Heavily modded 16610 cheapie ... or "minutes of a shitinerand plastic surgery"

[manodeoro]

About a month ago I spent a 4 days vacation in the South of France. so we paid a visit to my father in law (he's a nice guy ... and has a nice terrace just in front of the sea).
I had my 6538 SYL on the wrist and when he saw it he immediatly felt in love with it and we begun to talk watches.
He talked to me about an old (and not working) 16610 Rep he had and asked if I could have a look at it, try to fix it and give it a better look.
I should have dodged that issue but ... I said "why not" !!!
So he searched his drawers and show up the "thing" I'll see below, definitely a cheapie among the cheapies.
But a "why not" is really close to a "yes" and my father in law is, as I already said, a really nice guy, so ... "challenge accepted".

I put the "watch" in my luggage and took it home and decided to forget about it for a few days.
But I had alost made a promise so I had a first close look at it, opened the case and wiped some.
Then I begun what was supposed to be just a refurbishment but finished being what I would call a real plastic surgery.

So here's the story and I hope you'll like it ... and sorry if I'm too chatty
 

01 - FIRST DAY - FIRST LOOK :

 

Technically :

- the movement seems to work ... when I shake it the seconds hand already begins walking round

- the O-rings on the crown are dead and the caseback ring is probably dead too

- the stem seems "loosy" fixed on the crown and the watch cant be set

- the SELs stay loosy on the case ... and they are ugly (but that's an esthetical remark)

Alltogether that watch needs some work but it's not that bad

 

Esthetically :

Wow !!! I really dont know if I can save it.

- the polished parts look tooooo shiny and more like chrome than polished SS

- the "brushed" parts just look mate and "sad"

- the crownguards are stubby as bulldog jaws

- the dials is ... "something" ... the polices not that bad but the indexes stubby too (but still not big indexes)

- the bracelet looks very cheap and has ugly SELs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I open the case and here is a "nice surpise".

 

The caseback wears some weird engravings :

 

MONARCHPOLFY S.A.

GELENA

SHITINERAND

STAINLESS STEEL

12600

 

I had already heard and read about those crazy casebacks but I had never seen one in real.

A proof, IMHO, that Rep makers can act funny sometimes.

 

Then I look at the case and movement and ... "Sh.t In Your Hand" they said ???

Definitely sh.t in that watch and I'd better beware of rats and cockcroaches cause I could find some there.

 

And as I remove the stem I see what's going weird.

The crown is damaged and "falls in parts" And the stem is sealed in one of those ... I'l try to fix that later

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

02 - CLEAN TEST :

 

That watch is so durty that I fist want to know if it really can be cleaned with the only tools I have, lukewarm water, dish-washing liquid and C-oil.

And it works ... there's no more s..t in that Shitinerand caseback and ugly buckle.

 

 

 

 

03 - BRACELET :

 

As I already said the bracelet looks very cheap :
- the brushed parts are not brushed but just mate and sad looking.
- the link's sides, that should be polished (if I'm true), are just "rough and ready"
- the SELs are ... ugly
My first idea is to through that thing in the garbage can ... but the wach is not mine and I "accepted the challenge".

So I fist put that bracelet in myd "red grease" for 48 hours, washed it and dried it.
Then I have reworked it completely with some sandpaper sheets (grade 600 to 1200), my dremel-like, some red compound and of course a good amount of elbow grease.

Below you can look at it, from the first pics "before" to the last "final result" wich is, IMHO, unexpected.
At the end I really sort of liked that bracelet and though it's completely wearable.
So I wrapped it in some greaseproof paper so it can wait for the rest of the watch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

04 - CASE :

 

What's the difference within an antilop and a bull ?
Same difference within the crownguards of a nice 16610 and those on my father-in-law's watch.

 

 

 

I think I cant say better.
And it's not about modding here ... it's more about sculpture because that case needs some real plastic surgery.

So once again I've had to use sandpaper sheets, dremel, compound and elbow grease, plus a complete set of diamond files.
I reworked the case with the bezel on because it's a paperclip construction so I didn't take no risk and prefered to just protect it with some painter's tape.

Feel free to post you comments but I'm REALLY happy with the result and I think all the efforts and time spent was definitely worthy.
Below are the pics, again from "before" to "after" and some taken along the process ... on the final pics the watch I reworked is the one without insert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 5, 2017 by manodeoro

[manodeoro]

05 - CROWN :

 

I tried to save the crown and repair it with a tiny bit of copper wire ... I like to pretend being MacGyver.
It worked but I wasn't 100% certain everything would stay in place so I prefered to change for a crwon and stem I had in my drawer.
I'll work again ion that crown later ... just for the fun of it.
And if I succeed I'll create a specific thread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

06 - CRYSTAL :

 

The crystal is good enough (samel quality level as the watch) but it has some scratches on the cyclop.
One can see them only on macro pics but it bothered me so I dedided to do my best to fix that thing.
A good friend of mine told me I should use Cerium Oxide.
So I bought some (that's really cheap) and tried that method.
All you need is :
- Cerium Oxide
- small amount of water
- some make-up remover pads
- elbow grease (wrist grease in fact)
Just mix some oxide with water to make a thick paste, moist you pads (unless they will abosrb all the water from the paste), take some of the paste with a pad and rub the crystal, again and again.
I did that for minutes, and hours, while watching the news or a movie on TV, listening some cool music, having a sunbath on my terrace, etc ...
It's a very looooooong process but ... it works.
The scratches didn't disappeared but it's really better ... IMHO
I'm not certain that was worthy or usefull but I'm happy.

I could go further but I wont cause If I want to get a perfect result I would have to sand the cyclop 800/1200/2000 then repolish with Cerium Oxide.
I would be a very long process and I'm not quite certain that the difference would be visible without a magnifying glass.
So here is the last close pic of the crystal before I wrapped it in greaseproof paper ... waiting to put it back on the case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

07 - MOVEMENT :

 

The movement seemed to work good and with the new stem/crown assembly it can be set without problem and the date changes between 11PM and 1AM, so everything is OK.
Except the date wheel.
The police was ... "exotic" could be the right word.
So I decided to make a DIY overlay wich could look some more accurate :
- designed the DWO on Illustrator/Photoshop
- printed it on a very thin photo paper
- cut it and fixed it on the datewheel with some double-sided tape
- add a "wedge" made from the same photo paper between the dial and the dial spacer fixed with double-sided tape)
That's all.
Now the police looks less "strange" and the date still changes well between 11PM and 1AM.

And here are some pics of the process

 

 

 

 

 

 

08 - DIAL :

 

OMG ... that dial really bothered me
The printings were no that bad and "could look" like some 2006 dials but the indexes ... OMG !!!

 

 

 

Looking at the indexes I first thought about swapping the minutes hand for a thicker one and the insert for a green one, so that the watch could look like a 50th anniversary LV.
But it wouldnt work, the indexes are not even "big iNdexes" and the printings would not be accurate.
Then I searched my drawers and found a 16610 dial that "could have" work ... but I had already modded it for an ongoing 16800 Comex project.
So I have created a thread here, a WTB asking for a "cheap but decent" 16610 dial.
And now here I am, waiting for an nice 16610 dial from a forum's member.

 

 

09 - CASE & BRACELET : 

 

This morning I woke up in the wee hours so I had some time to work on that watch before SSB (Shave/Shower/Breakfast :smile:).
So I put the crystal and gasket baco in the midcase and the insert back on the bezel.
Add the caseback and crown, springbars.
So here is just a pic of the complete CASE & BRACELET.
At the moment I'm waiting for a nice 16610 dial to come so I let the movement and hands in their respective boxes.

 

First just a pic of how it looked ... stubby crownguards, a bracelet more tarnished than brushed and a loosy crown

 

 

And NOW ... really nice IMHO, despite the very bad light a 5pm
I'll take some better pics and wristshots with the movement and new dial cased in ... on next friday if everything goes well.

 

 

[Sogeha]

You have far more patience than me?

The one thing it does show is how far reps have come and how lucky we are. I still have a couple of Shitinerand Rolex from about twenty years ago. One is a 1016 I am still rather fond of and one is a 1680/5517/5514 crossbreed that is just plain embarrassing 

[manodeoro]

2 hours ago, Sogeha said:

You have far more patience than me?

The one thing it does show is how far reps have come and how lucky we are. I still have a couple of Shitinerand Rolex from about twenty years ago. One is a 1016 I am still rather fond of and one is a 1680/5517/5514 crossbreed that is just plain embarrassing 

 

Just wait to see it with the dial that's coming to me ... though that watch still has many flaws and the insert is damaged I really think it will look really better from where I started.

Plus it will tick and keep good time (I have regulated the movement ... which is not so bad).

 

If my father in law had just given it to me I would certainly have put it in a drawer and forget about it.

But it's a "souvenir" from about 15 years ago, when he was still fit (he was 61 and he's 76), so it's important for him even if it's a cheap watch.

And making it tick again and look better was important for me (I really like this guy).

Plus that was a good exercice to know where I could "push the limits" of my skills.

 

This winter, when I'll have finished with the TON of projects I have, I will work on another watch of him, something much better but which is, surprisingly, not has important.

It's Porsche Design Military by Orfina (Gen) ... a nice watch but a bit damaged.

 

 

Edited July 5, 2017 by manodeoro

[Bart Cordell]

Fantastic work my friend !

You can be proud.

[manodeoro]

Fantastic work my friend !
You can be proud.

Thanks Bart
I'm waiting for a nice dial from Simon ... that will help a lot

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[highoeyazmuhudee]

buy him a new JF 16610 from trusty time and tell him it's the same watch.

[manodeoro]

buy him a new JF 16610 from trusty time and tell him it's the same watch.

No way .. he's old but not stupid and still has very good eyes
Plus the more I work on watches ... the more I love them

Envoyé de mon Moto G (5) Plus en utilisant Tapatalk

[manodeoro]

11 - FINISHED ... and redy to go back to his owner :

 

Thursday I received the new dial for that "ex-quite-ugly-now-pretty-nice" cheapie.
So this morning she was ready for some pics though the light was not very good.

She ticks the time pretty well, the crown can perfectly be screwed on the crown tube and she looks pretty good ... IMHO

 

I know my father in law will be very happy and it’s been a very interesting exercise of plastic surgery.

Now it’s time to leave for a 2 weeks vacation then I’ll go back to a much tougher build projects that I hope to finish before next december … but shh!!! it’s classified :hehehe:

 

And, as promised, here are  some pics before I wrap it in a soft cloth and put it back in my bag ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2017 by manodeoro