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

[dpd3672]

I’ve done a few of these myself. The all stainless for a customer looking to replace the same watch in gen that was stolen from her late mother. The other two for my wife. I’ve tried the date wheel overlay and it always ends up being more trouble than it’s worth. Would need a spacer of some sort to clear the dial I wager. The crystals aren’t typically well aligned with the date window either, but the beauty of these watches is THEY’RE TINY! Things that bug me under the loop I can’t easily see with the naked eye. I haven’t gotten around to adjusting the crystal alignment yet. I’m not even sure I have an appropriate die with my press anyway. Fun little watches. Super cheap Frankens to build.

Those look great. If you really scrutinize it, you can see the little gap to the right of the date, but honestly, the DWO isn't really even needed. It looks better when it's done, but lining it up and getting it to rotate can be a chore.

Those look like 6mm crowns. You can pick up a gen 5.3mm crown pretty cheap on Ebay. Or a super cheap rep crown on AliX.

 

[MS00012]

I’ve done a few of these myself. The all stainless for a customer looking to replace the same watch in gen that was stolen from her late mother. The other two for my wife. I’ve tried the date wheel overlay and it always ends up being more trouble than it’s worth. Would need a spacer of some sort to clear the dial I wager. The crystals aren’t typically well aligned with the date window either, but the beauty of these watches is THEY’RE TINY! Things that bug me under the loop I can’t easily see with the naked eye. I haven’t gotten around to adjusting the crystal alignment yet. I’m not even sure I have an appropriate die with my press anyway. Fun little watches. Super cheap Frankens to build.

Whats up @Yellowhammerwatches ?! Glad to see you too have taken this frustrating plunge hahaha. Looks like you used aftermarket cases with gen dials. Super cool. I can confirm that the date overlay wheel was surprisingly easy to install this time. With the NH05 you can directly glue it to the original date wheel. The 3D printed spacer provides a great buffer between the datewheel and dial so it does not rub. There are just a couple of other issues with the build that I detailed before.

 

[369mafia]

posted this am on IG by craft and tailored

lady date. this is a new one to me.

 

[MS00012]

Update. I noticed the time stopped running on my watch. I think it was because the movement had been pushed too far to the left causing the cannon pinion to stop the watch.when I unscrewed the crown, it started moving again. I opened up the watch and diagnosed a few issues I needed to tackle.

1) the movements holder ideally should be as wide as the dial at the part where it is supposed to touch the case. To remedy that, I put a thin strip of duct tape around the dial holder so that it would hold in place and move less in the case. But not all the way to the caseback edge as it would be too thick there for the caseback to be installed.

2) the movement itself has some play in it against the movement holder. I had added dial adhesive to keep it in place, but when crowns are pushed in and pressure is applied, the movement seems to move a bit. Not sure if a tighter fit holder would work though as it might mess with the rotor moving. To fix this, I cut up a thin piece of zip tie and used it as a shim inside the movement holder.

3) the dial/holder tends to rotate a bit when you screw in the caseback. I just had to tinker with the holder and over rotate it so that it would be in the correct position when I screwed in the caseback.

*note on the duct tape pic. I trimmed that half the width to avoid messing with the caseback.

 

[369mafia]

Update. I noticed the time stopped running on my watch. I think it was because the movement had been pushed too far to the left causing the cannon pinion to stop the watch.when I unscrewed the crown, it started moving again. I opened up the watch and diagnosed a few issues I needed to tackle.

1) the movements holder ideally should be as wide as the dial at the part where it is supposed to touch the case. To remedy that, I put a thin strip of duct tape around the dial holder so that it would hold in place and move less in the case. But not all the way to the caseback edge as it would be too thick there for the caseback to be installed.

2) the movement itself has some play in it against the movement holder. I had added dial adhesive to keep it in place, but when crowns are pushed in and pressure is applied, the movement seems to move a bit. Not sure if a tighter fit holder would work though as it might mess with the rotor moving. To fix this, I cut up a thin piece of zip tie and used it as a shim inside the movement holder.

3) the dial/holder tends to rotate a bit when you screw in the caseback. I just had to tinker with the holder and over rotate it so that it would be in the correct position when I screwed in the caseback.

*note on the duct tape pic. I trimmed that half the width to avoid messing with the caseback.

And yet another use for duck tape ladies and gents lol

I had a simlar issue with my 1655 when I first put it together. both stopping and movement moving in case when operating crown .

The movement needs to be supported by all sides and that small gap you left allows that movement. build up the holder under the stem and that should resolve the issue. also check your stem alignment as that may also cause the binding , running issues.

 

[dpd3672]

posted this am on IG by craft and tailored

lady date. this is a new one to me.

They pop up here and there, I think they're some of the eariest ladies date watches.

 

[Yellowhammerwatches]

Those look great. If you really scrutinize it, you can see the little gap to the right of the date, but honestly, the DWO isn't really even needed. It looks better when it's done, but lining it up and getting it to rotate can be a chore.

Those look like 6mm crowns. You can pick up a gen 5.3mm crown pretty cheap on Ebay. Or a super cheap rep crown on AliX.

I’ve got a raffles crown but it wouldn’t fit the case tube and the raffles tube that came with it wouldn’t fit the case either without some work. Bliger case I believe. Left it alone.

 

[Yellowhammerwatches]

Most of the cases I’ve gotten on AliEx came with a movement spacer. It’s whiteish plastic. If you sand the nubs off the sides and bottom of that spacer it works perfectly for keeping the movement in place. You just push it down over the movement once it’s cased up and aligned.

 

[dpd3672]

I’ve got a raffles crown but it wouldn’t fit the case tube and the raffles tube that came with it wouldn’t fit the case either without some work. Bliger case I believe. Left it alone.

Those Bliger cases aren't bad for what they're charging. A gen date dial fits over the NH35 grey plastic movement spacer, and the finished product isn't half bad. The case is a bit thicker than gen, but it's otherwise a nice rep for dirt cheap. I think the Bliger cases are about $40 with a bracelet, an NH05 movement is about $20, a ladies' dial is anywhere from $20 to $100 depending on what you get, and the hands I used are like $5 a set.

So under $100 for a passable rep of a ladies' DJ, which is even better than a cartel watch.

 

[MS00012]

Most of the cases I’ve gotten on AliEx came with a movement spacer. It’s whiteish plastic. If you sand the nubs off the sides and bottom of that spacer it works perfectly for keeping the movement in place. You just push it down over the movement once it’s cased up and aligned.

Oh man I'm gonna have to get one of these cheap cases and try this. You got any pics of this setup?

 

[Yellowhammerwatches]

Oh man I'm gonna have to get one of these cheap cases and try this. You got any pics of this setup?

If you look through the crystal you can see it. They forgot to take it out for this photo.

 

[desikukkad]

https://forum.replica-watch.info/threads/wtb-and-trade-section-restrictions.10983005/post-11805661

 

[fnfalguy]

<nope>

 

[dpd3672]

Built the lady friend a Buckley and one for myself. All Gen but the movement and hands on both.

 

[MS00012]

Those Bliger cases aren't bad for what they're charging. A gen date dial fits over the NH35 grey plastic movement spacer, and the finished product isn't half bad. The case is a bit thicker than gen, but it's otherwise a nice rep for dirt cheap. I think the Bliger cases are about $40 with a bracelet, an NH05 movement is about $20, a ladies' dial is anywhere from $20 to $100 depending on what you get, and the hands I used are like $5 a set.

So under $100 for a passable rep of a ladies' DJ, which is even better than a cartel watch.

Do you recommend angrn 5.3mm crown with one of these aftermarket cases? Would that fit? Is there an aftermarket Rolex crown you would recommend?

 

[dpd3672]

Do you recommend angrn 5.3mm crown with one of these aftermarket cases? Would that fit? Is there an aftermarket Rolex crown you would recommend?

There's some passable Rolex crowns on AliX for just a couple bucks; on something this small, whatever imperfections they might have aren't going to stand out.

 

[McDuck888]

This thread was such a huge pleasure to read. Thank you for making it!
I have a little scratched and missing some dial text 26mm DJ dial with diamonds that I really enjoy despite it's imperfections.
You putting a 26mm dial on an NH05 movement and it being a lovely fit got me thinking about how I could reuse my dial
(or whether I should give up and turn it into a keyring)
I noticed that a bigger sized 28mm DJ is being made by -little known to me- ASP factory. It has an NH05 movement. And wondered if I could attempt a dial swap on one of the 28mm ASP watches to put my 26mm dial in. It might fall through the rehaut for being too small. The dial also has a small step that surrounds it that might show, but I don't mind anything like that.

My query was whether or not a datewheel might line up. Notice how ALL the ASP factory DJs have a left-justified date. I wondered if my 26mm being smaller would mean the date window will shift to the left by 1mm, and show a more centred or right justified date.
I know the datefont would be wrong, the dial might have it's edges showing, the case will be based on the wrong model, etcetc. These things don't bother me. But I just wonder if it would be possible...!

 

[McDuck888]

Or is it curtains for my little silver dial. The date window might be too small after all. Who knows.
....... update: EDIT: I just learnt this second that ASPF don't make the model anymore. So none of my post is relevant.

 

[McDuck888]

I wonder if GSF still make an NH05 28mm watch. And if a person removed the GSF DWO, would it be possible to put a 26mm dial on a GSF watch in a desperate attempt to reuse the cool gen dial. (The edges of the dial would be very visible though)

 

[McDuck888]

I love that the caseback in your cheap aliX cases could be used with a gen case. What a score!

I manage to ruin the keyless works in a big eta 2824, so I'm not wild about using a tiny a2671 -haha- but could a 20mm width rollie dial (for 26mm DJ) fit on a a2671 well in theory please?