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Cheers,
I bought some Month ago a Sea Dweller here, advertised as 16600 - 1983.
I was aware that the case was AAA quality, also the bracelet.
It just got my attention as the dial looked good to me and there was a Gen Open 6/9 Datewheel installed as well as a Gen Bezel Insert.
I remember some guys made comments on the price of the watch on AAA basis. They were all justified. The movement worked not at 50 %, the movement was not even fixed in the case. And to be honest, that Sea Dweller was not close to a 1983 SD. First there was no 16600 made in 1983. The triple six was produced between 1978 to 1989. And there was no 16600 produced with a matte Dial and without WG surroundings around the indexes. The dial looked great so
I decided to get the watch converted into a 16660 Sea Dweller from around 1983. I sent the watch case and the bracelet to TomRep for rebrushing and polishing work. I also asked him to get the lugs of the case drilled. He did an incredible job again. Anyone who knows Thomas knows how good his work is. And he was not satisfied with the overall result as the SEL of the AAA case were simply a nightmare. He swapped the end links for ones that fit the overall look of a nice 16660 and adjusted the bends of the lugs and the end links to achieve a really very harmonious look.
Secondly the broken movement needed either to get repaired or replaced with a working clone movement. As I'd like to keep the Triple Six as a keeper I decided to use a Dandong 3135 clone. It's better known as VS 3135 and is probably the best base for any 3135 equipped Rep watches. The ebay hand set that came with the watch was really flat and not even 3-dimensional. I had a cheap used SL lumed Submariner hand set here and asked to get it relumed with a matching lume color. A private contact relumed the hand set and assembled everything. The new movement now is fixed in the case and the overall impression is really good. The AAA case set is the limiting factor for this watch, unfortunately VN case sets for 16660 are really expensive. Forget about the fact that a 16710 case is expensive. It's cheap compared to a triple six case set.
I'll post some more pics when I have time to take better pics. For now there are two pics that might give you a first impression on the build:
I bought some Month ago a Sea Dweller here, advertised as 16600 - 1983.
I was aware that the case was AAA quality, also the bracelet.
It just got my attention as the dial looked good to me and there was a Gen Open 6/9 Datewheel installed as well as a Gen Bezel Insert.
I remember some guys made comments on the price of the watch on AAA basis. They were all justified. The movement worked not at 50 %, the movement was not even fixed in the case. And to be honest, that Sea Dweller was not close to a 1983 SD. First there was no 16600 made in 1983. The triple six was produced between 1978 to 1989. And there was no 16600 produced with a matte Dial and without WG surroundings around the indexes. The dial looked great so
I decided to get the watch converted into a 16660 Sea Dweller from around 1983. I sent the watch case and the bracelet to TomRep for rebrushing and polishing work. I also asked him to get the lugs of the case drilled. He did an incredible job again. Anyone who knows Thomas knows how good his work is. And he was not satisfied with the overall result as the SEL of the AAA case were simply a nightmare. He swapped the end links for ones that fit the overall look of a nice 16660 and adjusted the bends of the lugs and the end links to achieve a really very harmonious look.
Secondly the broken movement needed either to get repaired or replaced with a working clone movement. As I'd like to keep the Triple Six as a keeper I decided to use a Dandong 3135 clone. It's better known as VS 3135 and is probably the best base for any 3135 equipped Rep watches. The ebay hand set that came with the watch was really flat and not even 3-dimensional. I had a cheap used SL lumed Submariner hand set here and asked to get it relumed with a matching lume color. A private contact relumed the hand set and assembled everything. The new movement now is fixed in the case and the overall impression is really good. The AAA case set is the limiting factor for this watch, unfortunately VN case sets for 16660 are really expensive. Forget about the fact that a 16710 case is expensive. It's cheap compared to a triple six case set.
I'll post some more pics when I have time to take better pics. For now there are two pics that might give you a first impression on the build:
