I recently bought a Ref 5513 Old Crowns case (Dr Vintage) to see if it would be viable to build it into a Tudor Submariner. Tudor subs were built with the same cases as contemporary Rolex subs with the exception of the caseback which was engraved. This presented a challenge since the size of the caseback is not the same as the other rep Tudor subs I have, it is slightly larger. I am not sure if this is an anomaly of the vietnam cases or a carryover from gen since I have read that the gen casebacks of certain sub models are interchangeable. Either way I had to find either engraved casebacks that fit or find a way to machine and engrave a caseback. Several members in the engraving thread were very helpful in designing the graphics for the engraving but when Matzemedia (and thanks again for this) attempted to flatten, by machining and filing, a caseback it ended up too thin so back to square one.
At this point I was going through my parts box I found a caseback for a Ref 7016/7021 that fit! I later determined this to be a part from Helena Rou. I then contacted bivintage who located a 7928 caseback that was the correct size. Since he stated this was a replacement part for a gen case this give credence to at least Ref 7928s being interchangeable with Rolex Ref 5513 casebacks. I have not found a later style Ref 9401/9411 caseback that will work but since the Old Crown case looks like a 60s Ref 5513 case, based on comparing it to pictures, not having the later style caseback is not an issue.
So in summary:
Get a Helena Rou caseback for a 7016/7021 or a Bivintage for a 7928, they fit on the Old Crowns case and will pass a pressure test with a gen or gen-spec crown and tube installed.
Vietnam cases still have their place since the Old Crowns case does not have the correct shape for later subs but it also has the advantage of needing much less work. The vietnam cases have all needed at minimum the rehaut, crown guard and lugs modded along with a new bezel assembly. Often the crowntube hole needs rethreading. The Old Crowns case can be bought already modded and other than doing some work to countersink the crown tube hole was ready to go.
The first build I am doing is a 1968 “Swiss Only” 7016. The case engraving was done by member newest dude on the forum.
I am going to be sending these parts off to a modder to have the dial and hands relumed and it assembled. I will update this thread with pictures when I get it back!
The case it as it came from Dr Vintage with the exception of the gen 702 crown and tube along with the insert.
At this point I was going through my parts box I found a caseback for a Ref 7016/7021 that fit! I later determined this to be a part from Helena Rou. I then contacted bivintage who located a 7928 caseback that was the correct size. Since he stated this was a replacement part for a gen case this give credence to at least Ref 7928s being interchangeable with Rolex Ref 5513 casebacks. I have not found a later style Ref 9401/9411 caseback that will work but since the Old Crown case looks like a 60s Ref 5513 case, based on comparing it to pictures, not having the later style caseback is not an issue.
So in summary:
Get a Helena Rou caseback for a 7016/7021 or a Bivintage for a 7928, they fit on the Old Crowns case and will pass a pressure test with a gen or gen-spec crown and tube installed.
Vietnam cases still have their place since the Old Crowns case does not have the correct shape for later subs but it also has the advantage of needing much less work. The vietnam cases have all needed at minimum the rehaut, crown guard and lugs modded along with a new bezel assembly. Often the crowntube hole needs rethreading. The Old Crowns case can be bought already modded and other than doing some work to countersink the crown tube hole was ready to go.
The first build I am doing is a 1968 “Swiss Only” 7016. The case engraving was done by member newest dude on the forum.
I am going to be sending these parts off to a modder to have the dial and hands relumed and it assembled. I will update this thread with pictures when I get it back!
The case it as it came from Dr Vintage with the exception of the gen 702 crown and tube along with the insert.
