Dizzy Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Well this is my first offical mini-review/pictorial here on RWG. I really enjoy the reviews by the other members here and i thought it would be time to put together my own to show you my new creation. The holy grail of Vintage Rolexes... the 1665 Sea-dweller! I've been wating years and years for a perfect replice Sea-Dweller and of course i have never found it. A few months ago i discovered this forum and discovered all the things that you can do to make a watch almost perfect I have a lot of people to thank for all the info and help they gave me along the way, especially The Zigmeister for bringing the dead movement back to life and fixing the crooked dial. Theres a bit of history behind this watch and i guess i will fill you in. I bought this already modded watch off another member of this forum and it had some serious problems that i wasnt told about. One being the BROKEN escape wheel inside the "freshly serviced movement" uhhh huh.. and the crooked mounted dial. It already had installed a gen crown and tube, gen superdome, worked crown guards and good bezel insert etc. Anyways now its almost complete except I might install a gen 1570 cal movement later on. specs: Vintage MBW 1665 Rolex Sea-Dweller with correct thickness case and bezel Fresh The Zigmeister serviced 'slowbeat' ETA with good centered date font. Accurate within +/- 2 sec per day Ubi flat top 3 datewheel ready for future install Gen T-39 superdome Gen Triplock crown and tube Vintage (slightly fading to dull matt brown) The Zigmeister-lumed SINGER double red dial and aged clark hands Aftermarket bezel insert and correct vintage pearl polished bezel with good sharp teeth RE-WORKED crown guards and case (vintagized) Drilled and beveled lug holes and 2mm gen spring-bars installed Visually re-worked HEV using some black paint to enhance the area around it giving it depth. Franken solid midlink bracelet made from 4 different 93150's Entire case and bracelet reworked for proper vintage look and feel. Correct fliplock with engraved lines removed. Bracelet severely vintagized, oiled and polished many times. I've got gen 580 endlinks but forgot to install them before i took the pics whoops. Caseback has now gone through its first round of the vintage process but needs more to soften the lettering Heres some pics: Here you can see how thick the oyster case is on this sea-dweller. Have a look at the end link, thats off a Submariner. The case is noticably thicker and so is the bezel. Here you can see how heavy and thick this bracelet is And you can also see that the midlinks are solid which is correct for this vintage. I REALLY dont like the new hollow link bracelets wether its "correct" or not. It makes a BIG difference in the feel of the watch. Heres the gen triplock crown and tube I just love when you unscrew the crown and you see that thick tube and rubber o-ring hiding in there. I love this clasp especially the deeply stamped lines. Notice the correct smooth fliplock without the lines engraved. It had the lines but i used my dremel to 'erase' them Turned out pretty good i think. The new bracelets have the lines in the fliplock but the old oysters did not. This is correct and same goes for a 1680. You can see how i used black paint to fill in the engraved part of the fake MBW HEV. Looks 100x better now becasue you can see more detail and it actually looks real now. Was a 10 second modification. This was after round 1 of my caseback vintagizing process.. A few more rounds with the grinder and polisher and it will look more genuine New pics.. i got these vintage box sets off ebay about 10 yrs ago.. im sure they are fake but they look nice anyways Last shot.. this is a pic with my MBW16610 franken that i got back together today for a test fitting. I finished filing the bracelet too. Its going over to Master The Zigmeister soon for some C1 lume woo woo!! Well thats it for now.. Im just glad i finally have a Sea-dweller!! Let me know what you think. I know its not 100% correct but its just how i want it and im happy with my new daily beater. I think i am gunna for sure drop in a gen 1570 when i find one for a good price. Now my modded noobmainer just sits on my desk but i rest at night knowing that its been replaced by something much better! Thanks again everyone who helped me along the way! cheers Lonnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cableguy Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 very cool dude!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cskent69 Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Wow - very nice work. How did you drill the log holes through on the Noob? I have drilled lugholes on MBW's where there is a pilot hole to use - but did you do thoe holes from inside the lugs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dluddy Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Wow, you have a lot of sweat and equity into that bad boy. Looks teriffic. Thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted September 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 thanks for the comments!! All i can say is that you better practice on a junk case first. You drill from the inside but you need to get the angle exactly right so the holes come out in the right spot otherwise it will look completely wrong. I didnt use any special tools except a 14.4volt cordless drill and cobalt bits. I didnt even have a vice. I just held the case using leather work gloves and drilled through into my work bench. Took a couple hours and my hand was sooo sore after but it turned out fine. Drilling the noob bracelet was 10x harder becasue you have a long hole to drill. I used gen springbars so the hole in the SEL is over 2mm diameter. Be careful not to break your SEL as i did the first try. whoops haha cheers Lonnie Wow - very nice work. How did you drill the log holes through on the Noob? I have drilled lugholes on MBW's where there is a pilot hole to use - but did you do thoe holes from inside the lugs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmg Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Nice Diz, thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pampam Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Mannn...dat was definitely worth the effort...beautiful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avitt Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Nice work!! Beautiful piece Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 I especially like those lug holes in the noob and the crown guards- nice and straight on the inside edges. Good job. And I may try drilling my off-center TWBest lug holes from the inside to see if that will center the holes on the outside. Thanks for the tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cib0rgman Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 You have a fantastic piece there, I am working on the same project for myself. I already collected the following 1570 movement Gen Vintage Bracelet 93150 With 580 endlinks Tropic 39 From Clarks Aftermarket Hands Tube I am still looking for the crown and the insert Do have any ideas where to get those Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Good work. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt.watch.obsessive Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Hi Dizzle, Very nice SD. If you don't mind a question...how is the singer dial installed? I assume the feet are in the wrong position for an ETA. Did Rob glue it? Thanks, Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted September 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 I have no idea how the dial is attached. Some MBW's actually come with Singer dials. I just assumed it was one of the old MBW singer dials that probably came with the watch? (This dial was in the watch when i originally bought it) In that case its prob got the little legs on it. If its not an MBW dial then its prob glued or double sided taped in place. It might be an old Rolex dial thats been redone, I dont honestly know, but im happy with how it looks I just took a couple shots of another MBW dial i have for a Great White. Notice on the back that its stamped SINGER. This dial seems a little heavier and maybe a bit thicker than a regular replica submariner dial. Lonnie Hi Dizzle, Very nice SD. If you don't mind a question...how is the singer dial installed? I assume the feet are in the wrong position for an ETA. Did Rob glue it? Thanks, Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted September 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Fake dial blanks! Thats funny. haha I never would have suspected that. I didnt think the singer stamp was a big deal anyways and i never thought it was a real Rolex dial. I just figured Singer was some big metal machining plant that made billions of high quality generic blanks for watch companies... Good info anyways! cheers Lonnie Lonnie, FYI - those MBW Singer dials are flat out fakes of the real Singe rdials. Go ahead and compare the looks of a gen SInger logo to the MBW logo, totally different. Furthermore, the most old MBW's came with dial feet cut when the original ones were in Rolex position, now, some "Singer" dial turned up with dial feet for 28XX ETA calibers, original feet - one more proof for them being fakes. They are btw attached mainly with glue to a dial spacer ring. Another method is to solder or glue dial feet to the dial and instlal the normal way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephane Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Ah these Rolex ! Can't stop looking at your work Lonnie. Splendid. I want the same lugholes as yours on my 16610 NOW Cheers and congrats on a superb pair. Stephane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetsons Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Great work and awesome 1665, Lonnie! White or red, I'm very partial to the T39 superdome. Nothing else remotely looks like it plus looks amazing on the SD. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevethebest Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Really sweet baby, congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Very nice. I need to finish my own 1665 one of these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir-Lancelot Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 Very very nice. One of the best. thank you for the post and pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted September 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 Bump for new pics... Vintage box set... anchor was bought from an AD many years ago. LOnnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephane Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 Well looks like you're all set now ! Congrats Loonie. Cheers Stephane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 Brilliant work. You guys who take the time and trouble to produce a unique timepiece have my respect. A fabulous piece to keep for years! No need to say (but I will) ENJOY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 That's an awesome piece. I would love to start something like this, but I'm not ready to make such a committment to a rep yet. I really like the look of that DRSD. I wish I could do the easy route, and just get a gen like Nanuq. HAH HAH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kollektor Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 Wow. Terrific job. Thanks for sharing, and don't hesitate to keep the pictures coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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