be a trick, but I'm sure somebody has one.

Unless something has changed, yes, that's the case you need. Finding one on the other hand, will likely be difficult.

So the incorrect hand stack is the only way to go? Not what the dealers say, but that's no surprise.

You can try the CHS, but as many have experienced, that movement is an accident waiting to happen. I wouldn't do it personally.

I've been researching this for a while now, but there's so much to know, it's crazy.

As panerai153 mentioned, chances are that any mods that someone may want to make to a rep have already been attempted by someone here. Very important to do a lot of research before attempting to mod any watch. They all have their quirks and jumping in blind can cost a lot of time and energy chasing down the wrong things. There are plenty of threads on the EXII (including the two I linked above). You may want to go back through them before making any decisions on moving forward. Good luck with the build.

[highoeyazmuhudee]

if youre fretting over accuracy no aftermarket hands you buy will be correct anyways, this has to be accepted. maybe 90% close, but no one will be able to tell except a few of us here and the Rolex WIS on various gen forums, but the majority of them might confuse a seamaster and a submariner... ive seen it happen.