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Built a FrankenJust...in pictures.


kbh

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Thought this might be of interest to some folks here. I picked up a gen case and dial from the Bay - $220, Gen 18k crown from the Bay -$25, Eta clone movement $60 and an adapter ring from "Stilty". That adapter made it an easy swap.

Here's the new parts with my old DateJust from Joshua.

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Movement is assembled and ready to go into the new gen case.

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Next we change the stem from rep crown to gen crown. Easy and a perfect fit.

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And, she's ready to go. Add a gen Daytona vintage band and gen 18k Rolex vintage clasp from the 70's, and you've got a (pretty much) genuine Rolex Datejust from the 60's - 70's era.

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I love the vintage crystal. It's like looking into a pool of water when the light hits it just right.

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And the lug holes add a nice "vintage" touch.

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And one last one. Here's with a cheap TT bracelet. I guess I'll be looking a a real gold one soon.

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Nicely done! The FrankenJust is a great project to partake in so many ways; reasonably priced, fairly simple to build and the results look great! Add a Stilty adaptor, and it's just that much better. Wish he was selling those rings when I built my old 16234... It would have really come in handy...

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Great work!

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Nice job. I got a little misty looking at the project. It's like one of my offspring out there! haha.

There are a few of those movement holders out there, and I've only seen a couple of the finished goods.

Good job and I'm glad it worked out for you!

I'd love to see other finished projects with the "stilty" holder.

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Very nice work, kbh. I especially like your choice of strap.

Nice job. I got a little misty looking at the project. It's like one of my offspring out there! haha.

There are a few of those movement holders out there, and I've only seen a couple of the finished goods.

Good job and I'm glad it worked out for you!

I'd love to see other finished projects with the "stilty" holder.

I have a Franken-just with 1 of your holders waiting to be assembled on my table & I promise to get to it as soon as I wrap up a couple of other projects.

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  • 1 month later...

I don't know if you can build a 16013 with stilty's movement ring and a 2824-2. I built my 16013 (16014, 16030 are all the same) with a 2836-2. You cut off the dial feet on the gen Rolex dial and glue the dial to the movement ring and the movt ring to the movement. I used a cheap plastic spacer ring to keep everything centered and then attached the case clamps. Stem alignment was perfect w/ the 2836, I had first tried the 2824, but the stem was too high.

The 16200 series of cases for the 3135 movement, on the other hand, will work with the 2824-2 movement.

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Yes, you can use either the 2824-2 or 2836-2 with the conversion ring for 3035 movement. If you use a 2824-2, you will have extra room between the dial and movement to fit a gen date disc for an overlay. The holder has the space built in for stem alignment. The difference in thickness (dial side) of movement is 0.40mm between the two movements. Gen disc is 0.20mm, swap out the 2824-2 disc with a 2834-2 disc, and it allows for clearance over the mainplate as the 2834-2 disc is slightly raised, where the 2824-2 sits recessed in the mainplate.

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did you have to remove the day wheel (not date wheel, which is covered by a new date disc) from the movement, since its not really needed?

also, how do you cut off the dial feet?

I have all the parts for 16014 franken that i need to put together. My other PAM project was consuming all the time...

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did you have to remove the day wheel (not date wheel, which is covered by a new date disc) from the movement, since its not really needed?

also, how do you cut off the dial feet?

I have all the parts for 16014 franken that i need to put together. My other PAM project was consuming all the time...

I've done 2 of them now and I left the day wheel on one and took it off the other. It didn't seem to make any difference.

You can snip off the dial feet with side cutter pliers and file it down flat or cut it off with a Dremel and smooth it.. It's easy.

I just picked up a case and dial for a 16013 TT with silver dial and gold markers. Can't wait to get started.

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Hi guys,

I'm more a breitling guy, but I do really like these datejusts! Intresting tough, because I like breits because of their size, and in comparison with them, even the mens datejust is pretty small. I don't know why, I simply like 'em. In the near past, I bought a cheap TT one (very cheap, worth around 40$), just to see if the is good, and it is :)

I just want to ask, how much does a gen dial and a gen crown (SS) (+ maybe a crystal) cost? Does the crown fit on the ETA 2836 stem?

Thanks, and sorry for the noob questions, I'm not a rolex pro (yet :) ).

Greetz.

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ETA stem will fit a Rolex crown.

Building a Frankenjust runs $400 and up depending on what you spend on parts. Cases from roling on ebay with a dial run around $200+, eta movement, tudor hands like from nostalgia 2000, crown, bracelet. The case has the crystal and case tube generally, but both are fairly cheap if you have to buy them. If you go with all gen parts, except the eta and hands, it could easily run you $800-1000.

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