Vintage / Vintage-Build: beginners guide

[spencerswagu]

Hey folks - I'm a long time RWI member and person in the new rep game. The only "vintage" I've got is the ARF kermit steel bezel 16610 (sadly w rehaut)

I've recently become interested in vintage watches more, and without a huge amount of digging, it's difficult for me to figure out two questions:

1. Are there high quality vintage reps (out the box without modding) and what are they

2. Who are the absolute best modders for ready to wear vintage relic pieces. (In the $500-$1500 range, not the $10k+ stuff)

I know there's cartel and JFK donor watches, and 1000's of other details.

Is there a beginner guide to this niche? What's the different factories, modders, etc who are most renowned.

Thanks!

 

[Karbon74]

THE PLACE
Thread 'The 1016: The Under Appreciated Thread'
https://forum.replica-watch.info/threads/the-1016-the-under-appreciated-thread.8523377/

Also this
Thread 'Building a 5513 - Tutorial'
https://forum.replica-watch.info/threads/building-a-5513-tutorial.10949961/


As for « who makes the best »
My suggestion is always to check out the past M2M sales. You will quickly see the names that pop up all the time

 

[dpd3672]

It depends on how "vintage" you want to go. I think BPF and GMF still make some older subs and GMTs, but they're not considered very good out of the box. JKF/Cartel, as you mentioned is a lot of value for the money, but do benefit from some upgrades.

All of these require some mods to be acceptable. Many are within reach of a hobbyist that's not afraid to roll up his sleeves, but if you're intimidated by working on a watch, it'll cost a lot more to have work done than to do it yourself.

Most of the better modders here frequent the 1016 and 5513 and vintage Datejust threads, you might want to take a look there and see whose work you like. Today, it seems like most modders start with either a JFK/Cartel watch, a Raffles build, or a Viet build. JFK and Raffles would likely fall into your budget, Viet builds tend to start around your upper range, and go into the realm of "heavily worn gen" territory.

Which models are you looking for? You can build a very nice Franken in your price range if you're ok with a 1016, Datejust, or Oyster Perpetual/Air King, but the Subs, Daytonas, and GMTs are kind of pricey to Franken.

 

[Thewatchwolf]

Hello and welcome. I was in the same boat as you. Literally all of your questions can be answered by taking the time to use the search function on the forum. There are way too many variables for someone to be able to answer all of the questions you are asking. There are tons of topics discussing everything you’ve posted and regardless of not wanting to, you’re going to have to do some digging to find the answers you’re looking for.

 

[Geonor]

Best beginners guide is to plug this into Google before adding your search term

site:https://forum.replica-watch.info

Something like

site:https://forum.replica-watch.info 1016 explorer

 

[dpd3672]

Just to give ideas of the general price ranges of parts for a vintage build:

Cases:

AliX: ~$20-250
Raffles: ~$40-60
Viet: ~$250-1000
Gen: ~$200-500 for a 34mm OP case, $500-1000 for a 36mm case. $2500-10000+ for anything with pushers or a rotating bezel.

Dials:

AliX/Ebay reproductions: $10-100
Raffles: ~$20-50
Viet: ~$100-500
Gen: ~$50-150 or so for a DJ or OP, $250-1000+ for a Sub, GMT, or Daytona

Bracelets:

AliX/Ebay: ~$10-200
Raffles: ~$50-100
Viet: ~$200-500
Gen: ~$250-1000+

Movements:

a2824: $20-75
ETA 2824: $200
Gen: $2500-10000+
Clone Rolex (requires work to fit vintage cases): $75-150

Case work varies in price, but usually involves:

Simple...Reshape case, drill lug holes out, replace bezel and crystal, age dial and hands and relume.

Thorough...Massive case reshaping, often to include filling in metal and removing, custom bespoke dials, modify hands to fit incorrect movement, service/overhaul and internal modifications to be more gen-like, waterproof testing, custom parts fabrication, etc.

 

[Singapore9]

Are you looking at Sub-style REPs, OP?

Can build a nice Tudor Submariner with the correct calibre movement in your budget i.e. ETA 2824 for something like a 76100/79090 or an ETA 2784 for a 9411/94110.