BlahBlahBlah's Franken Journal....

[BlahBlahBlah2554349]

Quite literally no one asked for this, but I thought I would try to contribute more to the community than my plethora of wrist shots. I have also seen a lot of discussion recently about the worth or value of building a franken piece and how much one would pay for a rep, etc. So just wanted to share my builds and answer any questions people might have about them.

As I've stated before this is another hobby for me and as per usual, I have jumped head first into the deep end. Started collecting watches many moons ago and only had gens for a very long time, always thought of fakes (not calling them reps on purpose) as cheap, knock off, super obvious, canal street shitters. Was blissfully unaware of the world that is reps. So I spent a whole lot of time and money building a relationship that my father had originally started with a long standing family owned Rolex AD which netted my wife a lot of bling and me quite a few gen pieces, some hard to come by models. As I had been waiting for a gen 226659 YM 42 for over a year and I still hadn't received my Pepsi call, got a call to choose between a 116 stainless Daytona or the Pepsi and ultimately chose the Daytona, so back to the bottom of the Pepsi list I went. At this point I got to thinking there has to be a better way and I refused to pay the asinine grey market prices, so that led me here.

So starting off we have the first franken build I got into; The Pepsi...



Which included the following:

• Gen Crown
• Gen Clickspring/hyrtel
• Gen Bezel
• Xing V4 bezel insert was used due to the crack you see on the bezel in the first pics, the last picture is with the Xing bezel installed
• Gen Crystal
• Gen Date wheel
• Gen Hands
• Waterproofing

Still working on securing a gen dial and gen bezel insert to wrap it up. At one point I did have a gen oyster bracelet on, courtesy of a wonderful transaction with @danix84 but ultimately decided that the clean bracelet was good enough and I didn't feel nearly as bad when I got the inevitable desk dive or little mark on it.

 

[BlahBlahBlah2554349]

Up next would be the 226659 YM 42 build...

This is one of my absolute favorites, the base is a VSF/TED Tungsten YM which was purchased already plated. It includes a whole bunch of gen movement parts, however as you can see I purchased the barrel for the wrong movement and we went back to the already included barrel. The second timegrapher picture is the final result.

Parts include:

• Gen crystal
• Gen datewheel
• Gen white gold crown
• Gen hands
• Gen bezel insert
• Gen pallet fork, escape wheel, winding stem, rotor, crown wheel, date wheel, etc.
• It had a full movement service and was waterproofed as well

 

[BlahBlahBlah2554349]

Last entry for now, is my 116519 Daytona build. Don't even have this one in hand yet but boy am I excited to get it back this week!

The base is a APSF Tungsten Daytona with a DD4130 movement, which was purchased separately due to the SH movement being standard in the APSF Daytona's.

Parts/work include:

• Gen bezel
• Gen dial
• Gen hands
• Gen crystal
• Gen white gold crown
• Gen rotor
• White gold plating & waterproofing

 

[BlahBlahBlah2554349]

That is everything for now, I have got one more build currently in line and it should be done in the next couple of weeks and then I have an AP build on the horizon as well.

Thanks for stopping by and hopefully you like what I've done here and I really don't care if you don't. Lol.

All work has been done by @majwilliams0308

 

[BlahBlahBlah2554349]

Forgot to add the before pic of the Daytona...

 

[A.lawrence]

Love you work, can’t wait to get my own project started. So excited

 

[A.lawrence]

PM’d you too

 

[vagabundo94]

Love it! Thanks for sharing! Your journey here sounds very similar to my own, and it was the wait for a Pepsi that pushed me into reps and franken builds.

 

[BlahBlahBlah2554349]

She’s here and she’s stunning!

 

[BlahBlahBlah2554349]

Well we have another one to add to the mix today, the 126334 Datejust has been wrapped up, I will be sharing some more pictures when it gets in hand but got a couple already and I was too excited not to share.

VSF Base and was bought with a plated bezel.

Parts/Work include:

• Gen dial
• Gen hands
• Gen datewheel
• Gen crystal
• Was supposed to be a gen crown, but I ordered or got sent the wrong one. Will get the correct one put on sooner than later.
• Gen bracelet, is not pictured here. Currently sitting in my desk drawer and will be put on once I receive the watch back from modder.

 

[BlahBlahBlah2554349]

Another small update on the AP that I have in the works: the gen dial will be getting delivered today and am still working on procuring the rest of the parts. That one should be done in the next month or so.

Also thinking about doing a light franken to my VSF Bluesy for fun, we will see on that one.

 

[The Marquis]

They are all amazing, really beautiful. But how about the cost of building a such massive Frank watch?

 

[BlahBlahBlah2554349]

They are all amazing, really beautiful. But how about the cost of building a such massive Frank watch?

Thank you! I mean, yes there is certainly a cost associated with doing so. But as I have stated above, it is a hobby for me and something I enjoy doing. I do a cost analysis internally on almost every part purchase and I have passed on quite a few parts and pieces that I deems too expensive or unnecessary.

Cost is also relative, the cost of the DJ build paled in comparison to the cost of the Daytona build. But at some point I just said screw it and lets makes it as close to gen as possible.

 

[Dadda81]

finally a franken YM 42

 

[BlahBlahBlah2554349]

Not too shabby at all, happy with the results on this one!

 

[Dadda81]

@BlahBlahBlah2554349
very nice

 

[BlahBlahBlah2554349]

@BlahBlahBlah2554349
very nice

Thank you sir!

 

[Dave2302]

Definitely some lovely builds there

 

[BlahBlahBlah2554349]

Definitely some lovely builds there

Thank you very much sir!

 

[Ms92]

Quite literally no one asked for this, but I thought I would try to contribute more to the community than my plethora of wrist shots. I have also seen a lot of discussion recently about the worth or value of building a franken piece and how much one would pay for a rep, etc. So just wanted to share my builds and answer any questions people might have about them.

As I've stated before this is another hobby for me and as per usual, I have jumped head first into the deep end. Started collecting watches many moons ago and only had gens for a very long time, always thought of fakes (not calling them reps on purpose) as cheap, knock off, super obvious, canal street shitters. Was blissfully unaware of the world that is reps. So I spent a whole lot of time and money building a relationship that my father had originally started with a long standing family owned Rolex AD which netted my wife a lot of bling and me quite a few gen pieces, some hard to come by models. As I had been waiting for a gen 226659 YM 42 for over a year and I still hadn't received my Pepsi call, got a call to choose between a 116 stainless Daytona or the Pepsi and ultimately chose the Daytona, so back to the bottom of the Pepsi list I went. At this point I got to thinking there has to be a better way and I refused to pay the asinine grey market prices, so that led me here.

So starting off we have the first franken build I got into; The Pepsi...



Which included the following:

• Gen Crown
• Gen Clickspring/hyrtel
• Gen Bezel
• Xing V4 bezel insert was used due to the crack you see on the bezel in the first pics, the last picture is with the Xing bezel installed
• Gen Crystal
• Gen Date wheel
• Gen Hands
• Waterproofing

Still working on securing a gen dial and gen bezel insert to wrap it up. At one point I did have a gen oyster bracelet on, courtesy of a wonderful transaction with @danix84 but ultimately decided that the clean bracelet was good enough and I didn't feel nearly as bad when I got the inevitable desk dive or little mark on it.

Hello Bro,

I am evaluating to build a franken GMT and I would like to ask you one suggestion.

I saw you had a superfranken GMT (congrats, Wonderful)…I’d like to ask you how is clean bracelet compared to gen?

Is it good or it is easily spottable that is fake?

Sorry If answer looks easy but I am a newbie in this word.

Thank you for your time