Long term project is starting to come together…Datejust Oysterquartz.

[dpd3672]

This started as a kind of academic exercise…when someone pointed out how similar the current Tissot PRX is to the vintage, ‘70s Rolex Oysterquartz, and some of the generic Omegas from the era.



So I sourced a Gen dial and picked up 5 or 6 Tissot reps from AliX in various sizes and configurations. I even picked up a Gen Tissot SeaStar from the era, which has a similar case.




I had a couple free hours tonight, so I did some test fitting and got to this point:




Gen dial dropped right in, although I had to drill a hole in the plastic spacer for the ~3:00 dial foot, but even without any work, it’s damn passable…especially since the Oysterquartz is very uncommon, so it isn’t likely to be scrutinized by experts.

The question now is how far I want to take it.

DWO should be easy enough to sort out, Gen Rolex crown should drop in, although it won’t screw down…case is push/pull, although I could probably drill and tap it. I might try to duplicate some of the case engravings, and sooner or later the slightly smaller rehaut is going to bug me, so I will probably open it up on the lathe and add a cyclops to the crystal.

No hope for the bracelet looking Gen, but I think I can remove the Tissot branding and have it pass for a generic replacement.

Thoughts?

 

[Karbon74]

I love this

 

[manodeoro]

My thoughts ?.. WOW I LOVE THAT

And you're 100% true about the Oysterquartz not being really common ... I guess I can count all the gens I've seen on the fingers of one hand.

On second thoughts ... I'll probably order a PEX rep and start to play with it

 

[s10ww]

Really like the Oysterquartz and this is a great idea. Adding the cyclops is a must.

 

[kidcreole]

My thoughts ?.. WOW I LOVE THAT

And you're 100% true about the Oysterquartz not being really common ... I guess I can count all the gens I've seen on the fingers of one hand.

On second thoughts ... I'll probably order a PEX rep and start to play with it

You could go another way, put an auto in it and call it a model 1530. There were less that 2000 of these produced if you really wanted a rare bird.

 

[dpd3672]

You could go another way, put an auto in it and call it a model 1530. There were less that 2000 of these produced if you really wanted a rare bird.

Maybe I will do that with the extra cases.

 

[manodeoro]

Maybe I will do that with the extra cases.

Did you find a 36mm case on AliExpress?
If YES would you share a link ?

 

[kidcreole]

Maybe I will do that with the extra cases.

The dials are pie pan compared to the quartz but good luck and great project.

 

[Reaps]

This is super cool and something I would have never thought of. Following and good luck.

 

[Karbon74]

This started as a kind of academic exercise…when someone pointed out how similar the current Tissot PRX is to the vintage, ‘70s Rolex Oysterquartz, and some of the generic Omegas from the era.



So I sourced a Gen dial and picked up 5 or 6 Tissot reps from AliX in various sizes and configurations. I even picked up a Gen Tissot SeaStar from the era, which has a similar case.




I had a couple free hours tonight, so I did some test fitting and got to this point:




Gen dial dropped right in, although I had to drill a hole in the plastic spacer for the ~3:00 dial foot, but even without any work, it’s damn passable…especially since the Oysterquartz is very uncommon, so it isn’t likely to be scrutinized by experts.

The question now is how far I want to take it.

DWO should be easy enough to sort out, Gen Rolex crown should drop in, although it won’t screw down…case is push/pull, although I could probably drill and tap it. I might try to duplicate some of the case engravings, and sooner or later the slightly smaller rehaut is going to bug me, so I will probably open it up on the lathe and add a cyclops to the crystal.

No hope for the bracelet looking Gen, but I think I can remove the Tissot branding and have it pass for a generic replacement.

Thoughts?

Brother
You always have those crazy projects that make my blood boil

 

[dpd3672]

Did you find a 36mm case on AliExpress?
If YES would you share a link ?

The one I bought doesn't seem to be available anymore, but I suspect there aren't too many different cases. Maybe do an image search and make sure you get the "ladies" model (listed variously as 35mm, 36mm, and 37nn), rather than the more common one in 40mm or 41mm. There are Tissot PRX reps and some are generic "homages" but I think they probably use the same or similar cases...they look more or less the same in the photos, and all roughly approximate the Oysterquartz, although far from perfectly.

This seems to be the item I got, based on an image search, but the listing isn't clear as to whether it's the larger or smaller size.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807035411824.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.71.19693222U7zogZ&algo_pvid=d96d6aae-6b02-496e-9993-62a91537ac6d&algo_exp_id=d96d6aae-6b02-496e-9993-62a91537ac6d-35&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%2174.51%2129.80%21%21%21523.26%21209.30%21%402103243417269963798284390e148d%2112000039864886565%21sea%21US%214595082603%21X&curPageLogUid=QFBsbO9sjred&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A

I'm now thinking about doing a 2 tone, using a spare DJ dial I have and using a waterslide decal to add "Oysterquartz" to the stock dial. Reaching out to this seller to see if it's the same watch.

FWIW, the movement is a Sunon SL25, which seems to be decent, although sourcing better hands isn't going to be as it would be for an ETA or NH movement, lol.

 

[Karbon74]

A good source for the 35mm prx rep is DHGate

 

[dpd3672]

A good source for the 35mm prx rep is DHGate

Nice thing about these reps is that they're super cheap...I think mine was $27 USD. The gen dial was a bit more expensive...IIRC, it was ~$150, and they're very rarely offered for sale for less than several hundred dollars...I just stumbled onto a bargain (and another Oysterquartz Day/Date that will be a project down the road). That said, a Raffles DJ dial and a waterslide decal of the "Oysterquartz" line and you've got a cheap, passable substitute for gen, you'd just need to work out the font and sizing. I think if you ordered a "sunburst" Datejust dial and used solvent to remove the lines below the pinion, you could add the "Oysterquartz" script pretty seamlessly. Here's a gen dial that shows what it would look like:



The rest is basically off the shelf AliX. A cyclops is incoming that cost a couple dollars and will be glued on with UV cement, and I might try to adapt some generic Rolex hands from an ETA/NH movement, but a decent Oysterquartz rep could be had for maybe $35USD, plus the cost of the dial.

Removing the Tissot branding shouldn't be difficult, as it seems to be a shallow laser engraving, so it should buff right off.

And the bezel could use a big upgrade, but it's not a huge priority at the moment.

 

[dpd3672]

And to give an idea how it all fit together, this is a little more detail. The blue arrows show the Rolex dial feet on the gen dial. The one at ~3:00 was blocked by the plastic movement holder, but I eyeballed it from a couple angles and marked the location with a black sharpie (circled in yellow), then drilled a hole to accommodate the foot. It's not precise, but close enough that some dial dots will secure it better. The other dial foot is completely unsecured, so dial dots (or a custom movement holder) are a must.

 

[Singapore9]

Awesome project is awesome! Very cool!

 

[dpd3672]

Opened up the rehaut slightly on the lathe today, and found a Gen Rolex crystal in the spares box that actually fits, with a little tweaking…it was sitting too proud and the magnification was way off, but a little sanding has it a lot closer to where it needs to be.




Now to make a DWO work with this and try to find better hands (although the stock hands will work for now).

 

[dpd3672]

Opened up the rehaut slightly on the lathe today, and found a Gen Rolex crystal in the spares box that actually fits, with a little tweaking…it was sitting too proud and the magnification was way off, but a little sanding has it a lot closer to where it needs to be.

 

[Kerbus]

I’d be happy to see some reps released of the Oysterquartz. I always liked the design of the case and bracelet

 

[dpd3672]

Update:

I can't for the life of me get a DWO to work with the (very very small) Sunon SL25 movement, but other than that, it's getting close to finished. The gen Rolex acrylic crystal actually fits well and lines up with the opening on the dial (although I believe the crystal I'm using is from a 34mm OP, and will have to be glued to the bezel with hypo cement, since it's a bit too loose to press fit in).

I tried machining a spacer to adapt the very small stock date wheel to the much larger Rolex Date Wheel (which is probably not going to work with a stock DWO, so I'll just photocopy one and tweak the size until it all lines up. My plan is to take a stock Raffles or AliX DWO and reduce or enlarge it on a copier. The spacer needs to lift the DWO up to clear the movement, which leaves too much space between the movement and dial, which makes for a "less than secure" final assembly.

I ordered a couple cheap quartz movements in various sizes that should be a little closer to the case/dial size, hopefully it'll be a simple solution to the problem. Quartz movements are cheaper on AliX than batteries for them are locally, lol.

I'm going to wait to drill the case to add a Rolex crown/tube until I see where the stem lines up. The opening for the push/pull stem is very small, so it gives a lot of leeway in where the crown ultimately will meet the case (ie, I may have to go slightly "up" or "down" to make it line up).

After that, I'll try to grind and sand the case back so it looks a little more "Rolex" and sand/file off the Tissot markings on the bracelet. Not sure if it's doable, but I might try to solder a Rolex coronet to the clasp from a junk bracelet from the parts bin.

That will probably be as close to gen as I'm willing to go...anything more is probably cost and time prohibitive. This will not be a "VSF Submariner" quality rep, but it may approach a "Cartel with DIY mods" rep, which is what I mostly enjoy anyway.

So now I'm just waiting for the movements to arrive...like so many other projects, stalled and waiting for parts, lol.

 

[dpd3672]

I wasn’t having much luck getting the little SL25 movement to work, but I have a couple Ronda 705 movements for another project, and I think this is going to work better.

The date window is just a little off, but close enough for a 8/10 rep project.

Worst case scenario is I find or make a DWO.