Dizzy Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Well here it is... My franken 1680 vintage Submariner At first i couldnt deciede if i wanted to go with a red SUBMARINER dial or the white SUBMARINER dial. It seemed like everyone was building red submariners and thought a white one would be different. The gen white dial submariners are much cheaper but not as rare. Ive never actually seen a gen red dial in the wild so i thought it would be sort of unrealistic to have one. The necessary basics would be... mbw case.. gen crown etc etc... You guys know the drill when it comes to these projects, the more gen parts the better. The movement wasnt a big deal to me but the slow beat ETA was going to be a future transplant. Fortunatly I lucked out with this one and got it with an ETA slowbeat 2846 that was recently serviced by The Zigmeister!! What more could you possibly ask for. The ETA 2846 for those that dont know has a lower beat rate and perfectly mimics the rougher "sweep" of the older rolex Submariners. The new gen subs are much smoother than the old ones. The easiest "tell" of a rep vintage Submariner is the smooth sweep of the second hand.. the old gens werent smooth like the new ones This was a no brainer and i had to buy it. Probably the biggest feature of this watch is the GEN Rolex 1680 white letter dial.. yes gen dial. I think i might get in contact with The Zigmeister and send it off for some vintage lume and aging. I bought an NDtrading white sub dial that i was thinking about installing but im using it on a 16800 project instead.. SPECS: Vintage MBW 5513 'Polex' Case Lug holes drilled to gen spec 1.3mm diameter Gen spring bars installed Tightened bezel insert Sanded and recessed vintage insert with good acrylic pearl Gen t-127 crystal Gen white letter Submariner dial with feet cut off - Dial provided by a senior RWG member :mrgreen: Clarks aftermarket Tudor hands for ETA fitment. Flat top 3 datewheel removed for sticking/alignment issues very sad about this Perfect date magnification with the gen crystal t-127 Gen triplock tube and crown installed with all gaskets and water tight. Crown guards filed to perfection Caseback polished and vintageized and polished again Case polished and reworked to vintage perfection Slowbeat ETA 2846 movement at 21,600bph - freshly The Zigmeister serviced and accurate to +2sec/day Caseback seals replaced and greased for water resistance Hybred 93150 bracelet built from parts, solid links for added weight and modded noobmariner clasp (gen 93150 and clasp is in the works....) Rep end links for now. I have good rep 580's that need to be drilled out and modded. Bracelet polished and vintageized to perfection. This bracelet was brand new before i attacked it. Gen divers extension from newer sea-dweller installed. I was considering installing a gen 1570 cal. movement out or a datejust but i dont think im going to bother. The ONLY benefit to me would be the silver flat top 3 datewheel that works properly but i dont think its worth the $1000 price tag. The ETA 2846 does a perfect job of replicating the vintage Rolex beat rate. So anyways, heres a few pictures i took while i was photographing my new Gunny strap on my Fiddy. I know ive been promising pics of this beast so here they are and more to follow when i have some free time. Sorry that its such a short review and not up to par with the masters but its just a teaser. I havent seen many people talking about the vintage rolex lately so its time to throw this one out there. Heres a nice shot of the watch and you can really see the true beauty Here you can see the gen dial and a better look at the modded crown guards and gen Triplock crown. Of course a 24-702 crown would be the perfect addition here but i refuse to spend $300 for a freeking tube to fit the 702 crown i have. Not gunna happen. You can also see the nice acrylic pearl. I chose not to vintageize it quite yet. Maybe if i send the watch off to The Zigmeister for custom vintage lume, then i will add a little thinned out amber varnish to the pearl later. What do you guys think of these endlinks? I think they fit ok. I sorta like when the end links are kinda bent and dont fit right. I might bend these a little so they are a little flatter more like on my modded MBW1665 sea-dweller. They look a little more worn out that way. Heres the bracelet that i built. I took the 93150 off my comex project watch for now. Im not sure if its MBW but i think it is. Its marked 93150 with the typical 'too big' engravings. the diver extension is from a gen sea-dweller bracelet. The clasp is a 93250 Noobmariner clasp that has been beaten, sanded and modded. I need to do a little more work on the fliplock as you can still barely see one of the lines on it still. Its not noticable with the naked eye but you can see it in these pics so now its bothering me haha. You can also see where a little of the case material was lost while drilling out the case for the gen 24-703 triplock tube. Unfortunalty this is normal and hard to avoid except on the thicker MBW1665 sea-dweller case. Heres another caseback shot and you can see the incorrect end links and the nicely polished and worn caseback... This is the last pic I have for now.. you can see the crown guard work and the gen crown.. the lug holes nicely drilled... and again the gen rolex dial and gen crystal at the perfect height I would like to thank everyone on RWI and RWG that gave me the knowledge and ideas to spend all my freekin money on Rolex franken projects.. especially Cib0rgman and also you Stephane for showing us all your damn frankens!!... thanks a lot! LOL Cheers dizz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarini Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Great project with a great result! Congratulations are in order thx for the extensive documentation of the process and parts appreciated ... now snap it on and enjoy it! Kind regards Laz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo35 Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Great job Diz, congrats of course to the owner and to the builder of this fine piece. Enjoy it and wear it in good health. Cheers, JoJo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted August 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 the dial and movement work wasnt done by me.. i bought it that way. I swapped a few parts and did the exterior metal work. I cant take all the credit. It was basicly done when i bought it. I just did some extra work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tribal Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Nice one, wear it well. Every time a pleasure to read about building a nice watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highoeyazmuhudee Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 DROOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceberg1127 Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Great job. congradulations on your new baby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir-Lancelot Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Nice one L. It looks great and I am glad to see you finally found yourself a nice one. Thanks for putting up some pics for us. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefcook Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Lovely watch I begin to like the white 1680 more than the red... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroTimez Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Nicely done, looks fantastic! Dial looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Nice job Dizz! It's a beautiful watch. I know what you mean about drilling for the gen tube- both my noobs have that little wallow-out on the backside also. It's the only way to get the tube in there tight enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
By-Tor Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 White one is definitely better choice of the two. The red 1680 dial and the the SUBMARINER font screams fake. Anyone who knows what red Sub is, can detect it immediately... it looks absolutely nothing like the gen. White ones are much harder to spot. Good choice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velasco Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Amazing piece... Wear it well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjfesq Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raijor Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 A Masterpiece ... I congratulate you on a great bit of work .. enjoy it. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cib0rgman Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 What else can I say that has not been said yet. Fantastic job. vintage watches rock. not many people know about then and when they see them right of the back think is fake, they only know the newer version and heavier ones. Me too at the beginning was not educated about this until I came to the forum. Wear it well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Great job, Diz. Your hard work & planning definitely shows. I would definitely swap out the bracelet (at least the end links & clasp) for a gen since what you have there is not up to the level of the rest of the watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted August 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 Great job, Diz. Your hard work & planning definitely shows. I would definitely swap out the bracelet (at least the end links & clasp) for a gen since what you have there is not up to the level of the rest of the watch. Thanks Freddy! Thats exactly what i was thinking of doing. I just used what i had laying around for now so i could get it on my wrist. Ive got some nice endlinks but i just need to drill them out and fit them. Finding the gen clasp in good shape is proving to be a little more work.. @cib0rgman - thanks man, you made it all happen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselpower Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 Lovely watch, great work, thanks for the informative post, very interesting. Wear it well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephane Posted August 8, 2008 Report Share Posted August 8, 2008 It's allways a pleasure to read your posts L. And seing a project go forward, specially a Rolex of course, is pure happiness Wear it well and thanks for sharing the valuable information with us. Cheers Stephane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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