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COMEX ... 5514 & 1665

maitre yoda

Active Member
11/1/19
295
140
43
France - Savoie
Hello everyone.
Small review of my 2 COMEX, a 5514 and a 1665.
I was finally able to reunite the one I had been looking for a long time.
You just have to be patient ...



 

maitre yoda

Active Member
11/1/19
295
140
43
France - Savoie
1665

Case Work - thinning down the middle of the case, shaping + polishing the side profile, reshaping crown guards, reshaping the lugs, restoring the top and sides of the lugs, aging / vintagization with multiple polishing cycles in between
- Re-cover the legs (clean)
- Lug holes drilled to accept Gen spec spring bars
- Re-drilled tube hole and tapping new threads for the tube hole
- Drilled a bur for the tube in the housing and installed the Gen Crown + Tube and sealed the wires from the housing-tube
- Vintagized between the lugs to mimic ~ 50 years of wear and to make the laser engraving look more Gen-like (so you can wear the watch with a leather strap as well)
- New dial feet attached to the dial (for the position of the ETA movement feet)
- Surface of the date wheel in brass sanded on a lathe
- Date disc overlay (Rolex font with flat top 3, open 6 and 9) aligned and glued to the prepared ETA date wheel (aligned in the date window of the dial)
- Aged / vintage (!) Date disc overlay
- New movement of the movement stem + stem adjustment for the Gen Rolex 703/704 crown
- Tropic 39 Superdome installed and sealed
- Bezel ring slightly thinned and tight on the retaining ring
- Bezel Insert aged and re-coated with acrylic lacquer after aging
- Perle tritium bezel installed
- Vintage lume matched on the dial and hands + Slight aging of the hands
- Vintagized bracelet, butter-greased links and softened sharp edges
- 580 Adjusted end buttons for thinner horns









 
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hanski

Renowned Member
25/4/18
824
501
0
Great projects! Well done.

If I may be so bold as to suggest a couple of upgrades that will really set these pieces off:

- Get a couple MK3 crownartcustoms (on Instagram) inserts
- Consider hunting down some genuine Rolex crystals

Wear 'em well!
 
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p0pperini

patr0n h0arder
Gold Patron
Certified
29/1/19
8,895
29,415
113
UK
Amazing watches, congratulations on putting together such a stunning duo.

Each to their own, but personally I find that the heavily stitched and embossed straps detract from the classic simplicity of the watches.
 
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maitre yoda

Active Member
11/1/19
295
140
43
France - Savoie
Amazing watches, congratulations on putting together such a stunning duo.

Each to their own, but personally I find that the heavily stitched and embossed straps detract from the classic simplicity of the watches.

Knowing your collection, I really appreciate your compliment.
Regarding the bracelet, I am more leather in winter and steel in summer.
After these leathers are quite fine and very flexible.

;)
 
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DrDealgood

Supporter
4/9/17
304
142
43
Hmm ? Yes very nice watches, but the 1665 COMEX dial is wrong. The Gen has printed "Oyster Perpetual" only.
On the 1665 COMEX Service Dial it is "Oyster Perpertual Date" but then is printed "2000 ft = 610 m" One of my Rep-Dials



and this is how a case-back of a 1665 COMEX looks like

One of my 1665 COMEX Case-backs

 

BlakeMcJake

You're Saying I Can Sell?
10/11/20
57
29
0
Very cool. An older guy I did some work with came out on the boat one day, former sat-rat in the North Sea. He wants to go for a swim and takes his watch off and leaves it on the dash because “dang thing pops open if I’m not careful, lost it snorkeling once but was able to free dive down and find it.” I look at it while he’s in the water and notice it had COMEX written on the face.

I didn’t know squat about watches back then but I did know about COMEX from their crazy experimental chamber dives they used to do with Hydrogen mixes.
Buddy tells me he bought it off a guy on an oil rig because he wanted to buy a motorized scooter on shore. They thought that COMEX painted their name on it so it was probably worth nothing but still gave him a few hundred bucks for it because he felt bad.

I google “COMEX Rolex” when I get home and tell him he should go get it appraised ASAP. He calls me the next day and goes “I brought it to a jeweler I use, he offered me $20k cash on the spot for it so knowing him it’s gotta be worth $40k!”

Guy wore a COMEX sub as a daily for 30+ years and had no idea how special it was. He said he keeps it in a safe until he “croaks” and leaves it to his daughter. He figures it’s tax free inheritance. Hahaha.
 
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maitre yoda

Active Member
11/1/19
295
140
43
France - Savoie
Hmm ? Yes very nice watches, but the 1665 COMEX dial is wrong. The Gen has printed "Oyster Perpetual" only.
On the 1665 COMEX Service Dial it is "Oyster Perpertual Date" but then is printed "2000 ft = 610 m" One of my Rep-Dials



and this is how a case-back of a 1665 COMEX looks like

One of my 1665 COMEX Case-backs


Yes you are right about the dial.
The one that is "Oyster Perpertual Date" is then printed "2000 ft = 610 m"



It's a detail that doesn't disturb me too much ...

On the other hand, the bottom of the box is not good at all.
All that's left is to find one.
An idea or find ?

The last point that will have to be changed is the date disc.
The font is good, but the ten numbers are not centered.

It will stay like this at first, it suits me well like this.

;)
 

LondonBloke2019

You're Saying I Can Sell?
15/6/19
66
13
8
Hmm ? Yes very nice watches, but the 1665 COMEX dial is wrong. The Gen has printed "Oyster Perpetual" only.


One of my 1665 COMEX Case-backs

Z8jhqo.jpg

The COMEX number doesn't look right. The numbers are much bigger on the gen COMEX
 
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