Rolex 1500 crazy vintage build (Nobody told me this is impossible to do, so i did)

[circa67]

great looking build!

 

[Oscarwilder123]

Op thanks for the write up. You mentioned the Dial is a bit smaller in Diameter than the movement did you do anything to change that or is it not visible once assembled ? The reason I ask is I was getting ready to buy a Gen case I found online and was wanting to do a similar build.

 

[RNHMAmsterdam]

I just completed the same project!

rolex 1550 gen case with a VR3135 movement.

but... in stead of modding the case it modded the top seating of the movement.

It turns out that if you decrease the diameter to the same as the dial it has the exact same dimensions of a 1570 movement. Just 1mm om the whole side of the top seating. It just took 10 minutes.

it slided in to the case as a knife true butter, with original movement clamps.

good alternative for a next project!

 

[heska]

It turns out that if you decrease the diameter to the same as the dial it has the exact same dimensions of a 1570 movement. Just 1mm om the whole side of the top seating. It just took 10 minutes.

Hi!

What do you mean by "top seating"? The date plate ?

 

[pablito123]

Hello everyone,

I’m about to buy 15000 case and placed vr3135. I know the case needs some machine work, however is it really true that date plate diameter can be decreased and it will fit? If not is there someone in UK who will mod the case?

Regards

 

[Holdingman]

nice build, the dial did not need feet removal to seat on the 3135 ?

 

[dmtoronto]

Hey peeps....

As some of you may know, I’m really into Rolex and had a lot of up’s & down’s in the last two decades with the reps & gens i bought, owned & sold.
Being here as a member since last year, i learned quite a lot more about the efforts & ideas of other members, which demands me a lot of respect.
Such a huge amount mods, Frankens, etc. is amazing.

Saying that, i want to let you be part of one of my „crazy“ projects, which i started while I’m getting bored about corona.

It’s about a Rolex 1500 vintage.....
The 1500s are vintage Rolex’s with 34mm case size, plastic crystals & get quite often cannibalized for their vintage 1570 movements.

So what’s the story?

I friend of mine sold a 1500 case with crystal, dial, hands & caseback for 350€ some time ago & after short consideration i decided to buy it for this project.

Here is what i got as base:

Originally my idea was to make use of it with an ETA 2824/36 ..
Unfortunately I discovered soon that this wouldn’t work because of the different Stem height.
That was the moment when i asked myself: why not use an 3135 instead?

Crazy idea, i know.
but nobody told me, so i did.

I milled the case a bit to make space for the 3135:

Discovered lately that i need to have an open 6 & 9 champagne or gold datedisc for 3135, which doesn’t exist.
So i build the datedisc by my own...
https://forum.replica-watch.info/forum/replica-watch-general-discussion/9092259-creating-my-own-„open-6-9“-3135-datedisc-or-what-happens-when-you-get-bored-till-corona

beside the date part i customized the genuine hands to fit onto the 3135 movement.

some pics of the actual state:

In summary i have an genuine vintage Rolex 1500 from the 60s with original patina and an VR3135 movement ticking inside... haha..

Guess i will make use of a simple leather bracelet at the end...

We will see..

Amazing build. I am hoping to mill my case the same way - any suggestions on not screwing it up?

 

[cradle101]

I just completed the same project!

rolex 1550 gen case with a VR3135 movement.

but... in stead of modding the case it modded the top seating of the movement.

It turns out that if you decrease the diameter to the same as the dial it has the exact same dimensions of a 1570 movement. Just 1mm om the whole side of the top seating. It just took 10 minutes.

it slided in to the case as a knife true butter, with original movement clamps.

good alternative for a next project!

I was wondering if any one else can confirm this set up? I.e. can the outer diameter of a 3135 mvt. indeed be decreased in order for the movement to fit into a 1500 case?