Gen VS Rep Crown? How to tell and is it worth it?

[viol8r44]

OK so I'm working on my first build from scratch. Its a Datejust 16000 I have a gen case and bracelet and tube for that matter but my question is this, when it comes to the crown can you tell a difference between a good (say MMM) crown and a Gen crown? Is it that big of a deal? as the Gen's on ebay are in the $100+ price range and rep is quite a bit cheaper. I personally am having a hard time telling the difference between them. The only thing that I can think of is possibly the number of ridges on the coin edge of the crown? I notice when browsing through the classifieds here that many people upgrade to gen what is the benefit? Sorry if this is a dumb question I tried searching the forum for an answer and came up empty. 

[automatico]

If the crown is stainless steel and the threads, clutch, and spring are all Ok it should be all right. Some have a brass inner threaded part with a steel clutch and cap and they hold up pretty good too. Be careful with crowns made out of cheapo 'pot metal' as they usually have trouble early on. I have had good luck with the crowns on JMB and StoneP cases. Genuine crowns are mostly made out of nickel silver with a steel cap and later 'monobloc' models are all steel.

Many replica 6mm crowns are made to the same spec as a crown on a 16200...6mm od but take a 5.3mm case tube. Your 16000 case is all 6mm so make sure you get a 6mm crown made for a regular 6mm case tube. It is all in the crown info 'sticky' above.

Prices have gone crazy...brand new 5.3/6.0mm steel crowns were $20 each in 1995, yellow gold 5.3/6.0mm were $35, 7mm steel were $35, and 7mm gold were $75 from a supply house on 47th St in NYC that I had an account with back then. The mechanic at a local rolex AD used to give me all the 'take off' crowns. Now take offs are going for $75+ each on eBay. A new genuine crystal for a 16000 DJ was $17.50, one for a 5513 was $15.50.

[SSTEEL]

If you are going genuine on the crown and tube, may I suggest you get new, or NOS items, this is from experience that many of the used Rolex crowns on the market are there for a reason, they have been replaced due to damage, cosmetic issues, or clutch functionality issue.

[Nanuq]

Those are great replies.  ^^^

What they're trying to say is rep crowns will work awhile but the cheap metal just feels bad when you screw it down, and the threads get galled and it quits working right.

If you're going to make something that "feels" right, then replacing the crown and tube is high on the list.  It just feels right when you screw it down, and the threads are nice and smooth.  And it's much more likely to be waterproof.

I lived with the original rep crown on an MBW Seadweller for 10 years, and it was "okay".  But when I finally replaced it (because I dropped the watch and bent the tube) the difference was remarkable, 

Other reasons to replace a crown are the Cartel Subs... the old combination of stubby crown guards and tall crowns were positively clownish.  Putting an Athaya 702 (narrow) crown on made a world of difference.

So yes, you can live with it just fine.  Eventually the threads in the crown or tube will get nasty and it will be rough screwing it down.  Then replace it with a 6mm crown and 6mm tube and you'll kick yourself for waiting so long.

[daovto]

Quick question... if you want to change to a gen crown do you have to change the tube to gen, or is it recommended? My example from an Athaya to Gen...

[Nanuq]

The answer is..... "maybe".  Some rep tubes will accept a gen crown.  Someone did a nice tutorial about this a few months ago.

[daovto]

The answer is..... "maybe".  Some rep tubes will accept a gen crown.  Someone did a nice tutorial about this a few months ago.

Thanks, I'll search that out... assume a whole lot easier and cheaper to buy a gen tube than the crown part.