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Another Viet 16710 Build

kadeee

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Cheers,

I would like to briefly present my GMT Master II build, Rolex Ref. 16710.
Inspired by yodog's "Viet Gen-Spec 16710 Frankens are here to stay - byebye BP!" Thread, I contacted Mr. Nguyen to order such a case for me.
As the case finally arrived I could understand yodog's criticisms very well. The crystal and the crown were not worth to be mentioned, also the tube was crap.
For me, it was also annoying that the caseback just does not have the original dimensions, it is probably a differently engraved Submariner caseback. But for what are there parts that I can source to have a watch built that is satisfactory to me.
So I was looking for a Gen spec bracelet, what I found was a Gen Rolex 78790 bracelet which also came with the Gen reference. I was able to purchase a crown along with matching tube from my friend mega12. A matching Gen crystal, no AR and no LEC I knew where to get it from.
I found a NOS hand set (SL Lume) on eBay, so all that was missing was a matching dial. I didn't expect dials with SL Lume to be so hard to find. And if you can find one, they are at a very respectable price. Finally, I was able to come to an agreement with a seller from Denmark on a price that was just about acceptable to me, in return for which I got an almost perfect dial. The hairline scratch can only be seen with a microscope under special lighting conditions, but not when the dial is mounted in the watch.
I sent the case with the used Gen bracelet to TomRep, he is a master of his discipline and is not satisfied until the result is almost indistinguishable from a Gen case. What can I say, his work is phenomenal. He even took into account such details as the cut on the bezel. You can't do better than that in my opinion.
For assembly, I sent the watch parts to Ben Welte, he installed a freshly serviced VR 3186 into the watch and assembled everything perfectly. Only the bezel insert was a bit too small, so this had to be glued and thus stands a bit above the bezel edge. I was able to replace the too thick caseback with a gen spec caseback that once came with an ST Sub case. Now the watch is also from underneath like a GMT Master II has to be.
Other than that, pictures say more than 1000 words












 

Danza1813

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Fantastic build. A great service and display of skills by all concerned. Wear it well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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WildString46

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Weast!
Nice build man! Definitely also swap out for a gen insert if you have the funds. Wondering what was the original thickness of the Viet case and the current thickness with the Startime caseback?
 
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kadeee

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Thanks,

I will check the current thickness (guess it's 12.1 mm) and do a comparism between the thickness with a mounted ST caseback (by measuring the difference of the caseback compared to the underside of the case with a caliper gauge) in comparism to a similar case with a standard sub caseback mounted.

And yes, I will definately swap the insert or maybe the complete bezel at a later time.
 

kadeee

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Checked the case thickness today with my caliper gauge. Measured exactly 12.1 mm thickness with the mounted ST caseback.
Regarding the difference with the VN caseback I was not able to exactly measure the difference in height. But it's close to 1 mm difference.

I can show difference later this week.
 

kadeee

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Doublechecked the difference just right now.
As I thought the case with the flat case back has a thickness of 12.1 mm (incl. crystal) while the same case with a similar crystal has a thickness of 13.1 mm. With the crystal that comes with the case its 12.9 mm thick. So there is also a different crystal mounted on the VN case. But as yodog mentioned in his Thread the crystal the case comes with is not worth to keep it on a High-End Build.
 
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WatchSmith.US

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This is really a nice build. Were there any surprises or problems fitting the 78790 bracelet to the case?