PsychoTee's Repair & Servicing Journey

[sfbatman787]

Evening all!

Had an awesome build cross my bench this weekend.
Although I didn’t service the nearly complete gen movement it was still a joy to assemble and tune.

Gen case, gen dial, gen hands, gen bezel, gen crystal, gen movement (99.9%), and of course gen crown and pushers.

Customer opted for the open caseback, which take it to the next level.

Enjoy!!

This will be worn.... I promise.... maybe lol

Just gotta get the strength to remove all the stickers from the brand new gen bracelet.

 

[PsychoTee16]

This will be worn.... I promise.... maybe lol

Just gotta get the strength to remove all the stickers from the brand new gen bracelet.

I’ll believe that when I see it!!!

 

[PsychoTee16]

Hey All!

Another treat crossed the bench this week!
A 126610LV franken with a completely gen movement, gen dial, gen hands, gen crystal, gen datewheel, and gen crown and tube.

To install any gen tubes on these cases you have to cut into the rep case. I use a chamfer bit to accomplish this task. This cut got extremely close to the edge of the case, but turned out great!
Look how consistent gen movements are too on the final timegrapher readings.

Everytime I see a gen movement, I’m reminded of how well finished these things are. The clones don’t even compare!

Was a true treat working on this one!

 

[sfbatman787]

Hey All!

Another treat crossed the bench this week!
A 126610LV franken with a completely gen movement, gen dial, gen hands, gen crystal, gen datewheel, and gen crown and tube.

To install any gen tubes on these cases you have to cut into the rep case. I use a chamfer bit to accomplish this task. This cut got extremely close to the edge of the case, but turned out great!
Look how consistent gen movements are too on the final timegrapher readings.

Everytime I see a gen movement, I’m reminded of how well finished these things are. The clones don’t even compare!

Was a true treat working on this one!

You are one of the reason I keep building these frankens lol

 

[PsychoTee16]

Hey all!
Had a fairly rough 2824-2 come through for work, and figured I would post some pics on the findings.

There was quite a bit of wear and tear around the crown wheel area. Looks like it was mainly due to lack of lubrication and rubbing over time. It had thrown brass shavings all over the movement. Shavings had gotten into the seconds wheel pivot, which would have bound that up eventually.
During assembly I also noted a chipped jewel on the scape wheel. This was replaced and endshakes were adjusted on all train wheels. Endshakes on the clone 2824s are almost always terrible. It’s critical, in my opinion, that this be properly adjusted.

Also enjoying using the new timegrapher. This one was a bit tricky since the 12H was a major outlier. Had to readjust the etachron as best as possible to rain that in to an acceptable variance.












Also figured I would post some updated bench pics, since it’s changed a bit in the last several months.









Gaskets, gaskets, and more gaskets! Can’t have enough…especially those Hytrels.



And of course spare movement parts! From left to right is the 3235, 4130, VR/SH3135, ETA 28XX, and VS3135 movement parts.

 

[dogwood]

And of course spare movement parts! From left to right is the 3235, 4130, VR/SH3135, ETA 28XX, and VS3135 movement parts.

This organization of spare parts is making my OCD want to reorganize my parts drawer to be like this!

 

[PsychoTee16]

Hey All!

Some updates on past project.
Had a VS3235 in for service, as well as modification of external items for a fantasy build.

This is a base Clean 126622 with a 126621 gen dial, hands, crystal, bezel, and insert. I also had to use a gen tube installed as the rep tube caused the crown to rub on the bezel when fully tightened. This was due to the slightly large OD of the gen bezel assembly.
Watch turned out great and is definitely a unique fantasy franken!
















Also, I got a couple pieces to add to my collection! Incredible gensteins, and pieces I will keep probably forever.

First one is a 116234. EVERYTHING is Gen! Incredible piece with a pretty rare dial and Arabic Datewheel. Its a 36mm which is a bit small, but the oyster bracelet definitely helps. It has pretty good wrist presence.

The second one is a 116503 Paul Newman Two Tone! Another stunner as its again all gen besides the bezel. Bezel is a rep modded by SpongeBob.

 

[Slugger]

Have you thought about a gold crown and a two-tone bracelet on that Yacht-Master? I like building fantasy watches but with subtle tweaks and just enough like something that actually exists to mess with the brain of anyone who‘d actually know. Haven’t decided yet, but I’m thinking about modding the bezel insert on a 16628 to black background with polished gold numbers/markers.

 

[PsychoTee16]

Have you thought about a gold crown and a two-tone bracelet on that Yacht-Master? I like building fantasy watches but with subtle tweaks and just enough like something that actually exists to mess with the brain of anyone who‘d actually know. Haven’t decided yet, but I’m thinking about modding the bezel insert on a 16628 to black background with polished gold numbers/markers.

He already has a touch of gold on the build with the everrose gold bezel.
I think its just the right amount!

Plus I'm not sure if Rolex makes any two tone rose gold bracelets for that case. And if they do, it would be hard to find!!

 

[sfbatman787]

He already has a touch of gold on the build with the everrose gold bezel.
I think its just the right amount!

Plus I'm not sure if Rolex makes any two tone rose gold bracelets for that case. And if they do, it would be hard to find!!

Rolex does offer rose gold YachtMaster, reference 126621, but tbh I don't like the look of it. Like Trevor mentioned, it has just the right amount of rose gold touch with the rose gold bezel, hands, and dial markers. Crown or anything else would make it too much.

 

[Slugger]

He already has a touch of gold on the build with the everrose gold bezel.
I think its just the right amount!

Plus I'm not sure if Rolex makes any two tone rose gold bracelets for that case. And if they do, it would be hard to find!!

Yup. That’s perfect. The I don’t know part. I love hangin’ out in that space.

 

[Iceballer]

Damn, you got me hooked haha. Just joined this forum after lurking for a while. But your thread got me excited in starting my first build (cheap parts first ).

May I ask where you get the gen parts?

 

[PsychoTee16]

Damn, you got me hooked haha. Just joined this forum after lurking for a while. But your thread got me excited in starting my first build (cheap parts first ).

May I ask where you get the gen parts?

Now that’s super secret

 

[PsychoTee16]

Evening all!

Decided to give the new gen 4130 a full overhaul this weekend! Amongst other work…
It doesn’t happen often for me (and figured would be good to add to the forum), but it’s always a pleasure working on gens. Everything just works and falls into place. And just look at it! The SA4130 doesn’t even compare, even though it is a good movement.

Took some pics to showcase the LIGA wheel as well.
Broke out the good camera for this one.

The dial, hands, and case are also gen.

Enjoy the pics!!

 

[PsychoTee16]

Part II

 

[speedywombat]

Hi TB! May I ask what's your estimated current turnaround time for reps shipped from California?
I just got myself an ZF AP 15500 V3 white dial, and based on what I've read, they recommend polishing the bracelet as the ZF version are known to be a bit rough around the edges. Another one that they recommend is just service/check the movement as some of them tend to fail early due to not enough lubrication / dust particles.

Thanks!

 

[PsychoTee16]

Hi TB! May I ask what's your estimated current turnaround time for reps shipped from California?
I just got myself an ZF AP 15500 V3 white dial, and based on what I've read, they recommend polishing the bracelet as the ZF version are known to be a bit rough around the edges. Another one that they recommend is just service/check the movement as some of them tend to fail early due to not enough lubrication / dust particles.

Thanks!

Take a peak at my terms of service.
I do not work on APs

 

[Spartan8029]

Are you able to replace the crown on an ORF seamaster? I have the part from ORF already.

 

[PsychoTee16]

Morning All!

Had an easier 2824 cross my bench the last couple of days.
This one was in poor conditions, had rusted areas, lots of debris, and a warn post for the ratchet driving wheel.

I was able to clean all the rust off with the help of WD40, however the damaged had been done. The post for the aforementioned wheel was extremely worn. This was causing lots of play within the automatic module and winding the watch felt very "sticky".
Both the top auto bridge and ratchet driving wheel were replaced.

Each jewel set on the train system had to be adjusted as well. Had far too much endshake. After all this, the watch was running great!
The final timegrapher reading would indicate there is a poising error in the 6 hour up position, but its within my tolerances so acceptable for this one.

Also, follow me on my new Instagram Page! I try to share more frequent pics on there when I can.

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[GE206032880]

Nice work Psycho. Keep ‘‘em coming