expectations for a gen 3135

[Rolling_sunshine]

Greetings all,

First off, I apologize if I'm posting this in the wrong area.  I've recently completed a franken 15223 build that I'm quite happy with, it's on a leather strap and is gen everything except for the movement, which is a yuki 3135 that I serviced myself upon taking possession.  It runs strong and accurate and aside from a very slight misalignment in the date wheel looks fantastic to my view.  I had intended originally to source a gen 3135 and complete the conversion of this watch to having all gen parts.  I've had to put that on hold though, since I haven't been able to find a gen 3135 movement that is anywhere near a price point I could justify spending.  By that what I mean is that I could buy a complete, unmolested Datejust with a 3135 movement in it for less than the prices I'm seeing for movement-only sales.  Am I just looking in the wrong place or have the prices moved that much?  Is it completely unreasonable to think I can get a complete 3135 movement for less than the price of a complete DJ?  I see a few on ebay and they're listing for $4k-7k.

Thanks for any insight.

Cheers,

A

[automatico]

Welcome to the forum!

 

Right now your only problem is a slightly misaligned date wheel on a complete, running watch.

If you pay maybe $1500 to $2000 for a genuine 3135 you may have more expensive troubles on the horizon in addition to the purchase price:

It may need full service...about $200 to $300.

It may need a few parts...more $$

Etc, etc.

 

First off, I have owned a lot of genuine rolex watches, some were Ok, some needed service and parts.  All in all I am basically even $$ on them. 

Q...Do I wear a genuine rolex watch?

A...Not now.

Q...Why not?

A 1...They are overly expensive today compared to when I started buying/selling/working on them and I will not pay today's prices.

A 2...Besides the above, my main reason is they stopped selling parts making them not worth the hassle to me.

Q...What do I wear?

A...Accutron II.

 

Otoh, I have owned a lot of replicas and Frankensteins over the years.  They are a lot less $$ to begin with and do not cost much to repair when they stop running or get dropped.

So...my advice is to keep what you have and maybe fix the date alignment sooner or later.  After all, this is a replica forum...Ha!

Good luck!

 

Btw...I have a T69xxxx 15200 OPD Frankenstein with everything genuine except it has a nos Eterna/Eta 12892 movement in it (signed Mido).  Even the hands and date wheel are genuine modified rlx parts and the case still has the faded factory sticker on the back.  It was put together by a former RWG member (Stilty) and imho is every bit as good as the genuine article for a lot less $$ and no fear of a $1200 repair bill in the future if it gets dropped or slammed against a door frame.

Something else...I have found Eta 28xx movements to be more rugged than genuine rolex movements except for the Eta rotor weight...it is pressed over the ball bearing outer race and can come off if it gets a hard knock.  It still beats the ruby jewels and rotor axles on most rolex auto winding assemblies imho. 

 

Edit:

4-3-20...some of the story of my 15200 F-Stein:

https://rwg.cc/topic/25638-want-to-put-eta-movement-in-gen-rolex-oyster-34mm-case/

I wrote 'chronometer grade' in the post above and it is not a chronometer, so I changed it.

 

[Rolling_sunshine]

@automatico thanks very much for the thorough reply, I think you just single-handedly convinced me to just enjoy the timepiece as-is.  It's intriguing to hear your take on the ETA movements. I had briefly considered going that route for this watch but I have another gen OPD that I inherited and really wanted to learn the intricacies of the 3135 movement without the risk of destroying my grandfather's watch, hence the clone.  I've already had an issue with the ratchet wheels in the rotor of this watch (the cover plate is a touch small on one of them).  I'd considered buying a gen rotor assembly to replace this one but maybe I'll explore the eta movement if and when the time comes to pull this watch apart again.  Thanks much!

-A