- 13/10/16
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I've built that watch a few months ago but I never took time to post anything about it so I'll try to do it during the few next weeks.
First I want to specify that it is my very first build.
I joined RWI forum last october (I was searching for technical informations on how to repair an old automatic watch my father-in -aw gave me) and until that I really was no involved in watches.
I read as much posts as I could in every sub-forum, particularly the technical posts and most off the stunning vintage watch modding threads, and decided that I should try to do something by myself.
I first bought some Reps on M2M, tried my skills opening them, releasing the crowns, taking the movements off and putting them back, etc …
And I was « there » until last December when I discussed about my new hobby with my elder son.
WHY A 16800 COMEX BUILD
My eldest son lives in Norway, works on and oil & gas engineering company and is specialized on subsea engineering.
He dives since about 10 years and is on his way for an open water diving instructor certification.
He came home during 2016 Christmas holidays and we talked about my new hobby, specificaly about divers watches.
And because we are both Frenchies we talked about the COMEX and the diver watches ROLEX provided to that company over the years (Submariners and Seadwellers).
So when he leaved back to Oslo I began to think about buying him a watch, something connected with his birth year, his diving hobby, his work.
I made some research on TDs websites and found some fine COMEX reps, mostly 1680 models.
But my son is born in 1984 so I really wanted a 1984 year watch.
Unfortunately I discovered that none of those 1680 « easy build » models would do the job.
After some more search I stumbled on the drsd (double red sea-dweller) website and discovered that the only Submariner model provided to the Comex in 1984 was the 16800.
I came back to TDs website for a long search but … NOTHING
I tried to find a 16800 on M2M sales … still NOTHING
And I discovered that the 16800 Submariner has never been repped.
So I searched the modd threads on RWI and I quickly understood that the 16800 Submariner was not only a very rare and never repped watch but a very difficult one to build.
Of course trying to find a Gen was not a option.
The only watch perfectly metting the specifications (16800 model / 1984 year / Comex branded) was sold at Christie’s Geneva in 2012 … for the « nice» amount of 46,500 USD.
So I was stuck with a tough choice … give up the project or try something where almost only seasoned modders succeded.
First option was the choice of reason.
But I am not a reasonable guy and I am obstinate/stubborn/mulish/willful … pic the one you prefer.
And that’s all about how I decided to make my first build, and that first build would be a 1984 year 16800 COMEX Submariner.
SEARCHING FOR THE « BASE WATCH »
The 1984 year 16800 Comex Submariner is considered a « transitionnal watch » between the 1680 and the 16610.
Most of the specs are the same as the early 16610 Subs.
Movement :
- cal. 3035
Case :
- Thin case and doomed backcase
- Drilled lugs
- Thin crownguards
- Unengraved rehaut (no « Rolex Rolex Rolex … »)
Bezel :
- unidirectionnal with a clear « click »
- metal insert with a pearl circled with white gold
- pointed 4
Crystal :
- sapphire
Dial :
- glossy
- indexes circled with white gold
- Tritium (SWISS-THands :
- White gold
Bracelet :
- 93150
- 501B endlinks
I knew that the 3035 movement and the «white gold stuff » were not an option because of my low budget.
But everything else seemed … hmmm … doable :hehehe:
The GOOD news was that a 16610 case would do the job.
The BAD news was that it had to have drilled lugs or that I would have to drill them.
About the dial … thanks to the wonderfull threads of , I had a very good idea about how to modd it (COMEX + SWISS - T
So I tried to find a 16610 watch with drilled lugs and thin crwonguards.
There you began to laugh … and you CAN laugh because I did not found anything (except for some very high priced sales).
But, once again, I’m a stubborn.
I decided that a 16610 with thin crowguards would do the job, and that I could try to find a modder that would drill the lugs without charging too much for that.
And I proved to be fortunate.
After some days Sead1999 (supermirrors) showed me some stuff meeting almost every specs for my project :
- BP 16610 with thin crownguards (very close to the 16800’s) and glossy dial with circled indexes
- 92510 bracelet with 580 endlinks
And eveything for 194 USD shipping included.
So I quickly ordered (January 17th) and quickly received (30th January).
COMPARISON – CHECKING THE FLAWS
The first thing I did was to take a pics of my BP16610 in the same position than the Christie’s 16800.
The result proved to be very encouraging and the Rep watch showed to be very « close » to the model.
Plus the lume was a nice green, although sort of a little too « blueish » (but well … it’s not a tritium dial).
Of course there were many flaws that I would have to modd, some easily and some not, but many things were good enough for a low budget build :
Case :
- main shape - OK
- crownguards - not bad
- lugs - BAD because not drilled … a mandatory modd
Bezel :
- monodirectionnal - OK
- 120 clicks - OK
- « flat 4 » insert – « good » according to
Crystal :
- almost OK except for the engraved crown … not very visible
Dial :
- circled indexes … no white gold but hmmm … «low budget»
- Le cadran me semble globalement OK même si pas parfait
- Coronet a little to small … MHO
- « SWISS MADE » in place of « SWISS-T- no « COMEX » » … a mandatory modd
Bracelet :
- 93250 with SELs definitely not good buth the 93150 ordred with the watch would do the job after some work done on it
LET‘S SEE WHAT INSIDE THAT WATCH
After comparing and checking the flaws I quickly opened the watch and disassembled it (not the movement of course)
Sead1999 had told me it came with a 21J so I thought about a DG2813.
But no … DG4813 inside.
Not the most reliable of the 21J movements, according to the threads I have read, but I’ll keep it and cross my fingers.
Now I have uploaded 10 pics so I must put an end to that post.
But I'll be back tomorrow (or the day after) to tell you more about that build.
... TO BE CONTINUED ...
First I want to specify that it is my very first build.
I joined RWI forum last october (I was searching for technical informations on how to repair an old automatic watch my father-in -aw gave me) and until that I really was no involved in watches.
I read as much posts as I could in every sub-forum, particularly the technical posts and most off the stunning vintage watch modding threads, and decided that I should try to do something by myself.
I first bought some Reps on M2M, tried my skills opening them, releasing the crowns, taking the movements off and putting them back, etc …
And I was « there » until last December when I discussed about my new hobby with my elder son.
WHY A 16800 COMEX BUILD
My eldest son lives in Norway, works on and oil & gas engineering company and is specialized on subsea engineering.
He dives since about 10 years and is on his way for an open water diving instructor certification.
He came home during 2016 Christmas holidays and we talked about my new hobby, specificaly about divers watches.
And because we are both Frenchies we talked about the COMEX and the diver watches ROLEX provided to that company over the years (Submariners and Seadwellers).
So when he leaved back to Oslo I began to think about buying him a watch, something connected with his birth year, his diving hobby, his work.
I made some research on TDs websites and found some fine COMEX reps, mostly 1680 models.
But my son is born in 1984 so I really wanted a 1984 year watch.
Unfortunately I discovered that none of those 1680 « easy build » models would do the job.
After some more search I stumbled on the drsd (double red sea-dweller) website and discovered that the only Submariner model provided to the Comex in 1984 was the 16800.
I came back to TDs website for a long search but … NOTHING
I tried to find a 16800 on M2M sales … still NOTHING
And I discovered that the 16800 Submariner has never been repped.
So I searched the modd threads on RWI and I quickly understood that the 16800 Submariner was not only a very rare and never repped watch but a very difficult one to build.
Of course trying to find a Gen was not a option.
The only watch perfectly metting the specifications (16800 model / 1984 year / Comex branded) was sold at Christie’s Geneva in 2012 … for the « nice» amount of 46,500 USD.
So I was stuck with a tough choice … give up the project or try something where almost only seasoned modders succeded.
First option was the choice of reason.
But I am not a reasonable guy and I am obstinate/stubborn/mulish/willful … pic the one you prefer.
And that’s all about how I decided to make my first build, and that first build would be a 1984 year 16800 COMEX Submariner.
SEARCHING FOR THE « BASE WATCH »
The 1984 year 16800 Comex Submariner is considered a « transitionnal watch » between the 1680 and the 16610.
Most of the specs are the same as the early 16610 Subs.
Movement :
- cal. 3035
Case :
- Thin case and doomed backcase
- Drilled lugs
- Thin crownguards
- Unengraved rehaut (no « Rolex Rolex Rolex … »)
Bezel :
- unidirectionnal with a clear « click »
- metal insert with a pearl circled with white gold
- pointed 4
Crystal :
- sapphire
Dial :
- glossy
- indexes circled with white gold
- Tritium (SWISS-THands :
- White gold
Bracelet :
- 93150
- 501B endlinks
I knew that the 3035 movement and the «white gold stuff » were not an option because of my low budget.
But everything else seemed … hmmm … doable :hehehe:
The GOOD news was that a 16610 case would do the job.
The BAD news was that it had to have drilled lugs or that I would have to drill them.
About the dial … thanks to the wonderfull threads of , I had a very good idea about how to modd it (COMEX + SWISS - T
So I tried to find a 16610 watch with drilled lugs and thin crwonguards.
There you began to laugh … and you CAN laugh because I did not found anything (except for some very high priced sales).
But, once again, I’m a stubborn.
I decided that a 16610 with thin crowguards would do the job, and that I could try to find a modder that would drill the lugs without charging too much for that.
And I proved to be fortunate.
After some days Sead1999 (supermirrors) showed me some stuff meeting almost every specs for my project :
- BP 16610 with thin crownguards (very close to the 16800’s) and glossy dial with circled indexes
- 92510 bracelet with 580 endlinks
And eveything for 194 USD shipping included.
So I quickly ordered (January 17th) and quickly received (30th January).
COMPARISON – CHECKING THE FLAWS
The first thing I did was to take a pics of my BP16610 in the same position than the Christie’s 16800.
The result proved to be very encouraging and the Rep watch showed to be very « close » to the model.
Plus the lume was a nice green, although sort of a little too « blueish » (but well … it’s not a tritium dial).
Of course there were many flaws that I would have to modd, some easily and some not, but many things were good enough for a low budget build :
Case :
- main shape - OK
- crownguards - not bad
- lugs - BAD because not drilled … a mandatory modd
Bezel :
- monodirectionnal - OK
- 120 clicks - OK
- « flat 4 » insert – « good » according to
Crystal :
- almost OK except for the engraved crown … not very visible
Dial :
- circled indexes … no white gold but hmmm … «low budget»
- Le cadran me semble globalement OK même si pas parfait
- Coronet a little to small … MHO
- « SWISS MADE » in place of « SWISS-T- no « COMEX » » … a mandatory modd
Bracelet :
- 93250 with SELs definitely not good buth the 93150 ordred with the watch would do the job after some work done on it
LET‘S SEE WHAT INSIDE THAT WATCH
After comparing and checking the flaws I quickly opened the watch and disassembled it (not the movement of course)
Sead1999 had told me it came with a 21J so I thought about a DG2813.
But no … DG4813 inside.
Not the most reliable of the 21J movements, according to the threads I have read, but I’ll keep it and cross my fingers.
Now I have uploaded 10 pics so I must put an end to that post.
But I'll be back tomorrow (or the day after) to tell you more about that build.
... TO BE CONTINUED ...
Last edited:
