- 28/5/17
- 210
- 124
- 43
Like 10 years ago I kind of rediscovered Steve McQueen as a cool guy, since he would suddenly appear in media as a male fashion style icon of the moment.
I still think he was cool and I also know there’s no picture of him wearing a Rolex Explorer 1655 (but a Submariner).
But I like the 1655 anyways. For its 70s flair and its rarity (due to a lower popularity than the usual suspects Daytona and Submariner).
The gen can be found in very well conditions, considering its age and compared to Subs, which is probably because there have been not as many „cavers“ as there were divers around back then.
Since I do not have the money for a gen and don’t like too heavy-aged watches, I thought this could be a perfect vintage-Rolex-rep for me.
Here’s the gen with subtle aging and just the right lume color for my taste:
So I ordered the BP version from Marv and accepted the watch on these pics:
This is how it arrived:
I immediately replaced the bracelet with a paratrooper strap from cheapnatostraps (which I can recommend for its unbeatable price/value).
After a couple of weeks I slightly „aged“ the dial with Tamiya weathering (not recommendable, looks shitty) worked the CGs with my Dremel (not recommendable if you’re a rookie like me) and bleached the hour hand (didn’t turn out well, still far too neon red-ish).
So I installed a GMT hand from aliexpress (made to fit a Miyota, but fits perfectly well on the 2836, too). This GMT hand came in a hand set for my AP ROO 15703 (which is weird, I know), but I believe its very similar to the GMT hand from Raffles (if not the same). It is not 100% accurate but much better than the one from BP (better color and tapered shape).
Then I mounted a gen bracelet, looked at the watch and thought: BORING.
So I asked Tripdog and he kindly accepted to upgrade the watch.
This is how it looked when I sent it to Tripdog:
This is how it looked like after Tripdogs artisan work. He sourced and installed a Vietnam bezel, he drilled lug holes to gen spec, he magically reshaped the CGs, recolored dial and all lume.
Conclusion: you can see it on the pictures, but you have no idea how much the watch gained in look and feel on the wrist.
All the compliments for Tripdog’s competences I can only repeat: Stunning, Amazing, Immaculate,.....
Tripdog is a true artisan - and isn’t that what we would be looking for in gen watches, too?
A human being who invests time and highly specific skill into an artifact that has nothing but tremendous emotional meaning to us.
Hope you guys found some inspiration in this.
Cheers, B.
I still think he was cool and I also know there’s no picture of him wearing a Rolex Explorer 1655 (but a Submariner).
But I like the 1655 anyways. For its 70s flair and its rarity (due to a lower popularity than the usual suspects Daytona and Submariner).
The gen can be found in very well conditions, considering its age and compared to Subs, which is probably because there have been not as many „cavers“ as there were divers around back then.
Since I do not have the money for a gen and don’t like too heavy-aged watches, I thought this could be a perfect vintage-Rolex-rep for me.
Here’s the gen with subtle aging and just the right lume color for my taste:
So I ordered the BP version from Marv and accepted the watch on these pics:
This is how it arrived:
I immediately replaced the bracelet with a paratrooper strap from cheapnatostraps (which I can recommend for its unbeatable price/value).
After a couple of weeks I slightly „aged“ the dial with Tamiya weathering (not recommendable, looks shitty) worked the CGs with my Dremel (not recommendable if you’re a rookie like me) and bleached the hour hand (didn’t turn out well, still far too neon red-ish).
So I installed a GMT hand from aliexpress (made to fit a Miyota, but fits perfectly well on the 2836, too). This GMT hand came in a hand set for my AP ROO 15703 (which is weird, I know), but I believe its very similar to the GMT hand from Raffles (if not the same). It is not 100% accurate but much better than the one from BP (better color and tapered shape).
Then I mounted a gen bracelet, looked at the watch and thought: BORING.
So I asked Tripdog and he kindly accepted to upgrade the watch.
This is how it looked when I sent it to Tripdog:
This is how it looked like after Tripdogs artisan work. He sourced and installed a Vietnam bezel, he drilled lug holes to gen spec, he magically reshaped the CGs, recolored dial and all lume.
Conclusion: you can see it on the pictures, but you have no idea how much the watch gained in look and feel on the wrist.
All the compliments for Tripdog’s competences I can only repeat: Stunning, Amazing, Immaculate,.....
Tripdog is a true artisan - and isn’t that what we would be looking for in gen watches, too?
A human being who invests time and highly specific skill into an artifact that has nothing but tremendous emotional meaning to us.
Hope you guys found some inspiration in this.
Cheers, B.
