M5Man Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...mMakeTrack=true Also, does this look gen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Top (coronet, etc) and sides look good from pics, but I'd like to see the opening on the underside. This would work as most original crowns and tubes have been upgraded to the new 703's with outer gasket on the tube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haveblue Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 i've dealt with that ebay dealer before and he ONLY deals in genuine parts.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M5Man Posted November 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Seems like $25 is a pretty good price then for a gen crown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avitt Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 I can also vouch for David O'Donnell (jewelerstools). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Sounds like the seller is golden. Crown is a good price; the same as what I sell them for... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewightstuff Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 (edited) looks good to me though unless you have the older tube this wont fit i dont think. is this not for the version without the external o-ring? the modern tube, 24-7030 that is fitted to all vintages when they visit rolex service is the newer version with the additional rubber ring on the outside as mentioned by ubi. getting an older tube is VERY difficult. crowns are easy. the modern design is correct on the vintages as rolex change them out and its a much improved system with respect to keeping what should be outside outside your watch Edited November 29, 2006 by thewightstuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M5Man Posted November 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 (edited) Sounds like the seller is golden. Crown is a good price; the same as what I sell them for... I'd rather buy from a fellow boardmember Ubi. Have any for sale at the moment? With a tube would be great. Edited November 29, 2006 by M5Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewightstuff Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 (edited) a gen vintage tube in good condition is going to cost more than your whole watch while being pretty much at the very bottom of the list of things that give away a rep vintage IMHO. i dont know of a source that makes copy ones to OEM spec but i have to imagine that there must be some out there. hopefully ubi has access to this sort of info as it will save you a lot of trouble. if anyone will know he will Edited November 29, 2006 by thewightstuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherrington Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 I'd rather buy from a fellow boardmember Ubi. Have any for sale at the moment? With a tube would be great. Good aftermarket tube for 7mm Triplock crown. Rolex Crown Tube Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewightstuff Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 (edited) Good aftermarket tube for 7mm Triplock crown. Rolex Crown Tube the quality of these are good for non OEM crown tubes Edited November 29, 2006 by thewightstuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 a gen vintage tube in good condition is going to cost more than your whole watch while being pretty much at the very bottom of the list of things that give away a rep vintage IMHO. i dont know of a source that makes copy ones to OEM spec but i have to imagine that there must be some out there. hopefully ubi has access to this sort of info as it will save you a lot of trouble. if anyone will know he will Unfortunately, there isn't an aftermarket clone of this tube that I'm aware of. It's a shame, as I am sure they'd sell really, really, really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eunomians Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Just some more thoughts regarding crowns, tubes & Rolex... Some vintage crowns are next to impossible to find. I have tried to 'collect' as many as I can over the years - even if I did not own the watch that a given crown was made for. Anyhow, stupid me in the end. The reason? Well, the matching crown tubes are most often thee most difficult vintage part to get. Example: I have a NOS Twinlock crown waiting to be mounted on my 5513. Yes, I have been stubborn and have not had the Twinlock crown+tube upgraded by Rolex Service Center. There's no way in hell it seems that I will be able to find a crown tube for the oooold Twinlock system for my 5513. It might might be time to move on and upgrade to the Triplock system. In the end, it will be better for the general preservation of the watch; however, I refuse to change the crystal to a flat T-19 crystal. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewightstuff Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 ive still got my 5512s original tube. i replaced it myself to preempt it being removed by rolex. ive managed to loose the crown though. i should really pick one up soon to match it though ive no intention of putting it back on. why cant you use the crown if you still have your original tube on the watch? IMHO the "upgrade" is rather nice once you stomach the idea. the crown feels nice indeed and i like having the added security. for the price of an OEM tube. it would pay to put it on the day before a service knowing rolex will rip it out and put in a proper one. it will allow you to keep the original while getting a nice new one. i never let mine go anywhere near rolex with a superdome in it still. id cry if they binned it for a flat top Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eunomians Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 I am done with Rolex Service Center since they've refused to work on my 1675 without changing the dial to a luminova dial + changing the small gmt hand to the larger one. My 5513 is not waterproof anymore with the leaking crown+tube. It is waterproof with the superdome though (as evidenced by pressure test at 200m for 3+ minutes). I actually would like to upgrade to Triplock, but that means retapping the case to fit properly. In the meantime, I have a NOS Twinlock Sub crown that I would like to use. Do you know the part number for your crown tube? I fear that my tube might leak due to wear, that is why I'd like to replace it. By the way, I am 99% sure that you can no longer use your tube anymore since your watchcase was retapped to fit the larger Triplock tube. Here's a pic of my 5513 with Twinlock and Superdome Tropic 19: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewightstuff Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 (edited) i dont know the part number of the original. you say yours is twinlock though? i had triplock however early kind without the external seal. perhaps this is where the difference lay and why swapping may be different i take your point ref rolex service. mine hasnt been in for some time since i learned better and became smarter. the prospect of loosing my original parts is too great and would ruin the watch in ways rolex dont seem to understand i will investigate this tube thing further. whats the part number and dimensions of the crown you have just now on your 5513? lovely watch by the way Edited November 30, 2006 by thewightstuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eunomians Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 My crown is the earliest incarnate for Subs, a Twinlock version. I do not know the parts numbers for the original tube or crown... When I purchased the NOS replacement crown, it was removed from the package and the package was discarded (stupid me). I am done with Rolex, they do not support their history anymore. The silly thing is that I've been a rabid vintage Rolex collector since the early 90s. Oh well. Best regards Here's a pic... Dial was replaced a while back; not my choice, as this was done prior to me owning the watch and remains a damn shame. The good thing though is that the dial and hands match, the dial is flawless and it's Tritium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingkitesurf Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 I am done with Rolex, they do not support their history anymore. The silly thing is that I've been a rabid vintage Rolex collector since the early 90s. Oh well. Explain please.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewightstuff Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 i assume he is referring to their lack of interest in servicing vintage models, especially when it comes to understanding customers wishes to leave on valuable parts that make the character such as hands,dials and date wheels. add in they apparently wont even look at anything over 30yrs old, instead sending a nice letter advising you to buy a new one. while this various geographically i have seen these letters. its a sad state especially now that they are again restricting sales of gen parts to watchmakers. this leaves a vintage owner with no recourse to servicing but using generic parts at local watchmakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eunomians Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Yes, they refused to work on my caliber 1575-based 1675 GMT without changing the small-GMT hand. And, they also refused to work on my old '61 caliber 1565-based Pointed Guard 1675 GMT because they told me that they no longer support service on the caliber 1565 GMT movement. They also stopped caliber 1030 support. They also told me that they are stopping support of caliber 1520 and caliber 1530 - and they are already declining service for these movements. What am I going to do with my 5513? What are 1000's of 5512/3 collectors going to do? Ridiculous. Rolex has no respect for their historical heritage nor do they have respect for their clients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 Exactly the reason why I felt collectors may some day abandon vintage Rolex watches. No support. Saw it happen when the Bubblebacks crashed... And we may see it again. Who knows. Of course, this may all change if/when the Heritage Center gets going. Who knows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewightstuff Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 do you think this talk of the "heritage centre" is true and will come to anything. ive been hearing quite a bit about it recently. the stance surrounding vintages is pretty poor IMHO though i guess it should be too unexpected from a commercial point of view on one hand, though from a business perspective. if the servicing is profitable then why not. perhaps they want to disguise the boring nature of their moderns by drowning those glorious old guys i just added a 5513 today to keep my 5512 company. i hope they dont crash......... yikes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 Well... It will certainly be interesting. '06 is supposed to be the last year for most 15xx caliber support. The point of servicing shouldn't be a problem for most watchmakers, but I'm thinking that sourcing parts will eventually be where the problems bottle neck. Perhaps we'll see a whole new market arise for aftermarket parts out of all this? With Rolex keeping parts distribution tight, I think this may be the direction things end up going... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eunomians Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 It's funny. Me & Ubi have this conversation a couple times a year... We are going to be ascending to a new plateau where aftermarket parts will be the only method of keeping the older pieces alive. It is a shame. The funny part about all of this is that Rolex remains on the forefront of fighting replicas - soon all the vintage pieces will be replica-part-powered. There is some sorta twisted irony in all of this. Anyhow, I don't think that the Richmont Group cares one way or the other. I worry though. My watchmaker is having a harder & harder time getting parts from Rolex. And my contacts at various watch supply wholesale businsesses are looking grim: over the past 4+ years, they have less & less parts. My favorite & local supply shop no longer supports Rolex. I bought the remainder of OEM bezel inserts lfrom them last year. We will be ok for a while, but in the long run... Who knows. I better start snatching up those JLC WWWs, Longines Czech Pilots, RN SM300s, Blancpain Milspec-1's before the prices leave our solar system. Rolex has already afforded me some great investments, but no support = no love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docblackrock Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 It really is a combination of short-sightedness and sheer bloody-mindedness on Rolex's part. Refusing to service 30+ year old movts is one thing (although you'd think they'd be proud to do so) but the parallel strangling of supply from their parts division to non-Rolex SCs is leaving vintage owners between a rock and a hard place - aftermarket is the only way forward. I've seen the same happen in the vintage car market. I fancy Hans Wilsdorf is spinning in his grave.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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