"Modern Vintage" 16610 Project

[highoeyazmuhudee]

That's a great looking pair of subs! Details on both please!

Here's a few quick pics of the case with a Clark crystal and gen bezel, insert and crown installed:

that looks great dude

[gavidoc]

I also have a 93150 for sale with 593 end links. These also fit the 16610 and the precursor to the 501

[fidhle007]

Thanks for the heads up! It's a little rich for my blood though, this is supposed to be a budget project... PureTime has a rep 93150 and so does Yuki, one of these days I'll order both and see which one is better.

[highoeyazmuhudee]

PureTime has a rep 93150 and so does Yuki, one of these days I'll order both and see which one is better.

neither really. but out of those two id choose PTs providing you actually receive one marked "93150" as dealers wont guarantee correct markings on these bracelets

[m.and]

Well, I loved it right up until I figured out that none of the movement rings I have fit... Grrr....

I was planning on doing a build using the Star Time 16800 case and a 2836 movement. Which movement rings have you tried? I was hoping one of the one's that Ken (Raffles Time) sells would do the trick.

[fidhle007]

I have one for the Sean case made by FatMatt on RWI (I think that's his name) and a TC ring which is what I think I'll end up using. Both are too big for the StarTime case and would have to be milled down. My lathe should work but I'll have to see if I can make it happen without messing anything up!

[m.and]

What is the maximum diameter ring the Star Time case will accept? Raffles Time sells two sizes, 29.25mm and 28.2mm. Would either of these work with little-to-no modification?

[fidhle007]

The dial recess has a diameter of 27.64mm and is nearly 1mm deep which is where you run into problems. The movement ring part is 28.58mm so the smaller of the those two rings should fit but you'll have to mill off that top edge to get the dial to seat. I was able to successfully turn down a TC movement ring to the proper dimensions, when I get home I'll see if it fits in the case!

[fidhle007]

TC parts are inbound! Hopefully the movement ring will work and I'm going to take a shot at turning down the TC dial before I go cutting up my gen dial. It's nice to have a gen dial as a fallback though but I want this build to be a solid, everyday watch so I want to know my dial is secure when I drop it or worse...

[m.and]

Well, despite the movement ring it looks like this case will still not work for me. The dial I want to use is 28mm in diameter so if the dial recess is only 27.64mm then it won't fit. And since it's a fairly hard to come by MKII dial I really don't want to file it to fit. So the search continues for the perfect case for my Sub project.

Thanks Fidhle007 for all your help. Good luck with your project.

[correctime]

Thanks for that link, that's a crazy watch! If you ever need to sell, let me know... :-)

For mine, I'd love to source a 91350 bracelet but my first priority is getting the movement to fit! I'm off to the shop today to play with the lathe...

Great looking crystal height Brother.

Is that a 2mm crystal ??

[fidhle007]

It's a clark which I assume is 2mm. It's on a 2.8mm gasket though, as everything else looked too low. I just switched to the 2.8mm gasket on my Sean case franken with the gen crystal I got from you as well and it gave it that added "pop" that I was looking for. It looks bang on for an M-Serial sub too!

[fidhle007]

Well, despite the movement ring it looks like this case will still not work for me. The dial I want to use is 28mm in diameter so if the dial recess is only 27.64mm then it won't fit. And since it's a fairly hard to come by MKII dial I really don't want to file it to fit. So the search continues for the perfect case for my Sub project.

Thanks Fidhle007 for all your help. Good luck with your project.

Thank you! As far as I know, the only case that takes a rep-diameter dial is the TC case. This is definitely a 16610 case though so even if you had the lugs drilled, I think you might not get as close as you want to that magic 16800 look. Personally, I'd go for it. The rehaut depth difference is .5mm. Really, who's going to call you out on that?? I'm putting a TC "SWISS MADE" dial in a lughole case with a 16800 or early 16610 bezel because I want the practicality of being able to read it at night. I'm building this as my everyday watch so I want solid and reliable. I love my SA3135

[haveblue]

Who is TC? I am looking for a date wheel with closed 6's and 9's to replace the one with the open 6's and 9's on my EL 16610.

I would go for a 16610 with lugholes. This case is copmpletely off for a 16800 and the DW with open 6 and 9 could be hard to find.

3035 case from startime looks good instead, if you want a 16800.

With a 16610 with lugholes you have these options:

t<25 tritium dial, hands and insert, 93150 bracelet, open or closed dw

SWISS dial, luminova hands and insert, 93150 bracelet, closed dw

SWISS MADE dial, luminova hands and insert, 93250 bracelet, closed dw

The third one is the easilest, just put a modern dial and insert, TC bracelet and TC dwo, and you'll have mine:

edited: sorry alligoat you replied while I was writing..

I would go for a 16610 with lugholes. This case is copmpletely off for a 16800 and the DW with open 6 and 9 could be hard to find.

3035 case from startime looks good instead, if you want a 16800.

With a 16610 with lugholes you have these options:

t<25 tritium dial, hands and insert, 93150 bracelet, open or closed dw

SWISS dial, luminova hands and insert, 93150 bracelet, closed dw

SWISS MADE dial, luminova hands and insert, 93250 bracelet, closed dw

The third one is the easilest, just put a modern dial and insert, TC bracelet and TC dwo, and you'll have mine:

edited: sorry alligoat you replied while I was writing..

I would go for a 16610 with lugholes. This case is copmpletely off for a 16800 and the DW with open 6 and 9 could be hard to find.

3035 case from startime looks good instead, if you want a 16800.

With a 16610 with lugholes you have these options:

t<25 tritium dial, hands and insert, 93150 bracelet, open or closed dw

SWISS dial, luminova hands and insert, 93150 bracelet, closed dw

SWISS MADE dial, luminova hands and insert, 93250 bracelet, closed dw

The third one is the easilest, just put a modern dial and insert, TC bracelet and TC dwo, and you'll have mine:

edited: sorry alligoat you replied while I was writing..

[fidhle007]

Search the sponsors section of RG and you'll find him. Correctime may want your datewheel when you swap!

[haveblue]

Thanks for the explaination on TC, I found him on RG.

Are his DWO's better (more correct) than BK's?

[correctime]

Thanks for the explaination on TC, I found him on RG.

Are his DWO's better (more correct) than BK's?

If comparing TC's first version DW to BK's DWO I'd say no. Bk's is better and has a noticably brighter/whiter back drop color.

Rumor has it TC's new v2 DW is spot on it every way to the gen.

[correctime]

Search the sponsors section of RG and you'll find him. Correctime may want your datewheel when you swap!

Thanks for the mention "B".

Which date wheel ???

It's true I need an excellent (or gen) silver open DW for mine.

(and a mvt ring making it possible to use a 2824-2 in this case.

[janeto72]

the new TC DWO is spot on to gen including the raised black glossy print....

[fidhle007]

My TC stuff should be here soon...

I had great luck with the movement ring today on the lathe, it fits the case perfectly! I'll get some pictures when everything is going together.

[fidhle007]

It's all together now! The case is from a certain well-known parts distributor that I won't mention because I hear they're going on an anti-rep crusade. The crystal is a clark, the bracelet is from an SA3135 sub, the hands, dial, DWO and movement ring are TC and the bezel, insert and crown are gen. It's powered by the same 2824 clone that's contained within my UPO franken and both have crazy amplitude numbers and seem really stable.

I didn't take any pictures of the movement ring or the dial mods but I'll do my best to describe them: the dial was turned down to gen diameter using a dremel and the movement ring was turned down to mimic the 3135 dimensions on my giant car shop lathe. It's a perfect fit now and should be able to drop into any gen or gen-style case like the ETASwiss.

Here's a few teaser pics...

[m.and]

It's all together now! The case is from a certain well-known parts distributor that I won't mention because I hear they're going on an anti-rep crusade. The crystal is a clark, the bracelet is from an SA3135 sub, the hands, dial, DWO and movement ring are TC and the bezel, insert and crown are gen. It's powered by the same 2824 clone that's contained within my UPO franken and both have crazy amplitude numbers and seem really stable.

I didn't take any pictures of the movement ring or the dial mods but I'll do my best to describe them: the dial was turned down to gen diameter using a dremel and the movement ring was turned down to mimic the 3135 dimensions on my giant car shop lathe. It's a perfect fit now and should be able to drop into any gen or gen-style case like the ETASwiss.

Here's a few teaser pics...

Really amazing work. I had given up on a project using this case, but you have rekindled my interest. I am sending you a PM with a few more questions.

[fidhle007]

Got it, I'll respond tomorrow when I have a minute to collect my thoughts!

Here's a few more shots for the heck of it!

Here's the TC movement ring milled down to fit a genuine-size case, note how the rolex-style screws he supplies work great!

Here's a couple of pictures of my twin subs, the other being my SA3135-powered

[m.and]

Got it, I'll respond tomorrow when I have a minute to collect my thoughts!

Let me know what you think!

That looks great. Exactly what I need. Looking forward to your response.

[fidhle007]

Here's a little evening shot update:

I ordered a 93150 bracelet from PureTime and with some modification it's not bad at all... Let me know what you think!