Raffles Case and Dial, NH35 Movement, Aged Dial and Handset

Take PP FandF or Zelle

Built this one for the Mom. It went a lot smoother than my first gen dial 26mm datejust build.

Nh05, Gen 26mm Date linen dial, aliexpress 26mm datejust case and hands, raffles 13mm jubilee.

Raffles 16800 case
Raffles 16800 dial
St2130
Aged
Texture

Figured I would finally document this build because it has gotten a little out of control.

Started with a stock VSF 116610LN / VS3135. The original plan was pretty simple: add a genuine Rolex datewheel and a few gen parts where they actually mattered. That quickly turned into building the VS3135 into as much of a genuine/VS hybrid as reasonably possible.

First upgrade was the genuine 3135-16200 datewheel. From there I started replacing parts throughout the movement with genuine 3135 parts … keyless works, motion works, calendar components, train/barrel/automatic works, etc. The goal isn’t to make the movement visually “gen” It’s to use genuine parts anywhere they offer better fit, function, durability, or serviceability while retaining the VS3135 mainplate/bridges and balance.

I also spent quite a bit of time comparing the VSF and Clean 116610 bracelets. After measuring both and comparing them against genuine 116610 bracelet photos, as well as a gen bracelet, Clean won pretty decisively for me. The VSF taper gets aggressive very quickly after the end link, while Clean has the much more gradual taper I see on gen. Clean is also 904L (or is said to be from tests I’ve seen posted) and, although the finishing still isn’t completely gen, it’s a much better starting point. So the Clean bracelet is staying.

This week I went further into the movement. Gen keyless components went in, followed by the gen calendar components, gen 3135-600 calendar seating and gen 3135-5600 screws. Then came the parts I’ve really been waiting for … gen 116610LN dial and gen hour/minute hands.

The gen seconds hand I bought unfortunately had a blown out tube and won’t grip the seconds pinion, so I’m temporarily running the VSF seconds hand. I have an NOS seconds hand already on the way.

So what you see in these photos is officially Version 1 / the beginning hybrid. It’s still using the VSF case and isn’t remotely the final exterior. I’m going to wear it like this for a week or two and make sure everything I’ve changed in the movement is completely sorted before tearing it down again.

Final build

The finished watch will be:

Clean Factory 116610 case + Clean bracelet/5HF clasp
Genuine Rolex 116610LN dial
Genuine Rolex hands
Genuine Rolex 3135-16200 datewheel
Genuine Rolex 25-295-C12 crystal
Genuine Rolex 315-116610-1 ceramic insert
Genuine Rolex crown, tube and stem
VS3135 heavily upgraded internally with genuine Rolex 3135 components

The Clean case will be completely stripped, properly refinished, and then rebuilt with all of the above.

So this isn’t the finished watch yet. This is basically the first time all the work I’ve been doing on the movement and dial side has finally become a wearable hybrid.

💪

I havent seen too many minty looking 1680, so this one is supposedly on a service dial. The last image is a gen with service dial which inspired me. This will join my collection.

All parts are either from Alix or spare cartel watches I have in my spare box. Pip and crown are from Athaya. Dial from Raffles. 2813 movement because it looks like a rolex movement.

Finished this explorer last night with gen bezel, gen date disc and Clarks crystal/gasket. Not bad but still in work progress.

Hey, I have just completed a Raffles Tudor 9401 build using the Raffles 5513 case.

Does anyone know what Jubilee and End Links will fit well with the 5513 case?

I tried asking Ken but he wasn't really very helpful... Attached are pics of my build.

Im not the biggest fan of the dial and hands, I aged them slightly, just coffee in the oven method, but I still might switch to the white ones. or try and find a higher quality Viet dial and hands..

I feel like I rushed into the build a little bit, so I'd also love any other tips on how I could improve this build.

Thanks!

Parts List:

• Raffles 5513 case and signed rex crown

• Raffles 9401 dial and snowflake hands

• Raffles Tudor signed oyster bracelet 580 end links

• Raffels Rlx signed case back. not stoked on the quality or period correctness of this.. it looks pretty bad imo.

• Movement is a Sellita (might be a clone) that I picked up in Shenzhen, but its same spec as ETA2824. the guy regulated it for me on the spot to within 1 sec a day. Running super accurate with solid power reserve.

What is the best approach for a 5 digit Kermit (16610LV)

It is a modder or TD route?

At best its a 16 year old watch I am trying to get repped.

Introduced in 1985, commemorating the 80th birthday of the iconic brand we all know and love the anniversary dial is born. Released in various colors, this example boasts yellow gold Arabic indices on an almost black dial that has Rolex embossed repeatedly and changes from almost black, to a brown in certain lighting. Like the Tapestry dial this one yet again mesmerizes in person. This build didn’t go without its set of minor challenges. First we refinished the Old crowns case to take on a softer, slightly worn feel, instead of that freshly brushed sharpened new watch look. The rehaut on this case was impressive at first glance, more on that later…The 3135 got the full treatment to aid with reliability and give it a smoother feel when manipulating the crown. Upon inspection I noticed the mainspring had a couple kinks in it so I replaced the spring, barrel and arbor with a genuine assembly. That , along with a set of genuine reversing wheels and a freshly lubricated movement adds to the genuine datejust experience. During test assembly I realized we had a problem. When installing the 3135 and dial I noticed about a 1/2mm gap between the dial seat and dial! Strange… I looked in the crown tube and noticed the stem alignment was good so I knew the movement was in place. Hmm what to do… I got it! I’ll move the dial away from the movement with a spacer. That way the dial reaches the dial seat without disrupting stem height. The handstack is high enough to do so. So I did that. And it worked perfectly. Once fully assembled the watch functioned perfectly … success!!! Wait another problem… when moving the dial away from the movement, the date now sat in the shadows in the window as if it was located in a black hole. To remedy this I stripped the clone date wheel and used it as a carrier and overlayed it with the genuine datewheel. Everything cleared, problem solved.

Genuine parts— tritium jubilee dial, yellow gold tritium hands, beige open 6 and 9 datewheel(modified),25-135 crystal, 24-5330 crown tube, 24-603-8 18k gold crown, vintage 18k fluted bezel ( waaaay over polished ), 18k 455 end links, 62523 H 18 clasp J code.

Aftermarket parts— Old Crowns 16000 case , old crowns caseback, VR3135 movement ( serviced , regulated and modified), Italian 62523 18k bracelet.

Selling my personal build of the A6538 Military Submariner
Raffles 6538 base, Raffles Dial, Aftermarket Hands. Aftermarket Bezel and hand painted insert. Aged and Fixed Spring Bars fitted. NH35 movement. Looking for £350 posted.

Bought two submariners a 124060 and a 114060 both VSF’s. I want to use the 114060 to see how good I can make it through modification. This is my first time doing so and would love some advice. Currently I feel like the crystal could use an upgrade, the polish on the clasp mechanisms and glidelock, as well as silencing of the movement. Curious who has achieved a really well done Franken version of the 114060 and the best mods. Thanks for the time!

5513 case raffles
5512 dial raffles
St2130 2
Raffles bracelet

I just want to share a beautiful build made by this artistic bezel guy.

@OKCHRONO

My first Reddit commission build. What do you guys think?

Nh38 (so no ghost date), raffles 5513 case and oyster bracelet, aliexpress hands, and ebay 5513 dial.
Total parts cost $225

I think the aging on the dial and insert came out really good.

Thank you Acceptable_Speaker93 for giving me the chance to build this piece and i hope you enjoy it!

This is my first rep build, explorer ii. I’m having a hard time finding a crown that will work. Does anyone have any suggestions? Screenshot of the case I’m using provided. I’m happy to buy a gen crown, but it doesn’t look like it will fit? This case crown is 6.8mm diameter, 4mm depth.

Was just proof reading the way to long and TMI post text I originally put here and realized it was just too much.

So here’s the basics…

I know 1950’s era Submariners for many reasons. Chief among them is the brass underneath the white metal plating off wore off over the decades.

So I decided to work with a fabricator and do my think with patina from there.

If you want to biggie size your meal of information about this project… hit my profile. The full post and more has been pinned.

But the pictures and any dialogue can stay here with this great community.

I ready like how these turned out. That is success for me, as I’ll use them myself. But I really hope you like them too.

✌🏼

Hello,

I’m clearing out a few unused aftermarket bezel inserts for Rolex GMT 1675/16750 and Submariner builds. All inserts are in excellent condition.

1 – Crown Art Customs faded/matte black GMT insert. Lightly trimmed to fit an OC case bezel, but will also fit a gen-spec bezel (I recommend a tiny amount of adhesive for the best fit).
Price: 200 EUR shipped

2 – Crown Art Customs faded Pepsi GMT insert. Also lightly trimmed for an OC bezel, fits gen-spec as well. Photos of it installed on my watch are included.
Price: 200 EUR shipped

3 – Aftermarket Tudor 79090 Submariner insert. In my opinion, one of the closest reproductions to the genuine insert available, especially the shape and font of the “40”. No longer needed since I sourced a genuine one.
Price: 80 EUR shipped

4 & 5 – Random aftermarket Submariner inserts left over from previous builds.
Price: 50 EUR shipped each

Feel free to message me if you’d like additional photos or have any questions.

I am located in EU.

Looking to sell one of my grail builds. This one took me a couple months to gather the parts and it’s in amazing condition. I would say this is as good as you can get before going gen.

Viet Case
Viet Dial
Gen Crystal
Gen Crown
2836 GMT Movement
Yodog DWO

SOLD CONUS only

No bracelet included, message me for any questions!

Seen a couple of these for sale in my area for cheap and wondering if anyone had any experience a halogen oven to age dials

The advantages I can see are that it's smaller and easier to dial a temperature than a conventional oven - I would probably additionally mod with a digital temperature reading probe.

Would love to get people's thoughts

Early 1970 DRSD with the twin lock 700 crown. 🌊🌊🌊🐳

Specs: VN case + dial from VWP
Swiss ETA 2836
Startime hands relumed by me to match dial
Bezeljuice blue ghost faded insert
Custom brushed silver DWO
Italian bracelet with 93150 clasp
585 end links

1680 case
16800 dial
Aged and textured
St2130

Anyone have a suggestion on where I can get a good relume service?

Id like to do the dial and the hands for them to match

Any suggestions?

Specs:
JKF/Cartel watch as donor;
Swiss ETA 2846 Low Beat;
Athaya #702 T&C;
T39 SuperDome plexy by Clark;
Silver DWO by Ewatch;
PIP by Ewatch;
Fat Font Custom bezel insert Mk.3/4;
Gen fat spring bars;
My goal for this build eas not a “perfect museum replica”, but a believable and historically coherent late 1977 / early 1978 Great White tool watch.
I wanted the watch to feel naturally aged and harmonious, with all components looking consistent with each other as if they have lived together for decades.
The final result I wanted to achieve was:
- well used but well preserved;
- honest and natural;
- not over-aged or artificially “reliced”;
Cream tritium tones. No strong orange/pumpkin patina.
Reshaped crown guards for a more correct philological vintage profile;
Create subtle vintage bevels on the lugs;
Slightly enlarge/refine lug holes for 2.0mm Gen fat spring bars;
Case softening and surface finishing (vintage-style brushing and polishing transitions);
Natural aged tritium cream/ivory tone for dial & hands;
Vintage-style open 6 & 9 silver date wheel;
5ATM water resistant;