Hi everyone,
for those of you who read my article „how I built my first Franken / Sub 16610“, here’s my latest build review for a 15200 Rolex Oyster Date.
All tools, which I used, were similar to those I had originally purchased for my other builds.
Although Rolex describes 34mm as a men’s watch, I would consider this as the perfect size for women - have a look at the following 6 digit size comparison from another member.
While I did already donate a gen 36mm 16233 Datejust to my wife some time ago, I thought this time I would have to build something more unique for her. Why? Because some of you might face similar situations, that every day a new part arrives at your home. Although I’m continuously explaining that those little tiny things out of Stainless Steel aren’t that expensive, my wife is judging me for my hobby and watches. Thus, I figured out that for every 3 watches I’m owning, I have to return at least one to her to remain under the radar
I chose a 15200 because there is lots of gen cases and dials available on Chrono as well as on eBay and it uses a 3135 movement.
...so let’s start this beauty!
———————————
Case:
First I purchased a gen 15223 case. Usually, this was made for a two tone version but the mid case itself has no difference to a 15200 apart from lug engravings. while you can exchange parts between 15200, 14200 and newer 6 digit versions easily, you cannot use all parts from 15000 models or 5500 and 1500. First, those older cases use a different movement (3035 or even older) where you might run into troubles because of stem high, size etc. Second, they have plastic glasses and those might not be adaptable for sapphire glasses because of different gaskets and measurements for water resistance. I read once that a plastic glass including gasket might be interchangeable with sapphire including gasket but personally I won’t go swimming then. I’ve also seen that you can install an ETA 2824-2 with a spacer ring into a 15000 case (and most likely 15200), but I prefer 3135 to use gen hands, gen date disc and have correct time setting directions.
The good thing with 34mm cases: it seems that there was never a rep version out there and you can be most likely sure it will be gen. Maybe customer demand was too low, I don’t know. I haven’t found any rep on any TDs site. Even if I searched in their history. There is some very dubious sites offering a rep, but after I requested QC pics, they refused because they have lots of similar requests and cannot follow all of them. Haha, so why not using directly QC pics for online advertising instead of gen images doesn’t seem reliable....
———————————
Case back:
On eBay you will also find some gen 15000 and 15200 case backs, if this wasn’t included with the case yet. Here you can take both version: old 15000 or period correct 15200. Apart from inner engravings, they are similar.
———————————
Crown
I went for a gen crown 5.3mm 24-531-0, which is correct and not much to say about. Can be mounted on 3135 Aftermarket stems.
———————————
Movement:
As already mentioned, Yuki and SH3135 will fit easily into the case because it’s made for 3135 movements. You could also go with an ETA 2824-2 including Spacer ring, but then you can’t go for gen dial, hands and date disc w/o modifying it. Personally, hands can be solved with quite good aftermarket ones and dial feets can be cut off. But installing a gen DateDisc is quite tricky. Of course, this will work as well (I have another project running, where a well known modder is changing my TC with WSO DWO to a gen date disc...), it’s not that easy and cost intensive. If you like to go with 2824 movement and Aftermarket DWO, bear in mind that every rep DWO for 2824 I’ve seen so far, was way off to be called premium or gen. Apart from TC DWO v4, which came with V6/v7 models if I’m correct, every date is slightly more left oriented or whatever. Although we talk about mm, the misalignment annoys me daily through cyclops. Thus, I wanted to use a gen date disc w/o mods and went directly for SH3135. Last but not least, 2824 and other rep movements have wrong time setting direction. While you adjust time in clockwise direction for moving forward, it’s counter clockwise on ETA ones.
Nonetheless, SH3135 can also cause some problems. Therefore, I did sent mine to ado213 to have a service and make it more reliable. Thanks to him.
He did the following services and changed the pictured parts to gen as well (not because it was needed for all of them, just because I had them lying around):
He replaced the barrel main plate jewel (was cracked and had not at the correct height)
Reset the escapement
Tweeked the hairspring, not flat
Reset the intermediate date change jewel
Fitted gen parts from picture, apart from the setting lever 230, because gen didn‘t fit:
3535-210 just for fun
3135-212 useful for reliability
3135-213 useful for reliability
3135-240 useful for reliability
3135-241 useful for reliability
3135-300 just for fun
3135-305 just for fun
3135-360 ok if you have it
3135-639 just for fun
3135-645 strongly rec. for reliability
Upgrades for SH3135/Yuki in general.
While ado recommends to have a look at each movement first, before putting lots of money into gen parts (which seems logical), there is some others who recommend changing this and that. Since my last review of 16610, I gained some more information regarding upgrades, as below. Nothing of this is painted in stone and movements can also work without changing anything by just doing a proper service. Bear that in mind.
It seems mandatory for most movements to change the following parts
3135-625 = ~50£ Date Wheel Mounted
3135-614 = ~50£ Date Jumper
3135-645 = ~40£ Date Corrector
I (ado) changed only 645 on mine and it seems to be reliable as well
Furthermore, these parts are highly recommend:
3135-280 = ~30£ Hour Wheel! I have a 80% gen hybrid movement, and this part isn’t included thefe but it runs like a champ
3135-623 = 36£ Date Finger!! Allows you to change date during forbidden hours. Could be useful!
Two parts that could be replaced by gen ones, if stem doesn’t work very well in its 3 positions:
3135-204
3135-205
Of course, some people also recommend to change reversing wheels or even complete automatic module (I’ve still not decided to do this in future or not, but as long as rotor shouldn’t make that much noises, I wouldn’t change anything before it runs into failure). By the way, complete Automatic module has the advantage that it is gen engraved - which I personally prefer, although no one will see ever...
3135-540 (2x) = ~65£ = ~130£
Or
3135-145 => ~300£ Automatic module
Some other parts to make the movement more reliabl:
3135-421 = ~50£ Anchor
3135-600 = ~100£ Date indicator seating for wrong date positioning - if not centered or if you use SH3135 and gen date disc might not fit because of different thickness. Yuki seems better in this part
3135-670 = ~45£ Intermediate Date Wheel
Plus, you might need those parts, after running into failure:
3135-212 = ~30£ => ok, changed this
3135-213 = ~30£ => ok changed this
3135-217 = ~42£ Wig Wag Pinion
3135-241 => depending on tolerance of rep one you might be good with this.
Others change even more, but I think that’s way over:
3135-311 = ~20£
3135-360 = fits, not essential => I changed as well on mine
To address keyless issue
3135-266
3135-240 = ~30£ => ok, changed on mine
3135-250 = might not be interchangeable or only together with 3135-268
3135-230 => might not fit, was case with mine, because 220 and 225 need to be included as well
3135-260 => ~30£
3135-270 => ~30£
If your movement makes problems with gen hands, you need 3135-335 Canon/Minute Pinion and this might fit only with 3135-125
Check this for an additional overview of parts that will fit
https://rwg.cc/topic/189131-information-on-yuki-3135-movement-and-original-rolex-spare-parts/
———————————
Dial and hands
I bought a set of gen 3135 hands for date models in white gold.
They came new and seem similar for all 5 digit ss date / air king models.
The dial was a premium refinished aftermarket dial with Mother of Pearl effect. First, I was a bit sceptical, but after seeing it live, it was great. Perfect for my wife. Unfortunately, it came with wrong dial feet (maybe for very old movements), but Ado cut them off and glued it onto my movement as well. As this was a customized dial anyway, no one will ever question if it’s genuine or not. Because it’s made for this build and there is so many different colors for Datejust and Date models available, that I’m sure none will be able to know all of them. By the way, price for this dial was equal to a gen one. So it’s really nice quality. Also backside is gold etc.
———————————
Crystal
As already mentioned, this model takes sapphire crystals. I purchase a 25-286-C1 from Ebay for roughly 50€. No clue where the difference is from C1 to 25-286-C but it seems that both are available and fit. Without C means w/o cyclops. In general, I wouldn’t consider an aftermarket crystal as fake. Nevertheless, the one I bought (which was a sternglas) didn’t fit. Neither the size of the cyclops was correct, nor the gasket fitted. Thus, I returned it and went for a gen one with LEC and a little chip on it which I can live with. This one is way better. Anyway, I think there is also good Aftermarket ones you could use instead!
———————————
Bezel
I had the chance to purchase a gen fluted bezel for a 5500 but I missed it because I was not able to figure out, whether it will fit or not. Most say it won’t fit because it’s made for a plastic glass gasket diameter... and constructions of plastic glass gaskets are different than sapphire glass gaskets. Both are putting tension on the bezel to keep them fixed, so it’s crucial to have it fitting perfectly. Otherwise, you may lose water resistance. I decided to go for a WSO (wholesaleoutlet / eBay) stainless steel bezel for 34mm sapphire crystals. It’s new and should look similar.
———————————
Bracelet
While there is some good versions of bracelet bands out there, I wanted to have a gen clasp. Because IMO, clasps and date discs remain an easy tell on most reps I’ve seen. A gen clasp opens and closes really smoothly, while reps are way stronger.
The period correct bracelet and clasp is a 78350 19. The „19“ stands for 19mm because the lug size is 19mm on 34mm models, instead of 20mm where most bracelets are made for. The equivalent clasp for 20mm lug size (like old GMT master) is called 78360.
There is also another clasp „62510 H“ which exists for both 19 and 20mm lug sizes.
So, my crucial question was, will they be interchangeable? Means, can I buy a 20mm clasp and mount it on a 19mm bracelet, because this opens the field for search. My second question was, will a 20mm bracelet fit to a 19mm end link.
To keep it short, I didn’t found a clear and serious answer online. People say, the bracelets of 78350 and 78360 are a bit different. They also say, that 19mm and 20mm 62510 H are different in terms of width. The only thing I found, that only older 4 digit 6251 seem to be similar in terms of sizes.
Anyway, I placed a rather low bit on eBay for a gen 78360 and all of a sudden I won the auction.
In parallel, I was searching for proper bands. Although 15200 requires a matte bracelet, I wanted to have the mid link polished style of a 115200
As you can see, lugs are also polished on 6 digit version. Not sure if I will do this in future, but for now I’m happy with the mixed style.
Very soon it turned out a gen bracelet for new models (72190 19mm) costs around 1.200€ and was out of scope. Nonetheless, I found a cheap neutral version on eBay from member riyi002, who was recommended on some forums for cheap prices but fair quality. For 30€ I would say, the quality is more than ok. End links fit properly and bands are also nice. Engravings are not that good on the inner side, but who cares. And removable links are not fully drilled to see bars on both sides. Also no issue for me.
I purchased a matte bracelet from WSO for around 30€ as well just to compare quality and styles. Some people recommend yukiwatches for its 19mm bracelet. I didn’t try them but they do also not cost that much (60€).
However, most of 19mm rep clasps have only 6 wholes to adjust the bracelet length inside of the clasp. Thus, I was happy to switch with my gen clasp and it fitted
It’s a bit tough play for the links being „inside“ the clasp, but overall good enough to keep it.
———————————
That’s the new beauty. Thanks for reading.
„Time doesn‘t exist. Clocks exist.“
„I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.“
for those of you who read my article „how I built my first Franken / Sub 16610“, here’s my latest build review for a 15200 Rolex Oyster Date.
All tools, which I used, were similar to those I had originally purchased for my other builds.
Although Rolex describes 34mm as a men’s watch, I would consider this as the perfect size for women - have a look at the following 6 digit size comparison from another member.
While I did already donate a gen 36mm 16233 Datejust to my wife some time ago, I thought this time I would have to build something more unique for her. Why? Because some of you might face similar situations, that every day a new part arrives at your home. Although I’m continuously explaining that those little tiny things out of Stainless Steel aren’t that expensive, my wife is judging me for my hobby and watches. Thus, I figured out that for every 3 watches I’m owning, I have to return at least one to her to remain under the radar
I chose a 15200 because there is lots of gen cases and dials available on Chrono as well as on eBay and it uses a 3135 movement.
...so let’s start this beauty!
———————————
Case:
First I purchased a gen 15223 case. Usually, this was made for a two tone version but the mid case itself has no difference to a 15200 apart from lug engravings. while you can exchange parts between 15200, 14200 and newer 6 digit versions easily, you cannot use all parts from 15000 models or 5500 and 1500. First, those older cases use a different movement (3035 or even older) where you might run into troubles because of stem high, size etc. Second, they have plastic glasses and those might not be adaptable for sapphire glasses because of different gaskets and measurements for water resistance. I read once that a plastic glass including gasket might be interchangeable with sapphire including gasket but personally I won’t go swimming then. I’ve also seen that you can install an ETA 2824-2 with a spacer ring into a 15000 case (and most likely 15200), but I prefer 3135 to use gen hands, gen date disc and have correct time setting directions.
The good thing with 34mm cases: it seems that there was never a rep version out there and you can be most likely sure it will be gen. Maybe customer demand was too low, I don’t know. I haven’t found any rep on any TDs site. Even if I searched in their history. There is some very dubious sites offering a rep, but after I requested QC pics, they refused because they have lots of similar requests and cannot follow all of them. Haha, so why not using directly QC pics for online advertising instead of gen images
doesn’t seem reliable....
———————————
Case back:
On eBay you will also find some gen 15000 and 15200 case backs, if this wasn’t included with the case yet. Here you can take both version: old 15000 or period correct 15200. Apart from inner engravings, they are similar.
———————————
Crown
I went for a gen crown 5.3mm 24-531-0, which is correct and not much to say about. Can be mounted on 3135 Aftermarket stems.
———————————
Movement:
As already mentioned, Yuki and SH3135 will fit easily into the case because it’s made for 3135 movements. You could also go with an ETA 2824-2 including Spacer ring, but then you can’t go for gen dial, hands and date disc w/o modifying it. Personally, hands can be solved with quite good aftermarket ones and dial feets can be cut off. But installing a gen DateDisc is quite tricky. Of course, this will work as well (I have another project running, where a well known modder is changing my TC with WSO DWO to a gen date disc...), it’s not that easy and cost intensive. If you like to go with 2824 movement and Aftermarket DWO, bear in mind that every rep DWO for 2824 I’ve seen so far, was way off to be called premium or gen. Apart from TC DWO v4, which came with V6/v7 models if I’m correct, every date is slightly more left oriented or whatever. Although we talk about mm, the misalignment annoys me daily through cyclops. Thus, I wanted to use a gen date disc w/o mods and went directly for SH3135. Last but not least, 2824 and other rep movements have wrong time setting direction. While you adjust time in clockwise direction for moving forward, it’s counter clockwise on ETA ones.
Nonetheless, SH3135 can also cause some problems. Therefore, I did sent mine to ado213 to have a service and make it more reliable. Thanks to him.
He did the following services and changed the pictured parts to gen as well (not because it was needed for all of them, just because I had them lying around):
He replaced the barrel main plate jewel (was cracked and had not at the correct height)
Reset the escapement
Tweeked the hairspring, not flat
Reset the intermediate date change jewel
Fitted gen parts from picture, apart from the setting lever 230, because gen didn‘t fit:
3535-210 just for fun
3135-212 useful for reliability
3135-213 useful for reliability
3135-240 useful for reliability
3135-241 useful for reliability
3135-300 just for fun
3135-305 just for fun
3135-360 ok if you have it
3135-639 just for fun
3135-645 strongly rec. for reliability
Upgrades for SH3135/Yuki in general.
While ado recommends to have a look at each movement first, before putting lots of money into gen parts (which seems logical), there is some others who recommend changing this and that. Since my last review of 16610, I gained some more information regarding upgrades, as below. Nothing of this is painted in stone and movements can also work without changing anything by just doing a proper service. Bear that in mind.
It seems mandatory for most movements to change the following parts
3135-625 = ~50£ Date Wheel Mounted
3135-614 = ~50£ Date Jumper
3135-645 = ~40£ Date Corrector
I (ado) changed only 645 on mine and it seems to be reliable as well
Furthermore, these parts are highly recommend:
3135-280 = ~30£ Hour Wheel! I have a 80% gen hybrid movement, and this part isn’t included thefe but it runs like a champ
3135-623 = 36£ Date Finger!! Allows you to change date during forbidden hours. Could be useful!
Two parts that could be replaced by gen ones, if stem doesn’t work very well in its 3 positions:
3135-204
3135-205
Of course, some people also recommend to change reversing wheels or even complete automatic module (I’ve still not decided to do this in future or not, but as long as rotor shouldn’t make that much noises, I wouldn’t change anything before it runs into failure). By the way, complete Automatic module has the advantage that it is gen engraved - which I personally prefer, although no one will see ever...
3135-540 (2x) = ~65£ = ~130£
Or
3135-145 => ~300£ Automatic module
Some other parts to make the movement more reliabl:
3135-421 = ~50£ Anchor
3135-600 = ~100£ Date indicator seating for wrong date positioning - if not centered or if you use SH3135 and gen date disc might not fit because of different thickness. Yuki seems better in this part
3135-670 = ~45£ Intermediate Date Wheel
Plus, you might need those parts, after running into failure:
3135-212 = ~30£ => ok, changed this
3135-213 = ~30£ => ok changed this
3135-217 = ~42£ Wig Wag Pinion
3135-241 => depending on tolerance of rep one you might be good with this.
Others change even more, but I think that’s way over:
3135-311 = ~20£
3135-360 = fits, not essential => I changed as well on mine
To address keyless issue
3135-266
3135-240 = ~30£ => ok, changed on mine
3135-250 = might not be interchangeable or only together with 3135-268
3135-230 => might not fit, was case with mine, because 220 and 225 need to be included as well
3135-260 => ~30£
3135-270 => ~30£
If your movement makes problems with gen hands, you need 3135-335 Canon/Minute Pinion and this might fit only with 3135-125
Check this for an additional overview of parts that will fit
https://rwg.cc/topic/189131-information-on-yuki-3135-movement-and-original-rolex-spare-parts/
———————————
Dial and hands
I bought a set of gen 3135 hands for date models in white gold.
They came new and seem similar for all 5 digit ss date / air king models.
The dial was a premium refinished aftermarket dial with Mother of Pearl effect. First, I was a bit sceptical, but after seeing it live, it was great. Perfect for my wife. Unfortunately, it came with wrong dial feet (maybe for very old movements), but Ado cut them off and glued it onto my movement as well. As this was a customized dial anyway, no one will ever question if it’s genuine or not. Because it’s made for this build and there is so many different colors for Datejust and Date models available, that I’m sure none will be able to know all of them. By the way, price for this dial was equal to a gen one. So it’s really nice quality. Also backside is gold etc.
———————————
Crystal
As already mentioned, this model takes sapphire crystals. I purchase a 25-286-C1 from Ebay for roughly 50€. No clue where the difference is from C1 to 25-286-C but it seems that both are available and fit. Without C means w/o cyclops. In general, I wouldn’t consider an aftermarket crystal as fake. Nevertheless, the one I bought (which was a sternglas) didn’t fit. Neither the size of the cyclops was correct, nor the gasket fitted. Thus, I returned it and went for a gen one with LEC and a little chip on it which I can live with. This one is way better. Anyway, I think there is also good Aftermarket ones you could use instead!
———————————
Bezel
I had the chance to purchase a gen fluted bezel for a 5500 but I missed it because I was not able to figure out, whether it will fit or not. Most say it won’t fit because it’s made for a plastic glass gasket diameter... and constructions of plastic glass gaskets are different than sapphire glass gaskets. Both are putting tension on the bezel to keep them fixed, so it’s crucial to have it fitting perfectly. Otherwise, you may lose water resistance. I decided to go for a WSO (wholesaleoutlet / eBay) stainless steel bezel for 34mm sapphire crystals. It’s new and should look similar.
———————————
Bracelet
While there is some good versions of bracelet bands out there, I wanted to have a gen clasp. Because IMO, clasps and date discs remain an easy tell on most reps I’ve seen. A gen clasp opens and closes really smoothly, while reps are way stronger.
The period correct bracelet and clasp is a 78350 19. The „19“ stands for 19mm because the lug size is 19mm on 34mm models, instead of 20mm where most bracelets are made for. The equivalent clasp for 20mm lug size (like old GMT master) is called 78360.
There is also another clasp „62510 H“ which exists for both 19 and 20mm lug sizes.
So, my crucial question was, will they be interchangeable? Means, can I buy a 20mm clasp and mount it on a 19mm bracelet, because this opens the field for search. My second question was, will a 20mm bracelet fit to a 19mm end link.
To keep it short, I didn’t found a clear and serious answer online. People say, the bracelets of 78350 and 78360 are a bit different. They also say, that 19mm and 20mm 62510 H are different in terms of width. The only thing I found, that only older 4 digit 6251 seem to be similar in terms of sizes.
Anyway, I placed a rather low bit on eBay for a gen 78360 and all of a sudden I won the auction.
In parallel, I was searching for proper bands. Although 15200 requires a matte bracelet, I wanted to have the mid link polished style of a 115200
As you can see, lugs are also polished on 6 digit version. Not sure if I will do this in future, but for now I’m happy with the mixed style.
Very soon it turned out a gen bracelet for new models (72190 19mm) costs around 1.200€ and was out of scope. Nonetheless, I found a cheap neutral version on eBay from member riyi002, who was recommended on some forums for cheap prices but fair quality. For 30€ I would say, the quality is more than ok. End links fit properly and bands are also nice. Engravings are not that good on the inner side, but who cares. And removable links are not fully drilled to see bars on both sides. Also no issue for me.
I purchased a matte bracelet from WSO for around 30€ as well just to compare quality and styles. Some people recommend yukiwatches for its 19mm bracelet. I didn’t try them but they do also not cost that much (60€).
However, most of 19mm rep clasps have only 6 wholes to adjust the bracelet length inside of the clasp. Thus, I was happy to switch with my gen clasp and it fitted
It’s a bit tough play for the links being „inside“ the clasp, but overall good enough to keep it.
———————————
That’s the new beauty. Thanks for reading.
„Time doesn‘t exist. Clocks exist.“
„I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.“
