Tropic 39 Superdome, reference photos Options

[Thor]

Page 1:

I took a bunch of photos of a genuine tropic 39 Superdome crystal, showing the profile and the distortion from various angles. Here they are... enjoy!

http://www.nanuq-alaska.net/images/watches/tropic39/1.jpg

http://www.nanuq-alaska.net/images/watches/tropic39/2.jpg

http://www.nanuq-alaska.net/images/watches/tropic39/3.jpg

Here's the "profile" shot...

http://www.nanuq-alaska.net/images/watches/tropic39/4.jpg

And another...

http://www.nanuq-alaska.net/images/watches/tropic39/5.jpg

http://www.nanuq-alaska.net/images/watches/tropic39/6.jpg

http://www.nanuq-alaska.net/images/watches/tropic39/7.jpg

http://www.nanuq-alaska.net/images/watches/tropic39/8.jpg

http://www.nanuq-alaska.net/images/watches/tropic39/9.jpg

And the beastie in its natural habitat... :whistle:

Gorgeous! Pardon me while I wipe the drool off my screen.

I had to whip out the mop to clean up the huge drool pool on my floor.

Nothin' is sexier than a T39 Superdome pictorial :drunksing:

Okay, Mister Tropic Crystal Expert... here's a question for you.

What Tropic is it that gives a similar "dome" appearance for the 6536/8 case?

The one I have now is pretty flat... but I've seen photos of "Bond" Subs with a lovely domed crystal.

Which one do I begin hunting down?

Hi Nanuq,

Well, it should be the Tropic 17 for 6536/8, but once again, as always, it's gotta be the kinda NOS Tropic that comes in the little wax paper baggie. Those waxy baggies are the only hope that it might be old enough stock to be Superdome. The older the stock, the better.

Hope this helps.

Thanks! LET THE SEARCH BEGIN!!!!!!!!!

(I bet this little sucker is gonna cost me an arm and a leg, talk about RARE!)

I can get u one - inexpensively.

But it probably won't be a huge dome, just a nice looking dome. But you never know, you could get lucky.

Tropic 17 is also for ultra-rare 5510!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh really??

Details man, details! How do I get my hands on this lovely domed 17?

PM sent.

some input for the next hunt

TROPIC 12: Ref. 5500, etc.

TROPIC 16 Ref. 5508

TROPIC 19: Ref. 5512, 5513

TROPIC 21: Ref. 6262, 6263, 6239, etc.

TROPIC 22: Ref. 6610, 1016

TROPIC 39: Ref. 1665

TROPIC 101: Ref. 6917, 6517, etc.

TROPIC 104: Ref. 6827, etc.

TROPIC 108: Ref. 6694

TROPIC 111: Ref. 6530

TROPIC 113: Ref. 6305

TROPIC 114: Ref. 1803, 1807, etc.

TROPIC 116: Ref. 1655, 1675

TROPIC 117: Ref. 1500, 1550, 1505

TROPIC 118: Ref. 1600, 1601, 1603

TROPIC 127: Ref. 1680

TROPIC 135: Ref. 16000, 16030, 16014

TROPIC 145: Ref. 15000, 15010, 15037, 15033, 15505

i`m huntig for a tropic 19 at the moment.......if somebody has a tip for me..... ....would be great !

17 and 19

for July

Thanks guys :laugh: I still drool like a St Bernard myself every time I glance it on my wrist.

Had bit of scare earlier this week...run-in with a door frame left my superdome with big white scratches - luckily most of it paint which came off, but still few small scratches which need removing.

Any suggestions product-wise? Recall you mentioned something about bathroom cleanser, Nanuq?

Absolutely! I had the MOTHER OF ALL GOUGES on my Superdome, I mean it was unbelievably deep. I took off the bezel and I went at it with a sharp knife blade held perpendicular to the crystal, scraping away acrylic until I reached the bottom of the gouge. Trust me, this was painful. Very painful.

Then I used SofScrub kitchen cleanser. It's a very mild abrasive, comes as a thin runny white liquid.

I put some drops on the scraped crystal and rubbed HARD with my thumb until the stuff sort of dried and evaporated away leaving crusty swirlies on the dome. I rubbed that off and it was looking better. I kept going at it until it came out glittering and absolutely free of gouges, scrapes and swirls.

Then a stiff toothbrush and soap/water got the residue off the SD, I reinstalled the bezel and voila'.

@docblackrock

Alternatively, you can use Poliwatch crystal liquid. Works like a charm for serious scratches and gouges. Get yourself a tube and you'll be happy. And it's made for acrylic crystals, so it heats up real fast and is the easiest product to use. You only need a terrycloth towel and a scrap of an old cotton T-shirt.

You can also use Brasso metal polish for acrylic crystals. Very effective stuff. Use a terrycloth towel and a T-shirt scrap, too.

I prefer Poliwatch because it does not have the intense fumes as Brasoo. And one little tube will last 20+ applications for less than $10.

@wristwatch@juno.com

Great news, I am ready anytime! My 5513 and 1665 are jumpin' with joy. I will also be happy to retire and store my OEM T19 Superdome for safekeeping; as well as my OEM T39 flatter crystal.

[Thor]

Page 2:

I know this is kinda off track, but could one of you give me some thoughts on this?????

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...MEWA%3AVRI&rd=1

thanks...

jeff

He's got a #127 for $40

(hands off the #19 by the way - she's mine!)

Reputable seller, I have had the pleasure of dealing with him many times over the years.

The big question is:

Is it a Superdome or a mid-70s NOS crystal?

I've also had dealings with John - good bloke, very upfront.

However, when he last listed a T39 few weeks back (what can I say, one is never enough :happy:), he sent me this pic which I think is the same crystal.

Whilst that wax baggie in his listing is exactly the same one my SD came in, when comparing to the superdomeness glory on my 1665, I'm 99.9% certain that this is a mid-late 70s flatter T39 :sad: more a 34B than a 36DD :blushing:

*edit* thanks Nanuq/Euno for the tips - I am going to try a tube of Displex crystal polish (Polywatch rebranded for PDA screens etc.)

@Doc

You're right, that's the flat one. Here's a pic of the Superdome profile, fresh out of the wax.

I would very much like a Superdome Acrylic Crystal.. what watch does it fit? I will buy one!

I will buy the crystal too.. do we have any?

Thanks

Klink

Life is Good!

If your really good Klink I will send you one for BEta testing

Happy Bday

Hmm

Ooo! Oooo! Send me one!!! I have a 1665 to try it on!!!

I got these to try both out, too!

Installed on the 5513 is an OEM 19 Superdome, the 1665 has OEM flatter 39.

Any comments on the Helfand tropics?!?!

I got one for 10 bucks cuz I saw a post Nanuq made and it looked decent!

what your guys thoughts...

I will recuse myself from any further replies...

.....since I'm wearing mine today! SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET.

Fear not your on the list!

Klink the T39 superdome fits the sea dweller!

That's great nanuq - thanks very much! Clearly proofs that my DRSD from WM was modded with a gen Tropic 39 superdome...

Can anbody confirm what they usually run for? I heard they are very expensive, much more than a T127...

Ounce per punce, a Tropic 39 Superdome is worth probably 4x to 6x what gold is worth.

How sick is that?! :coolio:

So I probably should go see Ford Knox and ask them to give me this and that amount of gold when I give them shitloads of plastic?

[Thor]

Page 3:

You can't put a price on the pure joy of looking at that profile very day (trust me you don't tire of it, and it's now six months or more). I especially like the bit when the sun catches it and it mirrors out, mmmm...

As for cost, well let's just say I paid in fairly high double figures (£), what can I say, to quote Ubi "you gotta pay to play..." :happy:

It's just lovely to see the reflections when viewed from a small angle... and yes, sun reflections look great too - maybe I will take a few pics on a sunny day...

Couldn't agree more Cerb!

I also love the way at certain angles, it distorts the dial like a Dali painting :happy:

I recently decided to install a gen t39 on my mbw sd and ordered one but before it arrived I found another that looked like it could be a superdome. I have some pics of the two t39 s below and their bags and wanted to know if the experts could let me know if the second is a superdome?

And a profile shot comparing the mbw crystal with the t39 which has a similar profile but there is a lot more distortion and height on the t39.

So is this a gen superdome?

Thanks fellas :drunksing:

That sure looks like a Superdome to me... nice find! Where'd it come from?

Here's a profile shot of what I am POSITIVE is a Superdome T39:

Wow thats a real beast, i like the pics, thanks

You know (Euno :lolcina:) I am not sure that is a superdome.

My reasoning behind my bomb-drop is that I have a genuine t39 installed on mine and the profile is identical to yours. And it ain't a supedome.

I have an OEM t19 superdome installed on my 5513 and the dome is more pronounced than your pic and my t39. Sure the 39s have a larger edge than the 19s, but superdomes have a larger dome regardless of how high or straight the edges are.

Now, seeing a t39 superdome in real life is a life-changing experience.

*edited so that u don't read my spelling/syntax errorz

I have to agree with Euno (nice pun BTW :laugh: ), close but no cigar...

The dome in my superdome T39 does not sit so high, there's maybe less than 1mm vertical above the bezel before the curvature kicks in, if that makes sense? Check my installed profile photo on page 1. More like the MBW crystal in height but with lots more domeness...

Ok thanks guys, I got it here in Aus both are gen but the second wasnt advertised as a sd so I took the gamble (still looks very close to my untrained eyes).

So how many variations on the t39 are there?

He said domeness :lolcina:

sigh... you guys are killing me... I contacted luckyyy last week looking to buy a modern mbw sub.... but after looking at all these posts of vintage subs... especially this one with the superdome.... I think I will have to get a vintage sd instead... might contact luckyyy to let him know...

Just wondering... does the He escape valve on the MBW drsd work? And how deep does it go? I have heard of MBW subs being 300m waterproof.... is the drsd 610m waterproof?

@bazz

It's an utter piece of junk. Please send it to me and I'll put it out of your misery.

@ahchard

I doubt the HE valves work. I've looked mine over and it sure looks like a genuine piece, inside and out, but I wouldn't trust it. The only way to know for sure is a genuine pressure test. I haven't got mine to leak but I also haven't taken it below even 100' yet.

MBWs rock but remember... they're just toys. You DO NOT want to take one down there and count on it getting you back to the surface. At that point it's survival gear and you don't want to begin to trust it.

Thanks nanuq... I understand... I personally wouldn't take my watch deeper than 5m in the water...

Just another question... I notice that most of the vintage mbw's from luckyyy have slightly yellowish hour markers... I guess this is to make it look the age??? Just asking cos I saw the pic of a gen mint drsd and it looked sooooo good... and the markers were white... are all mbw vintage models like that with yellowish markers... I would check out luckyyys pics on TRC but he just took all his old pics off and no more drsd pics... but from what i recall last time i saw it... it had the yellow markers...

did I say it looked really good???

Thanks for the offer nanuq I posted it today to

Nanuqs Insane Experiments

The Arctic Wilderness

USA

Let me know when it arrives :laugh:

@ ahchard

My one is white sd which seems to have whiter markers than the drsd.

[Thor]

Page 4:

@ahchard

A vintage SD should have ivory colored markers. The orange/yellow you see so often is correct sometimes

(rarely) but for the most part the old watches I have and the ones I've seen tend to go "ivory". My 6536

Submariner is gilt, so it doesn't count, but the rest are all ivory:

Hmm, I disagree. Most vintage Subs and SD's that are for sale definitely have yellow markers. I've seen ivory markers too, but usually those watches are generally in better condition.

I'm sure the sunlight plays a big part of this. If the watch doesn't get much direct sunlight the markers won't turn so much to yellow. Just a guess though...

Check out this place. Almost all vintage "Red" watches have yellow markers.

http://catalog.antiquorum.com/catalog.html

Aaaargh! NOOoooooo.......it's the Return of the Mangled Thumb!!!

RBJ will be ecstatic I'm sure :lolcina:

So much more for me to learn... just searched the forum for info on all vintage rollies... then went to TRC to do a search as well... then went to the Rolex area and went thru all 26 pages.... learnt a bit... but had even more questionssss!!! sigh...

not sure what i want now... double red? single red? white letter? sub?

need to go to bed now... its 2am...and i still have to work tomorrow...

come back with questions tomorrow....

Comments?

Mmmmmhhhhhh looks jsut sooo nice...

One question for the master:

The crystal seen in these pics - is it a gen Superdome T39? Also - how does a gen crystal sound when tapping it with the fingernail? Mine almost sounds as soild as glass... doesn't feel anything like plastic...

@Cerb, compared with my gen, I'd say IMO those photos do NOT show a superdome T39 - it's lacking that certain domeness (there I said it again Nanuq my gnarly-thumbed friend..."domeness" :laugh: ).

Or to put it another way it looks more 34C than 36DD :happy:

Took two more pics...

What do you think about the spring bars?

Hmmm, hold on...those profile shots look much closer if not exact to my SD T39

It feels very solid, almost like glass, has a nice distortion when viewed from certain angles, it's not easy to scratch - and it's jsut very very well made. I would easily say it's a gen Superdome - just concerning the superior quality...

[eunomians]

I hope the T39 project is coming along well, I am ready to slap on a superdome!

[docblackrock]

@ Thor, thanks for reposting this thread.

Like the vintage datewheels, I also can't wait for this project to move to production - I may have a genuine superdome but I'd love a spare so my BP doesn't spike at 150 every time a doorway or glass desktop comes into contact with my crystal, not that I'm clumsy just THAT dome seems to have a gravitational pull all of its own!