Noob 116660 v6s DSSD restauration - ongoing story

[kadeee]

Hello dear forum members,

today I would like to present you a restoration of a DSSD Noob v6s, just as a little appetizer.
I bought the watch used and defective, it has the nice James Cameron dial. The movement (SA 3135) would possibly still be repairable. However, since it is a movement where a defect is preprogrammed, I will refrain from doing so and will use a VR 3135 for the rebuild.
Who knows my builds, also knows that I want to be as close as possible to the original. For this reason, I searched and found a used dial and a used bezel. Gradually, I was able to add a Gen glass retaining ring, a Gen gasket, a Gen Hytrel ring, a new Gen hand set, a used Gen case back, a Gen Helium Valve and a new crown. The plan is to have the Gen Spec case refurbished to look for a new owner for the then near perfect replica.
Attached are three pictures of the condition before the refurbishment and, as an appetizer, a picture with the result of the case refurbishment. The Gen bezel is still to be refurbished and then the complete assembly of all parts.

 

[kadeee]

Got a call from TomRep yesterday saying that the Insert has to be pressed out from the Bezel to get a perfectly reworked Bezel. This is risky as the Insert is a ceramic one and there are not so many spare parts available for the DSSD. Let's get fingers crossed that the insert will not crack when pressed out and pressed in again after all the reshaping and polishing work on the Bezel.

 

[kadeee]

Some more pics:

Bezel before it gets refurbished:



And the watch already refinished but the bezel ring.





The next steps will be:

• Press out the bezel insert
• Change of the bead
• Reconditioning the bezel ring
• Pressing the bezel insert into the bezel ring and reassembling the watch.

This will take some time to get this done

 

[MJH89]

I don't know why it still suprises me, but the skill of some of the member of this forum is incredible. This is already an amazing looking build.

 

[kadeee]

I will pass on your kudos to TomRep as he does all the metal work.

 

[Hesekiel]

I'm not sure if I understand you correctly, kadeee, but did you say you found a used GEN Cameron dial? If so, that must be the only one on the blue planet. I've never heard of someone parting out a blue 116660. Your resources must be as good as your otherworldly skills . . .

 

[kadeee]

Nope, the Rep has a Cameron dial. I will replace it with a black Gen DSSD dial. So no worries, I do not have such ressources.

 

[kadeee]

A little update on the progress of the restoration of the Noob 116660 v6s:
From TomRep's point of view, the Gen bezel I bought here on the forum was very significantly damaged after all and needs to be professionally refurbished. To completely remove the deep marks it is necessary to press out the insert. This can only be done by a skilled technician with the appropriate tools and even then, due to the deep notches in the bezel ring, the likelihood of damaging the insert is very high. Even Rolex puts the probability of a ceramic insert breaking during a press out at over 80% and does not guarantee this process. The risk still had to be taken, as otherwise a heavily used bezel would be sitting on an otherwise flawless watch. That would certainly not look good.
Unfortunately, the exact case occurred when the insert broke while trying to press it out. This is a great pity and will certainly cost a few (hundred) extra € to make this mishap forgotten. But I am working on a solution that will be in the sense of getting built a perfect replica of this iconic watch.

 

[kadeee]

Here we go, complete metal work has been finished. Now the bezel ring looks great again, life’s almost back for this Deep Sea.

Incredible work from Thomas.

 

[Plaasbaas]

Interesting to follow this, thanks.

 

[H S]

I’ve enjoyed this thread so far. I hope it has a happy ending.

 

[kadeee]

I hope it has a happy ending.

I'm sure it will result in a fantastic Franken.

 

[kadeee]

Sorry for not updating this thread for a while.
I can give you a short update what happened in the fast few weeks.
I managed it to get a Gen DSSD insert for a reasonable price. I denied to buy a Gen crystal for this watch although it's a rare piece. The Noob crystal is not too bad and as the DSSD has no cyclop the gen crystal is not that big upgrade to the watch as it would be on every Submariner, GMT Master II or simply on any other RLX with a cyclop for the date.
I waited some weeks to send it to Ben for bringing the life back into that watch because of three points:
- I had a 16233 Build at his workshop and do not want to overload him with work
- I had to watch my expenses a little before Christmas, because I wanted to give my loved ones one or the other thing for Christmas
- I simply forgot to prepare the watch to get it shipped to Ben

Anyway, all parts are here and I sent the watch and the parts to Ben for repair and parts change.
In the meantime I also bought a used Gen RubberB for the DSSD which is an excellent alternative to the oyster bracelet on this watch.

Short summary which parts will be used for this Franken:

• Noob v6s 116660 watch in used condition, broken
• Gen black dial (used), gen hand set (new), gen crown (used), gen tube (new), gen helium valve (new)
• Gen case back (used)
• Gen bezel and gen bezel insert
• VR 3135 movement, freshly serviced
• RubberB watch strap as an alternative to the oyster bracelet

Watch and bracelet have been polished and rebrushed to gen spec.

I think that this will be a killer watch soon again.

 

[indyrepgeek812]

these projects are what make me want to start my Frankenstein, but i still have too much too learn before I start ripping these apart... also missing some tools or someone with the resources near me

 

[kadeee]

Short update as Ben Welte is currently finishing this Franken:
Unfortunately I got a note that the Gen Tubus is not compatible with the Rep Tubus. The Rep tube has a much larger thread than the Gen tube and the Gen Crown cannot be used with the Rep Tubus.
Everything else works and fits as expected and this watch has a working Gen Helium Valve.

Looking really forward to have this Franken in my hands.

 

[kadeee]

This heavy weight extra thick monster is back now. The weight of the watch is 210.6 grams on the scale and you can feel every single gram on your wrist.
I will share some better pics before the weekend.

 

[Raddave]

Nice !

 

[Raddave]

Dont suppose the weighed the gen caseback vs the rep one ?

 

[kadeee]

Dont suppose the weighed the gen caseback vs the rep one ?

I did. It's a little difference of 0.6 grams. And the 210.6 grams is not with all links. There's one extra link that has to be added to the weighted 210.6 grams.

Gen:


Noob:

 

[SS72]

Just found this thread. Amazing stuff. No guts, no glory. Love it!