Question on Ladies' Oyster Franken movement.

[dpd3672]

What I want is a couple of nice dress watches for the lady fried. What I have on hand or incoming is the following:

2 gen 26mm Rolex cases.
2 gen no date Rolex dials for the 26mm case
1 gen Oyster and 1 gen Jubilee bracelet or the above.

I also have (as a backup)

2 AliX "Datejust" cases for the Seiko NH05 movement
2 NH05 movements
3 sets of hands for the above...DJ/OP type hands for the NH05 movement.

I know most ladies' builds are based on the ETA 2671 (and a bigger 28mm or 31mm case), so not sure why no one's tried the much cheaper and arguably as reliable Seiko movement. Either I'm blazing a new trail here, or there's some reason why it won't work. I don't look forward to messing with the keyless on an ETA that small, and they cost about 3-4x what the Seiko movement costs.

The NH05 seems to be comparable in size to the original Rolex movement, but about .5mm higher. Not sure if this could be cured by removing the rotor, or if that would be necessary.

 

[Reaps]

There are some factories such as GS that uses NH05 for their 28mm Datejust - I have a feeling that they're using the same case you found on Aliexpress

Isn't the beat rate different though? 3hz for NH05 and 4hz for gen? That's why I went with GMF instead that uses a A2824

 

[dpd3672]

There are some factories such as GS that uses NH05 for their 28mm Datejust - I have a feeling that they're using the same case you found on Aliexpress

Isn't the beat rate different though? 3hz for NH05 and 4hz for gen? That's why I went with GMF instead that uses a A2824

This is a 26mm case, I don't think a 2824 would fit...and to be honest, I seriously doubt the beat rate difference would be apparent on something that small.

 

[Tony-Soprano]

What did you end up going with for the movement and how did he build come out? Did you attempt to use a Gen case or went with the rep case?

 

[dpd3672]

What did you end up going with for the movement and how did he build come out? Did you attempt to use a Gen case or went with the rep case?

I looked into the ETA 2671, but they're expensive and fitting them wasn't really guaranteed, since there's not a huge amount of information about these builds. Some real old threads on the various rep forums, but this is kind of uncharted waters, as far as I can tell.

I ultimately went with the NH05, which is a lot cheaper, and like the NH35/38, has a removable plastic spacer, which makes fitting the watch to the movement quite a bit simpler. I've built a couple with 24mm and 26mm gen cases and dials, and they're a fairly easy build, once you do the custom fitting required. The plastic spacer can be removed from the movement and sanded, shaved, drilled, and even melted to make things fit. It's really a godsend, and the NH movements are a lot less finicky than the ETA ones, in my experience.



It's a rabbit hole I kind of disappeared into lately, and between that and some personal things (a death in the family and a vacation), I haven't had a lot of time to post here, but planning on writing up a fairly thorough "How to" guide when I'm all done. I've got 2 built for my girlfriend, and will probably wind up selling the others, since I wound up with more parts than I needed.

So far, I've finished a Datejust in a 26mm case and a no date in a 24mm case, using all gen dials, cases, and bracelets. The only rep parts have been the movement and hands, and occasionally crystals from Clark's, when I couldn't find a gen crystal. Still waiting on some of the parts, and some of what I've built might still be changed, but this is the first drafts:

26mm Datejust (although the dial is from a "Date," I have a nice DJ dial waiting to be swapped in. Also will replace the crystal with one in better shape, and the hands with a better matched pair). The date window doesn't line up, although I made a few prototype DWOs by shrinking and printing ones from a bigger watch...I tried using gen DW as overlays, but forgot that the Rolex DW rotates the opposite way).


24mm "Explorer" style. Hands are gold and will be swapped with silver, and it still needs a crystal (from Clark's) and bezel (incoming any day now).
FWIW, I ordered a few different 26mm cases from AliX, but the dial opening is too big for a gen Rolex dial, so probably won't be able to use them. They're a bit bulkier than the gen cases, but I was optimistic that they'd respond to a little case shaping. I might try building them up with some decal printed dials just to use them, but haven't done much work here. That said, the prototype decal printed dials (black on white, black on brass, and pink on white) did come out pretty nice.

 

[Tony-Soprano]

I looked into the ETA 2671, but they're expensive and fitting them wasn't really guaranteed, since there's not a huge amount of information about these builds. Some real old threads on the various rep forums, but this is kind of uncharted waters, as far as I can tell.

I ultimately went with the NH05, which is a lot cheaper, and like the NH35/38, has a removable plastic spacer, which makes fitting the watch to the movement quite a bit simpler. I've built a couple with 24mm and 26mm gen cases and dials, and they're a fairly easy build, once you do the custom fitting required. The plastic spacer can be removed from the movement and sanded, shaved, drilled, and even melted to make things fit. It's really a godsend, and the NH movements are a lot less finicky than the ETA ones, in my experience.



It's a rabbit hole I kind of disappeared into lately, and between that and some personal things (a death in the family and a vacation), I haven't had a lot of time to post here, but planning on writing up a fairly thorough "How to" guide when I'm all done. I've got 2 built for my girlfriend, and will probably wind up selling the others, since I wound up with more parts than I needed.

So far, I've finished a Datejust in a 26mm case and a no date in a 24mm case, using all gen dials, cases, and bracelets. The only rep parts have been the movement and hands, and occasionally crystals from Clark's, when I couldn't find a gen crystal. Still waiting on some of the parts, and some of what I've built might still be changed, but this is the first drafts:

26mm Datejust (although the dial is from a "Date," I have a nice DJ dial waiting to be swapped in. Also will replace the crystal with one in better shape, and the hands with a better matched pair). The date window doesn't line up, although I made a few prototype DWOs by shrinking and printing ones from a bigger watch...I tried using gen DW as overlays, but forgot that the Rolex DW rotates the opposite way).


24mm "Explorer" style. Hands are gold and will be swapped with silver, and it still needs a crystal (from Clark's) and bezel (incoming any day now).
FWIW, I ordered a few different 26mm cases from AliX, but the dial opening is too big for a gen Rolex dial, so probably won't be able to use them. They're a bit bulkier than the gen cases, but I was optimistic that they'd respond to a little case shaping. I might try building them up with some decal printed dials just to use them, but haven't done much work here. That said, the prototype decal printed dials (black on white, black on brass, and pink on white) did come out pretty nice.

Lovely! Looking forward to it!

 

[MS00012]

I did one of these projects a while back and it was a nightmare getting a 2671 to fit the case attach to the dial and gluing the datewheel overlay. The raffles spacer that this project needed was not available and will probably never be available again. I ended up getting a plastic spacer 3d printed and had to glue the dial to the spacer. It works OK, but has trouble changing dates as the date overlay has too much friction and struggles to move. Would love to see your write up with the silo movement. Might switch to that movement as mine is kinda shoddy

 

[Tony-Soprano]

I did one of these projects a while back and it was a nightmare getting a 2671 to fit the case attach to the dial and gluing the datewheel overlay. The raffles spacer that this project needed was not available and will probably never be available again. I ended up getting a plastic spacer 3d printed and had to glue the dial to the spacer. It works OK, but has trouble changing dates as the date overlay has too much friction and struggles to move. Would love to see your write up with the silo movement. Might switch to that movement as mine is kinda shoddy

Ohhhhh nice! That’s a good idea if you have the materials and machine, to 3D print a spacer

 

[dpd3672]

Started a new thread that’s more or less a walkthrough of the build here:

The Ladies' Rolex thread...a guide to assembling a nice Franken (thread will be updated periodically)

THE CONCEPT (aka, the "Rabbit Hole"): I've fallen down a rabbit hole recently, trying to put together a watch for my girlfriend's birthday (in early June...it was supposed to be a Christmas present, to give an idea of how deep this hole went, lol). After some dead ends and (often costly)...

forum.replica-watch.info

 

[McDuck888]

There are some factories such as GS that uses NH05 for their 28mm Datejust - I have a feeling that they're using the same case you found on Aliexpress

Reaps, I'm finding it hard to find any information on GS factory. Do you know for sure if GS uses NH05 in their 28mm or is it in their 31mm? I'm finding it difficult to source much information from the web tbh.

 

[Reaps]

Reaps, I'm finding it hard to find any information on GS factory. Do you know for sure if GS uses NH05 in their 28mm or is it in their 31mm? I'm finding it difficult to source much information from the web tbh.

From the GSF I own it's a A2824

 

[McDuck888]

From the GSF I own it's a A2824

Thanks a lot for your reply Reaps!

 

[TonyMontana]

I did one of these projects a while back and it was a nightmare getting a 2671 to fit the case attach to the dial and gluing the datewheel overlay. The raffles spacer that this project needed was not available and will probably never be available again. I ended up getting a plastic spacer 3d printed and had to glue the dial to the spacer. It works OK, but has trouble changing dates as the date overlay has too much friction and struggles to move. Would love to see your write up with the silo movement. Might switch to that movement as mine is kinda shoddy

Hi, do you mind sharing the 3d plastic spacer.