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Rolex Submariner 16800 and 168000


Stephane

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I have no idea if another crystal would fit Mrandazzo

We'll see. The one I have is not the Clark that is usually used on genuine, but the other one.

@ Tribal : What would the right case be in your opinion?

Cheers & thanks again

Maybe the new MBW Case with Lugholes..

It accepts a generic Glass without edged Crown....

and other Parts...

The Noob Case is nice too but you can't change the Glass...

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Doesn't the MBW case have way too deep rehaut for 16800 and 168000?

Even the Noob rehaut might be too deep.

IMGP6821_1280.JPG

rolex203307.jpg

You are right its a bit shallower, but I prefer the new Case why it has

Bezel assembly like gen and you can install generic Crystal...

But to get a Gen 16800 Dial is an other story hard to get and expensive

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AAAAAAAAAAARGHHHH,

you kill me

Fantastic project :thumbsupsmileyanim:

I like it a lot....

I want to build the same one but still waiting for the right Case.. :brow:

:D;):o:huh: same goes for me he coud not sum it better daaaaamn i need that transitional one :animal_rooster::bangin::wub:

Smashing job Stepahane love it !

Laz

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:D;):o:huh: same goes for me he coud not sum it better daaaaamn i need that transitional one :animal_rooster::bangin::wub:

Smashing job Stepahane love it !

Laz

:Jumpy: you frighten me Laz...or you gave me an idea: let's continue to put toghether as many subs as possible and organise a Sub GTG in around 5 years !!!

We will need a ferry to bring them all :rofl:

@Tribal: yes, the dial is hard to find.

I was lucky but of course mine is not imaculate.

But really, on the wrist, it is absolutely impossible to spot the damages.

Even on the photos, they do not really appear unless taken in a certain angle and with a direct light.

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cool project!!!

Im working on the same sorta thing.. noob case with lug holes, 91350 bracelet, and an old NDtrading 1680 white dial

I didnt even know the diff between a 16800 and a 168000 until i read your writeup here! Good info!

dizz

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cool project!!!

Im working on the same sorta thing.. noob case with lug holes, 91350 bracelet, and an old NDtrading 1680 white dial

I didnt even know the diff between a 16800 and a 168000 until i read your writeup here! Good info!

dizz

Thanks Dizz! Me neither by the way.

I started to gather informations from the web then went to MM to verify them ;)

I'm pretty sure there might be mixed 1680/16800/16800 watches somewhere :rolleyes:

So hard to cover it all, specially with various models for the far east or US that never came to EU...and the other way round!

Stephane I really liked the history that you put in this post. Are the older rolex watches made of 316 steel? I just assumed they all used 904.

According to what "experts" say all over the web, yes.

But I have no idea is this is 100% trustable.

Rolex has so many legends and so many variations in their models.

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The 904L Steel was not used in the early days. There was a huge batch of advertisments when Rolex started to intorduce the new Steel. All older models use 316L Steel.

Even though - some people tell the stories that 904L is a secret Rolex only develoment - not at all - it is just a modern Steel used for surgery and heavy duty application - it contains only little carbon but lots of Nickel and Copper - Nickel for a high shine and Copper for acid resistance (it is so well formulated that even Hydrochloric and Sulphuric acid and atomaric Chlorine attacks are withstood).

To bust a few mysteries, 904L is not really expensive and not really that hard to machine. Rolex discusses the hardness and toughness of 904L in their videos with this particular grade being extremely hard to machine and being extremely scratch resistant. Rockwell hardness of 316L is a bit higher actually based on standards. Some people also claim that the new 904L is much heavier. Not true, the both grades do have identical density.

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Thanks Rolex001. I also found this from www.vintagesubmariner.com "The reference 16800 was introduced in 1977-78. The 16800 introduced caliber 3135 which introduced the quick-set date and a sapphire crystal. Also, the 16800 was now rated from 660 feet to 1000 feet. Sometime around 1985 or 86, white gold surrounds were added to the luminous hour markers. Toward the end of the production run of the 16800s, for only about nine months, Rolex produced a reference 168000 in which the quality of the stainless steel was upgraded from grade 316 to grade 904."

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Very nice job Stephane! I'm really surprized you were able to fit a gen dial in a noob case. I guess I'll have to take apart one of my noobs tonite and see what I can do. Of course, then I have to get the lugholes drilled.

BTW, the 16800 had the 3035 movement, as did the 168000. And yes, the 168000 had the new 904L steel, whereas the 16800 had the 316L as did all of the previous Rolex watches. The 16610 has the 3135 movt and the 904L steel. All 3 were available at the same time from Rolex around 1988/89.

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Very well done! Would be glad to see how you got the right positioning for the lug holes.

Well, I think that the noob has one of the worst cases for a 16610, but I totally agree that it looks good for an 16800 / 168000. IMO that's quite interesting: Seems as if the noob actually was replicated after a 16800 and afterwards got it's 16610 engraving and dial...

But would be even more interesting is why the rehaut thickness on the 16610 and 16800 is so different. Both have a similar case thickness, the bezel assembly is not higher on the 16610 and the case back did not change too much either. Maybe the 3135 movement is smaller in height?

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The difference between the 16800 and 16610 cases is because of the movements and the stem positions relative to the case.

The 3035 stem sits lower, hence the thinner rehaut and the 3135 stem sits higher, requiring a case with greater rehaut, to keep the stem/crown centered in the approximate middle of the case.

Stem position on the 2836 closely approximates the 3035 movement and the 2824 is close to the 3135. I've always wondered why the rep makers couldn't use the 2824 in a Sub case and get the correct rehaut and crown position. Instead, they continue to use the 2836 and even on the MBW/MBK cases, the rehaut is fine, but the crown is still too low. A 2892-2 would also have a higher crown position and it's a very good movement- probably comparable to the 3135 in qa lot of respects.

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Often discussed - because the hour wheel, CP and seconds pinion are too small in the 2824. The 2836 iss a DD movement thus having higher pinions, allowing a datewheel overlay. On a 2824 it is doable too, but requires some tricks. Some vitnage MBW's use the 2824, but they are tricky to get to work. Reliability - choose 2836, no stuck DW's etc. That's probably the reason why they chose the 2836. Also the DW swithcing facility is different, much more robust and heavier on the 2836 - it could flip over even a slightly stuck DW - where the 2824 is very picky. :)

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Wow, we're fortunate to get even more input on this transitionnal from such knowlegeable sources.

Thanks Alligoat and Rolex001.

@Chef. I wondered too ;)

@Alligoat: not that I don't trust you but are you sure the 168000 (triple 0 thus) didn't feature the 3135?

The date is completely different though ...might just be the whell of course but I doub't Rolex would have a special wheel done :huh:

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Stephane, here's a 168000 with the 3035 movement. Look at the bridge holding the balance- it's a single positioned bridge. The 3135 has the balance bridge which spans the entire balance wheel and is anchored on each side. Interwatches says 916 steel, but it's 316 steel (typo) on the older 16800. The datewheel should be the old style with the open sixes and nines and round top threes. Date mag on this model is awfully small- replacement crystal, maybe? Datewheel goes in the opposite direction from the 3135, so they are not interchangeable.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ROLEX-Mens-SUBMARINER-...1QQcmdZViewItem

140246163811 is the item # on the bay

Like MM says, the 3035 wasn't as successful as the 1570 movt. And Rolex replaced it with the 3135 which has been in use for 20 years now, but Rolex keeps making improvements to that movement, also.

Oh, BTW, correct bracelet end pieces are 593's on the 16800 and it looks like also the 168000.

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