Off topic:
what shall I put on today. GMT or Sub
what shall I put on today. GMT or Sub
Off topic:
what shall I put on today. GMT or Sub
GMT on one hand, sub on other!!
Ok. So today I had time when I got home to mess around with the 116610LN that I built.
I took the ARF crystal ring off and replaced it with a new rolex crystal ring. I also put on a full rolex bezel assembly, click spring and spacer. Came out great on the VRF case.
I do have to question the VRF on it being 904L. Man is that case a scratch magnet. Never the less when I am done I will take it apart and polish it.
The ARF 3186 still running great but found what the problem is. The click spring isn't broken. It is on the min wheel fine. It's the little gear on the top that has the star gear on the bottom. That is completely not working. I have a new real rolex min gear and spring. I was just told that the gear is in. So I will try to go pick it up. Maybe this weekend. Then I will service that. I can see that I need a bunch of real rolex parts. The ARF SH3186 is not the best quality. The date plate is good but there are bends on the top like if it were pushed down so the pinion would fit in the jewel. Odd.
Lastly on the VR3185 I changed the part 3185 660 and finish dialing it in. Got it freaking running amazing. So I will be putting that sucker in the 116610LN. I would had finished the build today but like I had said I screeched the dial so I am leaving it for now disassembled until I get the new dial. Here are a few pics.
One will be the real crystal ring compared to the ARF. You can see the machining and finish is different and so is the location of where the hytrel ring fits in. I would guess that was why I couldn't put the spacer ring on the from the ARF bezel.
The other will be how great the VRF 3185 is running! Dialed it in. In 3 of 6 positions it runs between -1 to +1 zero beat error. Best result in a service of a rep rolex movement I ever got. Im happy. LOL.
You mean this? But is not for sale
Good luck finding one mate
Thanks for the invaluable insight, as always. Are these the parts you're recommending upgrading for the SH3186?
3186-260
3186-657
3186-665
You said you can see that the SH3186 needs a bunch of real rolex parts- any particular parts stand out to you?
On the one I have yes those are the part numbers. I would also replace the whole date plate along with the small cover. Also on mine I may change part 662, 183, 268. That is just on a visual after removing the date plate to see why my jumping hour hand failed.
The ARF 3186 is not the best yet. I think they rushed it because of the VR GMT movement. Understand that most of the movement, as in Rolex's movement, is a 3135. Hour wheels and min wheels and all the GMT parts and date plate and date corrector and secondary date wheel. All this at least on mine, work flawlessly, except the jumping hour hand. It never really worked well but with in a day or two it just crapped out. But understand this is MY movement. My first VRF that I service's wasn't keeping GMT time with the hour hand. Ended up being part 660. Now I have the VRF Batman keeping perfect GMT time and jumping hour works great. So it my be a case by case issue. You may be lucky and get a ARF GMT working great.
They did keep saying after CNY. They told me a day before VRF release theirs that they were releasing it after CNY. Then a buddy sent me a pic of the VRF GMT and I reached back out to my contact at ARF and he said he would get me one to do the comparison. So it could have been a thrown together one. LOL. But I did use their movement first due to the fact that the VRF one was not running so great and when adjusting 24 hours the GMT hand would lose time. The ARF one worked fine for the test period. I did see the dent and someone did mention the top gear on the min wheel top of the jumping hour mechanism.
Never the less. I will one of these weeks service the 3186. I will inspect each part. I am guessing it will just be the parts I mention above. I want at min. 3186 part numbers, 662,183,268. I already have 3186- 260,657, 665.
I think I'm going to take some classes in watch making because this is fascinating. I'd love to be able to do this myself. But alas, so grateful there is this forum and people like you to learn from!
Let me know if my logic makes sense based on your findings:
Ive chosen to go with an ARF base because if I got the VRF, I would get the full bezel assembly vs insert only, and I would have got the ARF bracelet anyways. This will save me $500+ right off the bat. Plus I like the way the 3186 works compared to the 3185. And I am hoping the new batch of ARF have a little more TLC in their movement. I have almost all the visible gen parts now besides the actual watch. I just bought the 3186- 260, 657, 665 parts for the movement.
So from a cost perspective, based on the movement you have, it looks like a few hundred dollars extra of rolex parts need to be installed in the 3186 to be robust? As where the VRF just needed the 3185-660? If this is the case, I may just have my ARF movemement inspected, and if it needs all the extra parts you mentioned, I will sell the 260, 657, 665 parts I already have and just get a VR3185 and add the 3185-660.
So I suppose my main question is actually- based on the movements you received, is the VR3185 with 660 still going to be more robust than the SH3186 with 260, 657, 665, 662, 183, 268, etc.?
Too early to tell brother. I haven't even started to service the 3186. I am hoping to pick up the top gear this weekend. ARF did a really crappy job on the date plate. In a few mins I will take some pics and post them here.
Now you say that you like the way the 3186 works compared to the 3185. They work identically. Not gear wise, but as far as a movement, they work the same. People with a 3185 complained when adjusting hour hands the other hands would shake. Wow. So what. When you were done changing time it was still right on. I think rolex did it for more $$. new movement meant newer technology and people wanted it. I remember when it happen. It was the 16710. So later ones came with the 3186 and then the first ceramic GMT came out and hand the 3186. My VR3185 is running amazing. I have yet to install it on the watch because Im getting a new dial and hands. But on the tester it looks amazing.
I think I'm going to take some classes in watch making because this is fascinating. I'd love to be able to do this myself. But alas, so grateful there is this forum and people like you to learn from!
Let me know if my logic makes sense based on your findings:
Ive chosen to go with an ARF base because if I got the VRF, I would get the full bezel assembly vs insert only, and I would have got the ARF bracelet anyways. This will save me $500+ right off the bat. Plus I like the way the 3186 works compared to the 3185. And I am hoping the new batch of ARF have a little more TLC in their movement. I have almost all the visible gen parts now besides the actual watch. I just bought the 3186- 260, 657, 665 parts for the movement.
So from a cost perspective, based on the movement you have, it looks like a few hundred dollars extra of rolex parts need to be installed in the 3186 to be robust? As where the VRF just needed the 3185-660? If this is the case, I may just have my ARF movemement inspected, and if it needs all the extra parts you mentioned, I will sell the 260, 657, 665 parts I already have and just get a VR3185 and add the 3185-660.
So I suppose my main question is actually- based on the movements you received, is the VR3185 with 660 still going to be more robust than the SH3186 with 260, 657, 665, 662, 183, 268, etc.?
After building 3 GMT frankens, here are my thoughts. For me, any franken project starts with the heart of the watch - the movement. If you are going that far and investing in a franken, my vote is to go with the VR3185. I suggest start with a VR3135 and use gen parts to make it VR3185. This is the most stable and reliable movement out there. If you don’t want to spend that much on parts, at least get the wheels to be gen parts.
As for bracelets, I have Noob v10 bracelets that have been worked on by Jon. They are pretty good and the clasp is almost as good as ARF. My GMT frankens use Noob cases, I still consider them superior to ARF/VRF because of rehaut and gen like finish. You do need a custom movement holder though (I know 2 watchmakers in the US who have done it). For the insert, go with gen (the click and feel is far more superior). Fits perfectly on Noob cases.
Just my 2 cents. I am sure everyone has their own opinion. This is why this forum is so useful. We get to learn from each other.
I 100% appreciate this kind of feedback. So many thanks to the members here assisting me in helping me build my first franken... great stuff for others to read also.
That being said, I actually purchased a "super" franken bluesy which set me back a pretty penny, and I have a 116622 and dj41 gen parts coming down the pipeline for frankens coming up. I say this because I'm "ballin on a budget" with this GMT. It is not a grail watch for me... but a daily beater... which I will daily beat with the utmost TLC lol. But the nonetheless, I can't say I could go as far as using a Noob case due to the extra cost. I'm trying to stay under $3k when all is said and done. However, if this were a Batman, you best believe I'd go all the way!
I feel you about the movement. I definitely want to make it reliable as possible- this is a worthwhile expense. Learning that I have more homework to do lol. Misiekped is doing the build for me, and a quick search shows that he has built some like you are talking about? I can pick his brain about it.
As far as the bezel- I was also under the impression the ARF is riiiight there. Maybe could use gen click spring and hyrtel ring and so forth. I know gen is gen but was thinking this expense could be worth the 4 or 500 difference in cost from just getting the insert alone. Open to feedback from you and all members here.
Edit: when I say "build my first franken" I mean that this is the first time ive gone to effort over time of sourcing parts and finding someone to build it, etc. Lol.