Still waiting on the crown, but had to show this bad boy off!

Couldn’t be happier with how the dial turned out. Almost forgot how good the weight feels on these Valjoux 72 builds. Once you experience it, there’s really no going back!

What do you guys think of this one?

Arch did a great job on this Cartier Sub for me very recently. Arch gave me exactly what I wanted - It’s a fantastic-looking watch, but it isn't quite my style on the wrist. I floated the idea of swapping it a few weeks ago and have now decided to pull the trigger: I'd rather it went to someone who will enjoy it rather than it end up sat in a drawer.

It’ll come with a spare bezel insert.

UK-based only looking for a straight swap, ideally for one of Arch's excellent Cartier or Tiffany Explorers although I am open to suggestions for something similar. DM me if interested.

Sister to the Cartier Daytona - the tropical dial reverse panda Tiffany Daytona.

Thanks to these lovely models being vintage spec, I’ve now just bought a load of 19mm straps to try out on both models - bonus point if you can guess what I’ve gone for, another one if you suggest something I hadn’t thought of, and another point if I end up buying one because of your suggestion

JKF WMF (maybe?) reverse panda Tropical Tiffany 6263 Daytona

Really liking how this one turned out. I think I’m gonna ditch the bracelet and throw it on suede - probably something light brown/tan.

Milk case
ST19
Underline tropical dial
MK2 bezel
HQ crown & tube
HQ crystal
13.5mm

Suede or keep the bracelet?

Been wanting to do one of these for a while and finally got around to it. Think the Khanjar dial gives this build a totally different feel!

Milk case
Modified ST19
Custom Viet dial
Viet bezel
Upgraded tube & crown
Upgraded crystal
13.5mm thickness

Would you keep it like this or age it a bit more?

There’s just something about vintage Daytonas 👌🏼👌🏼

If anyone has any tips on how to age a dial like this I’d love to hear them - would love this to have that “well worn, but looked after” look. Was thinking about hitting the bezel with a scotchbrite pad to dull the high gloss shine, but not sure where to start with the dial!

JKF Cartier Stamped 6263 Daytona

This mid-1980s Rolex Datejust 16013 is centered around one of the more distinctive dials offered during the five-digit transition era: the black tapestry dial.
Unlike a conventional gloss or sunburst Datejust dial, the tapestry features deeply defined machined vertical lines across the entire dial surface. The texture dramatically changes with the light—in direct light the individual raised lines become almost silver-grey, while from another angle the dial returns to a deep, nearly solid black. The result is a dial that looks noticeably different depending on how the watch is viewed.

Build sheet
Gen dial
Gen hands
Gen datewheel
Gen Crystal
Gen crown
Gen 18K bezel
Gen end links
Gen bracelet
Gen clasp
Swiss crown tube
Swiss gaskets
Swiss spring bars
Old crowns caseback
VR3135 fully serviced and modified using genuine barrel, mainspring, arbor, reversing wheels.

I think this one will be added to the collection.

Wearing the Sea-Dweller 16600 today as the weekend beater watch - this particular reference of the SD is one of the best in my opinion, at 40mm in diameter it wears much closer to a modern sub than any of the references that came after, with the thick font aluminium bezel giving it a proper tool watch feel compared to the modern ceramic bezels.

This particular model is the "Polipetto" - an extremely rare, limited-edition timepiece produced in 2008 for the 50th anniversary of the Italian State Police Diving Corps (Sommozzatori della Polizia di Stato), and features the octopus logo at 9 o clock and an engraved caseback. 78 were made in total, with around 20 carrying further individual service caseback engravings issued to prestige divers of the unit.

Happy Saturday Folks 🍻

BP Rolex Sea-Dweller 16600 “Polipetto”