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NEW! 1675 GMT case set offering from Raffles.

EnryDJ36

In search of perfection
5/11/23
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So I tried the Sternkreuz 302 on the case and after a few minutes before I even tried to put the retaining ring on I heard a crack! Must be tight tolerances.


This is the problem encountered by many with the Sternkreutz, with mine no problem, disassembled and reassembled several times.
It will have the best profile even if I don't see all this difference but you risk breaking it every time you assemble it
 
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EnryDJ36

In search of perfection
5/11/23
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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.


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.
The only problem is the crown tube which has a larger case thread than the Gen Rolex 5030 but having the correct crown side thread (4 mm) it can fit a 5.3 or Athaya diameter Rolex crown without any problems. Having said that, I don't see any significant differences or shortcomings compared to much more expensive cases.
 

deadaglev

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Check 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
thank you very much for the insight, unfortunately i do not see me doing that:)
 
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WatchN3RD

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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...:ROFLMAO:


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?
 

choate

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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 moved the crown both because i believe it's in the wrong position and the nh34 has a shorter stem height. the 1575 movement has a stem height of 1.8mm, and the raffles case takes an 2836 which has a stem height of 2.25mm; the nh34 is at 1.92mm which allows the crown to be moved. I will be attempting to put another nh34 in a vn 1655 when my order arrives; i think it's possible to make it the perfect option as long as all the hand pinions are shortened by 0.1mm (ill' have to see how it all fits... almost impossible to make any plans for this when using a bunch of aftermarket parts....)

since i wanted the flat top look i felt it needed to be moved. and i have developed an unhealthy strong distaste for the clone movements!:oops:

here is a pic of a gen case; you can compare where the crown tube sits vs a raffles case.



all that being you can cheat the top of the crown guards and get the same look, we are only talking about 0.45mm max here. several builds on this thread look great either way.

i'm going to play around with the lume on the raffles dial & hands this weekend, ill' be happy to post some pictures of the movement holder if youre interested.
 

EnryDJ36

In search of perfection
5/11/23
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This looks like it might be ok...

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 one 😉
 

JordanEleven

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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 😃
 

Danza1813

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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 😃
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!!
 
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JordanEleven

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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!!
Am I wrong at that price or am I able to buy a complete case from milk?
 

Danza1813

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In case anyone is interested in a spare or new insert; My Vietnam pepsi insert is now up for sale. It’s a fat font and I’m building a 1979 replica so need to source a thin font Pepsi. So this is up for grabs.



 
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EnryDJ36

In search of perfection
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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 😃
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 up 💪
 

Danza1813

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So 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?
 

EnryDJ36

In search of perfection
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So 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?
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 well
 
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deadaglev

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Alright, so the two Sternkreuz 302.450 arrived.
CousinsUK Code C8496 and C64019.
They have a nice bevel but none of them work.
I ordered the normal and the more expensive pressed version.
Supposedly identical dimensions, in reality completely different.
The normal version C8496 is bigger on the inside and the outside so it does not fit. (the reason why Danza1813s must have cracked) It sits very tight over the rehaut so i did not dare try and press it down all the way. A CAC insert (supposedly gen dimensions) will not fit over this crystal ass well because the outer diameter of the crystal is too wide.
Cyclops is in the wrong position.
The pressed version C64019 is smaller on both sides and does fit the case and bezel inlay. The dimensions here are similar to clarks. Cyclops here is in the wrong position too, only that this one is even more towards the center of the crystal. so the cyclops is in two different and wrong positions on those two 302.450 which adds even more to the confusion.
So the schematics of those crystals on cousinsuk simply are completely wrong and both are wrong for a gen spec dial...
Damn and blast:)
 
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