Hello from Wisconsin Noob!

[Tim120867]

Hi All! This is a great site you have here. Very informative. This is my first post here and, actually my first use of any online forum anywhere. So hoping this uploads to the correct place. The extent of my experience with reps is a single Rolex OP DateJust I had purchased in Hong Kong about 12 years ago. Besides having to auto wind it every morining, it performed flawlessly for 12 years. Not bad for a $30 investment. Then this summer I took it swimming and that was the end of it. I'm now looking to replace it and I see that reps have come a very long way in the last decade, or so. I almost made an $800 purchase from GlobalReplicas.com when I stumbled upon RWG just in time, thankfully! For the past two weeks I've been reading the guides and numerous posts in hopes of finding what I'm looking for, but I still have several questions that I've only found partial answers to.

I'm looking for a Rolex Daytona, like the one in the attached picture, but I've read here that there's a kind of defect with the movement. Something with the "second at 6" and/or 9 that can cause damage to the watch.

So first:

Is there a kind of Swiss movement for this watch that does not have this issue?

Second: Woud it be available in 18K gold, including the band? In most of the pics Ive seen here, they're stainless steel or two-tone with 14K gold.

Third: I'd like the absolute closest to the gen in appearance, weight etc..

Also, what is modding? Taking a base watch that may not be so close to gen, and modding it until it's as close to gen as possible? Or is it just customizing it to ones liking, eventhough it may include features or engravngs that are not found on the gens?

Any information you can provide me on where I can find this watch, or a dealer that can make it custom, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! Tim

[AllergyDoc]

Welcome Tim.

Bad news. You're chasing the Holy Grail of replicas. It is available with the running seconds at 6:00, but as you now know, the modifications to the basic movement to move the running seconds from 9:00 to 6:00 required the addition of about 12 gears, all unjeweled and mostly unlubed or oiled.

If you really want the watch, get one. Some guys have had theirs for 2+ years without any problems. A lot had it die after 2 months.

Your best bet is to ship it off to a watch guy who works on replicas and have him service the movement. Best to do it right away as most won't work on busted Daytona reps.

The compromise is to get a seconds at nine, based on the pre-2000 Daytona. They're much more reliable but not very accurate.

Lastly, as accuracy is important to you, I hope you realize that a solid gold Daytona would likely cost about $25K. Hopefully your profession would support this kind of acquisition. If not, well, it wouldn't be very accurate for you, IMO.

[Tim120867]

Welcome Tim.

Bad news. You're chasing the Holy Grail of replicas. It is available with the running seconds at 6:00, but as you now know, the modifications to the basic movement to move the running seconds from 9:00 to 6:00 required the addition of about 12 gears, all unjeweled and mostly unlubed or oiled.

If you really want the watch, get one. Some guys have had theirs for 2+ years without any problems. A lot had it die after 2 months.

Your best bet is to ship it off to a watch guy who works on replicas and have him service the movement. Best to do it right away as most won't work on busted Daytona reps.

The compromise is to get a seconds at nine, based on the pre-2000 Daytona. They're much more reliable but not very accurate.

Lastly, as accuracy is important to you, I hope you realize that a solid gold Daytona would likely cost about $25K. Hopefully your profession would support this kind of acquisition. If not, well, it wouldn't be very accurate for you, IMO.

Thanks for the info, AllergyDoc! Now I have a better idea of what I'm dealing with.

From your reply, it sounds as though a watch guy may be able to resolve the movement problems.

Would that be accurate to any degree? If not, I'll just have to settle for a Sub until someone produces

a Daytona without the seconds@6 issue. Someones got to be working on this with such a high demand.

Sorry. I meant an 18K gold plating of some kind. Not solid, or I'd already have a gen Daytona

Anyone know approximately how long an 18K gold plating would last with daily wear? Just to office and home, nothing rough.

[Toadtorrent]

Thanks for the info, AllergyDoc! Now I have a better idea of what I'm dealing with.

From your reply, it sounds as though a watch guy may be able to resolve the movement problems.

Would that be accurate to any degree? If not, I'll just have to settle for a Sub until someone produces

a Daytona without the seconds@6 issue. Someones got to be working on this with such a high demand.

Sorry. I meant an 18K gold plating of some kind. Not solid, or I'd already have a gen Daytona

Anyone know approximately how long an 18K gold plating would last with daily wear? Just to office and home, nothing rough.

Yup...we're all waiting for a reliable secs@6...and it's been a long wait. Many a smoking hot watch have been taken off the "Must Buy" list because of this movement.

The options for gold are tricky. There are no readily available solid gold reps...as the cost means these are essentially custom one-off projects. Scam sites will advertise some as solid gold...don't believe it.

The other option is to go the "franken" route which takes genuine parts and mixes them with expensive high end rep parts and makes a Frankenstein watch. Daytona's are popular projects to build...using Zenith movements...which require special cases to fit them...special parts, etc...making an extremely accurate one for about $3,000 - $4,000!! Mind you...the movement in this case will be a SOLID amazing movement.

As to how long they'll last...tough call as your type of wear, body chemistry, climate will all affect this. Some say months, some say years...some say a bunch of years!

Search for various gold posts and you'll find out other's experiences.