dieselpower Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 I have a nice new (slightly modded) MBW 5513 from HH and I want to build a 1680. I have an aged dial, a tube and gen crown a slow beat eta 2846, was thinking of using old school MBW 1665 hands and an aftermarket glass - does this sound like a good recipe? Would the experts like to add their 2 cents and give me suggestions for improvements, am I missing a trick? The main thrust of the question is the suitability of a new MBW 5513 case to be used in a 1680 build - am I mad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 As long as your dial is an MBW 1680 dial, it should be an easy build. The MBW 1680 dial is smaller than the gen or aftermarket 1680 dials and measures 26.2mm as opposed to the gen dials (and aftermarket ones) at 26.5mm. AFAIK, all of the MBW 1680s are built using the 5513 case anyway, but the later ones are marked 1680 between the lugs, whereas the early 1680 MBWs were markied 5513 If you use a gen dial, you have to file down the OD of the dial or enlarge the dial seat of the case. Not easy, but it can be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 The 5513 case is the one that MBW used for the old "Polex Design" 1680's. Mine is marked 5513 between the lugs. not sure when they changed to the correct number designation. The 5513 dial is slightly smaller than the 1680 dial, so if you use a gen dial or a good aftermarket like ingod, phong, NDT, etc you will have to cut the dial groove at the base of the rehaut down to accomodate the larger dial, or trim the dial. One problem I see with mine which has a genuine 1680 dial, is the dial fits fine, but since the opening is smaller, the minute markers are partially under the rehaut, which gives them a shortened apperance. It seems like some dials have a pretty generous lip around the edge that allows trimming or the groove surgery, and the entire dial is still visible, not so with my gen 1680 dial. If you are using an MBW dial, you are better, but looking at mine, there is still some cut off of the minute markers with the 1680 dial which was sold with the 5513 case. mymanmatt did the conversion for me and he might chime in and share his experiences if he reads this post. Another thing that has been a recurring problem ,now solved is the DW alignment. A lot of the old MBW 1680's have a problem with the DW being somewhat left justified, which results in the inner numbers from 10 through 31being partially under the dial and not centered in the date window. IF yo use a DW overlay, that will solve that problem. I have one of the old silver MBW datewheels on mine and i wanted to preserve that, so we solved the problem with a gen dial. DW alignment solved, short minute indices created!! So you never ever solve all the problems 100% the cheap way!! The expensive way would be to use a 1575 movement and a gen silver flat top 3,open 6,9 Date wheel, but that adds a bunch to the cost of the build Here is the old dial with the left justification problem Here is my 1680 with the new dial (gen) Here are both dials, you can see the date window on the gen, on the right, is a little more left justified and thus solves the DW alignment problem Frankly if I were starting this project from scratch today, I would probably try to find a better case for my build. I'm not sure how the newer MBW's stack up, if they are true to size cases, the real aftermarket cases like phong, yuki, NDT and Ming Quy are all pretty expensive, which makes this a pretty darn pricy build if you do it right. Otherwise, I would probably live with the little inconsistencies that not one in a thousand people would notice. I was hoping that eventually higho would get his cases to market, but I haven't heard anything from that project in months, so I don't know if it's still alive. One thing that his cases were going to solve besides the correct dial size opening was the crown position, which is not correct on the MBW. ASgain something you really need to know about to see, but another one of those little things that seem to drive all of us WIS crazy!! Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 ............and you can put this build over the top by making it a "date" watch with a T19 domed plexi. It's a great look! The date window appears to be the 3:00 index at first glance, then you see the date when you look for it. Snazzy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highoeyazmuhudee Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 wish you'd posted this sooner i would have sold you my last proper 1680 case and dial. the MBK not accepting a gen sized dial kills it for me, youre limited in choices to MBK dials and their red dial isnt the greatest. also the 5513 engravings and lower crown position may bother some purists i can *maybe* get more 1680s, but no promises, and wont know for at least a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 PM sent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystere Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 Yes, to me , i'm really happy. Gen dial is ready to go in this case. The MBK 1680 you need to enlarge the groove for dial, than enlarge the rehaut and i think the rehaut is to high, so you have to thin it from inside the case to get better genuine look. its all possible, but without a lathe its not so easy. Thanks to highoeyazmuhudee for the nice case. wish you'd posted this sooner i would have sold you my last proper 1680 case and dial. the MBK not accepting a gen sized dial kills it for me, youre limited in choices to MBK dials and their red dial isnt the greatest. also the 5513 engravings and lower crown position may bother some purists i can *maybe* get more 1680s, but no promises, and wont know for at least a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatico Posted May 7, 2013 Report Share Posted May 7, 2013 "the MBK not accepting a gen sized dial kills it for me, youre limited in choices to MBK dials and their red dial isnt the greatest." I posted this a while back: http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/154835-rolex-152070-into-mbwmbk-case/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselpower Posted May 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2013 My dial is an MBW so hopefully no probs. @ Nook - I was going for a 1680 because I wanted a watch with a date magnifier on the glass as I do not have one of these. Now you've gone and sung the praises of the plain T19 I'm in a quandry! Dunno what to do now. Anyway, what about bracelets? Who does the best rep for an early (red) 1680? Fanxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibiunko Posted May 7, 2013 Report Share Posted May 7, 2013 (edited) Great Build. Same question as above. Who makes the best rep 93150 Bracelet with 580 end links? Edited May 7, 2013 by chibiunko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highoeyazmuhudee Posted May 7, 2013 Report Share Posted May 7, 2013 Great Build. Same question as above. Who makes the best rep 93150 Bracelet with 580 end links? no one makes an acceptable one, theyre all horribly inaccurate. the best of the worst is probably PTs, even then they only vaguely resemble a 93150 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibiunko Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 well crapo. I guess Nato it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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