$2000 to spend in a new 6263 project

[pclaussen]

Hi there! I am planning to start a new 6263 big red silver project. If you had around $2000 dollars to spend (or maybe a bit more), which parts would you consider in this build?

Maybe:

• Vietnam dial and insert (probably ruby)
• Val 72 Movement
• Any gen parts you recommend for this budget.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Mr Seamaster]

A V72 isn’t possible at a $2000.
A high grade cartel might be more in the budget.

Basewatch $250
GEN crown $300
Aftermarket tube $20
Cousins pushers $80 each
VN dial $250-400
Service for ST19 $150
Clarks T21 $20
VN bezel $200-250

The movement (Val) alone is 2k + even without a service.

 

[pclaussen]

Thanks! This is very clarifying!

 

[Mr Seamaster]

Not to forget the cost for assembling the whole thing if you can’t do it yourself.

I recommend the thread „Let’s talk Vintage Daytonas with the society...“

There are plenty builds with specs posted, pick one and build it.

 

[pclaussen]

I will do that, thanks for info!

 

[bigtiddygothgf]

keep in mind that assembling a cartel daytona with a VN dial is a lot more difficult than putting something like a submariner or GMT together. The subdial hand pinions need to be moved so they fit the VN dial.

 

[bc1221]

keep in mind that assembling a cartel daytona with a VN dial is a lot more difficult than putting something like a submariner or GMT together. The subdial hand pinions need to be moved so they fit the VN dial.

^^ this.

Plus, a v72 movement would not fit in a cartel case without some serious casework. V73 can fit with a little work from what I’ve heard.

Go with the cartel base
MQ dial (it’s not gonna be cheap and most likely the most expensive part of your build and the best dial imo) it’s gonna cost more than $400 bucks though.
Vietnam bezel with a flat top S.
Cousins pushers are good. Phongs would be better if you can find them.

Mine was a similar build (I didn’t build it. Just bought it).


- $220 Base cartel with ST-19 movement, modded for gen spec dial (6 o'clock subdial is frozen)
- $35 Athaya 702 crown and tube, retapped case to fit Athaya tube
- Custom aged hour and minute hands
- $18 Thin subdial hands, lightly aged
- $200 Viet bakelite bezel, modded cartel case for fitment
- $1200 high end, custom MQ tropical dial w/ gilted brown subdials, sunburst radial efftect on the dial.
- $8 Clarks Tropic 25-21 crystal, flawless no scratches
- $650 Genuine 7205 bracelet with 57 endlinks
- lumed hands to match the dial plots.

Be careful with the hour lume plots. They will most likely crumble off. If you can, I would put another drop of binder on them. Maybe add a bit of tea to it to make it a little darker. My 6 and 9 marker plots crumbled off and had little chunks stuck in random places so that was a pain in the ass.


Minus the gen bracelet and you would have a good build. Ruby has great dials but if you’re use a macro lens you can see the difference imo.
Ruby’s coronet looks a bit flat compared to Ming’s
Font is a lot more crisper and clearer. Serifs are much better and the text just looks better if you’re as OCD as much as all of us are. If you’re not, you will be eventually. Hehe

Mine is on its way to Cosmograph4Ever to get another ST19 installed. (4th wheel pinion snapped). I’m just happy I could get the pinion out of the small hand.

I wouldn’t bother getting it serviced tbh. You can just get a new movement for the same price.

You’re going to need to get some case work done for sure. Especially with a gen spec Vietnam dial. You’re also going to need to either drill the place at 6 to get a pinion there or just glue the wheel where the hole on the dial is.

Either way, good luck with your build. Sounds like a fun project.


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[Max23]

Very useful thread. Thanks


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando RWI

 

[bigtiddygothgf]

^^ this.

Plus, a v72 movement would not fit in a cartel case without some serious casework. V73 can fit with a little work from what I’ve heard.

Go with the cartel base
MQ dial (it’s not gonna be cheap and most likely the most expensive part of your build and the best dial imo) it’s gonna cost more than $400 bucks though.
Vietnam bezel with a flat top S.
Cousins pushers are good. Phongs would be better if you can find them.

Mine was a similar build (I didn’t build it. Just bought it).


- $220 Base cartel with ST-19 movement, modded for gen spec dial (6 o'clock subdial is frozen)
- $35 Athaya 702 crown and tube, retapped case to fit Athaya tube
- Custom aged hour and minute hands
- $18 Thin subdial hands, lightly aged
- $200 Viet bakelite bezel, modded cartel case for fitment
- $1200 high end, custom MQ tropical dial w/ gilted brown subdials, sunburst radial efftect on the dial.
- $8 Clarks Tropic 25-21 crystal, flawless no scratches
- $650 Genuine 7205 bracelet with 57 endlinks
- lumed hands to match the dial plots.

Be careful with the hour lume plots. They will most likely crumble off. If you can, I would put another drop of binder on them. Maybe add a bit of tea to it to make it a little darker. My 6 and 9 marker plots crumbled off and had little chunks stuck in random places so that was a pain in the ass.


Minus the gen bracelet and you would have a good build. Ruby has great dials but if you’re use a macro lens you can see the difference imo.
Ruby’s coronet looks a bit flat compared to Ming’s
Font is a lot more crisper and clearer. Serifs are much better and the text just looks better if you’re as OCD as much as all of us are. If you’re not, you will be eventually. Hehe

Mine is on its way to Cosmograph4Ever to get another ST19 installed. (4th wheel pinion snapped). I’m just happy I could get the pinion out of the small hand.

I wouldn’t bother getting it serviced tbh. You can just get a new movement for the same price.

You’re going to need to get some case work done for sure. Especially with a gen spec Vietnam dial. You’re also going to need to either drill the place at 6 to get a pinion there or just glue the wheel where the hole on the dial is.

Either way, good luck with your build. Sounds like a fun project.


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those tropical subdials look amazing. Ruby has started to get those in recently iirc. not sure how they hold up to the MQ dials though. How do you find the thickness on the Cartel case? thats the only thing that i have reservations about when it comes to cartel daytonas.

 

[bc1221]

those tropical subdials look amazing. Ruby has started to get those in recently iirc. not sure how they hold up to the MQ dials though. How do you find the thickness on the Cartel case? thats the only thing that i have reservations about when it comes to cartel daytonas.

You can thin them quite a bit. I didn’t build mine. Mainly because I’m not used to working on chronos but there is usually plenty of room on the back side of the case to thin it.

The MQ dial is better than Ruby’s imo. The difference is pretty hard to tell but OCD folks like me will bug out once I see a difference.
Ruby’s coronet looks flat on the dial.
Ruby’s print is a bit bolder than MQs and there is a few other differences.

Let me see if I can find the sale thread I bought this one from. The post has pics the differences.

 

[Peguine]

Just had this situation happen to me v recently, approached kilowattore to build a 6263 paul newman daytona for 2kUSD told me that a VAL 72 would be crazy expensive so i stepped up to it, he told me for 2k a top of the line 1680, 1675 is possible instead. As many others have said i reckon a high end cartel is better but maybe skip on the MQ dial and go for ruby, save the MQ for a VAL build i reckon.

 

[Max23]

With regard the case, is Cartel the only option? Or, there are other brands more expensive but close to gen? Same query for the bezel. Is the Viet one the closest to the gen? Thinking of building a 6263 but would like to get something very close to gen if possible ...

 

[bc1221]

With regard the case, is Cartel the only option? Or, there are other brands more expensive but close to gen? Same query for the bezel. Is the Viet one the closest to the gen? Thinking of building a 6263 but would like to get something very close to gen if possible ...

MQ ruby and phong sells gen spec cases but they’re roughly around $1k+

Unless you plan on putting a gen movement in it, I wouldn’t bother.

From what I’ve read, it CAN fit but it does need a LOT of reshaping and work on a cartel case.


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[Max23]

So, basically, the choice of the case is mainly driven by the type of movement you want to install. Any suggestion for the bezel?


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[pclaussen]

You can thin them quite a bit. I didn’t build mine. Mainly because I’m not used to working on chronos but there is usually plenty of room on the back side of the case to thin it.

The MQ dial is better than Ruby’s imo. The difference is pretty hard to tell but OCD folks like me will bug out once I see a difference.
Ruby’s coronet looks flat on the dial.
Ruby’s print is a bit bolder than MQs and there is a few other differences.

Let me see if I can find the sale thread I bought this one from. The post has pics the differences.

Thanks for the info! I talked to MQ and he has a 6263 bid red dial available for $1100. Also talked to ruby and in 2 months they will have this dial available for 335. Is the difference worth the 3x value?

 

[StanleyKipski]

great info i looking to build something around 5000 ..

 

[bc1221]

Thanks for the info! I talked to MQ and he has a 6263 bid red dial available for $1100. Also talked to ruby and in 2 months they will have this dial available for 335. Is the difference worth the 3x value?

From what I’ve seen and the MQ dial I have, there is a difference but I honestly don’t think it’s worth $700 more than Ruby’s. BUT, you have to realize that anyone that knows what a vintage cosmo is would know quite a bit.

Mings dial from what I’ve noticed has much better printing. The O’s are oval as they should be. Ruby’s seem to have them correct sometimes but I’ve heard it’s hit or miss with Ruby’s dials.

Ruby’s also has a crappies coronet on the dial imo. It looks flat. Ming’s coronet is gen. It’s pretty easy to tell the difference but most people wouldn’t know unless they had a gen sitting next to it. Or you can go buy a gen coronet off eBay for like $50 bucks or whatever. If you’re brave enough to swap it. Personally, I wouldn’t. Mainky because I have a sunburst dial and if I scratch that a little, it would show. You’re getting a black dial..? That would be easy to tell if it’s scratched via coronets feet.

Idk. It’s really a matter of how good you plan on making it. If the tiny details matter to you like all of us watch nerds, we could tell. 99% of the population wouldn’t be able to.

If you’re spending $2k on a build, I’d go with ruby on a modded cartel case. The dial alone would cost you half of your budget. The ST19 movement is not a bad movement and it’s not a clone or a rep. It’s a seagull movement that they make so they are pretty reliable. I wouldn’t go with a gen movement unless you plan on getting some sort of a showcase back or you have friends who are watch nerds they don’t know you like reps and want to see the movement.

Hell, you can MAYBE get a running v72 movement for $2k. I’ve seen NOS ones go for $5k and I’ve seen gen Rolex branded 72 movements sell for anywhere from $4 - $8k and they wouldn’t fit in a cartel case anyway.

You’re using a cartel case. I would just focus on the dial, crown, pushers and the hands. Those are the only things that people can see anyway.

I love my cosmo. It’s basically a cartel with a MQ gilt dial with tropic sub dials and a MQ bezel with the flat top S. That’s pretty much all there is and that was $1500 or so. Had a gen bracelet but that thing is crap. Traded with Cosmograph4Ever for a new movement (I broke my 4th wheel pinion), did some case shaping on one of my other builds, and a few other things. Basically, for about $800 worth of work and parts.

I’m using a oyster bracelet for it now. It’s waaay more comfortable than the gen 7206 and you can resize it without bending and shaping metal tabs.

If I were you I would just get a ruby dial + ruby bezel + better sub dial hands (Cosmograph4Ever makes great ones). That should fit your budget perfectly.


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[museguy]

Hi All,

Please excuse the newbie question.

"Cartel base"

Is this a suitable base for the above-described build?

Marvelous Replica $200 + $30 shipping 6263

Thank you!

 

[Spoons]

Hi All,

Please excuse the newbie question.

"Cartel base"

Is this a suitable base for the above-described build?

Yes

 

[museguy]

"Cartel base"

Is this a suitable base for the above-described build?

Marvelous Replica $200 + $30 shipping 6263

Thank you!​

Yes

Thank you Spoons !