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My 6542 Revisited


panerai153

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Back over a  year ago, I wrote a pretty extensive write-up  about my 6542 build. I really can't call this my build, because while I own the watch the build was a joint effort involving a lot of members here on the forum.
Since the original post I have made a few changes to the 6542, the first was a dial swap to an Ingod44 White dial. This is the 1675 dial that they were selling, as the face is identical to the 6542 dial, but this is a flat plate dial with feet, and the 6542 dial is a "pie pan" shape (like and upside down pie pan" with rolled edges that snap on to the genuine Rolex movement. this won't work on the 2846 movement. the other modification was to send the caseback to JMB and let him work his magic!! He engraved the Pan AM logo and the issue numbers on the case back.I also swapped out the rep stretch rivet bracelet for a gen 65201H Jubilee bracelet.
 
For those who have come along since the original post, here is a brief rundown of the components
 
Case : Ming Quy 6542 case this is a pretty accurate case, and it has a correct plated brass bezel and correct case back
Case back: Came with the case, and engraved by JMB This is not  the flat "stepped" case that appears on later GMT's
Insert: JoeyB Lexan- these are the best around, if you build a 6542, you need to get one of these
Crystal: The case came with a genuine correct crystal, but it was cracked. I believe we used a Clark crystal
Dial: Ingod44 White 1675 dial
Hands: Small GMT hand is a rafflestime that JoeyB modified to be more correct. The other hands I believe came from a puretime 6542 that we were using as a donor watch
Movement: 2846 Slow beat with the GMT gears came from the puretime 6542
Crown: Gen Rolex
Bracelet: Gen Rolex Jubilee w/gen 55 endlinks, "A" code clasp (1976) This is not the correct bracelet, as the 6542's came with rivet bracelets and were probably changed to 7836 bracelets at service, but this is and old comfortable bracelet and wears well.
 
That pretty much sums up the build, lots of folks were involved in this, as there were numerous problems along the way, several were movement related, as the 2846 is a pretty old movement and this one required several trips to the shop to get right!
 
Here are a few photos I took today. The last one is a pair of Rolex GMT's the black dial is a gen 16750 which is the second generation after the 6542 so you can see the progression of Rolex GMT's from 1958 to 1983
The watches are shown with some of the PanAm memorabilia that I have accumulated. Thanks for looking

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Very nice, a great spec list exactly the sort of shopping list I have been considering... Can I ask what you paid for the Ming Quy case, as his prices seem to be going stratospheric at the moment. He quoted me over 1000USD (790 Euro) for a 6538 mid case and back yesterday and I want to build a 6542 as well.

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What a beautiful time piece, especially considering all the obstacles that were overcome in the process.  I have been looking for an appropriate case for one of these for months and months.  Always searching sales forums all over the place.  Now that I have everything sourced for the 5513, I will get back to figuring out a way to build one of these.  Your last picture speaks to me since I have a franken 16750 and would love to place a 6542 next to her....    

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Very nice, a great spec list exactly the sort of shopping list I have been considering... Can I ask what you paid for the Ming Quy case, as his prices seem to be going stratospheric at the moment. He quoted me over 1000USD (790 Euro) for a 6538 mid case and back yesterday and I want to build a 6542 as well.

I bought the case from a member here, and it was over 1k for the case set. I would expect that with everything, I have well over 2K in the watch

Thanks very much for all the compliments guys. This was probably the most difficult build I have ever undertaken, but it is also one of the most satisfying.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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A w e s o m e ! What was your datewheel solution? Ohh, and was the 1675 dial to mitigate the pie-pan of the 6542?

DW is one of the old Ubi DW's

The 1675 dial with a flat plate and dial feet is a better option than the 6542 dial which doesn't have dial feet, but the rolled down edge snaps onto a gen Rolex movement but will not fit an ETA.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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