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Transitional Sub


rosnik

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There is no rep of the 16800. A few people have built their own, but that is not easy these days, especially if you want the matte dial model. The best place to start is w/ a TW Best case, since it will accept a gen dial. The only problem is, it's hard to find the TW Best case w/ lug holes these days- they quit making them a couple of years ago. Maybe you could buy a TW Best and drill your own lug holes. Then you need a gen matte dial- be prepared to pay $500-1000US. The datewheel needs to have open 6's and 9's. A gen bezel insert, gen crown and gen tube would also be nice. A 93150 bracelet w/ 593 end pieces would be the icing on the cake.

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Alligoat,

thank you for your kind replay. ;)

Can you get me some extra info please?

Do the transitional have the 1680 or 16610 Case?

What do you mean with 'TW BEST' case ( Hold MBW?) ?

About 93150 bracelet w/ 593 end pieces, I have jet from my MBW 1665 were I get riveted one .

:harp:

Later!

Nico

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Nico, it would be the older 16610 case with the side case holes. The new cases have the flush sides which would not be accurate for the 16800.

Something like the old TW Best or MBW case would be just about perfect for this project. Add the MBW dial for the white letter 1680 and you would be well on your way. The problem would be sourcing the correct case as they have been long discontinued.

Added: My mistake: The MBW 1680 dial will not be correct due to the lower depth rating.

I've given this option serious thought as well using this guy:

twsubdialreducedoo5.jpg

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Nico,

16800 when launched used the new 16610 case (lugholes) with new sapphire crystal and the new c.3035 - was called 'transitional' because they didn't update some of the minor 'cosmetic' features (e.g. dial) initially and when they did (gloss dial with white gold indices surrounds) they also changed the movt to the c.3135, and it became the 16610 Sub we all know.

TW Best are the modern Rolex reps that came out of Taiwan and were at the time (about 3 years ago before they dried up in production) considered the best available. Case, rehaut and lugholes made them stand out as superior to the Chinese reps of the time.

Rivet bracelet is all wrong by about 20 years! Just find a rep fliplock bracelet with solid midlinks and hollow endlinks.

As for dial, I believe your best bet on a budget would be a decent redial for about $150 or so.

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Thank you for your helpful info guys!

I'm planning to get this transitional like my next watch, the difficult point for me,like you seed, is to find one correct case .

I love too much the no data SUB transitional or GMT type too.

Later!

Nico

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doc, did the 16800 use the same case as the 16610?

For some reason, I thought that the rehaut for the 16800 was not as deep as the 16610. I may be wrong but that thought seems stuck in my head.

If they indeed share the same case....then I know what my TW Best Classic is going to be used for. :thumbsupsmileyanim:

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I don't think the 16800 case and the 16610 case are the same. The reason I say this is because when I was building my two Frankenjusts with the Datejust 16000 series cases which originally used the 3035 movt, I had to use the 2836 movt because of the stem/crown position. The later 16200 Datejust cases for the 3135 movement use the 2824 movement when building a franken. So if nothing else, I would say that the crown position is different, but I'm inclined to agree w/ you, haveblue, that the rehaut is shallower on the 16800 case.

But the biggest issue in fitting either a gen 16800 dial or a 16610 dial in a rep case is the diameter of the chapter ring. The TW Best is the only case where you can fit a gen dial in there (and just barely- evenly centered), because all of the other cases have the inside diameter of the chapter (rehaut ) ring too large- the dial goes straight thru and presses up against the crystal.

Say a gen dial is 27. something mm- 27.4 maybe. Well the typical inside diameter of the chapter ring on a rep is going to be around 28mm- Boom, the dial slides right past. Typical rep dial is 28.4mm, say. The same holds for the crystal- gen is 29.5mm, typical rep is 30.5mm. TW Best is the only case where you can barely fit a gen dial.

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Nothing bananas about the noob/begin/perfect/eta copy/CN2006 Submariner- I've had 4 of them. My current favorite is my River's eta copy w/ the modded cg's, gen crown and aftermarket tube and a watchmaterial pearl- it's a very nice modern sub- it's just that I'd like to build a 16800 w/ the matte transitional dial- too bad the noob case isn't just a tad smaller- in the diameter of the rehaut ring- it would be perfect.

It would also be nice if the rep makers came out w/ a 16800 w/ the transitional matte dial- it would be a great rep!

Until then, I will proceed w/ building a 16800 in the TW best case, albeit slowly!

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