Bignasty Posted August 14, 2006 Report Share Posted August 14, 2006 Got this 1680 from Paul a couple months ago. Nice starter peice. ETA 2836 movement. Silver date wheel. Decent dial in my opinion although I'm aware the "Submariner" text is too wide. Rep crystal was dissapointing. Of course the spring bars were too small. The CG's were horrible. But like I said a great buy and a good start. Here's what I've done so far and to be completely honest probably all that will get done! 1. New generic crystal. Better height than the original rep one. I know it has beveled edges but I like the look OK. This cost about $7 on the bay. The datemag isn't anything to brag about but it fit and the watch is still suitable for swimming. I also brushed up the sides so they are more opaque, I liked this look better. 2. Drilled the spring bar holes. Went to Home Depot and bought cobalt bits. Bought the smallest size I could find, drilled, and then realized they are a bit too big, but its water under the bridge now and I'm happy. The spring bars are not gen but are much better than the originals. I've got Snap-On cobalt bits ordered for future projects, the correct size this time too! 3. Case reshaping and refinishing. Rolled the edges of the case more to give it more of a broken in look. I filled off the edges of the bezel a bit too. They were too sharp and too precise. And of course I reshaped and filed down the CG's a bunch. As you can see in the original picture they were huge! They aren't perfect but they look much better so once again I'm happy. 4. Bezel pearl removed. The original bezel pearl was wrong so I popped the bezel out and removed the pearl. The result again is a more broken in appearance. All in all I'm happy with the results. I'm new to this modding so everything thus far has been experimental with this watch. I have no future plans for this bad boy except for wearing it regularly to work to beat it up some more. The more scratches and dings the more beleivable it will be! Cheers and enjoy the pics! Comments appreciated! Cheers, Jon OEM from Dealer shot: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miquel Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 Very nice mods! I really like the look of your watch. Good job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Teedotyyz Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 Looks Great! I am working up the courage to do some mods to my SD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hu12 Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 I personaly like the drilled spring bar holes, Nice work.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chronomat123 Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Looking good. You know, the 1680 is supposed to have a silver date wheel. They were made with silver date wheels, but if you send a gen 1680 to Rolex for service, they replace the silver date wheels with white... so the date wheel on yours is correct... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bignasty Posted August 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Thanks for the comments guys! How'd you go about ageing the dial? I'm thinking of the expresso bath for a vintage PAM project I'm about to start! Cheers, Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tribal Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Looks good.... Is there a retaining ring to hold the glass down on Pauls watch? Rg Tribal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest overboosted Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Looks great. Seems to be the same on I have for sale now! Interesting comments on the date wheels. The one I am selling has silver but my new MBW has white. Kinda wish the MBW had silver. Do the larger springbars fit into the bracelet with out modification needed to the endlinks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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