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Explorer II vintage (Steve Mc queen)


tgchrono2

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I'm no expert on these, but I've been wanting one myself. I bought the asian rep just to see if I liked it. It was total crap, but I like the style of the watch. A nice change of pace, I usually have Subs. From what I've seen there are four basic options.

1. The MBW which is not very good. Too many flaws for the price.

2. The asian movement vintage which, as I said is total crap. The crystal is glued in, the rehaut is too shallow and my movement quit in a matter of days. The dial on mine was crooked on the movement which made the date window off center. It has a neat riveted bracelet though (I don't even think the riveted bracelet ever came on the 1665?) which I plan to use on another project.

3. The ETA movement with the "marker" second hand. This one looks pretty good, but it is in a modern style case so there are no lug holes. It is avail. with an orange or yellow GMT hand. The date magnification looks weak on the ones I've seen. The bracelet is a Sub style with a flip lock..not correct, but practical.

4. The ETA movement with the straight second hand. This one has a nice bracelet with the correct clasp. The dial is good as well as the magnification, but the date font appears wrong to me. The case has lug holes.

I'm going with #4. I think the 1665 Explorer is a very cool watch even though it is hard to tell what time it is at a glance. All of the markers make it a little confusing.

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I'm going with #4. I think the 1665 Explorer is a very cool watch even though it is hard to tell what time it is at a glance.

Probably a typo but the model ref. for the Explorer II is, in fact, 1655 ;)

Like Euno, I've been on the trail for one of these gauche, awkward-looking retro '70's beauties for years - sadly good examples just don't exist :(

Nearest I ever found was the now-AWOL Ken (Honpo) who had a very nice version...not quite 1665/1680 MBW/WM quality though.

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Tiger,

Yup, no good ones out there. The "supposed" MBW still has many flaws, the one plus is that it does seem to have the correct proportions, but will take a LOT of work.

Predfan,

The earlier models of 1655 did come with rivet bracelets. The problem with your "#4" is that the dial/bezel proportions are off -too small. Believe me, I've been through 3 models; TTK's supposed MBW, TT's top grade vintage, and Joshua's. I have some comparison shots of the TT top grade vintage alonside TTK's. 1655 comparison

Here's a current pix of my snail's-pace project which is a franken of all 3 of the aforementioned models.

261720-5268.jpg

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Tiger,

Yup, no good ones out there. The "supposed" MBW still has many flaws, the one plus is that it does seem to have the correct proportions, but will take a LOT of work.

Predfan,

The earlier models of 1655 did come with rivet bracelets. The problem with your "#4" is that the dial/bezel proportions are off -too small. Believe me, I've been through 3 models; TTK's supposed MBW, TT's top grade vintage, and Joshua's. I have some comparison shots of the TT top grade vintage and TTK. 1655 comparison

Here's a current pix of my snail's-pace project which is a franken of all 3 of the aforementioned models.

261724-5264.jpg

Looks damm good :thumbsupsmileyanim:

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Looks damm good :thumbsupsmileyanim:

Thanks Tribal!

I have miles to go on it, but I think TTK's model (whatever it is) has good bones in the dial and case, my biggest beef with the case is the lug holes aren't drilled all the way through :thumbdown:

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Hey, get off me. I said I was no expert :p

Just kidding. I'm giving a rookies view. Just what I know about this watch, and that ain't much. I still like it though. I'm still gonna get the ETA version with the drilled lug holes. I realize that if you bought 3 of these watches and put all the parts together, you could get one half a$4 replica. I just think the one I picked is the closest of them all with out mods. I'd be happy!

Edited by predfan2001
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  • 2 weeks later...

Mine is pretty good although not perfect. I bought it about 3 years ago from a defunct 'Ioffer' seller; what do you think? It keeps perfect time, glows in the dark, and is at least waterproof in the shower, and the swimming pool.

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269888-3785.jpg

269888-3786.jpg

269888-3787.jpg

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Mine is pretty good although not perfect. I bought it about 3 years ago from a defunct 'Ioffer' seller; what do you think? It keeps perfect time, glows in the dark, and is at least waterproof in the shower, and the swimming pool.

Oooohh! i realy like this watch!!

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