lionsandtigers Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 With the influx of “super” Big Crown builds, I figured I might as well share mine after its arrival yesterday. Built by our resident BC Master - @dbane883, this watch was ironically the easiest for me to source parts wise out of every build I have ever done or been involved in. Thanks to @dbane883 for your friendship, guidance, and spectacular craftsmanship. Your skill and dedication is humbling. @cc33 for the input and the dial, and @droptopman for the competition I was fortunate enough to receive a “new” case from Phong which, IMHO, is the best 6538 case one can get. I think dbane would agree on that. Here’s the specs: Phong case/caseback/bezel The Dark Lord dial from cc33 - dbane - me CWP hands Gen crown/tube Gen faded long 5 insert Gen 1030 movement Gen pre 6636 bracelet w 80 enlinks Gen t17 crystal I’m not very good with the pics so here are a few. They do not do this watch justice. Dbane is going to flame me for my sh*tty photos but its the best I can do for now. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droptopman Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 Spectacular! Geez, look at the droop on those lugs. No doubt best case profile so far. DBane is so talented and great to work with. RWG is big crown country... Congratulations man that is a beautiful piece. Enjoy her. Sent from my droptop using telepathy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aphillipe Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 daaayyymmmmmmmmm!!!! Man you all make me want to 1) divorce my wife to free up tons of money and 2) put that said money into a 6538 build! Hey-Soos that's gorgeous!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionsandtigers Posted June 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 Thanks @droptopman I was concerned when phong told me he sent me a "special" case. In phong land, that can really mean anything as I have been through quite a few case back and forth with him, but this time he was on point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 Top notch! Looking great!!The package as a whole is really something special; not just in parts, but also with the individuals involved. Plus, Big Crowns are something to behold... Really, really fun pieces to have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbane883 Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 You're right. You suck at iPhone photography. Looks great on the wrist (not your wrist with those dodgy tats, but anyone else's ). That dial is possibly the finest 2-line, silver depth dial that Valdemort ever made - still kicking myself for letting it go. But glad it's gone to a good home. Thanks for waiting 2+ months. I think I might have ear cancer from all the whining about the delays. But these things take time. Thinning the case to straighten the over-polished sides, re cutting bevels, etc. The stock Phong bezels are completely covered in chrome/nickel. It was a challenge to remove it to look like natural wear over 50 years... So I learn something with every build and appreciate the opportunity. Even managed to get some micro-pitting into the brass once the bulk of the chrome was removed: I hope it's met your expectations and hope it brings you continued good health and prosperity. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mendota Explorer Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 daaayyymmmmmmmmm!!!! Man you all make me want to 1) divorce my wife to free up tons of money and 2) put that said money into a 6538 build! Hey-Soos that's gorgeous!!! No sir. You have it backwards. Buying one of these or even going out and buying a new 911 is far cheaper than a divorce under the best and most amicable of circumstances. Your attorney's fees alone will dwarf the measly cost of one of these. So go out and buy it. You can tell your wife that you are saving her a ton of money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cc33 Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 Amazing build, and wow the look of the bezel is absolutely amazing, the combo of that dial and case and bezel etc is really really nice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionsandtigers Posted June 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 Thanks for the love guys. The pictures really are terrible as @dbane883 (the jacka**) said, they do not do this watch or his immense skill justice. It is beyond my expectation 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam007 Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 If people in VRF and TRF knew about the builds coming out of this forum, they'd [censored] their pants.. Spot on Amazing raising the bar 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mendota Explorer Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 If people in VRF and TRF knew about the builds coming out of this forum, they'd [censored] their pants.. Spot on Amazing raising the bar No kidding. They would literally need to wear Depends. This is a gorgeous build. Enjoy it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 Love it.....except for 1 thing, which has marred all of these recent big crowns -- the new-looking dials/handset. On watches of this caliber, you guys should 'age' these parts to match the rest. Get yourself an old 1960s or 70s sun lamp or watchmakers' UV lamp (used to cure UV adhesives) and run the dials/hands under the light until they achieve an appropriate patina. That will bring these builds up a notch & make them look more the part, if you know what I mean. This 1 was UV'd & then baked This 1 was just UV'd Or, you can go all-out with some nice, old gen hands 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbane883 Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 Well, there are many examples of very nicely preserved big crown dials. Patina is a funny thing. In reality, when a watch has been stored in a safe and unworn, the patina gets darker. As such, typically, dials with really rich patina should be in relatively good condition. Emulating water damage is another story. The opposite is true when an vintage dial has been constantly exposed to light.. the patina tends to get lighter..not darker. But a gently worn watch over 50 years could very easily have a nice creamy patina, and still be in near NOS conditon.. Another issue is, given the cost of the "Dark Lord's" dials, I wouldn't have the ballz to beat them up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 dbane, all true. But for watches of this caliber, you are encouraging suspicion with a minty 60+ year old watch. And eyebrows just rise further when the case looks appropriate for a worn watch, but the dial/hands look brand, spanking new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionsandtigers Posted June 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 first off, nobody, at least not me, is trying to fool anyone. I have no problem saying the hands are not original to the watch and the dial has been refinished. it's of no consequence to me as I am not trying to scam anyone. I just love the watch. to dbane's point, I have seen countless examples of immaculate dials on worn cases with both beat up hands and mint hands. also, my case is lightly aged, fits very well with the overall look. insert is worn and faded, so what? I liked the insert, so I swapped them. again, not a concern Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 In that context, well done. Period. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 My recommendation; just wear the watch and enjoy it. It will develop natural patina of it's own from daily wear. Artificial patina never looks right anyways... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mendota Explorer Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 That 6542 is unreal. With all of you experts together in this one thread, I want to ask you guys something. What is the general opinion in the vintage world about redials? I mean, these dials are on original, gen plates. They are refinished using the same techniques employed by the original artisans who produced the dials originally. So for all intents and purposes it is a refinished gen dial, right? What do vintage collectors think about these types of things? I know provenance is of the upmost importance in every case, and obviously if the watch were to be sold the specifics of the dial would be disclosed, but for personal enjoyment does it really matter? I'm just curious to know what a vintage collector outside of this board would think of a genken build such as this. Guys are building gen parts frankens over on TRF and VRF, too, and people are always replacing worn out parts on vintage pieces every day, so it isn't like this fell out of the sky from Mars. Would this command the same level of respect and admiration that we give it? I think yes in every case. Am I off base? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dlf Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 Man these high end builds are so bloody good . Congratulations all involved, quite spectacular, please wear it a lot and don't crash you're car staring at it;) Also I was under the impression that just the tritium dials darkened without Uv exposure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted June 19, 2015 Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 I think you will find that, as the market for pristine, all original pieces shrinks, you will see more and more of these all gen built examples being pieced together; worn, beat down and less than perfect parts such as dials, hands, etc. will be replaced with better condition specimens and the result will be the influx of good condition pieces emerging into the market that just weren't born that way from the start. These pieces have been finding their way into the big auction houses, and I am sure there will be more to come. The problem being that the minutiae of each watch/ref was not well catalogued from the manufacturer and therefore, it is hard to know if such and such ref with s/n xyz came with this 2 line red depth dial or not from the factory. There are general time spans and windows for known references to have certain dial types that can be narrowed down by serial range (e.g. Double Red SDs MK 1 - whatever), but nothing that provides definitive provenance that a watch was born with a specific dial/attribute(s).As for my personal thoughts on these 'voldemort' dials... They are pretty dang good. I know I love the one in my BC, quite a lot! Does it bother me that it's a redial? Not at all. But then again, it's in a personal build for my own enjoyment; not meant to fool any auction houses I do suppose that such dials really skate the fuzzy line and I can understand why the VRF folks are non too pleased about them; they're certainly not aftermarket/fake dials and cannot be categorized as such; taking into account the manner and process that they are refinished, the results are scary good; not even comparable to a typical redial job, that's for sure! These dials live in a grey area in my mind; unique and with their own intrinsic value and worth... Maybe almost like a myth of some sort... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted June 19, 2015 Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 With all of you experts together in this one thread, I want to ask you guys something. What is the general opinion in the vintage world about redials? I mean, these dials are on original, gen plates. They are refinished using the same techniques employed by the original artisans who produced the dials originally. So for all intents and purposes it is a refinished gen dial, right? As someone who has a couple of these, my take is that they are wonderful for personal collections. I always describe mine (with dials repainted by a professional dial restorer, as opposed to an Asian rep/aftermarket part maker) as being genuine Rolex watches. Because they are. However, while they may be functionally similar to an original gen Rolex, they are not the same. The value of a gen Rolex with a properly repainted gen dial to 'civilian' Rolex collectors (ie, those who collect only gens) is very limited. Once a genuine Rolex dial is repainted by anyone other than Rolex (who I do not believe have offered repainting for decades), it is no longer considered (by Rolex) to be a genuine Rolex dial. The paint is different; the details, no matter how well done, will be different; & the result will look different to a trained eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atossg Posted June 19, 2015 Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 This is just unbelievable ... But I love it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netniet Posted June 19, 2015 Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 Just stunning!! I hate you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselpower Posted June 19, 2015 Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 Stunning. Wiwigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highoeyazmuhudee Posted June 19, 2015 Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 ok, THATS THE ONE! great build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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