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Best Pre-V case?


rmcsherry

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Ordered some cases with Sapphire crystals from Getatwatch.com and one from Jackson Tse. Stay tuned

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I'm pretty sure that there are different generations of Helenarou cases, and that the older ones are the ones that you want for these Pre-V projects.

I've worked with both Jackson and Helenarou cases recently, and I've found them to be the same (the Military Marina 44mm cases). They have bezel assemblies which are machine pressed into the cases (unlike genuine cases, where the bezel presses over a lip on the case). Also, as mentioned, they don't fit standard case backs.

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I'm pretty sure that there are different generations of Helenarou cases, and that the older ones are the ones that you want for these Pre-V projects.

I've worked with both Jackson and Helenarou cases recently, and I've found them to be the same (the Military Marina 44mm cases). They have bezel assemblies which are machine pressed into the cases (unlike genuine cases, where the bezel presses over a lip on the case). Also, as mentioned, they don't fit standard case backs.

Spoilsport!!!!

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Just teezing Big T!

If these cases don't work I may be done with Reps. FGD builds are my only surviving rep interest anyway. Got a reply from David and he wants $200.00 for a caseset :( . I can almost buy Fu at that pricepoint, tired of ending up tying a grand into builds after all the trial and error of trying to marry this case with this crwon guard, or this crown with this casetube, or this caseback with this diameter case opening. It's getting ridiculous and it seems to me that there at least used to be a bit of standardization in the sizes of cases and parts. That's it. If these fail I am DONE. I'll sell what I have and buy a 112

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Hi Avitt

would this be a problem 'They have bezel assemblies which are machine pressed into the cases (unlike genuine cases, where the bezel presses over a lip on the case" if I decide to go for any of these?

One more question.how can I contact with helenarou I found a website called http://www.helenarou.com but I am not sure if this is the correct one

Cheers

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Hi Avitt

would this be a problem 'They have bezel assemblies which are machine pressed into the cases (unlike genuine cases, where the bezel presses over a lip on the case" if I decide to go for any of these?

One more question.how can I contact with helenarou I found a website called http://www.helenarou.com but I am not sure if this is the correct one

Cheers

Nope, not a problem...Just an observation, which may link the construction or the current MM cases available from Jackson and Helenarou.

(...and yes, I think that is the correct website...although I bought mine from a member.)

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Just teezing Big T!

If these cases don't work I may be done with Reps. FGD builds are my only surviving rep interest anyway. Got a reply from David and he wants $200.00 for a caseset :( . I can almost buy Fu at that pricepoint, tired of ending up tying a grand into builds after all the trial and error of trying to marry this case with this crwon guard, or this crown with this casetube, or this caseback with this diameter case opening. It's getting ridiculous and it seems to me that there at least used to be a bit of standardization in the sizes of cases and parts. That's it. If these fail I am DONE. I'll sell what I have and buy a 112

I hear ya, brotha!

These Pre-V cases have always been a problem, and almost everyone of has a Pre-V build has compromised in some way...If the lugs are correctly shaped, then the lug holes are too big for OEM screw bars...notches between the lugs, incorrect bezels...you name it!

It's really a matter of good fortune to find a suitable case set...Maybe an FGD Pre-A is where it's at!

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The Get at watch case worked pretty damn good for me Kyle. Got tired of the know it alls nitpicking over at the Geek. But I posted a bunch of pics there of my FD 202a.

I was told by the self professed experts that the FGD dial wouldn't fit - it fit just fine

I was told EL, Davidson and other better casebacks wouldn't fit - they also fit perfectly

Finally i was told that only movements that Getatwatch, Helen, and or jackson Tse sell would fit the case - Wrong again as a nice hand picked Genuine Swiss Eta- Unitas form Otto Frei lives in the case under the FGD dial that I was told wouldn't fit under the caseback that wasn't supposed to fit

Was told the PVD was supposed to be terrible, PVD is exactly the same as Davidsen

I love Davidsen but people seem to have avery short memory with some of his issues as well. Remember the notched cases, Crowns that wouldn;t line up properly, CG screw holes that only took David's CG's. All our suppliers have had issues. No one other than Tourby, V and Simon get gold stars across the board for their parts as far as I'm concerned.

Pretty happy with the results and i sold an extra today that I had purchased which also looked damn good

Not claiming it is perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I am not brave enough to try drilling the lugs to fit Pre_v bars. Not on a PVD case anyway. My point is that these are very nice cases with about the same quality as a Davidsen (prob made in the same factory in Kowloon) at a fraction of the price. David wanted over $200 for a PVD caseset. I spent $65 on mine with shipping, was able to use paypal and they even followed up asking if everything was OK after I recieved the order, and they answered every question in a very timely manner. Not Fu or LH but as good as anything else we can directly buy from a supplier (unless you can get Ultimate cases directly from the Cartel which most of us can't)

Fact is these cases work, are under 1/3 the price and you get great customer service. And as an added benefit the CG's are better than Davidsen's. The only Mod they need is taking down the case tube a bit which took me 2 minutes with a dremel.

What do you all think? Keep in mind Tourbey is sending me a PVD T crown and I have a LH CG reserved that will need Avitt's love Pretty damn nice for $65.00

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Just ordered a geta case, even though they don't look as accurate as a true freak like me would like.

BTW, it seems to me, now that we have awesome dials and decent casebacks, that someone w/ access to a CNC shop could put this problem out of its miserry and make a tidy profit along the way-- do a case w/ the shortlugs, correct holes, bezel, caseback fit etc in true Pre-V style once and for all. If you add the number of people who are doing Pre-V's w/ the probably significant number who aren't doing one yet because of the case issue, run size would definitely not be a problem.

If someone wants to do a CAD file, I could personally get quotes from at least 3 CNC shops that are capable of kbnocking these out w/o breaking a sweat. Plus, since the cases are just unmarked watch cases no CNC shop should have the issues they might have w/ CG's and casebacks.

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If we can get the correct measurements from the case then it's actually not a bad idea, we have a great source for dials and crowns, if lh can make a new run of cg's then we're pretty much set. caseback would be somethings that has to be looked into. I don't know if the dsn is accurate enough if we're nitpicking ;) The other parts should be easily available... perhaps something for a group-buy? It's not gonna be a cheap watch though....

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I'm sorry if this is too much of a noob question but I've read so many topics and posts regarding pre-v cases that I've seemed to lost track of the big picture :blink:

If one were to make a 201/a or 202/a, would the following set be as accurate as possible with what's available? (and would the parts fit..)

- getatwatch case (polished or pvd coated depending on the model)

- FGD dial

- LH cg

- T crown

- DSN caseback

tnx for any input :good:

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If we can get the correct measurements from the case then it's actually not a bad idea, we have a great source for dials and crowns, if lh can make a new run of cg's then we're pretty much set. caseback would be somethings that has to be looked into. I don't know if the dsn is accurate enough if we're nitpicking ;) The other parts should be easily available... perhaps something for a group-buy? It's not gonna be a cheap watch though....

To keep costs down a CAD drawing would be much better than measurements. The actual milling is the easy and comparatively inexepensive part. It's the design and prototype piece that kill you. To be sure a case can be made from a blueprint or even from measurements, but you're talking about another 1k-1.5k in startup costs. Divided by, say, a 20 piece run, that's $75 per unit on top of what will probabl;y be a $250 case to begin with. With the talent pool at RWG i refuse to believe we don't have someone who can do a CAD drawing with a few hours work.

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