Qs about Frankening Modern Rolexes

[Reginald37]

My boss and closest associate at work are WIS, or at least "watch guys" (Zenith, Chopard, Balncpain between them) that don't play on this side. This somewhat limits my ability to show up with any old 40k Comex or Newman Daytona, (or AP RBll for that matter),since they would go right into 20 questions and then Google and ebay, so it looks like I'm sticking with the modern Rollies which I could actually afford. My wife approves of this as well, making my life a little simpler

I'm awaiting my DDSD back from VAC (pics when I get it) which i had every mod he does done to, and he sent it out for AR. I also just ordered a 2001 model black dial/grey subs Daytona, my favorite.

I just had a very brief, like a weekend, flirtation with Breitling, and in shopping around almost every one was franken - dials, bracelets, bezels,movements etc... You see these on vintage Rolex models, but I very rarely see a franken modern Rolex. I've seen a few from 5th Group and there's one over at RWI now, a Datejust.Obviously there's less floating around so there's less parts and I get their not as "interesting" in a sense, but the Breitlings are all new and that doesn't seem to stop them.

So - am I missing something? Are there lots of Frankens? Are the parts simply impossible to get? Is there someone out there that can? I'd love to get gen bracelets and crowns for both, at least.

thanks in advance

Citizen

Edited July 17, 2011 by citizenfox

[kbh]

Your first glaring error is to put AR on a Rolex tool watch. Why would you do that when the gen doesn't have it?

Other than that, most newer Rolex's don't have a lot of interchangeable parts with gens and reps. And the newer parts either are not readily available or are way too expensive. Spare parts for frankens are usually left overs from servicing, parted out dead watches, or smaller items such as crown/tubes, crystals,etc.

[flex]

There is no good modern Daytona on the market. Once you hold a genuine Daytona on your hand, you can spot the flaws on the rep quite easily. I would suggest you look into BK/ WM9 on the secondary market. They are quite accurate.

Your boss and your friends are into watch.. but that doesnt mean you can't also build a datejust, date, 5500 ariking frankens.. with geninue parts...to me, people with vintage watches have better taste

[praetor]

it's not that modern rolex's parts are hard to get. They are moderately difficult to say the least, easiest being the insert and crown. The thing is that they're so expensive that it's really hard to justify the cost of your franken. For example, a wm9 would cost 500 dollars, with the cost of parts to get it almost genuine minus movement, it's as if you've just paid for a genuine with the movement taken out.

Edited July 17, 2011 by praetor

[ubiquitous]

Praetor-

Bingo.

Modern Rolex models are fairly reasonable to begin with when it comes to gen. Building a 16610 Submariner, 16622 YM, etc. using gen parts can easily add up and land you close to the cost of a pre-owned genuine example. In that case, it just makes more sense to buy a used gen.

[Jkay]

Why not build a nice 1680 Submariner franken. It's classic and a gen is only about $4000-$10,000 USD .. so you could "pull it off" credibly, since you already own a "$9,000" replica (the DSSD) ... Or a 1665 Sea Dweller .. same price range .. Don't go crazy and build a Red dial .. go with a Great White.

[Reginald37]

Your first glaring error is to put AR on a Rolex tool watch. Why would you do that when the gen doesn't have it?

Other than that, most newer Rolex's don't have a lot of interchangeable parts with gens and reps. And the newer parts either are not readily available or are way too expensive. Spare parts for frankens are usually left overs from servicing, parted out dead watches, or smaller items such as crown/tubes, crystals,etc.

Um, I know the gen isn't ARed. I have also had the gen and the rep next to each other and the rep crystal is not nearly as sharp. I think it looks closer to gen and way better with AR. that's why. But thanks for pointing out my "glaring error".

Here's a thread on frnakening the new DSSD.

[Reginald37]

There is no good modern Daytona on the market. Once you hold a genuine Daytona on your hand, you can spot the flaws on the rep quite easily. I would suggest you look into BK/ WM9 on the secondary market. They are quite accurate.

Your boss and your friends are into watch.. but that doesnt mean you can't also build a datejust, date, 5500 ariking frankens.. with geninue parts...to me, people with vintage watches have better taste

This is an interesting hobby. I've had gen daytona owners tell me they couldn't believe how close the rep was. I've had the same thing, gen owners saying the rep of the Breitling Blacksteel is dead on and others say it sucks and isn't close. I've worn the gen a number of times. I'm only really interested in daytona and subs, so although I know you can build frankens of the others, it's not for me.

I was just hoping to find out the best way to get a gen bracelet and crown. Gen bracelet and crown on a good rep and I'd be happy. Even it's 2k it's a 8k less than the gen.

Edited July 18, 2011 by citizenfox

[Reginald37]

Why not build a nice 1680 Submariner franken. It's classic and a gen is only about $4000-$10,000 USD .. so you could "pull it off" credibly, since you already own a "$9,000" replica (the DSSD) ... Or a 1665 Sea Dweller .. same price range .. Don't go crazy and build a Red dial .. go with a Great White.

You're right and I did both. And good one's too - Yuki/BK/Pbdad and the like. The small size was a problem for me. I love the history, have all the source vintage books, and the intricacy of the builds, but when I got them on they didn't do it for me.

[panerai153]

I have to agree with the folks above. modern Rolex watches that could be frankened easily are relatively plentiful and compared to vintage they are reasonably priced. I recently spent over 3k on a 1665 DRSD with everything genuine except the dial and case. And that was starting with a base watch with a genuine T-39 superdome for 150.00 USD. IF you use the rule of 20, that is don't spend more than 20 % of the cost of a new watch to build a franken. Can't be done with the modern watches. If you consider that a good late sub 16610 from say late 1990's to 2005-06 can be had for around 3500-4000 USD, you can only afford to spend around 600-800 USD on the comperable replica watch plus modding. Thta won't get you too far, possibly a genuine insert, crown tube and a movement service.

The Breitling folks can get parts pretty easily from what it sounds like. Rolex on the other hand guards their parts like a mother Grizzly guarding her cubs. Parts replaced are never returned to the owner (At least here in the USA) and guys with parts accounts are under constant pressure and scrutiny by Rolex. If a watchmaker got caught selling parts to folks to build frankens, I'm sure he would never get a new part from Rolex ever again. So because of this, parts especially new parts are very, very difficult to source, and very expensive. I tried about a year ago to get a genuine crystal for my GMT IIC, I asked everyone I

knew if they could possibly source one, the answer from them all was "sorry, Rolex wants us to send the watch to a RSC for replacement of the crystal, they aren't available".

Unfortunately, you reside in the land of the WIS. Most of us don't. You would be best served by wearing watches that are believable, genuine Rolex subs, as well as other genuine watches that fit into your job/price range. You will never get called out by your bosses if you're wearing a genuine watch! If I were to do a franken, it would probably be something like a nice datejust with lots of genuine parts, or a 1680 Sub (White) Either of those could be done well and be very believable.