I fell in love....

[Lo']

I have found a picture of it somewhere. It's the 1675 with a white dial and PAN AM engraved caseback. The reference should be 6542 if I'm not wrong.

Ingod has a very beautiful white dial but it will only fit a gen movement.

I HAVE to have this watch!! Anyone willing to share any knowledge on where to source parts for this compelling new project?

Thanks in advance for any feedback

[cc33]

The man to talk to would be Freddy. He has built a gorgeous one. I think one or two other members have as well, but I can't remember who.. Minh sells a complete one pictured here, or you can buy just the dial from him and make your own..

http://vintagewatchesmq.com/minhquy/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=861&category_id=79&keyword=6542&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

[freddy333]

No PanAm engraving on the caseback, but there are a number of threads detailing the trials & tribulations of my gen Aryan 'Master project

 

 

(Earlier, Phase 1 black face franken on left)

[JoeyB]

freddy led the way, and the rest is history!

 

http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/150062-6542-is-it-the-executive-suite-or-mailroom-or-somewhere-in-between/

 

It's not a 1675, it is a 6542. The 1675 came after the 6542 and introduced crown guards. 

[Lo']

Freddy did you build that 6542 in the end?

 

Considering the pics I posted of my watch above, I assume this is a rhetorical question.

 

 

 

If yes would you be willing to start the adventure all over again?

 

No. It took 2+ years just to locate all of the parts, which required the committment of alot of time, effort & money. I have no plans (or interest) to do it again.

Most of the hard-to-find parts came from indy watchmakers that I found either by word-of-mouth referrals or by simply asking every time I found myself in their vicinity (it never ceases to amaze me how many rare Rolex parts some old watchmakers have gathering dust in their parts drawers ). By far, the easiest route would be to bite the bullet & pay the price for 1 of these pre-assembled frankens. If you do, be sure to factor in the cost of having it professionally overhauled by a proper watchmaker upon receipt (you would not believe some of the [censored] I have seen banged together inside watches coming from these aftermarket parts sellers - all of them). If you choose to go the diy route, you can search out my Phase II construction threads as a guide. They contain all the info I gathered along the way.

[cc33]

Not cheap at all! My guess, 4200$ usd

[JoeyB]

Not cheap at all! My guess, 4200$ usd

freddy's is top of the line with all genuine Rolex parts except the insert, which is a genuine 'JoeyB'. 

 

It all depends on what a person wants, and more importantly, how much they will spend. 

[cc33]

Sorry, you're right I meant the price of Minh's pre assembled version would be 4200$

[JoeyB]

panerai153's build used the case/bezel from MingQuy.  He might be a good source to talk to. 

[freddy333]

JoeyB brings up a salient point. Whichever way you go, be sure to cop 1 of JoeyB's inserts. They are heads & shoulders better than anything else out there (other than a 40 year-old NOS gen).

[JoeyB]

JoeyB brings up a salient point. Whichever way you go, be sure to cop 1 of JoeyB's inserts. They are heads & shoulders better than anything else out there (other than a 40 year-old NOS gen).

Thank you. I hate to give away my (our?) age, but the genuine inserts are 55 to 60 years old now. Time marches on. I, however, limp...

 

[freddy333]

The other day, I heard from a reliable source that Rolex still had them available as late as 1970 or thereabouts.

[JoeyB]

Lol! That doesn't make me feel any younger! 

[panerai153]

building a 6542 is in a way sort of like building a superfranken Daytona, a long involved expensive task. Basically, before you embark on this build, I would read every thread about the 6542 that you can find. there are several avenues to a decent build, one that i would not advise is to try to use the puretime 6542 rep as a base. I started off with that one, and the only thing I was able to use was the movement. Case is bad, bracelet is bad, dial won't fit gen spec cases, so I ended up with and expensive movement and a bunch of non usable parts. IF one wants to try using that case, I have the case/bracelet thatI'll let go really cheap!!

You could got the superfranken route like the Ming Quy watch for 4200.00USD or you could do as Freddy did, and start searching for parts to build one. I would say that if you go this route, be prepared to spend a lot and endure a lot of frustration. Freddy has lots and lots of contacts and resources that he was able to utilize for parts as he said above. If you don't, don't go this route. I wanted to put a genuine 1030 movement in mine, would have made the build a lot easier, but I could not find a movement. I searched for months, a few 1030.s but none with the 24 hour GMT gear train. I ended up using a ETA 2846 which creates more problems because of the date wheel location. Mine is still a work in progress because of the dial/ DW problem. JoeyB has built several really nice ones useing a rafflestime case and his own dial. He uses the DG3804 movement in his, others use the ETA 2846

I believe that the simplest build, not necressarily the cheapest would be a gen spec case set like the ming quy, an Ingod44 dial, JoeyB insert and date wheel overlay, ETA2846 or DG3804 movement (Factor in a movement service for sure with the 2846) rafflestime hand set, and someone with the time and patience to put it together. I believe that you would have a pretty presentable watch for less than 2K, of course a bracelet will set you back from 200.00USD (Rep) to 1k for a genuine rivet 7206 in good shape. So when you factor in the bracelet and a 1030 movement, the ming quy @ 4200.00 USD is probably not such a bad deal. DIY would of course spread the cost over time, because it's going to take you some time to come up with all the parts.

[Akira]

Donerix 2.0, on 18 May 2012 - 04:57, said:

IMHO: The Puretime case is a good way to start and it comes with the proper numbers on the case, an acceptable movement with roulette date wheel and a fairly decent stretch-rivet bracelet.
Here is a comparison shot with a gen case (on top):







The bezel is from NDT, which is a bit expensive, but JoeyB has a great alternative for the insert ... 

 

 

In my opinion the "budget" version is also quite nice:

 

PT case (shave the wokky rehaut like Donerix did)

Joey's bezel

gen 24-600

Ken's hands

Snip those dial feet Ingod dial

 

and you're good to go!

[JoeyB]

As this project seems to never have an ending unless going the way freddy did, a bit of an update. The 'Tiger' (Rafflestime/Hong Kong) case has proved to be not a good choice. The bezel setup won't take the insert correctly, it is too shallow, and the crystal mount interferes. I can't take it down further. So it's 'eh', OK, but no cigar. So, I'm back on the drawing board. If I could get a source for an inexpensive gen style coin edge bezel I think I know how to get the rest correct. 

[freddy333]

If I could get a source for an inexpensive gen style coin edge bezel I think I know how to get the rest correct. 

 

Not sure if it would fit your case, but you might try MY's bezel.

 

For my Phase I franken, I ended up using the bezel that came with the Silix watch (I tried so many bezels & inserts back then & cannot remember where this particular insert came from now), which is very close (closer than MY's) to the gen part. This is the Silix bezel (with MY's insert) on my Phase I watch

[denimhead]

Why not buy an entry level version first? and see if you like living with it. This is one that Angus at Pure time sells, the pictures are of a gently modded one that a pal of mine worked on. Drilled lug holes, re-lumed dial and hands etc. Once you start entering the World of vintage Rolex movements then things can get very frustrating out of hand financially. I'm sure Freddie will agree with me there!

DH

[JoeyB]

I believe your first insert came from Classicwatch. That's the one that had the crack in it, and I bought from you when you got the next from Yuki. My first 6542 was the Silix case too, following your lead. As you know, lowering the 'wall' for the crystal and deepening the bezel was needed for the Silix, but it had enough metal to work with. The Tiger case just doesn't. Best would be a gen style crystal/bezel set up, but even the $330 is a high price. All things are, of course, relative. And as I am relatively cheap, the quest continues!

[Lo']

First of all thanks to all those which accepted to share their knowledge in this thread. It's being incredibly instructive.

Money is not a problem thank God but going the Minh route means shelling more dough than what I've ever spent for a gen Rolex/Tudor. Of course I understand that this here piece is something a little more valuable than your standard 3,5k submariner and comparing the cost of the "real thing" with that of Minh's rep is futile. If that 6542 had been built by someone in the forum with a name and credibility, someone which would have had the possibility to give a context, relate the story of the piece perhaps I would have pulled the trigger. Not like this.

Anyhow Minh has been replying. His price is USD 4200 shipping included as you all had guessed. Now I have enquired on the price of the dial, that would be a good starting point provided Minh does not ask 1k for it

I have tried to look at Ingod as Akira pointed out. There's a "1675 PanAm dial" which looks quite good for 155$ (out of stock currently), so Minh's could be an alternative I think. Pure Time's case seems to be generally considered as an ok option, the rest as elegantly described by Panerai and Freddy. I most definitely am going to try and give a go at this with a little help from a friend.   Let's see if something good eventually comes out.

I'll tell you: I need this little project right now in order to assimilate what happened today: As some of you may know I was the lucky guy which bought Zeleni's 1675. Today the parcel has reached my door but, to my dismay, it contains a bracelet and four inserts. The watch has been stolen. Someone en route has been opening the box, taking the watch and closing the box with a piece of scotch tape. I currently am in touch with Zeleni and we're gonna try to get the money back as the parcel was insured. It's gonna be a mess and I'm not optimistic as to that I'll ever be granted any refund. On top of that is the loss of a watch I had bought because I really liked it and which now is gone... Well at least now I have a nice new folded bracelet, if only a trifle expensive...

C'est la vie! But I really hope this new 6542 project is going to help me forget this little misfortune.

[panerai153]

Man,

that's really too bad about the watch.It always  worries me when i ship somethiing valuable. it's just too easy for some guy to take a package off the line somewhere, take it back into a dark corner, slit it open, take out the "Good stuff" and reseal it. a competent thief can probably do it just as fast or faster than I can type this.I hope that when Z filled out the customs declaration, he didn't use the word watch. Ziggy always warned folks sending packages to him to list it on the customs declaration as broken horological device for repair and return to sender. i would guess that most thieves would only see the word broken and pass on that package, at least I hope so.

 

back to the 6542's When we tried using the PT (Puretime) case, I believe that joeyB said that if you shaved the rehaut down enough that it looked semi gen like, the dial would no longer fit as the opening would be too big. possibly the ingod44 dial will work. on his website, he says it's 26.5, It's not it's more like 27.3 or .4. If you can get your friend who is going to do your modding to shave the rehaut and find a dial to fit, no reason that watch wouldn't do OK. One thing when/if you  buy one make sure you tell Angus absolutely make sure the one he sends you has the roulette date wheel (Red/Black numbers). The one he sent me had an all black numbered DW, which created another problem of making the correct DW. Ask for photos of the actual watch you are getting with several dates odd and even days.

[Lo']

Thanks a ton Panerai... unfortunately and for God knows which reason Zeleni has been doing exactly that and wrote "broken watch parts" on the customs sticker... it's like writing "valuables inside please help yourself". What do you want to do... I can't call him out on this...

But enough wining! The friend who's gonna help me build this watch (not telling his name because I'm not sure he wants me to) is going to use the exact case you just suggested. He told me that one of the secret moves to make it credible is that of shaving the rehaut and using an Ingod dial. So I guess the guy knows his business after all

Only problem now is that ingod's white dial is not in stock. I have tried to ask Minh but their 6542 dial is not listed as available in their parts stock.

[panerai153]

were  you planning to use the ingod44 6542 dial or his 1675 dial?

[Lo']

Minh did not reply to my post enquiring about this particular dial. He also does not list it as available as a "standalone" part. I therefore would opt for the Ingod dial (I want the white Pan Am ) and because I have been told that it's the dial that best fits the task. But as of lately I seem to have been running out of luck as Ingod does not have the item I need in stock either... more waiting... .

[JoeyB]

The PureTime case (cartel) has the lug holes way too high. While you might be able to shave the rehaut, you can't move those holes. The case is horrid.