automatico Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 The beginning of the story... I bought two DW 1680 cases a few years ago that did not arrive in a timely manner (about 3 months iirc) and DW sent me two more. The first two finally arrived and I sent them back but as far as I know they never made it back to DW. Later I bought a couple more direct from DW and a few from him on eBay before he went rogue plus one '5513' mid case from an RWG member. So...I ended up with about 10 DW cases, some fully signed, some partially signed, and a few 'buck naked'. What to do with them? The first one was used to house a 1680 'Mk I' dial and 1570 movement from an old 1680 with a rotted out case. The '5513' mid case was used for a 5513 project with genuine 1520 hack, Yuki dial, ST bezel kit, GS crystal, TC tube/crown, drilled lugs...and a case back from a 'River' Exp II from the TRC days. I had to cut a gasket groove in the case because the River cb did not have a gasket groove and was not thick enough to cut one. I also had to make a little thin spacer out of aluminum to fit between the dial seat and dial. Making the flimsy spacer was ahellofa mess. It had to be made in a 90 year old (just a guess) bezel chuck. Why the spacer in the '5513' case? Because all the DW cases I have are made the same inside as a genuine 1680 case, like the MBK cases, the difference being that all the DW cases have a 26.5mm dial window opening like a 1680 and the MBK cases have a 26.0mm dial window opening like a 5512/13. Why not just buy a 5513 case back rather than cut the gasket groove in the case? Because any good cb with a gasket groove would have cost more than I paid for a complete DW case and the River cb was a freebie. Time rocks on and the DW 1680 with the 1570 and Mk I dial are still in the safe since being finished on 4-4-2011, the '5513' is all apart with the 1520/Yuki dial put in a MBK case, and now I am wearing a DW '1680' with a no hack rlx 1570/5, Yuki dial etc but it still has the original spring wire bezel and crystal as does the '1680' in the safe. I never changed the bezels out. I have also put together a few projects and taken them apart using DW cases but the three mentioned are the only watches that were completely finished. Score... Add one point for the DW case vs the MBK case because a 1570/5 and dial will drop right in. Subtract one point for pot belly case sides and no lug bevels. Add it back if you like the used vintage look of no bevels etc. Subtract one point for the spring wire bezel although they work fine (a ST/Cark bezel kit will work with the right crystal). Add one point for cost, DW cases cost about 50% of what an MBK case sells for now, about 30% of a Yuki case, and 20% of a Phong case. In a few years a DW case will probably go up a little but MBK cases will probably go up a lot. Yuki and Phong will probably go up in cost too. After looking at a few hundred supposedly genuine 5513/1680 on the internet...I found quite a few 5513/1680 with no lug bevels and here is one I spotted today... http://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t=tree&goto=7186910&rid=0#msg_7186910 I have also seen quite a few genuine watches with pot belly case sides, no doubt caused by wear and polishing. Wear a DW case watch a year or two and you have the vintage look. The end of the story (finally) ... What's the bottom line to all this BS? In retrospect, DW cases turned out to be better than I first gave them credit for. I mostly dissed them because they had 'pot belly' case sides and no lug bevels. So... maybe DW cases ain't so bad after all. Too bad they are gone from the scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam007 Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 The Link is to a Red 1680 with a fake Mid case. Look at the engravings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbane883 Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 So many dummies on TZ. That case is not good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatico Posted January 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 "The Link is to a Red 1680 with a fake Mid case." Thanks, I am not really sharp enough to tell but that would explain the no bevel lugs. It seems there may be quite a few vintage watches with replica parts unknown to the owners. I wonder if this guy knows? Probably not. I have a red IG44 dial that looks a whole lot like the one on the watch too. I am not very good at busting fake stuff, I'm more of a movement guy...and not too good at that. Suspicion seems to be raising its ugly head... "Service papers only mention bezel insert replacement. Could a 46 year old bezel be in such good condition? Hmmmm." "The mid case is fake. Engravings are completely wrong. Long E, Incorrect Stainless Steel, Incorrect size." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam007 Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 13 minutes ago, automatico said: Suspicion seems to be raising its ugly head... "Service papers only mention bezel insert replacement. Could a 46 year old bezel be in such good condition? Hmmmm." "The mid case is fake. Engravings are completely wrong. Long E, Incorrect Stainless Steel, Incorrect size." Yes I posted that and the picture of the real engraving. Hopefully he can get a refund Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike on a bike Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 I will most certainly call on you guys before I ever buy a gen used Rolex , you know your shit ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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