bvc Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Fellas I'm rapidly approaching franken level amount of £ in unworn watches. I can't believe it myself! It's such as shame to not wear them but there are some pieces I just can't take off. Thinking about a mid range franken, any suggestions? Can only afford 1 watch though, what would you go for? Really like this, sorry if this is a members watch for not giving kudos I can't remember where I got it from. This is a pic of my mates brothers watches. They all went to Vegas with their gens. No prizes for guessing who the top dog is. Indian market traders, the lot of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomhorn Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Define 'mid-range'. For example, the AP that you picture would be a fairly expensive franken to do (for me anyway). The gen of the watch isn't exactly affordable for most people, so if you don't have a job that supports you owning the gen, it's an easy call out among that group of watches. Gen parts are not cheap for the AP's, especially dials. I did a DateJust for my first project. They are fairly easy to get parts for, and you can do a great one without spending a ton of money. The Omega Planet Ocean's are also a good franken starter project. Gen parts are readily available, and a good PO won't break the bank either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aero_Dave Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 For me, I'm just starting to have my Franken 16610 built. To me, its the best Everyday watch yet still looks great in a suit. This will be the most I've spent on a build so far. It will be all gen except the case & movement. I'd love to build a Daytona but just the gen dial, hands & bezel is costly! Good luck in whatever you want / build. Like everyone says, as long as you like it, who cares about everyone else! Dave... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike on a bike Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 As you can imagine many have passed through my door and have not found "it" yet being the one I would have if only one was the case and doubt I ever will . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Tell us your budget and we may be able to give you better guidance. That AP you are showing would easily be $3500+ in true franken form (gen dial and LWO 283 movement) if you can get the parts and find someone to alter the case for the movement. As folks have said certain Omegas and Rolexes can be much more affordably built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomhorn Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 PS ... how did that Movado get in there ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted April 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Tell us your budget and we may be able to give you better guidance. That AP you are showing would easily be $3500+ in true franken form (gen dial and LWO 283 movement) if you can get the parts and find someone to alter the case for the movement. As folks have said certain Omegas and Rolexes can be much more affordably built. Yep I agree, the ap just looks great but I know I couldn't pull it off. Gen is way out of my league. I'd be looking to buy something already done. Apologies to the purists I'm just not cut out to take on a project. Ok let's say £1000. Gen equivalent sub £10k. Or should I just ask who has the best sub. Lol. Actually lets rephrase that.....how good is the best sub? Ps tomhorn, I know right poor old fella. In the Indian culture there is a definite pecking order. The lad with the movado is clearly bottom of the food chain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKTime Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Yep I agree, the ap just looks great but I know I couldn't pull it off. Gen is way out of my league. I'd be looking to buy something already done. Apologies to the purists I'm just not cut out to take on a project. Ok let's say £1000. Gen equivalent sub £10k. Or should I just ask who has the best sub. Lol. Actually lets rephrase that.....how good is the best sub? Ps tomhorn, I know right poor old fella. In the Indian culture there is a definite pecking order. The lad with the movado is clearly bottom of the food chain. The TC sub is actually really good. Throw on a Gen insert, crystal, and dial, and you have a watch that is about as close as you can get to the real deal. That said, I have a franken Datejust as well and it's all gen except for movement and hands. You would have to crack the caseback to know any better on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightwatch Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 Hi, not exactly sure what You need, but that AP You posted is available for probably 600 usd (don´t quote me on that) and just needs that strap for another 200 plus A/R coating on the datewheel and it´s pretty done. Got this well built cheaper one (wrong subdial lettering) with a microstepper myota quartz (smooth sweeping chrono seconds hand, the main one) for just about 148 usd from Kuvarsit (TD over on rwg.bz) For Rolex 16600 there is the BP Seadweller (about 188 usd) which needs a TC bracelet, gen insert and gen glass for starters, link and gen-compare is here (double-click to open): http://www.p-cls.com/rlsd00177-16600-classic-dweller-asian-2813-p-14325.html For an economic quality selfbuilt the Seiko FFF is a nice one, but a mod not a franken - great watch so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martijnp Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 Would love to have a franken Hublot or AP but these projects are very expensive. A Rolex Sub or a PAM would be my choice as "first" franken project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted April 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 Seen a few rollies out in the wild, some of them just seem to pop! Even from 6 feet away. I'm clearly a novice as regards rollies but the edge of the bezel the ridged bit (sorry) and the ar on the newer subs is very eye catching. I'm thinking TC with gen glass and bezel as suggested, may well be the way forward. Way within budget and movable in a crisis. Keep the suggestions coming, even though It does sound like I've already decided! Bvc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatico Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 For me, Frankenstein = rolex because replica cases, dials, bracelets etc are widely available. As far as that goes you can put a watch together using a Yuki/DW/cartel etc case, dial, bracelet, and swiss Eta movement without spending a fortune and it will not even be a 'Frankenstein'. Imho in order to qualify as a 'Frankenstein' it needs to have a genuine movement or at least genuine case and dial...it needs to be genuine inside or outside. A genuine crown on a cartel case with an etaclone inside does not make a Frankenstein. Genuine movements and parts are another story, so unless you have a lot of $$ or a stash of genuine parts, it's better to stick with swiss Eta movements. It's hard to beat a fresh swiss Eta 28xx, I simply do not like etaclones. 'No date' watches are much easier to work with...5512/13, 5510, 1016, 1018, AK Explorer etc. TC 16610 are great too (except for the etaclone). Money for nothin'... There are a lot of genuine watches around that cost about the same as a cartel replica. I bought a very nice ss/18k quartz Ebel 1911 with black dial and full bracelet for $245US in late December 2013. I always liked Ebel watches and being quartz takes the hassle out of keeping them running. It also beats $$ blown on a replica because I can easily get my $$ back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 Second to what automatico said. if you stay away from vintage Rolex you can build a really, really nice watch for that 1600.00 USD range that you were talking about. Contemporary Rolex parts while not "dirt cheap" are readily available and not too expensive. Here are two of mine which were both put together for around the amount that you are looking at. Both cost me more than that, but I had several false starts which cost more money!! To build a really believable AP ROO you are looking at around 3-4K for the base watch, parts and the work. The biggest problem is that even with a nice strap, and lumed hands/numbers where appropriate as well as an AR'ed crystal and Cyclops, the rep watch is too tall, and the pusher position is wrong. I would probably never notice, but anyone who knows a lot about ROO's would pick up the differences. First is a TT Submariner, case is an ST3135 case which takes genuine parts. and aftermarket 18K bezel, genuine bezel insert, genuine dial, crystal and crown, ETA Swiss movement and a TW Best TT bracelet and clasp. Second is a GMT IIC Which has a BP case, Swiss 2836 movement, genuine dial, crystal, bezel and insert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted April 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 Nice. I want both of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted April 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 Got a gmt and a sub going to m in Finland for a movement fix. Gonna wear them and see how we get on. The sub is of course an instantly recognisable classic. The gmt however catches my eye just that bit more, just a little bit busier. In the uk anyway, tt sub in blue is also the classic 80s and 90s watch for the successful slightly overweight business man. Absolutely no insinuation you resemble that figure in any way panerai!!! In fact I really like it. It think I could pull that off. (So to speak!) What do you reckon then? Sub Tt sub Gmt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 Pretty much what you like and what you feel like you can pull off. Generally, I would say that most younger guys stay away from solid gold, TT is very popular here in the USA, but as you said generally guys who are a little older. Since I'm really old, a fairly successful professional and not overweight, I can probably pull the TT off!!! I think the GMT is a really nice watch with a lot of utility, especially if you travel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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