Vintage Rolex Explorer from Narikaa

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This is my first rep, a rather understated one.

It costs £68GBP + shipping, has a plexiglass crystal (as the gen did).
The Asian 21 jewel 21600bph movement now sometimes stops when I wear the watch (it was fine before I dropped it from a couple of feet onto a table).

Anyone knows if replacing the movement by a Miyota 8215 ($39 from ofrei) is easy to do? I wonder if the crown, which screws onto the case, could complicate things.

The rotor was stamped with "MONTRES ROLEX GENEVA SWISS"

The inside of the back cover reads:
MONARCH POLFY S.A.
GELENA
SHITINERAND

The crown unscrewed.

The yellow cloth & the blue bag came with the watch.

Diminutive rep on skinny wrist.

 

[Wiz]

SHITINERAND.

Maybe rep makers have the sense of humour after all

Really nice watch, one of my favorite rolex. You'll need a few tools to switch the movement. Overall it's not really difficult, but it's your watch you're messing around, so if you break anything that's on you

More seriously, you should be fine doing most of the work with only a screwdriver, but if you want to properly remove the hands, you'll need a few tools (and steady hands).

 

[Dr.Verylong]

Changing a 21j to a quartz movement ... hm. Why not pop in another 21j? They are cheap.

So you have on of the Shitinerand cases. When I first saw the pics a year ago I thought it was a bad joke. POLFY? Three strokes missing to ROLEX

 

[If you see Kay]

I too have a SHITINERAND caseback on a DJ!!!! But my vintage Explorer has the correct stamping on it. I'd leave the 21j movement inside it.

 

[takashi]

yes, leave the 21j in there. The vintage Rolexes are running low beat anyway (<21600bph).

The crown should posses no problem. I believe the hand set may be a direct fit too. Changing to another movement may complicate things.

 

[trksh-bzr]

who mentioned a quartz?? he's asking if he could replace the 21j nn movement with a very similar miyota automatic.
not sure bout the hand sizes, but it seems it should be a possibility!
if the original 21j stopping while wearing,it could be enough to have a watchsmith have a look at it.....

 

[LHOOQ]

Narikaa's 1016 is still the best vintage Explorer below $240, in my opinion!

I don't know what the dimensions of the Miyota are, but you could pop in an ETA movement and buy a new handset from any number of sources e.g. Yuki.

 

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Ziggyzumba & Offshore will be appalled

if the original 21j stopping while wearing,it could be enough to have a watchsmith have a look at it.....

I've had a cannister of compressed air look at it from all angles, including through the crown tube (stem removed, movement still encased). Gently at first, then not so gently (dead movement, right? Not worth anything). Several short blasts afterwards, the air in the can got so cold that condensation formed on the rotor! At which point I used a hair dryer... The only area I spared the compressed air abuse was the balance wheel. It was over 24 hours ago and the watch hasn't stopped ever since.... Who knows, I might get lucky, it might have been dust.

I also tried to duplicate how it stops (stopped) when I wear the watch: it seems it's the G's in any direction on the plane of the wheels: I could see the balance wheel slow down to a near stop when I swung my arm holding the watch in my hand, open back towards me. Picture cricket, bowler.. That kind of arm swing. I read Asian 21j's often aren't oiled: maybe that's why. Is it?

But I'm done with this compressed air and bowling violence. My beloved POLFY Explorer, made in Shitinerand, is working now and I have time to research Miyota 8215 seconds pignon length, my current watch hands hole size, stem length, cheapest hand remover tool, biro's as hand setting tools... Am I forgetting anything?