"The Official Big Crown Club" - post your pics!

[xgeryx]

"The Official Big Crown Club" - post your pics!

Hello guys,

I apologize in advance for the long post.

I’ve been long time lurking on this thread and even more drooling over your builds.

Such an awesome club with tons of great information shared. The Big Crowns were always close to my heart and ever since I first laid my eyes on the 6200 King Sub I’m having this itch to get one built.

Now, I have zero skills in watchmaking so I’m now trying to source the parts for the build and once all parts collected I’m gonna have to ask someone skilled and reputable to assemble it for me.

The results of my search already justifies how difficult to find the right parts for this particular build. Especially that I’m struggling with finding the right supplier for each part. Detailed below.

Movement
Swiss ETA which cal. would you guys suggest?

Dial and hands
Option 1 - HR dial and hands set (longer mercedes hands and lollipop seconds hand) lume aged to a nice yellowish-brownish color
Option 2 - MQ dial which I guess the best quality dials for top $$$
Hands set - JKhorological
Option 3 - wait until back in stock on Ruby’s

Case set
This is where I struggle, given the rarity of this case

Option 1 - MQ case set (not sure if it worth the price)
Option 2 - Some budget case base, can you suggest a few?
Option 3 - wait until back in stock on Ruby’s

Bezel insert
Option 1 - WSO
Option 2 - Phong
Option 3 - Any other source you’d recommend?

Crown
Option 1 - Athaya crown
Option 2 - Gen for a ton of money :S

Bracelet
Option 1 - 7206 Rivet from Ruby
Option 2 - 7206 Rivet from Yuki

Not sure which one is the better?

Wildcard - A full build by Phong red depth 369 dial 6538, not a King Sub but could live with as an alternative.

This of course probably the most expensive option. As such I’m quite concerned by the fact that I read on several threads that his cases are a hit and miss, while the dials are a bit poor quality for that $$$ price

Any advice that will help my journey to realize this build is highly appreciated.


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[Dizzy]

Just finished this one.

 

[Ronin-]

Nice.^^^ I am in the build process myself. Can anyone chime in with a source for the "White" Large Lollypop/Meatball seconds hand. Thanks!

 

[jimcon11]

Hello guys,

I apologize in advance for the long post.

I’ve been long time lurking on this thread and even more drooling over your builds.

Such an awesome club with tons of great information shared. The Big Crowns were always close to my heart and ever since I first laid my eyes on the 6200 King Sub I’m having this itch to get one built.

Now, I have zero skills in watchmaking so I’m now trying to source the parts for the build and once all parts collected I’m gonna have to ask someone skilled and reputable to assemble it for me.

The results of my search already justifies how difficult to find the right parts for this particular build. Especially that I’m struggling with finding the right supplier for each part. Detailed below.

Movement
Swiss ETA which cal. would you guys suggest?

Dial and hands
Option 1 - HR dial and hands set (longer mercedes hands and lollipop seconds hand) lume aged to a nice yellowish-brownish color
Option 2 - MQ dial which I guess the best quality dials for top $$$
Hands set - JKhorological
Option 3 - wait until back in stock on Ruby’s

Case set
This is where I struggle, given the rarity of this case

Option 1 - MQ case set (not sure if it worth the price)
Option 2 - Some budget case base, can you suggest a few?
Option 3 - wait until back in stock on Ruby’s

Bezel insert
Option 1 - WSO
Option 2 - Phong
Option 3 - Any other source you’d recommend?

Crown
Option 1 - Athaya crown
Option 2 - Gen for a ton of money :S

Bracelet
Option 1 - 7206 Rivet from Ruby
Option 2 - 7206 Rivet from Yuki

Not sure which one is the better?

Wildcard - A full build by Phong red depth 369 dial 6538, not a King Sub but could live with as an alternative.

This of course probably the most expensive option. As such I’m quite concerned by the fact that I read on several threads that his cases are a hit and miss, while the dials are a bit poor quality for that $$$ price

Any advice that will help my journey to realize this build is highly appreciated.


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Let's see...

Movement, something in this family

Dial..
Wait for Ruby, or pay out the ass for MQ, they are the same dials. Another option is decal printing, I'm going to start another batch and I've considered doing some 369 dials.

Hands
The way I've gone for hands is the following:
clarks/JK hour hand, shaved thinner with hobby knife
Raffles 6204 minute hand, shortened and shaved thinner with hobby knife
I can't think of a good source for big ball seconds hands, HR used to have great ones ones but not anymore. Tiger Concept sells a white one but it's not perfect.
It's a gamble but you can search around for cheap watches that used the same hands. I found this one for instance.

Case
Same situation as dial, or maybe Phong. See who gives you the best deal. Actually there is a fantastic 6200 case for sale right now if you want the best quality build. But he's asking a lot.

Insert
No one makes a really accurate early , no hashmark insert with the thin triangle. However, gen inserts from that era were all over the place in terms of size of numerals and triangle. I have a nice Phong one that I've aged a bit that I would sell cheap if you PM me.

Crown
Yep, those are your options. Gen crowns aren't toooo expensive yet.

bracelet
Yep, those are the good options.

Don't forget crystal, a gen T17 is going to improve the look of the dial by MILES, but good luck finding one. It's difficult to find a crystal that will even fit 6538 cases, but the one I've found that works is the GS PA462-19m. You can sand the perimeter down to give it more of the bubbley, distorted look that it should have.

I wouldn't recommend a full Phong build, personally I think the builds never come out with the best quality unless you have an enthusiast putting it together . Hope this info helps you get started.

 

[jimcon11]

Nice.^^^ I am in the build process myself. Can anyone chime in with a source for the "White" Large Lollypop/Meatball seconds hand. Thanks!

This is where people get them, Hands J

 

[Revolper]

 

[Mendota]

Beautiful! What are the specs of this build?

 

[Revolper]

Beautiful! What are the specs of this build?

Here you go:

Phong Case with custom engraving (6538A as the explorer dial was for the Army)
Phong insert
Phong Crown
Clark hours and minutes hands
Tiger Lolipop white second hands
Ruby's dial
Viet rivet bracelet
Gen plexi
Gen Spring Bars
Certina Powermatic 80

 

[xgeryx]

I want this quality level for my 6200

 

[xgeryx]

Let's see...

Movement, something in this family

Dial..
Wait for Ruby, or pay out the ass for MQ, they are the same dials. Another option is decal printing, I'm going to start another batch and I've considered doing some 369 dials.

Hands
The way I've gone for hands is the following:
clarks/JK hour hand, shaved thinner with hobby knife
Raffles 6204 minute hand, shortened and shaved thinner with hobby knife
I can't think of a good source for big ball seconds hands, HR used to have great ones ones but not anymore. Tiger Concept sells a white one but it's not perfect.
It's a gamble but you can search around for cheap watches that used the same hands. I found this one for instance.

Case
Same situation as dial, or maybe Phong. See who gives you the best deal. Actually there is a fantastic 6200 case for sale right now if you want the best quality build. But he's asking a lot.

Insert
No one makes a really accurate early , no hashmark insert with the thin triangle. However, gen inserts from that era were all over the place in terms of size of numerals and triangle. I have a nice Phong one that I've aged a bit that I would sell cheap if you PM me.

Crown
Yep, those are your options. Gen crowns aren't toooo expensive yet.

bracelet
Yep, those are the good options.

Don't forget crystal, a gen T17 is going to improve the look of the dial by MILES, but good luck finding one. It's difficult to find a crystal that will even fit 6538 cases, but the one I've found that works is the GS PA462-19m. You can sand the perimeter down to give it more of the bubbley, distorted look that it should have.

I wouldn't recommend a full Phong build, personally I think the builds never come out with the best quality unless you have an enthusiast putting it together . Hope this info helps you get started.

Appreciate your detailed reply and indeed it was quite helpful to read through this information.

On the dial and hands I went for HR, hoping a good outcome. Maybe if in the meantime Ruby has the dial back in stock and can strike a deal with a case set combined I'll sell the HR one,

I'm going to wait on Ruby to have the 6200 case back in stock, however do those take ETA by default or some case work will be required to fit a low beat ETA?
Yeah I've seen that sales thread, it's a stunning case set but out of my budget, only would worth it if I had an A296 movement ticking away inside

For the insert I'll probably go with Phong, but please feel free to PM some photos of the one you have for sale, thanks in advance.

Gen crowns go for 600-700 euro at best, that's quite expensive but I might just bite the bullet will see

For the crystal I has a T19 in mind, but I'm definitely gonna check out your recommendation for T17

 

[Mendota]

Here you go:

Phong Case with custom engraving (6538A as the explorer dial was for the Army)
Phong insert
Phong Crown
Clark hours and minutes hands
Tiger Lolipop white second hands
Ruby's dial
Viet rivet bracelet
Gen plexi
Gen Spring Bars
Certina Powermatic 80

I love it! It's beautiful. It's hard to tell from your pic, but it looks like you might still have the standard issue, smooth brass 6538 bezel on it. The 6538a actually used the sharper teeth bezel, later introduced on the 5513, since the MOD determined the smooth bezel was too difficult to rotate while at depth wearing gloves. Or maybe you are going for the "decommissioned" look, where after the service member left the military, the MOD put the original Rolex bezel back onto the watch. Did you engrave the case back with the MOD serial markings, too? That would be a great finishing touch.

So I am planning to build a 5510 using either a Rolex 1530, 1560, or 1570 movement depending on what I can get my hands on. I know the vibration rates are all different for those 3 movements, but that's OK with me. They are all the same size, so whatever hands I use would work with all of them. I am slowly going to try to source as many gen parts as humanly possible for this grail build of mine!

 

[jimcon11]

Appreciate your detailed reply and indeed it was quite helpful to read through this information.

On the dial and hands I went for HR, hoping a good outcome. Maybe if in the meantime Ruby has the dial back in stock and can strike a deal with a case set combined I'll sell the HR one,

I'm going to wait on Ruby to have the 6200 case back in stock, however do those take ETA by default or some case work will be required to fit a low beat ETA?
Yeah I've seen that sales thread, it's a stunning case set but out of my budget, only would worth it if I had an A296 movement ticking away inside

For the insert I'll probably go with Phong, but please feel free to PM some photos of the one you have for sale, thanks in advance.

Gen crowns go for 600-700 euro at best, that's quite expensive but I might just bite the bullet will see

For the crystal I has a T19 in mind, but I'm definitely gonna check out your recommendation for T17

Hopefully the HR dial will be to your liking. For me I had to keep going though :abnormal:

A Ruby 6200 dial is definitely your best bet for quality and value, there were some available not too long ago, so sit tight . I may be making some more decal dials in the future so that's another option.

No casework to fit the ETA, but you will need a movement spacer, Raffles sells the correct one, depending on which movement you pick up.

You might be able to talk down that guy selling the 6200 case. $2700 is outrageous for a rep case, I don't care how nice it is.

Just FYI most T19 crystals are not going to fit a big crown case.

 

[jimcon11]

I love it! It's beautiful. It's hard to tell from your pic, but it looks like you might still have the standard issue, smooth brass 6538 bezel on it. The 6538a actually used the sharper teeth bezel, later introduced on the 5513, since the MOD determined the smooth bezel was too difficult to rotate while at depth wearing gloves. Or maybe you are going for the "decommissioned" look, where after the service member left the military, the MOD put the original Rolex bezel back onto the watch. Did you engrave the case back with the MOD serial markings, too? That would be a great finishing touch.

lol what? It's pretty easy to tell that that is the regular style of 6538 bezel. The A/6538 bezel would need to be custom made, and only a couple people like manodeoro have been crazy enough to attempt it

 

[manodeoro]

lol what? It's pretty easy to tell that that is the regular style of 6538 bezel. The A/6538 bezel would need to be custom made, and only a couple people like manodeoro have been crazy enough to attempt it

jimcon11 may I consider being called "crazy" by you as a compliment ?

About that A/6538 I'm happy to say that I'm working on the V2 ... it could take months to be finished

 

[xgeryx]

"The Official Big Crown Club" - post your pics!

Hopefully the HR dial will be to your liking. For me I had to keep going though :abnormal:

A Ruby 6200 dial is definitely your best bet for quality and value, there were some available not too long ago, so sit tight . I may be making some more decal dials in the future so that's another option.

No casework to fit the ETA, but you will need a movement spacer, Raffles sells the correct one, depending on which movement you pick up.

You might be able to talk down that guy selling the 6200 case. $2700 is outrageous for a rep case, I don't care how nice it is.

Just FYI most T19 crystals are not going to fit a big crown case.

Yea, I’m yet to receive QC pics from HR, I will post them here once received. In the meantime though it’s definitely become my daily routine to check Ruby’s site for stock updates haha

Thanks confirming the ETA fit of Ruby’s case. So the stem height is correct too? Do you know if the case takes a 29 mm dial too?

Also thanks for heads-up on the t19 crystal, I was not aware of that. As an alternative would you suggest something else besides the GS PA462-19m crystal?

On the Phong case, I might be able to negotiate the price yes, but I’d potentially be taking away the chance from more hardcore and better funded builders to achieve their dream build.

When you do the decal printing of 369 dial shoot a few photos my way pls


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[xgeryx]

A shout-out to all king sub owners, please share some photos to drool over haha

Your build story would also be highly appreciated


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[Revolper]

 

[xgeryx]

Stunning piece!


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[jimcon11]

Yea, I’m yet to receive QC pics from HR, I will post them here once received. In the meantime though it’s definitely become my daily routine to check Ruby’s site for stock updates haha

Thanks confirming the ETA fit of Ruby’s case. So the stem height is correct too? Do you know if the case takes a 29 mm dial too?

Also thanks for heads-up on the t19 crystal, I was not aware of that. As an alternative would you suggest something else besides the GS PA462-19m crystal?

On the Phong case, I might be able to negotiate the price yes, but I’d potentially be taking away the chance from more hardcore and better funded builders to achieve their dream build.

When you do the decal printing of 369 dial shoot a few photos my way pls

The issue with HR dials is that they are gold ink and not a true negative relief dial where the polished metal surface is showing through. Real Rolex gilt dials from the era shine and shimmer in a way that gold ink never can. HR dial text is also a lot thicker than the real thing.

Stem height is more or less correct for the ETAs I've tried, should be about 1.8mm from dial surface.

29mm dial is too big!! The 6538 takes a 27mm dial, and I'm pretty sure the 6200 does too, or something close to that.

I don't know of any crystal other than the 19m that fits, other than the ones Phong and MQ sell, which are NOT genuine by the way.

Will do on the decal dial. Might be a few weeks off.

 

[xgeryx]

I might just go with a budget build for now. I’ve seen many great builds with HR dial and silix case. Will keep you guys posted


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