Ginault franken

[Katarsis]

Let's say that I can buy a new Ginault for 500€.
On said watch I add gen rolex dial, hands and clasp.

Am I thinking correct when I'm assuming that this project would be a very good Franken and quite affordable?

 

[mew]

No.

Assuming that the parts would even fit together - which they won't - you still have a horrible bracelet, bezel, insert, non-existent rehaut engraving etc.

You are better off buying a 500€ ZZF / ARF and then switching some parts out.

 

[bill33]

No.

Assuming that the parts would even fit together - which they won't - you still have a horrible bracelet, bezel, insert, non-existent rehaut engraving etc.

You are better off buying a 500€ ZZF / ARF and then switching some parts out.

What are you talking about? The parts will fit. The bezels are incredibly close to gen and will take a genuine insert, the bracelets are very good also and 16610 is fine without rehaut engravings.

 

[KJ2020]

You would need a crown and caseback too. I thought seriously about doing this. One of the main reasons I scrapped the notion was the SEL recess on the Ginault is way too deep. Sure you can use an ARF bracelet but the Ginault is not cheap and having to pay another $168 and lose use of the Ginault bracelet is just too much to swallow.

 

[bill33]

You’ll struggle to find a Ginault at $500.

Ginault will sell you parts. I looked into this last year and was give the following prices:

Case $250 (will need another case back as it’s engraved with Ginault logo)

Bezel assembly $280.

Bracelet without a clasp $115.

You’ll still need;

SH or VR3135 movement.
Gen Date disc.
Gen Crystal.
Gen Dial.
Gen Hands.
Gen Clasp.
Gen Bezel insert.
Gen crown.

For a proper franken you’re looking at around $3000 not cheap. And that’s without any movement parts or servicing.

 

[Princewilliam]

No.

Assuming that the parts would even fit together - which they won't - you still have a horrible bracelet, bezel, insert, non-existent rehaut engraving etc.

You are better off buying a 500€ ZZF / ARF and then switching some parts out.

Why even comment if you aren’t familiar with this concept


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[gunsmoke16610]

bill33 excellent response man. OP you may consider a Startime 3135 case/bezel and go with a tritium dial and 93150 or lookout for a TC 93160 and a luminova dial. The ST case is built very well however, it will need to be reshaped and crown guards are smaller than Gen.


The most common 5 digit 16610 Franken builds these days are JF based but common is not as fun IMO.

BTW there are tons of outstanding 5 digit build advice in this forum, I would take some time and read through them. I found it very beneficial and saved me time and money with my builds.

Good luck

 

[DC109]

You’ll struggle to find a Ginault at $500.

Ginault will sell you parts. I looked into this last year and was give the following prices:

Case $250 (will need another case back as it’s engraved with Ginault logo)

Bezel assembly $280.

Bracelet without a clasp $115.

You’ll still need;

SH or VR3135 movement.
Gen Date disc.
Gen Crystal.
Gen Dial.
Gen Hands.
Gen Clasp.
Gen Bezel insert.
Gen crown.

For a proper franken you’re looking at around $3000 not cheap. And that’s without any movement parts or servicing.

That would be quite a super-franken, but that's more gen than necessary for my eye. The Ginault case, bezel assembly, and crystal can replace those parts on a JF for a hybrid that makes up for the JF's terrible lugs, CGs, incorrect crystal bevel angle, and shallow rehaut. For a splurge, maybe a gen insert and dial.

 

[alligoat]

If you were to take the ocean rover 181175LSILN and change out the dial and hands, you'd almost be there, but It wouldn't be cheap. I think picking up a Ginault for 500 euros is wishful thinking.
https://ginault.com/ocean-rover-181175lsiln/
I'm thinking that the caliber 7275 is just TC's 2824-2 clone. If you could pick up a TC KH 16610 dial and hands, it should be an easy swap.
You'd still have to deal with the crown and clasp and the caseback if it really bothered you- but who's going to see the caseback?

But I do think the easiest way to a budget 16610 is to find one from a TD which has a decent asian clone, if they're still around. Unfortunately, 16610s are getting hard to find these days.
I recently picked up this 16610 case with a 116610 dial and hands and a SH3135 movement. I installed a bezel and insert which I had lying around and an old noobmariner 93250 and made a somewhat updated 16610. Of course I still need to get the SH3135 serviced- it's running ok but the autowind assembly is suspect

 

[sn95]

You can but its not worth it, zzf is way better, you could swap in a swiss movement for reliability and be set with no additional mods required. With a ginault you'd have to replace hands, dial, caseback, crown, and clasp at the very least.

 

[bill33]

You can but its not worth it, zzf is way better, you could swap in a swiss movement for reliability and be set with no additional mods required. With a ginault you'd have to replace hands, dial, caseback, crown, and clasp at the very least.

The ZZF wouldn’t be anywhere close to a franken Ginault, done properly it will be impossible to tell without removing the bracelet or case back.

The ZZFs V2s are good, don’t get me wrong, I had one, but the rehaut serial at 6 o clock is utter shit. Dead giveaway. I swapped the case on my build from ZZF V2 back to a V6s case.

 

[sn95]

The ZZF wouldn’t be anywhere close to a franken Ginault, done properly it will be impossible to tell without removing the bracelet or case back.

The ZZFs V2s are good, don’t get me wrong, I had one, but the rehaut serial at 6 o clock is utter shit. Dead giveaway. I swapped the case on my build from ZZF V2 back to a V6s case.

v6s is probably the best case made hands down so I can agree with you on that. ZZF dial, hands, and insert are 98% similar to gen in terms of appearance.

 

[gunsmoke16610]

The Ginault case is an expense option but it's possible to build accurate watches with that case and bezel.

Here is an example; TC case and case back. Lugs pierced and many Gen parts. It's impossible to identify this as a Franken unless the bracelet or case back is removed.

 

[2fake4u]

yes. ive done it as have many others on here.

if you can franken a tc v7, you can turn a ginault into a franken.

if anything, buy a jf 16610 and swap the rolex parts into the ginault case and the ginault into the JF. the ginault case shape is closer to gen than the JF, and no one cares if a ginault case shape isnt correct.