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Explorer 1016


robpatte

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Just about to start my very first modding journey, an Explorer 1016. Recently purchased it from Trusty via another RWG member. Was advised to go for JMB bezel and T22 Crystal (on their way) and have been looking at gen crowns and a gen bracelet. Was considering a relume, but then figured a 30 year old watch isn't gonna have much lume left anyway.

 

If I'm going for a vintage gen look, what's the best mods I can go for?

 

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You should have asked those questions before you bought the base watch. I've said it before (and no doubt will again) ... If anyone wants to build a franken, do a lot of research before you buy your first part. It will save you time and money.

 

There are plenty of 1016 build posts out there (including mine), so take a look at them to see what's possible. I would start with LHOOQ's as he's the defacto expert on 1016 builds.

 

I built mine from a gen Rolex case, so I didn't research the Trusty case. JMB can certainly build you a bezel if you need one, but if the case doesn't take gen parts, you won't be able to use a T22, and you might not be able to use a gen crown without also picking up a gen tube. If you need a gen tube, the case might need to be retapped to accept it. Depending on which model you got, you might not be able to replace the movement without also replacing the hands, and if the lugs aren't sized to gen spec, you will have to play around with your endlink choice if you want to use a gen bracelet. These are all the kinds of things that come up when building a franken.

 

Better 1016 dials are a tricky find. The new Yuki dial seems to be the go-to without spending an arm and a leg now. MQ and Ingod44 have some better options but have been difficult to get a hold of recently. I know the dial choice was the toughest part of my build. Before spending money on a relume, you might want to consider a different dial too.

 

Bottom line is that there are a ton of things that you can do with a 1016, but how much depends on what you want to spend and what parts you are starting with.

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Yhanks for the advice Tom. And thanks for the heads-up on all the other 1016 experts on the forum. Your guys really know your stuff!

 

I don't think that I'll be modding the watch as much as you guys. Although I like the idea of taking it in a gen direction, I can see that there's a large can of worms waiting. I enquired with JMB and he reckoned I'm okay with the bezel and the crystal. The crown, you're right, I hadn't checked if the TT would take crown or a tube. I'd be interested to see if anyone else has gone down this route with a TT. Or even how to age the watch (bag of screws?) would help it not look quite so 'new'

 

And now that I think on it, spending bucks on a gen bracelet which may not even fit would be naive.

 

Cheers for the help

 

R

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Trusty makes a good out-of-the-box 1016, but it's a lot harder to recommend now than it was a few years ago, thanks largely to jmb's efforts toward democratizing the Explorer!  The dial still holds up pretty well, in my opinion.  

The big downside of the Trusty is that your mod selection is very limited.  If I recall correctly, neither a T22 nor a T21 will work due to inaccuracies of the old Datejust rep, on which this 1016 is based.  You can use a T19, but you'll need to work on the outer diameter a bit and reduce its height substantially.  A gen crown should work on the rep tube, as long as you use the newer type that takes a 5.3mm DJ tube.

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To be fair, I only bought the watch on a whim and decided to try and mod after purchase. I enquired about the bezel and crystal from JMB and he mentioned nothing about them being incompatible with a TT (I told him which rep I had). After posting the parts, then reading this conversation, he did bow to LHOOQs exhaustive knowledge on the subject, and although I now have the parts coming, I'm sure we'll work it out. :)

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To be fair, I only bought the watch on a whim and decided to try and mod after purchase. I enquired about the bezel and crystal from JMB and he mentioned nothing about them being incompatible with a TT (I told him which rep I had). After posting the parts, then reading this conversation, he did bow to LHOOQs exhaustive knowledge on the subject, and although I now have the parts coming, I'm sure we'll work it out. :)

 

No worries, this just points out what can happen when you run into an incompatible part when trying to mod/franken.

 

Again prefaced by my not knowing much about the Trusty 1016, you might be better off from a modding perspective to buy one of JMB's entire case sets to build from, and use the parts that fit from the Trusty version you bought. If the dial fits and the movement is a clone 2824, you could just swap the guts. His case takes gen parts so you can upgrade more easily down the road. Just a thought. Others would need to chime in to fill in the blanks.

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I enquired about the bezel and crystal from JMB and he mentioned nothing about them being incompatible with a TT (I told him which rep I had).

Never saw, or messed with, a TT Explorer rep.  Very sorry if you feel I mislead you in any way, just send back the bezel and crystal and I'll refund you.

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It really astounds me that a "factory" would build something as common as this case that doesn't conform to the original.  Hell, I've even used $50 DJ reps that would at least take a gen-spec crystal and bezel!

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It really astounds me that a "factory" would build something as common as this case that doesn't conform to the original.  Hell, I've even used $50 DJ reps that would at least take a gen-spec crystal and bezel!

 

A few years back, one of the guys here ordered a 1016 replacement case from Yukiwatch for something like $400-500.  Same inaccuracies: It had the wrong crystal and bezel, and was just your average bad DJ rep case with nice engravings!

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