Tutone sub project estimate...

[automatico]

The tutone case and bracelet parts for sale on the Trading Zone recently made me wonder how much a 'first class' tutone replica 16613 type sub-ma-reenner would cost to put together using mostly new parts, not counting labor.

'First Class' = solid gold and swiss ETA.

 

New ST case, bezel, bracelet etc:

Case...$175.

Tutone SS/14K oyster...$895   SS/18K...$1250.

Bezel...$455   Insert...$40.

Used genuine crown...$100/$150   Case tube...$25.

Swiss ETA...$200 more or less.

Dial...genuine...$400+/-  aftmkt…$200+/-. 

Miscellaneous parts, spring bars, crystal, gaskets, hands replica clasp etc...$200+/-.

 

Total.:

About $2500...with SS/14K bracelet and $125 for crown.

About $2800 for SS/18k bracelet.

Too much imho, especially with SS/18K bracelet.

 

What would it sell for in a year or two?  Maybe $2000.  Maybe not.

A loss of around $1000.

 

Parts I have on hand:

New swiss ETA 2824 or 2836.  Cost about $65 a few years ago.

New aftmkt 295C crystal and gasket.  About $40.

Used gold 7mm crown and new ST case tube (if I can find the crown).  Around $65 for both a while back. 

Complete, like new, full length oys tutone bracelet without hoods but do not remember if SS/14K or SS/18K...$700 iirc.

Clasp, spring bars, gaskets etc...$50 +/-.

Around $900 +/-.

 

Parts I would need:

ST case...$175.

ST bezel/insert...$495 (!!).

Dial/hands...$300 +/-. 

Bracelet hoods...around $100.

Total of around $1100.

Total cost probably around $2000.  Still a lot of $$.

 

What would it sell for in a year or two?  About the same...$2000.  No loss maybe.
The ST bezel for $455 bothers me though.  

 

I could go with a stainless steel 16610 model but everyone in town has one.  Including me.

Most of them reep-lickas.  Mine too.   

 

 

[alligoat]

This why I've never built  a TT 16613. I built a 16800 with a relumed dial and an ST case- around $700 and then when I figure in the 93150 which cost me $300 back in the day and you're still at a Grand. Here it is with a TC 93250 but I recently switched back to the 93150

[automatico]

"I built a 16800 with a relumed dial and an ST case..."

 

That is a very good alternative and you do not see many of them, unlike all the 16610 types.  The only hard to find part is a genuine dial with printed markers but I would go with a 'redial' myself.  I would go with a printed marker dial and holey case so it would not look too much like a 16610.

An ST case is good on a project like this today since they cost no more than most high quality cartel cases are going for. 

 

I stuck a few TuTone 162xx DJ together and they are a lot easier than a submariner or GMT because there are a lot of genuine dials/bezels/crowns in circulation and many of the replica 162xx cases are oem spec.  I saved a new swiss ETA 2671 or 2678 TuTone lady DJ from a few years back with plated goldtone parts and gathered up all the parts to change it over to TT with solid gold center links, bezel, and crown...about the same time TT went out of style. 

It's buried in my projects box.

 

Misc BS...

There used to be a lot of replica TT lady DJ around with swiss ETAs and solid gold parts.  The bezel and bracelet gold parts were usually 14K and the watches sold for $750 to $1000 at watch shows etc but gold was only $200 to $300 troz in the late 1990s and gold parts were affordable.  I looked in one a while back at a friend's jewelry store that he was going to send off for repair because it had stopped.  It was one of the swiss ETA replicas and the lady did not know it...she had been wearing it for 5 or 7 years.  Her husband told the store owner he paid $1500 or so (I can not remember) for the watch and was 'assured' it was all genuine.  I do not know what they did with it, I would not work on it.

I have looked in quite a few 'genuine replicas' over the years.

 

The jewelry store called me to look in it before they took it in with the watch owner present so they could not come back to the store with a lawyer and claim "the store stole my rolex".  It has happened and some jewelry trade magazines have printed articles warning jewelry store owners about it.  If you write 'rolex' on a receipt, it better be a 100% genuine rolex or have a disclaimer.  

 

I have a TT 1601 apart now that came in with no crown or case tube and a worn out rotor axle...the owner kept wearing it until it bit the dust.  It needs a rotor axle, set bridge, mainspring, case tube, crown, crystal, and date disc.  The set bridge is rusty and the date disc was damaged because the left hand threaded nut that holds the 'calendar wheel, pn 7953' in place came loose and the disc got damaged when the calendar wheel got out of place.  The canon pinion is loose with very little setting friction...thanks to the slow set date.

I will use aftmkt case tube, MS, calendar disc, set bridge, crystal, rotor axle, gaskets, and spring bars so the watch will no longer be 'genuine' according to Rolex Rule #1.  Call the lawyers! 

I tell the owner all this up front.  If they want all genuine parts it will cost more, quite a bit sometimes.  On an old beat up watch like this 1601, most owners do not care about aftmkt parts as long as it runs Ok.

[automatico]

"I’ve got a case in sales section, and a 93153 clasp both have 14kt solid gold on them inc the bezel which is solid 14kt gold all been tested, I did also have the strap in two tone gold but sold this."

 

I saw the parts right after they went on.  This project cost post was basically a guesstimate of how much it might cost to put one together.  I have some TT DJ parts so if I put another TT watch together it would need to be a DJ.  I bought some used 18K bezels and dials with gold markers years ago when gold was a lot cheaper and still have them along with used gold crowns that I saved over the years.  Add the parts to a good replica 16200 case plus ETA 28xx and it would make a pretty good TT DJ (on a leather strap) for not much $$.  I have one with 18K bez and crown with goldtone dial but it has a Seagull ST6 motor in it.  I put an ST sapphire crystal/gasket and case tube in the case but the ST6 is 21600 bph although no one ever notices it...except me.

 

About 10 years ago I bought some tutone DJs with plated bezels, ST6, and supposedly 'low karat' mid links in the jubilee type bracelets but since no one had a gold tester, I paid the plated price for them.  I gave one to a friend and he wore it on various construction jobs and it looked Ok for a couple years but my guess is the mid links were plated brass.  No matter what, they are good for low buck TT projects. 

 

Anything lower than 9K is considered 'gold scrap' and should not be Hallmarked or sold as 'gold'.  I have seen replica tutone rlx bracelets with 10K gold center links marked 14K and they looked about the same as 14K.  Some of the cheap TT bracelets may be 8K because of today's gold prices.