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Need help building a franken 5517 Rolex


JCC1968

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Hi

 

I am new to the RWG world and have seen some amazing things you have been with watches. I am totally blown away. With that being said, I need help from a master to build my dream 5517 Frankenwatch. I have a 1520 movement just had serviced from my 5500 Air King.  I want to donate the movement to my new build and possibly sell or trade the dial, hands, case, and oyster bracelet. With this being said I wish I had known about this board first. I may of already made a noob mistake. I bought this case on Ebay for $900. Crap have I already been hosed? I do anything else stupid I need two things.

 

What pieces I should buy for this build?

 

Who can I hire to put this project together? I want a watch I can keep for a long time. 

 

Thanks

 

Jason

 

Please contact me if you are interested in helping me!

 

christensenjason5@gmail.com

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Welcome to your journey down the rabbit hole! Really need to see more shots of your case, but front-on it looks good. That insert looks very good. Generally they are one of the weak points of 5517 build so you're off to a good start.

 

Next the dial, you could try Phong:

http://www.jewelryandwatch.com/contents/en-us/d216_5517_Subamriner_dials.html

 

He has Sword hands too for a gen movement. Although the tail of the second hand is too long and will need trimming:

http://www.jewelryandwatch.com/contents/en-us/d222_Submariner_1680,_5512,_5517,_6538.html

 

Good luck! Lots of info on the forum to help you on your journey!

 

Here’s my not so high-end build with an ETA 2846 movement.

ea302180fea098cabd8db7d2f42f940c.jpg&key=a2bff670bf53243e7cdbae62cb2961ebf3769ffd200cfa1447c076c8a767cfa4

dd821e28c103a6683baafabbc482f33d.jpg&key=6dd3a3f58e2d51634cfad406145463c83b9851dadcdb5e26e10fb331b0c22059

 

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Jack gives some excellent advice.

 

Regarding the build, it could be as simple as assembling it, or it could be more involved. Do you need the case reshaped? Do your crown and tube look right and actually function correctly? Do you have the right gaskets, and a proper watertight seal around the crystal? Does your movement fit the case perfectly as is? Do you want your dial and hands relumed? Do you want it aged to look 50 years old (and what amount of aging)? I would try to answer these yourself before you get someone else involved. 

 

There's an art to building these so that they look like an authentic watch instead of a bunch of brand new parts thrown together. Many people can accomplish the latter but only a few the former. And it really comes down to luck whether your parts all fit together well or if you need a lot of craftsmanship to get them to. I could help you out but there are a lot better builders here that I would defer to and I'm sure they will contact you. It does look like a great start though, you already have some of the hard pieces figured out.

 

 

Edited by jimcon11
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14 hours ago, jackflash said:

Welcome to your journey down the rabbit hole! Really need to see more shots of your case, but front-on it looks good. That insert looks very good. Generally they are one of the weak points of 5517 build so you're off to a good start.

 

Next the dial, you could try Phong:

http://www.jewelryandwatch.com/contents/en-us/d216_5517_Subamriner_dials.html

 

He has Sword hands too for a gen movement. Although the tail of the second hand is too long and will need trimming:

http://www.jewelryandwatch.com/contents/en-us/d222_Submariner_1680,_5512,_5517,_6538.html

 

Good luck! Lots of info on the forum to help you on your journey!

 

Here’s my not so high-end build with an ETA 2846 movement.

ea302180fea098cabd8db7d2f42f940c.jpg&key=a2bff670bf53243e7cdbae62cb2961ebf3769ffd200cfa1447c076c8a767cfa4

dd821e28c103a6683baafabbc482f33d.jpg&key=6dd3a3f58e2d51634cfad406145463c83b9851dadcdb5e26e10fb331b0c22059

 

 

Wow really nice builds they are great! the hands and dials are amazing!

Hi here are the pics I have of the case. Any ideas who made it?  I am very excited about the build. I have had a lot of good feedback. I am going to buy a Phong dial unless someone else has a better idea? I still need hands and someone I can pay to age them a little possibly and do the build. I will obvious pay for this service. Want to make sure I get the right people on board. Thank you so much for all the help!

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13 hours ago, jimcon11 said:

Jack gives some excellent advice.

 

Regarding the build, it could be as simple as assembling it, or it could be more involved. Do you need the case reshaped? Do your crown and tube look right and actually function correctly? Do you have the right gaskets, and a proper watertight seal around the crystal? Does your movement fit the case perfectly as is? Do you want your dial and hands relumed? Do you want it aged to look 50 years old (and what amount of aging)? I would try to answer these yourself before you get someone else involved. 

 

There's an art to building these so that they look like an authentic watch instead of a bunch of brand new parts thrown together. Many people can accomplish the latter but only a few the former. And it really comes down to luck whether your parts all fit together well or if you need a lot of craftsmanship to get them to. I could help you out but there are a lot better builders here that I would defer to and I'm sure they will contact you. It does look like a great start though, you already have some of the hard pieces figured out.

 

 

Great advice thank you!

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Congrats! That's a pretty good case. Looks like someone's been a little enthusiastic with the chamfers, but nothing too much to worry about. 

 

Case back markings look to be good quality, the serial number is unusual though. It should start with 0552 (Royal Navy) or W10 (British Army) rather than 6645. I was intrigued and just googled it. This 5517 has your serial number! As you'll see in the shot of the case back, the serial starts with W10/6645...:

http://www.thetimetraveler.co/watches/sold/198/5517/5517-full-spec-all-original-milsub-w10/

 

As you're in the US, Phong is probably your best bet in terms of service and shipping – he's based in Arizona. 

 

There are a couple of semi-reliable high-end suppliers from Vietnam. Minh Quy (MQ) is one you may hear about. He's tricky to deal with. I personally won't be dealing with him again after receiving a shoddy case and poor service. Others have had a better experience with him though and his dials do look good:

http://vintagewatchesmq.com/minhquy/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=800&category_id=146&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

 

Ruby is another, however she's not always responsive to messages via the website:

http://rubyswatch.com/Products/h1-1-|-vintage-|-submariner-|-military-|-5517-|-dial-2106

 

Looking forward to seeing your build come together!

 

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How do the HR milsub dials compare to the others? They seem to be regarded best among all the HR dials and I've seen a few nice builds with them. I think the cost is less too although cost shouldn't be much of a factor in a build of this caliber.

 

To me the MQ and Ruby look over-serifed. The Phong dial looks good except the I-beam effect on the batons is oddly exaggerated. 

 

You might realize that nobody makes a dial you're happy with, and in that case it's possible to make your own with printable decal paper. That way you can take all the typography directly from the real dial. The downside is that it's quite a lot of work to produce one finished as nicely as the good aftermarket dials.

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16 hours ago, jimcon11 said:
How do the HR milsub dials compare to the others?


In general I think they are great value. I used HR dials for my 5513, 6538 and 94010 builds. The 5513 is probably the most accurate, so with the addition of the tritium mark it should be pretty good for an ETA build. The dials do need reluming though. Something HR will do too on request if you decide not to do it yourself.
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3a1766f623b698dd915e74fbc950c971.jpg

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^I love the Snowflake:hi:

 

I guess I was wondering, relevant to the topic here, if the HR 5517 dial is on par with the VN dials in terms of accuracy and fineness of print. It might be possible that HR can do gen movement dial feet too, and this would be an option for the OP to consider.

 

I haven't studied the 5517 closely but I love military watches so I'm thinking there might be one in my future:)

Edited by jimcon11
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MilesD did one of my all time favorites.

MBW 5513 Case
Cartel Insert
Yuki Pearl
Gen Tropic 19 Plexi
Aftermarket 702 Tube
Gen 702 Crown!!!!
NDT 5517 Dial
Omega SM300 Hands
ETA2846

 

oWc0T.jpg

TiiH0.jpg

http://www.homageforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=7685&hilit=5517

 

That being said here is mine:

I built it first with aged and then switched it to new out of box.

6QeOzNl.jpg

tBi4gr6.jpg

 

HR case set and dials. ETA movement. Custom movement ring and dial support. 

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MilesD did one of my all time favorites.

MBW 5513 Case
Cartel Insert
Yuki Pearl
Gen Tropic 19 Plexi
Aftermarket 702 Tube
Gen 702 Crown!!!!
NDT 5517 Dial
Omega SM300 Hands
ETA2846

 

oWc0T.jpg&key=ba8a0235a2ffc14668f7a33f995ab3e64c3003881f701511236334e38903e07c

TiiH0.jpg&key=d3c32c31968cf9e2d95286131ed02f753f984079f74f30f0b77e314a11d7dfcd

http://www.homageforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=7685&hilit=5517

Nice. With one flaw to watch out for when buying 5517 bezel inserts. Too many minute markers after the 50, it should have 3, not 4.

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Agreed Jack! Nice catch. I was so enamored with everything else that I missed that. I also believe that yours is one of the best ever! And I’ve always been jealous of it.

Thanks buddy! The dial on that is an ingod44. He’s long gone from the rep scene unfortunately.
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Update: I recently bought a Phong dial and hand set. I have heard the Phong second hand is too long. My question is how much do you cut of the second hand to make it correct?

 

 

     
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5517.docx

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4 hours ago, JCC1968 said:
image.png.0003830793e444416fef5ae6b44bb17f.png How much of the second hand do I cut off to be correct? 

 

Best thing to do is pick an original watch as a reference for your build. Take a look at the length of the tail of the second hand, here’s an example.

0d062f503b5ab37059e44ed25d5a2959.jpg&key=296562a898c388755825bc8ee1cc0837e1d26babfa9ad5d0ade1894282920e56

 

Another option. The Yuki handset, at least the second hand, looks to have better proportions than the Phong.

http://www.yukiwatch.net/Submariner-5517-hand-set-p35282255

8f9d5c510972223f758131b1e25a1f04.jpg

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