My 18238 Day-Date Franken build

[RavenT]

Hey every one,

I would like to Show you my 18238 Day-Date Franken build.

It's based on a Raffles case which got some reshape work done on it. The heart is a Swiss Eta 2836-2 modified to carry the Gen day and date wheels as overlays (open 6&9 champagne date wheel and German champagne day wheel). On top is the Gen tapestry gold dial and some refilled raffles hands (no lume just paint to get the tritium look). A Gen gold crown is also installed with a Gen Spec tube such as a gen crystal and Gen gold flutet bezel. The bracelet is also from Raffles. Case and bracelet got gold plated afterwards.

The case work did a friend of mine. The movement work, assembly and gold plating was done by a good watchmaker who does a lot of good work on several of my watches. I just sourced the parts and looked for options to get this whole project to work.

Feel free to tell your thoughts even if they are negative as long they are constructive

And now let the pictures talk:

 

[gunsmoke16610]

You did a great job on this watch, the color match is excellent. Congrats !

 

[RavenT]

Thank you. The work which was done here is amazing. I am so happy with that result. Words can't describe how I feel about this project

 

[WildString46]

Wow! This is insane, great work! Btw, was the day-date case a recent order from rafflesdials? The current ones on the site don't have the extra metal between the lugs to fit the vintage president bracelet endlinks.

 

[RavenT]

Wow! This is insane, great work! Btw, was the day-date case a recent order from rafflesdials? The current ones on the site don't have the extra metal between the lugs to fit the vintage president bracelet endlinks.

You can still find and order it on the website. Look for vintage day date case and look at description for "will fit old style president bracelet with flat end pieces"

But the case shape is horrible. You need to do a lot of reshape work to let it look accurate.

Here you go

http://rafflesdials.com/rolex-signed...n-28-5-29-0mm/

 

[RavenT]

I installed a leather strap. Like that look a lot.

 

[spotcom]

Looks amazing! Nice job

 

[desdes1234]

Beautiful. Love the German Day wheel.

 

[hadamokel]

You really are a fan of those tapestry dials (well, who isn’t?!)
Beautifully made.
Wear it in good health.
Should this ever go… you know where to find me

 

[RavenT]

Yes I really love the tapestry dials. And of course the vintage models. Especially with the open 6&9 DWs.
I am sure there will follow some more builds in future.

I will remember you if there will ever come a point where I will think about selling. But I'm not sure if it ever will happen

 

[FyiDev]

WOW!! That is a stunning watch bro, what's it like after these months of wear? Looking to get one of these myself!

 

[KJ2020]

Extraordinary, congrats!

I had this in gen many years ago and regrettably sold it for house funds. C'est la vie. I got a mere ~$8K for it and have seen them listed over $20K.

Yours is as special to you I'm sure because you built it. What a beautiful piece, enjoy.

 

[manodeoro]

You can still find and order it on the website. Look for vintage day date case and look at description for "will fit old style president bracelet with flat end pieces"

But the case shape is horrible. You need to do a lot of reshape work to let it look accurate.

Here you go

http://rafflesdials.com/rolex-signed...n-28-5-29-0mm/

Thanks a lot for that link ... I have some parts waiting for a two-tone DD project and I like modding watch cases ... so that one will be good enough for me as a start

and CONGRATS ... your build is really great ...

 

[RavenT]

WOW!! That is a stunning watch bro, what's it like after these months of wear? Looking to get one of these myself!

I still love it like on the first day.

 

[DFoppen]

I love this daydate, Amazing piece! Would love to own one

 

[lacquered333]

Awesome build. Please check your PM.
Gruß

 

[Shakennotstirred]

Looks great! How did you get the day wheel to lay over the date wheel without them hitting each other? I’ve been struggling with this

 

[992TurboS]

Awesome work. Only thing i have to point out is that you should shorten the lugs a bit.

 

[TheAmazingMrZ]

Awesome work. Only thing i have to point out is that you should shorten the lugs a bit. Here is two of my 18238s. The left one is unpolished
Meanwhile the right one is polished for reference.

Do you have any tips or know of any tutorials on modding the lugs? I’ve been looking for assistance on another thread:

16233 build / Raffles 2824 holes case questions / H4 questions

Does anyone have tips on reshaping the lugs on the Raffles 2824 case? Below is a pic of that case on top of my gen 16613 sub. The datejust lugs should be a similar shape. What is the method for this mod?

forum.replica-watch.info

 

[369mafia]

fantastic work , you have friends in all the right places to pull of a project like this. well done! looks great!!