panerai153 Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 I'll never be able to afford a genuine 6538, and the reps I have seen, including one I owned, leave much to be desired. I tried pretty hard to mod one for myself, but it just didn't turn out to be a good project for me. So lacking the funds for a 6538 and no good reps, here is what I ended up with. This is the MKII "Kingston" it's almost the exact size as the genuine, 2836 movement, gilt hands and dial (And they are done right, amazing when you have the watch in the light). Nice rivet bracelet, and best of all it's Swiss made, but checked and rechecked by Bill Yao (owner of MKII) personally. This watch is a limited series of 300. 200 have been delivered and the remaining 100 are going out from April to October. It's long since sold out, but there have been quite a few on the secondary market, unfortunately at about 2-2.5 X what the first 100 owners paid for the watch. First 100 for around 800.00 USD got a watch, separate parts kit which consisted of a case,Bezel inset/bezel bracelet, dial and hands. All they would need to make a second watch would be a caseback and movement. second 100 got the watch, no parts kit, but the option for the parts kit at extra cost. the third 100 only got the watch at and added cost to the first two. Watches came with a multitude of choices which I believe slowed the delivery very much. Gilt and regular dial (Gilt is glossy, regular is matte) Gilt or silver hands, date or non date, black or white date wheel, Bezel as shown here or red triangle bezel, C3 or BWG9 lume. From this you can see that there are from what I last counted around 32 different combinations available. The combination below non date, gilt hands/dial and C3 lume with the Kingston Bezel is the most popular configuration, but there are lots of others out there.It's a great watch, and a worthy keeper of the "Big Crown" flame. Here are a few photos of mine. The first photo was right after unpacking the watch. The plastic crystal protector is still on the face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 I usually do not appreciate homages, but I have to say that this 1 is an exception to the rule. In lieu of a gen or gen-powered franken, a very impressive watch with a background story making it worthy, like the original Rolex versions, of a pass-down to future generations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dluddy Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Beautiful A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 It's a great looking watch A. Thanks for sharing it with us and I hope you enjoy it. It would be fun to see what it looks like in 10 or 20 years. That looks like a flip lock clasp on the backside- with a rivet bracelet- kind of a new 'improvement' no doubt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w0lf Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Love it! Wear it well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prospex44 Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Very nice indeed! The dial looks fantastic on this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Great watch. I have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting on Bill over at MKII to get to mine. I think I have been waiting TWO years to get mine. I ordered the same configuration as yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabularasa415 Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 I usually do not appreciate homages, but I have to say that this 1 is an exception to the rule. In lieu of a gen or gen-powered franken, a very impressive watch with a background story making it worthy, like the original Rolex versions, of a pass-down to future generations. I couldn't have said it better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krpster Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Very very nice. Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwgforumfan Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Does MK II have to pay royalty to Rolex for making this homage to the original 6538? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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