- 4/6/21
- 88
- 42
- 18
Hello fellow RWI mates,
I bought this Pagani Design PD-1661 Sub homage, it came with the NH35 and the James Cameron DSSD blue style dial, with "Explorer" on it LOL.
Used it for 2 years, and these watches are great for the price you pay for them. (especially during the AliX sales)
So 2 years on, i got itchy, thanks to hours browsing on RWI builds and WTS posts lol...
Looked at Raffles parts list, bought a Rolex Classic Sub Clasp (nice but feels a little clangy), a Rolex 7mm "Triplock" screw down Crown and Threaded Tube (feels great!), and a 1680 Khanjar Sub dial (nice matte print, nice green lume) supposedly for ETA2836, based on the details on the listing.
Initially was planning to do a 1680 inspired build, but it was too far off the Pagani base caseset. Dial, Case and Bezel dimensions are off, even the bezel design is different, 1680 bezels take smaller inserts, and more pronounced bezel teeth. Not to mention the absence of the classic 1680 top hat acrylic.
So i then turned to 16800 as a mod inspiration. This fit well, sapphire crystal, similar bezel design, and surprisingly the Pagani Design case housed the 29mm dial well. Not sure if there are any 16800 Khanjar Rolexes out there, so mine probably ends up as a fantasy watch lol.
So basically the plan was, reuse the Pagani SEL and Oyster bracelet but swap out the Pagani Clasp for the Rolex clasp from Raffles, Swap the dial (twisted off the dial feets and use double sided tape to secure the dial) and in the end the date window was only slightly misaligned. I ordered a 2836 DWO with Rolex fonts, some NH35 Mercedes Hands with Green Lume, and a Aluminium Bezel Insert with Silver fonts (hopefully green pip), and the plan is to reposition the cyclops. The hope is that it will appear to be a Rolex, closest ref was the 16800.
I dont think i'll reshape the case for now, or fit a sterile Rolex style caseback, or engrave the case, that's probably down the road depending on how well this turns out.
Next, is the Crown. The Pagani came with its Crown sticking out slightly from the factory. I initially found that it looks larger than my other Paganis, and with it sticking out, I thought that perhaps the stem was too long. Perfect, in-line with my mod, I thought the Raffles 7mm Rolex "triplock" Crown will be the icing on the cake.
My problem now is, i'm not sure if the crown tube in the Pagani is a friction fit tube, or a threaded one. I can see the tube from the inside of the case, but questions are:
I'm hoping for some of you Guru's here to shine some light, perhaps one or two of you have messed with a Pagani case before
Sorry for the long post, i'm hoping to attach some pictures after the post!
Cheers,
Shannon
I bought this Pagani Design PD-1661 Sub homage, it came with the NH35 and the James Cameron DSSD blue style dial, with "Explorer" on it LOL.
Used it for 2 years, and these watches are great for the price you pay for them. (especially during the AliX sales)
So 2 years on, i got itchy, thanks to hours browsing on RWI builds and WTS posts lol...
Looked at Raffles parts list, bought a Rolex Classic Sub Clasp (nice but feels a little clangy), a Rolex 7mm "Triplock" screw down Crown and Threaded Tube (feels great!), and a 1680 Khanjar Sub dial (nice matte print, nice green lume) supposedly for ETA2836, based on the details on the listing.
Initially was planning to do a 1680 inspired build, but it was too far off the Pagani base caseset. Dial, Case and Bezel dimensions are off, even the bezel design is different, 1680 bezels take smaller inserts, and more pronounced bezel teeth. Not to mention the absence of the classic 1680 top hat acrylic.
So i then turned to 16800 as a mod inspiration. This fit well, sapphire crystal, similar bezel design, and surprisingly the Pagani Design case housed the 29mm dial well. Not sure if there are any 16800 Khanjar Rolexes out there, so mine probably ends up as a fantasy watch lol.
So basically the plan was, reuse the Pagani SEL and Oyster bracelet but swap out the Pagani Clasp for the Rolex clasp from Raffles, Swap the dial (twisted off the dial feets and use double sided tape to secure the dial) and in the end the date window was only slightly misaligned. I ordered a 2836 DWO with Rolex fonts, some NH35 Mercedes Hands with Green Lume, and a Aluminium Bezel Insert with Silver fonts (hopefully green pip), and the plan is to reposition the cyclops. The hope is that it will appear to be a Rolex, closest ref was the 16800.
I dont think i'll reshape the case for now, or fit a sterile Rolex style caseback, or engrave the case, that's probably down the road depending on how well this turns out.
Next, is the Crown. The Pagani came with its Crown sticking out slightly from the factory. I initially found that it looks larger than my other Paganis, and with it sticking out, I thought that perhaps the stem was too long. Perfect, in-line with my mod, I thought the Raffles 7mm Rolex "triplock" Crown will be the icing on the cake.
My problem now is, i'm not sure if the crown tube in the Pagani is a friction fit tube, or a threaded one. I can see the tube from the inside of the case, but questions are:
- How can I identify the type of Crown Tube (friction fit, or threaded), without guessing, knocking and damaging anything?
- Secondly, if it is friction fit, I can knock it out, and will be left with a flush tube opening, can I use a tap to thread the opening to allow it to accept the Raffles crown tube?
- If it a threaded crown tube (and not a flush tube opening), can I use a tap to rethread the opening to accept the Raffles crown tube?
- What tools / tap will I need to make this work?
I'm hoping for some of you Guru's here to shine some light, perhaps one or two of you have messed with a Pagani case before
Sorry for the long post, i'm hoping to attach some pictures after the post!
Cheers,
Shannon
