Loaded question!?! Best vintage Daytona

[viol8r44]

Who has the best vintage Daytona? Preferably a 6241? I'm looking for something as close to original as I can get to start with. It will be what I hope to be my first "franken" project. I would like to have a fully functional chrono but not sure if that is as important to begin with as the case and bracelet? My long term..and I mean fairly long term as when I can slowly save money to buy Gen parts...long term goal is to fit it with a swiss Valjoux movement and work on the crystal and bracelet etc.. from there. So I guess my question is can you point me in the direction of the best base I can get for the money? Thank you so much for your help and expertise as always 

[automatico]

I do not know much about vintage Daytonas but do know that they are one of the most expensive Frankenstein projects you can tackle if you go with a Val 72 and miscellaneous genuine parts.

 

As for 100% replicas, there are quite a few choices...swiss and Asian 7750 with automatic winding, swiss and Asian 7750 with autowind rotor removed, swiss 7760 manual wind, Chinese seagull ST19 manual wind etc. All have their advantages and faults, usually having to do with sub dial spacing, pusher offset, or case thickness.

Then there is the 'closest to genuine' bezel and dial to find, closest case with offset pushers, plastic insert or all steel bezel, 'pumpers' or 'screw down' pushers.

It never ends.

 

I bought a couple of the first Seagull ST19 powered Daytonas with the subdial at 6 frozen (hour counter) but they were waaay off...glass crystal, about 3 or 4mm too big in diameter, 20mm bracelet (should be 19mm), evenly spaced pushers etc. They still run almost 10 years later though.

 

You might go back a few years and start reading posts about vintage Daytonas in the rolex section and by the time you have read through to the present you will have a good understanding of what is available and maybe decide on what you want to go with. All of the latest offerings are a whole lot closer than what I got.

Maybe a 'cartel' Daytona with a ST19 would be a good place to start while you decide to go Frankenstein or not.

 

I gave up on Daytonas and stayed with 5512/13, 1680, 1016, and 5500 explorers with the no date models being quite a bit easier because they sidestep date wheel and crystal magnifier problems.

[tomhorn]

As automatico said, search is your friend in this (and any other 'I want to build") case.

 

I'm not saying that to be flippant because you are a new member. Anyone wanting to do a build (of anything, not just a Daytona) should do A LOT of research first. It will save you time and money. Sometimes a lot of both.

 

For the vintage Daytona, there are so many different ways to tackle the build that members could spend days giving advice. In order to answer your question, you need to start at the end, and work your way backward. If you are going to build a Daytona, you need to figure out where you want to end up and how much money you want to spend first, because the base you select to start with has to lead you down the right path.

 

The two most common ways to build:

 

Valjoux 72 based builds:

 

Best - Phong case, various gen parts

Next Best - DW case, various gen parts

 

Then you have the Valjoux (or Asian) 7750 based builds.

 

The most popular of those is the "Spinmaster" which used a DW case (which is different from the v72 case), and modified A7750 movement which removes the auto-winding parts to convert it to manual like the gen (automatico described it above). You can also build one yourself (Spinmaster was just the modder that built them) by getting the parts together. You can use some gen parts, but keep in mind the case is thicker than a gen case because the movement is thicker.

 

If you go with the cartel or ST-19 base watches, you have less ability to mod them.

 

Obviously the Valjoux 72 builds are going to end up being the most accurate, but they are also very expensive ($2,000+++ depending on the gen parts you use).

Edited December 31, 2014 by tomhorn

[viol8r44]

Wow you both make a lot of sense. Honestly a Daytona may just be too much for my first attempt. I need to do a bit more research. I have just been infatuated with the Paul Newman Daytonas for years but I think I might need quite a bit more experience before I try to tackle a project like this. Maybe I can start with trying to build a Franken sub  

 

I really appreciate all the information, you guys are leaps and bounds beyond my knowledge base but I have to say this is one addictive hobby. Thank you again

[tomhorn]

IMO, the DateJust is the easiest franken build to do. If you like the look, I'd start there.

 

Easy to find gen or aftermarket cases without spending an arm and a leg, and also lots of gen dials are available. Depending on which version you choose, an ETA 2824 or 2836 movement fits easily.

 

There is also our fine member mymanmatt who is a great resource for building them if you don't want to do it yourself.