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1680 Red Submariner


polexpete

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Been working on this "chocolate" version of the Red Sub for a long time and finally got the right bits to put it all together. A bit of history for those not familiar is that it seems that all Rolex black dials have a percentage of brown pigment but certain dials (the 200m/660ft) apparently had (maybe by error) a higher percentage of brown pigment in the black varnish and when exposed to natural Ultra Violet light like sunlight, the dial turns brown. This process can take between 35 to 50 years so had to age this rep somewhat to give it a gen feel. I'll let the pictures do the talking feel free to comment...

P.

Btw i managed to get an original tube without the gasket, with the original crown. Most of these have been replaced when watches were serviced. Not gonna go swimming with this one..

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Beauty!

Where did you source the dial? The red SUBMARINER font looks great... that's not a MBW dial, is it?

Hey By-Tor, thanks. Dial came from Vietnam had a friend pick it up for me. Its the most accurate rep red dial i've seen. As you know most nearly all are real bad.

P.

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Hey By-Tor, thanks. Dial came from Vietnam had a friend pick it up for me. Its the most accurate rep red dial i've seen. As you know most nearly all are real bad.

P.

Indeed. It's the only even remotely accurate red 1680 rep dial I've ever seen. This dial source/maker could get lots of sales from this community alone.

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The dial is def good, but it has closed 6....

I've never seen closed 6 on a 200m first dial!

But it's a great work!

Thanks for yer comments. The 2nd version of 200m dial had closed 6's. He's a pic for yer reference...

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Fantastic PP, that 1680 looks like it went diving daily for a decade!

The dial looks like the same one NDT offers on ebay, I believe they're out of Vietanm too :g:

Here's a link to a chocolate dial from NDT:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dial-Rolex-Ref-1680-Re...oQQcmdZViewItem

They have some beautiful dials, but very pricey. Just like Jensen "Phong" Dinh over at www.jewelryand watch.com/

Would sure love to see more of the "Vietnamese Connection"

BTW, Great looking watch Pete!

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That would definitely be interesting!! Such a tube and crown

would also fit nicely to a 1665 or white 1680!! :whistling::thumbsupsmileyanim:

Thanks guys for yer positive comments, much appreciated. The crown and tube came from a watch maker in Hong Kong who had replaced these with a new set with the gasket. Apparently the watch had leaked so he replaced the whole lot. You don't see too many sets around although i do have another crown but the tubes are so hard to find coz i think they probably get thrown away after being replaced. Here's a pic you can see the inside is much narrower in the threads than the replacements.

Cheers

P.

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I love the crown!

my question is HOW did you vintagize the bracelet and get all the links looking loose and worn out? It looks like the rivits are worn and barely holding the bracelet together. Thats awesome!!

I need to know how to do this to mine!

This is one of my favorite watches on the forum! Good work!!!

cheers Lonnie

PS- how would it look with the bezel pearl missing? The pearl just looks so damn perfect for such and beaten up watch.

Edited by L-dizzle
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