Rolex Gmt Master 1675 Project

[Guest chronomat123]

Ingredients:

1 Vintage GMT 1675 from Paul, $170

1 genuine new old stock Rolex Tropic 116 GMT plastic crystal, $50

1 high quality aftermarket s/s GMT 1675 bezel and red/blue insert, $60

1 high quality aftermarket Jubilee s/s bracelet, $35

1 Rolex Datejust clasp, $35

1 genuine Rolex GMT 1675 hour hand, to be modified by my watchmaker to fit an ETA, $25

I'm then sending it to RBJ to have him refinish the case and bracelet, paint the dial and hands a nice vintage creme, and put everything together.

One question. Do you think it's worth $290 extra for a mint condition GENUINE Rolex 1675 dial? Or does Paul's dial look okay? To me, it doesn't look "matte" enough.

PS: As I type this, I'm wearing my 1964 Rolex 14k/ss "Root beer" GMT Master 1675. This watch really grows on ya, I got it last week and it hasn't left my wrist. I now want a 1675 s/s "Pepsi."

[LIBBY!]

I have a similar project in the works, and I went with an original dial. I waited patiently and culled parts from eBay (dial, older aged authentic bezel, older authentic jubilee) and it is being assembled now. The original dial just looks really cool, but I'm sure RBJ will paint it right!

[Guest chronomat123]

I have a similar project in the works, and I went with an original dial. I waited patiently and culled parts from eBay (dial, older aged authentic bezel, older authentic jubilee) and it is being assembled now. The original dial just looks really cool, but I'm sure RBJ will paint it right!

Hey--

Nice.... let me know how it works out...

Yea, I really prefer to go with a genuine dial here. The cost of the matte dials is more than I'm willing to invest for a replica, but I can get a glossy GMT Master dial for $100, near mint, and then I could use it to make a transitional model GMT, the 16750, which had a plastic crystal but a glossy dial with white gold indices-- basically a 1675 with a modern GMT Master dial.

Sort of like this:

A lot of people hate the transitional models with the plastic crystals and modern dials, but I think they're beautiful. I had a transitional late 80s 5513 with the white gold markers and plastic crystal, and it was stunning, the way the light plays on the crystal and the way the white gold indices shine through (here's an old pic of it):

[z80]

I believe the transitional model is when they changed the hand stack to keep the GMT hand from hitting the raised markers, so the hour adjustable movement would be the one for this.

[docblackrock]

Problem with any 1675 project is the lack of a decent 'base' case. No rep is even close to being accurate in this regard in terms of fitting gen parts, dial, bezel etc.

[XRT]

Unfortunately, the genuine 1675 dial is too small for the replica case opening...we found this out the hard way.

[docblackrock]

Unfortunately, the genuine 1675 dial is too small for the replica case opening...we found this out the hard way.

Yep, as I said, no accurate base exists......or does it? Hmmm, a case to fit gen dial? There's always more than one way to skin a cat