Rolex Explorer II-2 (216570) Project

[KJ2020]

Thanks guys for the advice. That V4 does look clean and smart…what a lovely movement too, and the hands are correct looking- normally easy to spot the fake hour hand as the shaft is longer on many fakes.
im going to plough on relying on the skill of a watchmaker to adapt the hands and dial to the ETA2893-2 I think the GMT is .02mm out and will need filling and re tapping, gen dial will need feet trimming.

we’ll see.

I’ll report back with pics as we go along.


one last question in terms of fakes today how large or small is the quality gap now between that Ex11-2 GMFV4 and the real McCoy? I struggle to see a quality difference that justifies the pricing gap. Which makes me think most of it is purely brand demand and corp admin/marketing costs.

Hard to believe you would want to pour money into such a poor example of a rep that yours is, but I'm sure we all have some tales of similar stubborn attachment to a watch that we were going to salvage no matter what!

Just remember that the 2893 GMT hand is on the bottom so you will have to live with ICHS (incorrect hand stack) on top of all the other inevitable obvious visual shortcomings. In addition to devaluing your gen dial by clipping the feet.

Good luck whatever you decide, love to see the result!

 

[KJ2020]

Regarding your quality gap question, many reps today achieve about 90% closeness. If you add a few gen parts like a crystal and datewheel, you can get to 95%. Often it's difficult for even experienced watch enthusiasts to call out a rep, especially if it's not sitting next to a gen.

 

[od419]

This is obvs the replica and the ETA I’d like to fit…

And the proper bit of kit.

Other pics of project to follow plus other bits…

Hey

I know it's been a while but i completely admire this watch.

Could you possibly direct me to the best place to get a rep of this SAS explorer ii ?