Can you tell me who you got it from?Vietnam.
This is the problem encountered by many with the Sternkreutz, with mine no problem, disassembled and reassembled several times.
I absolutely agree with what you wrote and which I have clarified several times. With a price much lower than a Viet case you have a case on which you can make various modifications of your choice and make it almost like a Viet. You change the pieces you indicated and you have a practically Gen spec case in all respects.My own thoughts so far.
Yes the bezel is terrible, but it’s an easy fix. it accepts gen spec crystal, full bezel assembly, dial, crown and bracelet. But a Viet bezel, gen or Athaya crown and you are good.
The dimensions are pretty much spot on. With Sternkreuz or Clark’s crystal it is 13mm in height (exact same as the 1969 to 1979 1675s, earlier ones were 12.7 and referred to as the thin case)
With a bit of steady work around the crown area with varying grades of sandpaper and a small file set you can fully replicate your favourite crown guard shape and size. It’s actually quite rewarding too!
The diameter of the mid case is 38 (same as gen). Lug to lug is 47.3 compared to 47.5 on a gen.
The width of the case including crown guard (after shaping) is 41. Viet bezel is gen spec diameter at 39.3.
So in my opinion and just for a couple of hours work you can save so much money with one of these compared to vietnam or milk cases. There isnt actually anything about viet cases that justifies the phenomenal price difference between the case sets
Picture below still has raffles crown. Soon to be replaced.
thank you very much for the insight, unfortunately i do not see me doing thatCheck out the ebay seller fiery gems, they have several 530 & 531 crowns coming up tomorrow! i got a 531 for 29$ a couple of months ago; they had maybe 10 up for sale during that week. i had all of them in my watch list and none of them sold for more than 40$.
I tapped the hole to 3mm and installed the threaded portion of a screw before tig welding it. since i had to cut the counter bore by 0.2mm there was little risk by welding it. you could just use a button head bolt and use jb weld or something and then machine the head off, but in this case since it needed to be machined anyway i went for the guaranteed waterproof method. Laser welding would be a much safer option!
would be great to know how the 302-405 looks! I might just machine the chamfer on the clarks crystal, i really like the cyclops on it. mag is great and it's really clear.
When i do the other case since i ruined the bottom of the crown guards on this one (still can't believe i screwed up the easiest part to reshape! lol) i'm moving it up another 0.1mm and i'm hoping it gets closer to the gen look.t
This is amazing to me. I've been curious how Seiko modders have used 2836 cases with the NH34, but no-one here has tried one in a 1675 case.I've wanted to do a 1675 for a while, so before spending big bucks on the vn case sets I decided to give the raffles set a try.
Some of my observations are below, and I hope they are useful to some of you.
1. The bezel & insert is, as others have already covered, junk. Not necessarily because it looks bad, but because it will never hold a crystal on and it spins freely. The od of the raffles bezel is 39.2mm vs Gen spec 39.6mm, something to keep in mind if you are cutting the crown counter bore deeper. I cut mine 0.2mm.
2. Crown counter bore: I cut it 0.2mm deeper, and to a diameter of 5.9mm. I think 5.8mm would have been better.
3. Raffles crown tube is 2.8mm. Wtf. Most of his other cases are 2.5, like a Gen spec tube. Other helpful people have already covered this on this thread. A Gen crown fits the raffles tube just fine though. Also a 530 or 531 Gen crown is around 30$ on ebay so why bother with an athaya and their sometimes wonky clutches? Ofrei and cousins have tubes for around 6 bucks, if you need one.
4. I decided to make my life harder and install an nh34. Several reasons for this;
A: it's not a Chinese clone movement.
B: stem height is 1.92mm, which means I could move the crown,
C: it's not a Chinese clone movement,
D: it's low beat & 40$
E: did I mention it's not a Chinese clone movement?
5. I moved the crown up 0.25mm & drilled and tapped it 2.5mmx0.25.
It seems raffles played fast and loose with the dial seat vs. Stem height and I could do another 0.1mm easy which would put the crown in the correct height vs. The bezel.
6. I managed to machine a movement holder, which screws to the movement with two 1mm drilled and tapped holes get the dial feet holes in, plus machine the NH date wheel, move and machine the crown and counter bore, just to make an arse of the bottom of the crown guards. I cut too much. Damn new files. This is why I bought 2 cases, I knew I would mess something up!!! I stopped the case shaping there and threw it together while I wait for dial and hands.
Also thanks to deadaglev for making me see the what now looks like a micro bevel on the Clark's crystal...
This is amazing to me. I've been curious how Seiko modders have used 2836 cases with the NH34, but no-one here has tried one in a 1675 case.
1) Did you move the crown up because it was mandatory for the movement, or was it primarily because you thought the crown was in the wrong place?
2) Any chance you have a picture of the movement holder you used and/or machined?
I had seen it and was about to buy it too from the same seller. the quality seemed good to me then some time passed and by chance I saw the advert for Viet and in the end I got the oneThis looks like it might be ok...
Rotating Bezel Assembly For Rolex GMT
Ric's Watch Repair, a family owned and operated business that has been in the watch and jewelry trade for over 30 years. We specialize in wholesale watch repair and vintage watch parts. We are constantly adding new material to our inventory.ricswatchrepair.com
Ha ha but I totally disagree. You get a gen spec case to accept and eta based movement (which has the correct hand stack for a 1675) for $360!!I had also seen this bezel group but unfortunately they don't ship to Italy. I think I should abandon the 1675 raffle project for this very reason, the Vietnam bezels cost too much, it would be a contradiction to buy a complete case for $60 plus $300 for the bezel
Am I wrong at that price or am I able to buy a complete case from milk?Ha ha but I totally disagree. You get a gen spec case to accept and eta based movement (which has the correct hand stack for a 1675) for $360!!
Make the Vietnam guys an offer and I’m sure the price will move a little in your favourAm I wrong at that price or am I able to buy a complete case from milk?
I was on the verge of abandoning the build almost three times . First for the Asian movement (I threw away 2), then for the cost of the bezel assembly, in the end I had already spent a lot of it but since I was in the game and I'm very stubborn I didn't give up and now I'm extremely satisfied with the results! Don't give upI had also seen this bezel group but unfortunately they don't ship to Italy. I think I should abandon the 1675 raffle project for this very reason, the Vietnam bezels cost too much, it would be a contradiction to buy a complete case for $60 plus $300 for the bezel
I used an original ETA 2836 with a higher seconds pinion so I had to shorten the seconds hand. I took all the parts needed for the GMT transformation from a broken 6460. Otherwise with an HZ6460 movement you have to use a seconds hand with a very long tube otherwise it won't fit wellSo I’m guessing the preferred movement for the raffles case without mods is the HZ6460?
Does the raffles seconds hand fit the pinion, I read that the 6460 needs a seconds hand with longer tube than a normal 2836 clone without gmt mod?