Rolex Datejust two tone 16013

[freebalkany]

Hello,

here i am again with a new project. Hopefully I will be able to complete it this time. I want to present that one here as a build log, it's not finished just yet.

Onto the watch at hand: one of my favorite Rolex watch ever is the 16013 datejust, to me it's both tacky and subtle but also blends modern and vintage in a nice way (modern high beat movement with quick set date but also drilled lugs and acrylic crystal).

I want to do this project on a budget, I will try to keep it under 500€.


Let's start with the parts that I have:

• The movement is a 3135 replica from China, This particular example is to my knowledge the best copy: the VS3135
• The case is the standard raffle 2824 from Raffles. I have seen it mentioned couple of time on the forum, it seems that particular case is compatible with the VS3135.
• The dial is what I believe to be a gen 16013 datejust dial with the inscription "T swiss T"
• Crown: raffles gold crown
• Date wheel: unfortunately due to budget constraints, the date wheel will have to stay as it is for now. Plus I heard that the VS3135 is not compatible with gen date wheel

For what I am still missing:

• handsets: I will try some DJ hands from Ali. I could also go gen, but it's expensive and I'm not sure the difference is that noticeable
• Crystal: sternkreuz cyclop 135
• Bezel: ebay aftermarket bezel from Taiwan
• Movement ring: crystal gasket from cousinsUK
• Bracelet: raffles gold filled two tones

Now onto the pictures:

That's it.
Cheers.

 

[FaberNewBuilder]

How do you plan on solving the problem of the movement hitting the caseback?

 

[freebalkany]

Hey @FaberNewBuilder ,
I don’t have a plan at the moment, I’m hoping the case back will clear out the rotor just fine. I tested quickly and it seemed to be able to move.
If it doesn’t clear, then I will have to find someone with a lathe or a cnc. Another option would be to use a different case back.
Nonetheless, I will report here, success or not.

 

[johloo]

I've recently just did this exact build of fitting a vr3135 into the 2824 raffles case, the rotor clears the caseback without issue but it's possible yours may be of slightly different tolerance specs. The crystal gasket lip needs to be cut off and then the gasket itself needs to be sanded down a little more, in my case it didn't fit between the movement and case without thinning it down. Overall a really nice and affordable franken build that takes clone 3135 so you dont need to clip dial feet and can use gen hands.

Curious to see how your bezel will look, all aftermarket fluted bezels I've seen are around 2.5mm height for sapphire crystals so a bit too tall and doesn't look right on plexi crystals and often times a bit tighter inner diameter and crushes the plexi, had to to gen 160XX thinner bezels for the plexi crystal builds.

 

[Niko1U]

Nice project, love the look of vintage Datejust's. Under 500€ is nice, might try this myself sometime! Where did you buy the movement?

 

[freebalkany]

Hey @Niko1U ,
I bought the movement on Aliexpress https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005003392374501.html
To my understanding, this a VS3135. The quality is very good.

On another note, I received the crystal today from Sternkreuz. It seems to fitting just fine.
I did a quick test fit and I think I might have broken one of the lume pip on the dial. So yeah, tolerance is very tight, be careful!

 

[Niko1U]

@freebalkany , thanks!
Yeah the crystal looks nice. bummer with the lume pips, but it should be fixable.

 

[pompompurin]

I did a quick test fit and I think I might have broken one of the lume pip on the dial. So yeah, tolerance is very tight, be careful!

The stock raffles case's rehaut diameter is too narrow. You will need a dremel to widen the rehaut so that the rehaut doesn't touch the gen dial's lume plots.

For your inspiration (https://forum.replica-watch.info/th...6mm-gen-dial-hands-date-disc-vr3135.10826923/):

 

[pompompurin]

e.g., if we look at this pic, the rehaut is already covering the "T SWISS T" because the raffles case's rehaut diameter is too narrow and needs widening.

 

[heska]

Date wheel: unfortunately due to budget constraints, the date wheel will have to stay as it is for now. Plus I heard that the VS3135 is not compatible with gen date wheel

Tolerance are not always great with rep movement but I never had problem to fit a gen date wheel on a VS . I heard that some had problem though.

Regarding the datewheel the VS one is great. Not period correct for a 160xx build but I think some service 3035 datewheel come with the more modern Font like the one on the VS.
Anyway buying gen hands is around the same price as a gen datewheel ( except if you want a period correct open 6&9 3135 datewheel that are way more expensive) and IMHO a more important part to replace with gen.
At least I never found decent rep DJ hands

 

[freebalkany]

Hey @pompompurin , Thanks for your input.
I think you are right regarding the rehaut width. I do have a dremel at home, but I'm always a bit reluctant to use it, because the result could be irregular. In an ideal world I would have a Lathe.
Nonetheless, I will give a try. I measured the rehaut diameter at ~27.29mm and on the dial, the distance between the lume pip is 27.66mm. I will try to enlarge the rehaut a bit.

 

[pompompurin]

Hey @pompompurin , Thanks for your input.
I think you are right regarding the rehaut width. I do have a dremel at home, but I'm always a bit reluctant to use it, because the result could be irregular. In an ideal world I would have a Lathe.
Nonetheless, I will give a try. I measured the rehaut diameter at ~27.29mm and on the dial, the distance between the lume pip is 27.66mm. I will try to enlarge the rehaut a bit.

No problem. If I remember correctly, my gen spec Korean 16200 case's rehaut diameter was around 27.8mm

As for the dremel, you are widening the rehaut in circular motions, so the chances of error is relatively minimal. A lathe would be the most ideal, but access to one can be difficult.

 

[freebalkany]

Hello there,
hopefully y'all cool with my spamming.
So today, I widened the aperture of the rehaut. Somehow the dremel went much faster than I expected and I might have removed too much material.
I also received a crystal gasket that works perfectly as movement holder. Everything seems to be fitting fine. The stem is properly aligned.
Unfortunately for me it's a bit difficult to tell if the rotor is spinning freely or not because it's completely silent.

I'm adding some pictures as well as the reference for the gasket.
Cheers

 

[freebalkany]

Hello there,
so some updates regarding my build.

I received the bezel and after some dremel action it fits just fine. It also sits a lot lower that the raffles one.
For the hand set I finally settled on the one from CousinsUK, to my eye they looks just fine. I also bought a set from Ali but it did not fit on the pinion.

One last issue that I am having is that unfortunately there is not enough space for the caseback to properly clear the rotor. I did some dremel action again but I'm not sure I have solved the issue. Also the 3135 is fairly silent movement, so sometimes it is a bit hard to gauge if it is spinning or not.

I also noticed that the two casebacks I have from Raffles are somehow different: one is laser etched and the other one is engraved.

Otherwise I got the gold filled bracelet from Raffles and it looks fine to me.

Cheers

 

[369mafia]

Nice build looks great. the enlarged rehaut makes all the difference.

I am dealing with a rotor clearances myself on a ranger build. alot of grinding and test fitting.

If we can start using these movements in raffles cases and all it takes is a bit of grinding sign me up.

 

[Niko1U]

Looks nice, great build! Love the plexi Datejust

 

[Patek570fan]

@freebalkany nice build! Where did you pick up that bezel?

 

[freebalkany]

Hello @Patek570fan
I bought this bezel https://www.ebay.com/itm/154513880857
Cheers

 

[AlexTFG]

Hello @Patek570fan
I bought this bezel https://www.ebay.com/itm/154513880857
Cheers

Did you ever fix the rotor clearance issue? If so what did you do i am running into this exact problem now @Patek570fan

 

[DjPresident]

Hello,

here i am again with a new project. Hopefully I will be able to complete it this time. I want to present that one here as a build log, it's not finished just yet.

Onto the watch at hand: one of my favorite Rolex watch ever is the 16013 datejust, to me it's both tacky and subtle but also blends modern and vintage in a nice way (modern high beat movement with quick set date but also drilled lugs and acrylic crystal).

I want to do this project on a budget, I will try to keep it under 500€.


Let's start with the parts that I have:

• The movement is a 3135 replica from China, This particular example is to my knowledge the best copy: the VS3135
• The case is the standard raffle 2824 from Raffles. I have seen it mentioned couple of time on the forum, it seems that particular case is compatible with the VS3135.
• The dial is what I believe to be a gen 16013 datejust dial with the inscription "T swiss T"
• Crown: raffles gold crown
• Date wheel: unfortunately due to budget constraints, the date wheel will have to stay as it is for now. Plus I heard that the VS3135 is not compatible with gen date wheel

For what I am still missing:

• handsets: I will try some DJ hands from Ali. I could also go gen, but it's expensive and I'm not sure the difference is that noticeable
• Crystal: sternkreuz cyclop 135
• Bezel: ebay aftermarket bezel from Taiwan
• Movement ring: crystal gasket from cousinsUK
• Bracelet: raffles gold filled two tones

Now onto the pictures:

That's it.
Cheers.

Very nice... Congrats! Did you make any modifications or reshape to the case or is it stock raffles case ootb?