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Rolex Experts........


woody

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Hi fellas,

I recently got a vintage daytona from one of our dealers. Being that I am not too familiar with older models, I was wondering if someone can let me in, as to what year this rep is trying to emulate, how good, or how bad a job it did trying to rep it, and also, as I measure this watch, its width is at 38mm, and not your typical 40mm. Did Rolex actually make this model in this size? Any feedback again, or input is greatly appreciated it. Thanks in advance.

9896-5012.jpg

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Thanks Bob,

When I first started wearing it, I kept thinking to myself, boy, this bracelet sure is narrow. Plus it tapered towards the buckle, so sometimes I feel like as if I may be wearing a ladies watch. I feel the bracelet is quite flimsy, but then again, it is a rep afterall. Does the genuine bracelet on these 6263s also exhibit the cheap flimsy feel, or is it a totally different ball game that we are talking about. I figured if I need to ask anyone, you would certainly be the best, knowing that you are the resident Rollie expert. Thanks in advance again Bob.

ps. I do plan to wear it as it is. One thing I love about this watch in particular is the sharp contrast with the white subdial hands on the black dial. They really stand out well.

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Beautiful 6263 you got there Woody. I have one myself with the Asian 7750. It is almost correct except for the assymetrical pushers and the subdial spacing. I love it.

Edited by HighDef
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Woody,

The watch you have there is a replication of the Cosmograph 6263, which was in production from 1970 until the late 80's (I want to say '87 or '88, when the 16520 made it's debut). The case should measure 37.x mm (this measurement varies for genuines, as fractions of a mm can be taken off during case refinishing), the lugs should measure 19mm, and the bracelet should have the following markings on the backside (which I suspect your's might):

78350

19

And the end links should be signed '571'.

If yours' is stamped with these markings, then you've got one of the more faithful to genuine replications out there.

As for your question on the cheap, flimsy feel of the bracelet- That is correct. (genuine) Rolex bracelets have always felt a little flimsy compared to others (like Omega), as they use rolled, hollow midlinks, and stamped metal for clasps (prior to this they used folded links, which felt even lighter, and more flimsy, along with riveted links, which felt a little more substantial). It's funny- I was wearing my DW 6263 the other day, and I was thinking the exact same thing as you- The small clasp kinda does make it feel like a ladies' watch, at least, in comparison to more contemporary bracelets.

:lol:

Enjoy the new watch!

Cheers,

R

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Hi Ubi,

During this time frame, did Rolex attempt to make these daytona in a different size, you know, like on Omega, they had a full mens, and mid size, so I was wondering if Rolex made a full (40mm) size 6263 during this time. Reason why I asked that was because I was browsing Paul's site, and he stated that his 6263s were 40mm in size. Does that mean his is not as accurate, or did Rolex make 2 sizes during that time? By the way, I love the way it looks, wearing it at work right now. only thing I would wish for is a bigger size watch, but it keeps the variety factor up with my Pams ;)

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Hey Woody,

Rolex only made the 37mm 6263 and 6239, 6241, 6245, etc. w/ the 19mm lugs. The 40mm reps/ w 20mm lugs are just the rep community's version. All the original daytonas had a modified Valjoux 72 movt. - 72B, 722, 727. And look for the assymetrical pushers on the originals.

And the old bands are flimsy indeed, and narrow at the clasp, and everyone knew you didn't you didn't give no lip to Big John, ... just like Ubi said.

BTW, what movement do you have? The Lemania/Venus/ Seagull, or the Valjoux 7750 Asian copy?

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Hi Alligoat,

Thanks for the reply. The movement I have is the Asian 7750, I believe the first gen, so I am rather using cautiously and may need some service, but so far, so good, hands reset correctly with no problem. what do you mean by assymetrical pushers? I don't quite get that, can you elaborate further? and wow, I did not know you can get this rep with all these different movement. Is it ok to assume the original 6263 as automatic movement? or were they mixed? and when did Rolex decide to make a chrono movement on their own and ditched the valjoux based movement? sorry for all of my questions, I am very new to vintage rolexes, and am somewhat intriqued by its history, and how they are made. I certainly love them 10 times more than the current daytonas. but that's just my opinion. thanks again everyone for their feedback, keep them coming if you have more insights!!

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Woody, your watch is quite nice. The subdial spacing is hardly noticable with that dial version. The Paul Newman dial shows the difference with the 7750 subdial spacing more. Here is a quick pic of my 6263 PN I just got from Eunomians. It's a DW with the 1:1 case and handwind movement, and you can see the difference in the subdial spacing and the asymmetric pusher spacing. It's just over 37mm.

10674-4853.jpg

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Woody,

The pushers should be asymmetric, i.e the bottom is spaced a little more offset tan the top. Here's an image to help illustrate:

10692-4847.jpg

10692-4848.jpg

Note the spacing of the top pusher compared to the bottom in relation to the crown as the centerpoint.

With regards to the movements used per generation, they are as follows:

Vintage Cosmographs (6239/6241/6262/6263/6265) 1960 - 1988

Caliber 727 Valjoux 72 based handwind 19800bph

Daytona (16520, etc) 1988 - 2000

Caliber 4030 Zenith Daytona based automatic 28800bph

Daytona (116520) 2000 - present

Caliber 4130 1st Rolex in house chronograph movement 28800bph.

The vintage Daytonas were not popular in their time. The reason being is that they were manual wind with a screw down crown. Hence the majority sat in dealer displays until the early - mid 80's when the Italians went crazy over the Exotic dial variants thanks to a (mysterious) correlation to actor Paul Newman (the Exotic dial subsequently went on to be known as Paul Newman dial Daytonas). There is much speculation over the origins of this relation of the watch and the actor; nothing as been determined as fact. Their exclusivity has only increased in the past few years pushing values up past ridiculous levels (of which I have my own personal theories and thoughts).

Anyways...

Hope this information helps a little.

Best,

R

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So Ubi,

That makes my so called 6263 not truthful as a real movement then, is that right? Since the vintages were all manual wind, and mine is the asian 7750. that is a lot of great information. I guess in a way could be blessing in disguise, since sometimes I am lazy to wind these watches. thanks again for the information.

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I must say first and foremost- I love my DW 6263 dearly. But, the manual winding just kills me. It has a V23 copy movement in it, and even though the power reserve is 56 hours, the winding every 2 days is a bit much. I spend more time looking at it than wearing it these days.

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Everytime I wind my DW copy v72 movement I keep thinking I'm going to hurt it...these movements are not great. That said, I can't take my 6263 off...I love it.

I feel the same way. With every wind, I feel like I'm slowly bringing the watch to it's grave. Of course, it doesn't help that the original movement in my watch had winding issues. I'm a little gun shy to say the least.

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