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Building a budget 16610

Parto

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I've seen some fantastic franken 16610 builds but with funds limited I'm trying to build a budget 16610 (<$500).

Having tried for over 6mths to find a reasonably 16610 on m2m I was planning to buy an ARF when a kind member reached out and offered to sell me his 16610LV (thanks Eldonsimon ). The watch was a V1 which has a few flaws; slightly wokky rehaut, off white text and this particular example (like several others) had a broken bracelet.
20210704-150444.jpg

20210703-132105.jpg

Unfortunately the end of the spring bar was wedged in despite trying every trick I could read (freezing, heating, ultrasonic cleaning.....) it wouldn't budge. I took apart a spare 93150 bracelet but the holes were slightly out and it left a gap when I tried to join them. At this point I parked the bracelet and decided to focus on the rest of the watch.
20210705-124817.jpg

I have a few used 3135 datewheels already and bought m2m a vr3135 and ARF dial, hands and insert. Particular thanks to Kerushi11 for the ARF set and some useful build advise. I'm hopeful I can pick up a VSF 116610 crystal as I prefer the look of the AR crystals to complete the watch head.

My plan was to sand off the rehaut, not because the watch looked wokky, but more so that is wasn't well aligned (particularly the X at 5 o'clock). After putting the watch together I managed to get it quite well aligned so am now contemplating keeping the rehaut.
20210716-140854.jpg

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I liked the look of the watch so much I took an endlink piece off an old 6 digit bracelet and am using this for now. The SEL isn't great, I can't use the 2mm springbars and it protrudes at the back but it is wearable until I can (hopefully) find a replacement bracelet or endlink section I need to fix.
20210716-151910.jpg

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Hopefully in a couple of weeks I can get hold of a crystal and will decide then whether or not to remove the rehaut.
 
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KJ2020

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Looks nice bro. Keep in mind that removing the rehaut engraving will cause the rehaut to open up by the depth of the engravings and then some. This has the undesirable effect of creating floating minute tics which are not found on gen 16610's, or many other Rolex dials. Gain a little, lose a little sometimes.

The rehaut engraving on some reps is too atrocious not to do it sometimes. This rep had the serial number at the TOP, and no Crown engraving, wtf?

qmaIh.jpg


Shaving the rehaut always results in increasing the rehaut opening size, but can still be an improvement overall

15762152485991.jpg
 
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Parto

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Thanks KJ2020 the rehaut has a step at the bottom so I think it can be removed without enlarging the opening. I've tried to picture it below
20210716-180148.jpg
 

KJ2020

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Thanks KJ2020 the rehaut has a step at the bottom so I think it can be removed without enlarging the opening. I've tried to picture it below
20210716-180148.jpg

I've removed one or two with that step present and it's pretty difficult to keep the step intact, at least if done by hand. I don't have a lathe but I imagine if the case were set up just right and the cutting tool was set properly, it would yield a nice result. You have to take off more than you might think on some rehauts to completely erase the engravings, sometimes as much as 0.2mm. Shaving that much off even at the perfect angle would reduce the height of that bottom vertical step, maybe even remove it altogether. Add to that doing it by hand with sandpaper wrapped around a round tool handle and it becomes practically impossible to keep that step intact. Or the rehaut opening unaffected.

This is how I've done it
jzqovF.jpg
 
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McDuck888

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I'm a massive fan of those cheap long metal files from ebay for a first pass for their rigidity.

KJ2020 KJ I've always read 'floating minute ticks' and never been able to imagine what everyone means. Is it a case of the minute ticks having free dial space beyond them on the outer edge of the face like my personal ABOMINATION created from old spare parts lol! ;-) Gotdamn my gold sub looks so wrong, but I wanted to house some old parts safely and have fun with it. I bought that dial chewed to hell, but I enjoy the colour so so much.
jz8DpP.jpg
(A TC dial within SA3135 case. Gen dial wasn't looking so hot in this case either tbf)
 

McDuck888

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Thanks so much for sharing your build. Your pics are making me miss having a 16610LN like crazy dude. It feels great seeing those parts getting put to good use! I'm so glad your dial has crisp white lettering now for the centrepiece of the whole watch looking fresh. Nice one!!
I think Sead is planning on getting some VSF watches in his UK stock real soon, so I'm hoping more and more people might have a spare VSF crystal for your build soon enough.


I put my watch inside the ARF case instead of the TC yesterday. And although mine photographs a bit wokky, it feels a lot less so in the flesh to me, and I'm enjoying it. I like there not being a small gap between the endlinks and case fitment that I'd previously had. (I hadn't minded it previously though, because I love the watch to pieces regardlessly. (because like you said, the tc might have an extra 1mm or so between the lugs. I might reshape the outside of this ARF case a little too for fun. We'll see.
jz8H7L.jpg
 
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KJ2020

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I'm a massive fan of those cheap long metal files from ebay for a first pass for their rigidity.

KJ2020 KJ I've always read 'floating minute ticks' and never been able to imagine what everyone means. Is it a case of the minute ticks having free dial space beyond them on the outer edge of the face like my personal ABOMINATION created from old spare parts lol! ;-) Gotdamn my gold sub looks so wrong, but I wanted to house some old parts safely and have fun with it. I bought that dial chewed to hell, but I enjoy the colour so so much.
jz8DpP.jpg
(A TC dial within SA3135 case. Gen dial wasn't looking so hot in this case either tbf)

Yes that's it exactly bro. It's just one of those things you have to live with on a rep sometimes. I'm not bothered by it generally speaking, often there isn't a better option given the constraints of rep parts. With many rehaut openings, even a gen dial would not be an option because they are even smaller in diameter.

I don't even think about it most of the time, and even when I do, I quickly remind myself that I'm fine with it "I already approved that flaw" so to speak.

Where it becomes a factor though, is in determining whether or not a rehaut engraving should be sanded off. If the engravings are not horrible and belong on some model versions, I would be inclined to leave well enough alone. But some models like all 5 digit GMTs never had rehaut engraving, so those need to go IMO.

Floating tics are present on a lot more reps than we might have noticed, but I don't let that ruin my enjoyment of them.

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-
 

McDuck888

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(I keep getting tempted to order another with engraved rehaut this time, every time I see yours though. Imagine how noisy and overcrowded my watch would look with rehaut engravings when I take a photo, haha. Way too much going on on my own watch. I think i'd like a racket!)
 

McDuck888

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KJ2020 Gotcha Gotcha! Thanks a lot KJ !!! I'm really curious now to try and remember how much room for rehaut removal there might be in the ARF case with an ARF dial within it. Really excited to see if Parto keeps his rehaut engravings or decides to try out a removal.
 

McDuck888

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KJ2020 Yes! You got it. Gen dial also doesn’t sit right within my BP case. Even TC case, you wouldn’t believe how many micro adjustments I make to a dial and still don’t get it beautifully centred though, check out my wonky friend after many attempts, still off to the left ;)
the ARF case just looked after me for the rehaut opening being small enough at the moment that my own mistakes with fitment will always be covered with no floating ticks. For that reason I’ve really enjoyed the ARF case lol. (Pic is of gen dial within the BP case. And my poor handiwork putting my gen dial in the TC off to one side - doh! ;))
 
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Parto

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I'm pretty sure it's going to go but I'll leave it until I get a crystal.

Quick question I was planning on starting at 220 grit then working up until the finish was similar to my Ginault. Is that too aggressive a grit to start with and where do most people finish?
 
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KJ2020

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I'm pretty sure it's going to go but I'll leave it until I get a crystal.

Quick question I was planning on starting at 220 grit then working up until the finish was similar to my Ginault. Is that too aggressive a grit to start with and where do most people finish?

220 is pretty aggressive. I would start with 320 and see how it goes. I always end with 600, it puts nice little brush marks on the rehaut.
 
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KJ2020

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Here is one I did compared to a stock TC

jz8fmv.jpg


You can also use a piece of green Scotchbrite to even up the brush strokes on the finished rehaut. It will smooth them down a tad, I use the 600 grit and the Scotchbrite against each other. 600 to deepen brush strokes, Scotchbrite to soften them.
 
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Parto

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So not wanting to just put the old JF parts in a draw given the movement was running fine I bought a cheap 16610 case from aliexpress for £35
20210719-105014.jpg

I decided to use this case to practise removing the rehaut.
20210719-134831.jpg

The stock crystal was awful, with the LEC painted on the inside of the crystal, so replaced with a period correct non AR crystal from cousins. The JF bezel insert snapped straight in as well which was a bonus.
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KJ2020

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So not wanting to just put the old JF parts in a draw given the movement was running fine I bought a cheap 16610 case from aliexpress for £35

20210719-134831.jpg

Looks great bro. Way to turn spare parts into something worth wearing!
 
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Parto

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So parts have arrived for the next upgrades. I have sanded the rehaut and fitted a VSF S29 crystal as gen (with AR) isn't really in the spirit of a budget build.
20210820-135804.jpg


I also pried apart and bracelet section from a 6 digit sub and put in the JF endlink. There is a little bit of marking from the separation but I'm hoping it might be less visible once brushed.
20210820-140044.jpg

​​​​​​​
The ARF insert is too small so I'm going to have to look for a new one but for now I have fixed with GS Hypo. Last job will be to improve the SEL fitting at the 6 o clock side which is quite flush.

Overall very pleased with the build so far. Here it next to my new TC LV.
20210820-140452.jpg