panerai153 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 It's pretty amazing how certain watches or models of watches have runs of popularity here on the Rolex forum. A year or so ago, it was all about 1665's, everyone seemed to either be building or looking for a good franken SD. Now in the past few weeks, it looks like Daytonas have enjoyed a surge in popularity. To be quite honest, I was never a huge fan of Daytonas. At a younger age, I owned a gen Daytona , Silver dial/black subdials. I'm pretty sure it was a 6263. I only kept it a few weeks and traded it for a SD. I couldn't abide the manual wind and no date. to me it was a beautiful watch with limited functionality. It seemed that it was a step backward, as almost every other quality watch was an automatic and had a date function. Over the years, I tried several reps, but none of them stuck. Today, I realize the date function while handy is not a deal breaker. I have an IPhone, so the date is a click away. True it's not as handy as looking at your wrist, but once you know that today is the 19th, you will probably not forget it. So I believe that in todays world, there indeed may be a place for and old fashioned chronograph with a manual wind movement and no date. About three months ago, I got the opportunity to buy a DW Pre-Daytona case set from one of our good forum members. It came with hands but no dial. I then emailed DW and asked him about a dial. He had one, I bought it, and in about a month and a half, the dial arrived at my door. In the meantime, I decided that I wanted an ETA movement. Well much to my regret, and wallet, I found that the regular ETA 7750 had the wrong configuration for a 3,6,9 subdial layout. I needed a 7753 TriCompax, at almost double the price!! Well, I went ahead and ordered one, and it to came in about the same time as the dial. So the next step was to pack up all the bits and send them North to the master, Ziggy, for the build. A few days ago, I got an Email that it was ready, along with a pretty lengthy description as to all that he had to do to make the movement fit in the DW case. Ity took some pretty extensive modding to make everything fit and function properly, but he did, and when I got the watch back, I was pretty impressed with what it looks like. Here is the build list DW 6238 case set DW Silver 6238 Dial ETA 7753 Movement Gen 7205 bracelet All in all I believe that it came together quite nicely. as was mentioned in a previous thread, the DW silver dial leaves some to be desired, so if it really, really finds a home here, I may search out a better dial at some point. Another thing which was entirely my fault, I forgot to ask Ziggy to drill out the lug holes, so much to my disappointment, when I tried to use the nice gen springbars that came with the bracelet, they were too big for the lugholes. I found springbars in my parts cabinet, but they are too small in diameter, and they make the endlinks fit too loose. Also one side end link needs to come off and be opened up a little. Other than that, It's done. In the photos, the crown is unscrewed. I set the time and didn't screw the crown back in , it does screw in completely! Here are a few photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhooq Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Nicely done! Yes, there's room for improvement on the dial, but it looks much better than DW's initial attempts. If only there were still 6238 dials from the old 7750-powered cartel reps floating around. I'd love to see how they match up. A silver 6238 (with red chrono sweep, in honor of the Australian James Bond) has been a dream build of mine for several years. It's going to take a big chunk of cash, but I've got a V72 earmarked for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 I would definitely begin the search for a dial replacement (& a better bracelet or nice strap). It is also fortuitous that you forgot to have Zig drill the lugs larger, because the 62xx Daytonas had small springbars (not the same as for Subs/SDs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted June 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Freddy, What bracelet would you suggest? This is a 7205 I bought from a seller on the VRM. He's one of the regular sellers, and this bracelet had been up for a day or two, so I believe it's genuine. I opened up the end links a little and it really makes the bracelet look a lot better. much nicer fit. I'm open to any suggestions as to the correct bracelet though. AFA the dial, I'm going to start looking around. I have one more project that needs to get finished, and then I'll be able to concentrate on improving this one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mil04 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 This is an old 7750 powered Daytona dial: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Freddy, What bracelet would you suggest? Sorry, I did not see the 2nd to last pic. I thought you were using the bracelet shown in your 1st pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ephry73 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Very nice! This is a project I am saving for myself. Wear it in good health. E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted June 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 I just ordered some springbars from Ofrei, which should help with the bracelet fit. @mil04, looks nice. Is that dial/watch from DW? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mil04 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 No, that is the old 7750 powered one. I have one with the Lemania and it's a same dial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Here's another of the cartel dials, they are a little better than the DW dial. Ziggy serviced this a7750 5-6 years ago, guess I'm due again!I did fit a cartel dial and movt. in a DW 6239 case, it worked wellAt least the pushers are assymetric- which is the biggest fault of the cartel case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 I would say ALOT better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted June 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 you are right, the cartel dial is much nicer. Problem is, how to find one?Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 The price of a good dial is often as much, if not more, than the price of a good rep, so why not just buy the rep with the dial you want? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Freddy's right A! Your case and bezel are decent. But as LHOOQ would say, you have a 'tumah' at the crown position. The cartel dial isn't that bad, all things considered.They're probably still making the cartel rep, we just need to figure out who has it, and then you could buy one.I've tried on the 6238 as I've told you before, but it's a tough rep to build. My V72 is still a work in progressProportions on the Phong case just aren't right and the Phong dial kills me- look at the open 6s- they look like Gs!Here's a watch from Interwatch- two o'clock pusher needs work, but it's nice otherwise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mil04 Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 I think you still can but the Lemania clone powered 6538 and the dial is the same as the old 7750 one's, plus they have assymetrical pushers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted June 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 First off, I want to see if this one has "legs" If it makes me feel good about wearing it, then I'll spend the money to find a better dial. I've had gen and rep Daytonas before and none of them ever lasted very long. I like this one, because of it's monochromatic look, It's nice enough to wear with a suit, or jeans, but I've got a bunch of watches in my box and you can't wear but one at a time, so If it gets wrist time, it's a keeper, but if it seems to gravitate to the back of the line, all the time, then it probably won't last too long. Hopefully, it will be a regular in the rotation and becomes a regular wearer. Regarding the "tumah" Has anyone ever reworked that side of the case to reduce the bump? I never even noticed it until you guys brought it out, but when you know it's there, it's pretty obvious. Probably because I have never been a real die hard Daytona fan, my Daytona knowledge might fill a s mall size thimble. I suppose I need to do a lot more reading and research. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ephry73 Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 I need to start this project quickly. Thanks :] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhooq Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Regarding the "tumah" Has anyone ever reworked that side of the case to reduce the bump? I never even noticed it until you guys brought it out, but when you know it's there, it's pretty obvious. Probably because I have never been a real die hard Daytona fan, my Daytona knowledge might fill a s mall size thimble. I suppose I need to do a lot more reading and research. Dive into my thread repository and check out the thread on my 6239 FAP. There you can read about the extensive reshaping that Justin did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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