So the refinished dials are replicas? They don't advertise the prices there, in what ballpark would a dial be? Thanks so much for taking your time to reply though.
The refinished dials are borderline reps. They’re printed on genuine beyer or singer plates and have the same dial specs as gen but the print isn’t gen.
MQ or ruby is about the best you can get. The prices for dials vary depending on the model. Expect something around $300-500 mark.
A gen 1570 or 1575 caliber movement is gonna cost you roughly $2k, more or less.
If you’re going with a gen movement, you’re going to need a gen spec case which would be ruby or phong. Ruby is about $600 the last time I talked to her. I think phong costs a lot more. ST has good looking cases but need a lot of work. However, they don’t sell to the public. You have to be a member of some watching making thing. Idk. They didn’t give me too much details except “we can’t sell to you”. There are some members that can help with that but I don’t know who all can and willing.
If this is your first vintage build, I would recommend starting out with basic cartel watches and mod them. You’re going to make some mistakes and you do not want to make mistakes on expensive builds.
I’d say start out with a no date 5513. Those can take gen spec dials bc the cartel cases fit 26mm dials which 5513s are. If you want to build a 1680 and want to use a good dial like MQ or Ruby, they will not fit unless you shave them about .5mm. 1680s will also help you learn how to align datewheel overlays. That can be easy or you can spend days trying to get it right. You may luck out the first time.
You also need all of the correct tools so if you don’t have them, don’t start yet.
I’d recommend starting out with just basic cartel everything. Practice luming. Practice everything. One thing that will drive you crazy is keyless works. The first few builds I did, ended up in the trash bc I screwed the keyless works up bad and had no idea wtf I was doing. Plus, if you reset that enough times using too much pressure, you’re going to need some new parts bc it won’t push back hard enough to set it tight.
So practice practice practice before starting anything expansive. You do not want a $400 project turning in to a $1000+ project because you broke stuff that needed to be replaced or thrown away. Hell, I’ve done a number of builds and recently broke a few things during a build. It’s not just something you just pick up. Definitely not like modding cars. Those parts can be forgiving. Tiny watch parts, not so much. I’m no pro but I have made plenty of mistakes in this hobby. I’ve had plenty of $300 builds turn in to ones that end up costing me a $100 + more.
Even the pros make mistakes and some of them do these daily. Watches are not the most forgiving things to mod. They don’t like it when you try to change stuff and they remember. Lol.
Seriously though, get the correct tools (they can get pricey) and start out with a cheap build. If it goes well, sell it and start a higher end build. Slowly move up the budget until you get the build you wanted when you started the hobby.
I finally got my 16800 and I still have stuff I want to change that I can’t afford or source right now. This is THE watch I wanted when I started out on reps and then found out that they didn’t rep those so the modding practice began. This was about 7 years and many watches ago.
Remember, if you break something or don’t know why something isn’t working right, this forum is a amazing place for info. The pros here REALLY know their stuff. Hell, you can post a picture of any vintage Rolex and member like KJ and yodog can literally tell you which part came from where. Which parts are reps and which parts are gen. The stuff they know is mind blowing to me. I’m a Rolex junkie and I still have tons to learn.
Good luck and wish you the best.
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