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Franken Datejust Pictures


HauteHippie

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Finally finished this piece over the weekend. I've shown pics before, but now I've got the gen crystal in place (huge difference) which was a bit of a struggle. So, now, everything you see on the outside is genuine... On the inside is a 2892-A2. My brother will be coming in to town for Thanksgiving, and I'll present it to him at that time. He's walking in his Ph.D. ceremony in December, but since it's in the frigid midwest, I'll be missing it. :)

The pics...

dj1.jpg

dj2.jpg

dj3.jpg

dj4.jpg

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Excellent. Just excellent. So nice to see a rhodium roman with the old style case again. Where did you source the dial and do you know what serial year it came off? Oh, and how soon for a new wristshot from you bro?

DJ's are classic and they rule. Big is big, but 36MM class never goes out of style.

DJ10.jpg

Datejust2.jpg

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All - Thanks for the great commentary. I think it's a great all around watch... Classy and casual at the same time somehow. My bro doesn't like "big" watches, and isn't much of a watch nerd like me... So the Rolex Datejust is something he'll easily appreciate and hopefully wear on a daily basis.

Robbie - I found a Rolex jeweler about a year ago that had numerous dials. He was actually a diamond guy who removed OEM dials and replaced them with custom diamond dials that he designed. So I had the pick of a many nice ones and narrowed it down to the navy blue with roman markers and this rhodium with roman markers.... In the end the rhodium won me over and I don't regret it one bit. Oh, and I still love that gen of yours!

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B,

This project turned out great. I must admit that the DJ's are not my cup of tea but the gift of a watch is, IMO, the best gift a man can receive. The fact that all the parts were sourced and assembled with your brother in mind makes it the ultimate present.

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Yeah, it looks like a pretty recent dial by the profile of the fonts and the thickness of the markers that have the black line in them. I would guess it came off an F or D watch and may be as recent as a Z even...

Robbie - I found a Rolex jeweler about a year ago that had numerous dials. He was actually a diamond guy who removed OEM dials and replaced them with custom diamond dials that he designed. So I had the pick of a many nice ones and narrowed it down to the navy blue with roman markers and this rhodium with roman markers.... In the end the rhodium won me over and I don't regret it one bit. Oh, and I still love that gen of yours!
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that's the rep collector's dream, an absolute gen on the outside, and a "rep" on the inside. The amazing ultimate franken rep.

besides that rhodium dial is one of the smartest dj dials out there.

what a nice job.

your brother will be super happy. what a gift!

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Yeah, it looks like a pretty recent dial by the profile of the fonts and the thickness of the markers that have the black line in them. I would guess it came off an F or D watch and may be as recent as a Z even...

Not sure what you mean by black line in the markers... The markers (roman numerals) are solid metal? But, yea, I would guess that the dial is of newer vintage than the case and not a perfect match in that respect.

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Amazing. I think that regardless of a person's taste, the stainless steel Rolex datejust is just so elegant that it' shares a universal appreciation.

Absolutely. Regardless of if folks are particularly into Rolexes, it is an amazing project. It's a work of art, and will make an awesome gift.

Chief, absolutely awesome work, I bet your brother will be speechless :good:

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Nice! Great pictures! So the crystal swap worked out? Your brother is going to love it!

The problem was in getting the old gasket out, and in fact I never could get it out. It was shoved so tightly between the rehaut ring and the bezel that it wasn't going anywhere. So, instead I decided to try pushing the new crystal into the old gasket. Well, this didn't quite work either.... part of the gasket sheered off and was visible under the crystal. But, the crystal was in there very securely. So, what I finally decided to do was remove the small parts of sheered gasket with a pair of tweezers, and viola! It worked out. Not a perfect solution, but about 95% of the gasket is still intact and I don't forsee any problems.... although there is a possibility that it isn't water tight, however I suspect it probably is.

@TJ - thanks!!

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