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Building the closer-I-can-get 007 Big Crown


djulink

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Hi Gents,

In Paris at the moment, I went in a famous Vintage Rolex Shop (Romain Réa, expert horloger) on my cousin's recommandation. Once in, so many treasures, and - of course - I asked after the "Grail": They have one 6538, hidden in a safe-lock, they showed me:

post-66581-0-70949400-1429380350_thumb.j

post-66581-0-02587300-1429380382_thumb.j

So nice... They told me it has been serviced and dial and hands are not the original ones (and not gilt as you can notice)

Edited by djulink
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They told me it has been serviced and dial and hands are not the original ones (and not gilt as you can notice)

That is exactly why none of my vintage pieces will ever go through a RSC again. Gilt rules!

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That is exactly why none of my vintage pieces will ever go through a RSC again. Gilt rules!

Absolutely right!! There are no telling how many vintage Rolex watches were sent in and came back "like new". Most owners didn't give a rat's butt, they were thrilled that their Sub came back looking like a new watch. Problem was that new white service dial wasn't worth nearly as much as the old Red dial that was on the watch. same with the older gilt dials and hands that were changed for steel, might look nice when you picked up your watch, but here we are many years later and the results are evident. Just think how much more that 6538 would be worth with the original gilt dial and hands?

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Hi Gents !

 

Today, the postman delivered the 2836-2 cal. I've been waiting for a (too) long time now...

 

I was so happy to put the watch together : 

 

post-66581-0-84404900-1429720416_thumb.j

 

post-66581-0-60423400-1429719985_thumb.j

 

post-66581-0-83692700-1429720743_thumb.j

 

post-66581-0-22591100-1429720180_thumb.j

 

 

A little but, though...

 

I was unable to plug back in the stem (the crown you can see on the pics is without stem),...

So I took the watch to my horlogist to have it fixed.

Patience is the key, I guess...

Edited by djulink
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Hi Gents!

 

Just got back from my watchsmith, with the sub.

 

He was not able to put back the stem in :-(

Does anyone would know if there is an trick with a chinese ETA 2836-2 to do that ?

 

Good news is, I was able to place the big crown I ordered: 

 

post-66581-0-20190800-1431022270_thumb.j

 

post-66581-0-44160900-1431022284_thumb.j

 

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Nice looking piece, my friend.  It seems to be coming together nicely.  So does that mean that you just screwed the crown on to take these pics but there is currently no stem attached to it?

 

I would think someone here will have some great advice for you.

 

This is really looking nice.   :)

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Actually, yes it is right now. But I managed to work it out, taking out hands and dial dissambling the date mecanism. Then, I rewind as I could (seems to be a known issue with ETA clone).

Movement is working without stem at the moment. But I think it won't long last...

I need a new 2836-2.

About the crown, I had to replace the sitting as Tiger-concept original one was not fitting Ken's crown.

Still work to be done

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Twist the crown slowly as you are inserting the stem. This seems to help for a smooth insertion in my experiences with eta movements. You will feel everything catch, and it will slip right in if done correct.

There's something dirty about those instructions.

Edited by jelliottz
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Hi Gents,

 

Txs jelliottz for your tip.

 

Actually, after a little work I managed to get the stem back in place and retrieve the setttings position I had not been able to get to before.

 

So now it's working properly. I also cut the stem to the appropriate lenght, that way it fits the new crown.

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All these look great! 

 

What would really benefit these builds would be to age and relume both the dials and hands.

 

Heres a few examples of my work and how it makes a world of difference compared to the fake flat shiney rep lume.

 

 

 

 

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post-24551-0-34739700-1431288594_thumb.j

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All these look great!

What would really benefit these builds would be to age and relume both the dials and hands.

Heres a few examples of my work and how it makes a world of difference compared to the fake flat shiney rep lume.

I can back this up. Darren absolutely transformed my Big crown, his dial work is superb!!!

Sadly she's taken a knock today courtesy of the kitchen floor! New pearl and crystal needed!

Dial when it came back from Darren

6BAF894D-23DD-4AFB-9F59-D50B2B7AB581.jpg

Damaged today

B670868D-AD08-44C0-9BCC-639E76D32B74.jpg

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Hi Gents,

Thanks Big Dazza for your kind words. I did, indeed, think the next move could be a proper dial & hands aging process. I have seen and liked very much the work you've done on many Big Crown, by the way.

At the same time I kinda like the "pristine" look of it like that, thinking about what inspired me to build this watch (Thunderball, Dr No, etc)...

I'm thinking maybe swapping the insert bezel for a red triangle one...

But I'm not sure...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Gents,

 

I'm looking for a new crystal.

I went back in the thread to the post from DVNE but the bay-listing seems to be closed by sellers.

I looked further and found this and that, from them : 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WATCH-GLASS-crystal-face-lens-Acrylic-plastic-28-2-40mm-BUY-1-GET-1-HALF-PRICE/201106786518?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140602152332%26meid%3D2dc7c38f520846c18b231f2432dfa98c%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D2%26sd%3D200994138552

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Domed-WATCH-GLASS-CRYSTAL-FACE-original-Vintage-Pocket-watch-glass-30-1-to-36mm-/201111926602?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item2ed334774a

 

Do you think they'll fit? Should I be looking somewhere else ?

 

By the way, I'm receiving a red triangle insert today, can't wait to put it on...

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi Gents,

 

I'm looking for a new crystal.

I went back in the thread to the post from DVNE but the bay-listing seems to be closed by sellers.

I looked further and found this and that, from them : 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WATCH-GLASS-crystal-face-lens-Acrylic-plastic-28-2-40mm-BUY-1-GET-1-HALF-PRICE/201106786518?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140602152332%26meid%3D2dc7c38f520846c18b231f2432dfa98c%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D2%26sd%3D200994138552

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Domed-WATCH-GLASS-CRYSTAL-FACE-original-Vintage-Pocket-watch-glass-30-1-to-36mm-/201111926602?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item2ed334774a

 

Do you think they'll fit? Should I be looking somewhere else ?

 

By the way, I'm receiving a red triangle insert today, can't wait to put it on...

 

Answering myself: "Yes they fit, actually they look like exactly the same"

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  • 1 month later...

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