Rolex GMT-Master 6542 "Pan Am" - A Rep Saga

[prova4]

On 30/3/2016 at 5:28 PM, freddy333 said:

 

yep...

[freddy333]

29 minutes ago, Kime said:

Is that hodinkee post for real?

Yes

[JoeyB]

On Monday, March 28, 2016 at 8:15 PM, panerai153 said:

Ghe only thing that I might add would be a darker insert if joeyB has any. Mine is a little too bright red and blue, and the lexan that joeyB uses doesn't age and darken like the old bakelite inserts on the original Rolex 6542's.

 

 JoeyB uses the DG3804 movement which is a slow beat movement. nice thing about it they are about 30-40 bucks, so if one fails, just throw it away and replace it with a new one.

 

 

The red and blue colors are what they are spot on to the original insert color for at least one of the 6 sub-contractors Rolex used to supply inserts. The insert, being clear, is translucent. That makes the color vary with the lighting, genuine, 60+ years old, or new. Most people have only seen genuine inserts online, in pictures. They have no idea what the lighting is in the pic, but say the red should be darker, 'almost maroon', etc., which is totally incorrect.

 Depending in the light, the blue ranges from a Royal Blue to a Navy blue. The red ranges from a very slight orangish-red to a blood red. This is why the colors vary in the pictures of genuine 6542. Aging only fades the color, not darkens it. The lumed white script will darken with age, exposure to UV.

 

I have it both ways. I have the DG3804B movement that I wear pretty much every day now. And I have the ETA 2846 movement using the longer 13mm minute hand.

 

 

[panerai153]

The red and blue colors are what they are spot on to the original insert color for at least one of the 6 sub-contractors Rolex used to supply inserts. The insert, being clear, is translucent. That makes the color vary with the lighting, genuine, 60+ years old, or new. Most people have only seen genuine inserts online, in pictures. They have no idea what the lighting is in the pic, but say the red should be darker, 'almost maroon', etc., which is totally incorrect.

 Depending in the light, the blue ranges from a Royal Blue to a Navy blue. The red ranges from a very slight orangish-red to a blood red. This is why the colors vary in the pictures of genuine 6542. Aging only fades the color, not darkens it. The lumed white script will darken with age, exposure to UV.

 

I have it both ways. I have the DG3804B movement that I wear pretty much every day now. And I have the ETA 2846 movement using the longer 13mm minute hand.

 

 

Thanks Joey,

Just from looking at photos, it looked like some inserts were darker, like the photos of Freddy's 6542 in the photos above. Did the old bakelite inserts darken with age? Another question, is your DG3804B movement holding up well?

[JoeyB]

'Perspex' was a brand name for acrylic plastic, as is Plexi-Glass. Some did yellow, as Plexi-Glass does. But in the thin application like an insert, they usually dried out, becoming brittle and broke into pieces before they had a chance to yellow. Acrylic also scratched up easier. Lexan is a stronger material, resists scratching and breaking, but is more difficult to polish, though it holds the polish much longer. freddy's inserts were painted with the exact same color and brand of paint as all the red/blue inserts I've made.

 

Yep, the DG movement runs fine, I regulated it to about 2 seconds fast per day, and has a reserve of close to 40 hours. It's almost 3 years old now, almost daily wear.