The Cost of Building a Modded MBW

[Bigdoggy]

Two or three years ago I built a franken 1680 white 1680 for a cost of:

1680 MBW watch - $400

Gen Tropic 127 crystal $25

Gen white dial $60

Gen bezel insert $50

Gen Springbars $10

Gen crown/tube $60

Mods

[ubiquitous]

Seems about right, +/- a couple hundred. The total cost is also a moving target, as a good majority of parts that I typically see are priced in Euro figures; the exchange rate for any given day may be for or against the tide, depending...

[JoJo35]

Prices are high, and seem to keep going north. I've seen most of the same items you quoted usually going for more.

[ubiquitous]

JoJo- I agree. Typically, the dial and crystal prices are a bit higher... Insert can go past the $500 mark if it's the thick font with acrylic pearl. But everything else seems about right...

[Sir-Lancelot]

I will take the dial you have pictured for $300 please. That would be $240 profit for you. Not bad.

I have seen much worse go for much higher. The bay is full of Chit these days. Scam city and the honest sellers are WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too expensive as collectors are on a buying spree.

I need to get in contact with Ubi's parts fairy. He just thinks of something he needs and poof he has it.

[freddy333]

Every time I pay an outrageous price to buy a gen Rolex part for use in a franken I say to myself, 'Think of it as an investment, because in a year or 2 that same part will cost twice what I just paid for it.' Looking back, that seems to have been right on the mark. Same thing with V72s.

[frankt]

Sheer insanity IMNSFHO!!....

When you can buy a "nooby" that looks 98% like it for $99.00!!

Regardless of HOW MUCH you spend, all you'll STILL have is a fake Rolex!! ;)

[Star69]

i think you can skip the gen dial -

the rep white dial is good enough .... at least for me

tube, crown and insert cost still the same like 2 years ago

- some people just try to make money on ebay ..

cheers,

Frank

[Pugwash]

What, no low-beat ETA?

[Sir-Lancelot]

i think you can skip the gen dial -

the rep white dial is good enough .... at least for me

cheers,

Frank

I agree. I am very happy with the MBW white letter dial. One day a nice vintage lume, or maybe not. I have had it a long while and have not done this yet, so it seems happy to stay as it is.

Favorite rep in my collection it is.

[seadweller3]

I agree.

I have roughly $1,550 in to my 1680 at this point and I can't sell it at $1,150. So...... tells you another thing as well. Not many people interested in buying a fully modded piece at a very good price (at least un my humble opinion).

[gplracer]

Is it possible to purchase a case that uses gen parts and then use the parts from a noob watch? I did not know if there is a source for this type of case.

[ta8088]

I agree.

I have roughly $1,550 in to my 1680 at this point and I can't sell it at $1,150. So...... tells you another thing as well. Not many people interested in buying a fully modded piece at a very good price (at least un my humble opinion).

I've been checking that one out in the FS seadweller. It's a beaut for sure. I just think that while there are tons of members that will jump on $200-400 pieces there is a much smaller segment that are willing to spend that kind of money (they are out there though).

[eunomians]

Damn, you have just reminded me of the good ol' days... One of my local watch supply firms used to have a plethora of OEM bezel inserts that cost $25 at the time. I stocked up on many parts back in the day for my OEM Rolex watches. I wish that I had bought more items. I'll never forget when they told me that they no longer carry any OEM Rolex parts anymore

I also don't own any MBW's nowadays. I kinda miss my 1665 despite never ever wearing it. Owning a genuine 5513 negated the concept of owning a 1665 rep for me. A great member here on RWG owns this 1665 now. It was a lovely watch. Anyhow, excuse my slightly off topic ramblings.

My point is: the good ol' days are done!

Cheers

[freddy333]

I will second that. In the really good old days, you used to be able to buy OEM Rolex parts (over the counter) from just about any AD. Those days are long gone.

[By-Tor]

I never got the vintage Rolex bug. Perhaps I'm too young to fully appreciate the 70's watches... but I like the "sapphire era" of Rolex more. Not the brand new offerings, but the 16610, 16600, 16570 and 16710.

Another reason is that I haven't got the skill what it takes to modify them. I can do some very small things, but what Ubi and others do... I could never duplicate that. I'm a big, clumsy man and the watch parts are so tiny.

I wouldn't mind owning a fully modded white 1680 or 1665 MBW's though... awesome watches. The dials on the red ones just don't cut it, unfortunately. They're very easy to spot (imho).

[ubiquitous]

Another reason is that I haven't got the skill what it takes to modify them. I can do some very small things, but what Ubi and others do... I could never duplicate that. I'm a big, clumsy man and the watch parts are so tiny.

BT- Building watches is not terribly difficult to do. I'm fairly certain that if I can do it, most people can as well. It does require patience, some basic understandings and the right tools, but this is all pretty easy stuff to pick up.

When I post projects, I do it more to share with the forum, and hopefully inspire someone else to give it a try. I hope that people see the potential and possibilities that are out there for doing something like this. It's also nice to be able to say 'I built this', and take pride in the job done.

Now... The real hard part is what Ziggy does... THAT is skill!

[vlydog]

I never got the vintage Rolex bug. Perhaps I'm too young to fully appreciate the 70's watches... but I like the "sapphire era" of Rolex more. Not the brand new offerings, but the 16610, 16600, 16570 and 16710.

The vintage bug is going to getcha

[tmg]

Parts as well as entire watches. My gen Tudor 7016 was ~$1500 two years ago and now most are averaging $3k and up especially for the blue dial version. A 1675 also two years ago could be had for ~$3k and now it's at least $5500 -$6000. The transitional models are also going up.