The Vintage DateJust Thread

[freebalkany]

Hello there,
I think I reached Datejust replica nirvana on that one.

It's a 16030 with gold dial & hands. I heard somewhere that those specific models were made for the middle eastern market. As you might know, Islam forbid its followers to wear gold. And this very model is all stainless steel, except the dial & hands which are made of gold. In that way, the gold parts aren't in contact with the skin, thus making it halal. It's probably a myth, but it's fun anyway.

Here are some pictures of the build, fairly straight forward really



The only issue I had is the keyless works on the VS3135 getting knocked out of the alignment. It seems that it is helping to set the stem in the hand setting position when extracting it. I also noticed a lot if fibers inside the movement.




And for the finished build:



At no point was a dremel involved in the build. Everything just fit snuggly. I don't have a testing device, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is water proof.

The specs are as following:

• Case: @drvintage / old-crown
• Open 6 & 9 date wheel: @drvintage / old-crown
• Small crown tube: I forgot
• Gen 603 crown
• VS3135
• 25-135 crystal from sabaec
• Unknown jubilee bracelet
• Hands from cousinsuk
• Gen dial
• Gen engine turned bezel (I'm not a 100% it is gen)

This one is definitely a keeper.
Thanks for reading.

 

[drvintage]

Oh wow congrats to this nice build!

The only issue I had is the keyless works on the VS3135 getting knocked out of the alignment. It seems that it is helping to set the stem in the hand setting position when extracting it.

Yes it seems for 3135 it is better to pull the stem on the pos 3 before you extracting the stem out of Movement.
(On 2824 opposite seems to work better - pos 1/winding pos)

 

[AquaProd]

Oh wow congrats to this nice build!


Yes it seems for 3135 it is better to pull the stem on the pos 3 before you extracting the stem out of Movement.
(On 2824 opposite seems to work better - pos 1/winding pos)

Oh really? I've always believed that on the VS3135 you should extract the stem in the winding position and on the 2824 you NEED to put it in the hand setting position (and use a 1.2 mm screwdriver) or you'll need to reset the keyless.
During my last VS3135 build I had to reset the keyless a bunch of times because it kept getting out of alignement, I thought it was because of the stems I ordered from CousinsUK that didn't really match (visually) with the one that the movement came with, but I'll see during my next build.

 

[drvintage]

Oh really? I've always believed that on the VS3135 you should extract the stem in the winding position and on the 2824 you NEED to put it in the hand setting position (and use a 1.2 mm screwdriver) or you'll need to reset the keyless.
During my last VS3135 build I had to reset the keyless a bunch of times because it kept getting out of alignement, I thought it was because of the stems I ordered from CousinsUK that didn't really match (visually) with the one that the movement came with, but I'll see during my next build.

Yes this working to me very well.

 

[freebalkany]

Oh really? I've always believed that on the VS3135 you should extract the stem in the winding position and on the 2824 you NEED to put it in the hand setting position (and use a 1.2 mm screwdriver) or you'll need to reset the keyless.
During my last VS3135 build I had to reset the keyless a bunch of times because it kept getting out of alignement, I thought it was because of the stems I ordered from CousinsUK that didn't really match (visually) with the one that the movement came with, but I'll see during my next build.

Actually,
you might have a point here. I also did use a 3135 stem from CousinsUK, so this could be the culprit.

 

[AquaProd]

Actually,
you might have a point here. I also did use a 3135 stem from CousinsUK, so this could be the culprit.

I knew it wasn't my fault in the end!
I think the CousinsUK one is just different from the VS3135 stems you can find on AliX. It's different visually and in my build I just recycled the one that came with the movement originally by removing the plastic crown and that stopped pulling the keyless everytime.

 

[intellects]

Hello there,
I think I reached Datejust replica nirvana on that one.

It's a 16030 with gold dial & hands. I heard somewhere that those specific models were made for the middle eastern market. As you might know, Islam forbid its followers to wear gold. And this very model is all stainless steel, except the dial & hands which are made of gold. In that way, the gold parts aren't in contact with the skin, thus making it halal. It's probably a myth, but it's fun anyway.

Here are some pictures of the build, fairly straight forward really



The only issue I had is the keyless works on the VS3135 getting knocked out of the alignment. It seems that it is helping to set the stem in the hand setting position when extracting it. I also noticed a lot if fibers inside the movement.




And for the finished build:



At no point was a dremel involved in the build. Everything just fit snuggly. I don't have a testing device, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is water proof.

The specs are as following:

• Case: @drvintage / old-crown
• Open 6 & 9 date wheel: @drvintage / old-crown
• Small crown tube: I forgot
• Gen 603 crown
• VS3135
• 25-135 crystal from sabaec
• Unknown jubilee bracelet
• Hands from cousinsuk
• Gen dial
• Gen engine turned bezel (I'm not a 100% it is gen)

This one is definitely a keeper.
Thanks for reading.

Did you not have to dremel the caseback for rotor clearance? I still need to do this to my own build, was wondering if you found another way..

 

[freebalkany]

Did you not have to dremel the caseback for rotor clearance? I still need to do this to my own build, was wondering if you found another way..

Hello, this build is not using a Raffles case set, but another one from @drvintage / old-crown

 

[qjai89]

For those of you who like thinner sidewall cases. Got this one recently from AliExpress. Case is slightly thinner than raffles 2824 case. Fitment is for nh35 so same as the 2824 case from raffles.

Crystal is acrylic but I don't know, feels a bit cheap on my end. Raffles crown doesn't fit on existing crown tube so will need to replace the tube.

Overall, not a bad option for those who plan to swap out the crown and crystal anyways. No case markings though.

Update on this one. After 2 broken crystals and 3 broken gaskets, I was finally was able to swap to a new acrylic crystal @intellects, I can confirm a 30.6mm domed acrylic works with the original bezel and white gasket. On initial impression, the crystal was a bit loose on the case and too big for the bezel but I ended up sanding gently the OD of the crystal 400grit sand paper for literally like 20 secs around the perimeter and then I was able to press the bezel in. Once the bezel was in, it created a tight seal on the case.

 

[qjai89]

Oops I meant to tag @AquaProd as well

 

[qjai89]

Forgot to mention, the rehaut is substantially lower than the 2824 case from raffles which is pretty nice.

 

[Iksander]

IMG 7044

Image IMG 7044 hosted in ClickPix.org

clickpix.org

IMG 7043

Image IMG 7043 hosted in ClickPix.org

clickpix.org

IMG 7045

Image IMG 7045 hosted in ClickPix.org

clickpix.org

 

[Nabe_09]

 

[AquaProd]

Update on this one. After 2 broken crystals and 3 broken gaskets, I was finally was able to swap to a new acrylic crystal @intellects, I can confirm a 30.6mm domed acrylic works with the original bezel and white gasket. On initial impression, the crystal was a bit loose on the case and too big for the bezel but I ended up sanding gently the OD of the crystal 400grit sand paper for literally like 20 secs around the perimeter and then I was able to press the bezel in. Once the bezel was in, it created a tight seal on the case.

Looks good! This might be a good base for a 1016 build especially if you are using an NHxx movement.

 

[AquaProd]

Damn it, I've done it again! Bought another gen Rolex dial for another let's say bargain price (90 EUR), does anyone have a reference for this dial? I've searched around but I couldn't find a gen model with this type of dial; I'm thinking about a two-tone build or something like @freebalkany did. VS3135, Champagne date wheel, but unsure about the "specs" of the case. Thanks everyone!

 

[qjai89]

Damn it, I've done it again! Bought another gen Rolex dial for another let's say bargain price (90 EUR), does anyone have a reference for this dial? I've searched around but I couldn't find a gen model with this type of dial; I'm thinking about a two-tone build or something like @freebalkany did. VS3135, Champagne date wheel, but unsure about the "specs" of the case. Thanks everyone!

I did the same, waiting for the dial in the mail. Probably just make a 16233.

 

[freebalkany]

Damn it, I've done it again! Bought another gen Rolex dial for another let's say bargain price (90 EUR), does anyone have a reference for this dial? I've searched around but I couldn't find a gen model with this type of dial; I'm thinking about a two-tone build or something like @freebalkany did. VS3135, Champagne date wheel, but unsure about the "specs" of the case. Thanks everyone!

To me, that looks like a 16013 dial:



The issue with the two tone builds, is that finding a good bezel is not easy. And gen, since they are solid gold, are pretty expensive

 

[AquaProd]

To me, that looks like a 16013 dial:



The issue with the two tone builds, is that finding a good bezel is not easy. And gen, since they are solid gold, are pretty expensive

Yes looks like a 16013 dial. I think I'm going to buy the two tone case from Raffles and then put a 25-135 plexi on it. Does anyone have experience with this crystal?
I also hope that I don't have to enlarge the rehaut since I don't have experience with that and I also don't want to ruin the case.

 

[beanvatan]

I have a few gen bezels for 16013 left from my builds. I can say that the raffle's bezel will not work with the plexi.

 

[AquaProd]

I have a few gen bezels for 16013 left from my builds. I can say that the raffle's bezel will not work with the plexi.

That's good to know.
It's kinda of a budget build since I'm still learning so I guess I'll build a 16233 with a Raffles case+bracelet and I'll upgrade to gen bezel + plexi down the line.