1680 Restoration from LAWW

[jzeigler]

Just got these pics from Los Angela Watch Works, letting me know my 1680 is on its way home. They did a case restoration and swapped in a 25/39 profiled to a superdome. Will have more pics tomorrow once it's back on my wrist, but wanted to share these with someone!








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[Hairdude1]

Very nice!

[rmlovett1]

Very nice!

[twnturbo]

Beautiful work & curious what's an average that a restoration can cost .

[jzeigler]

Originally Posted by twnturbo

Beautiful work & curious what's an average that a restoration can cost .

Send me a pm. I don't want to post their rates publicly, but I will say they were more reasonable than I expected.


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[sensui]

Beautiful work. Watch looks sharp.

[sprezzatura]

That looks awesome! And perfect timing as well with cyclopes being added and removed on certain models. . .

[autofiend]

Looks great! Any before pics?

[jzeigler]

Any excellent question! Should have thought of that.

Before:








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[Vincent65]

Good case work - did they add metal/laser weld? The edges of the case where the lug-holes are, are sharp, whereas before they were [typically] scooped out from polishing.

[jzeigler]

Originally Posted by Vincent65

Good case work - did they add metal/laser weld? The edges of the case where the lug-holes are, are sharp, whereas before they were [typically] scooped out from polishing.

So, I'm not sure. I know their official policy, and that of other restoration shops, is that they don't do laser welding on overpolished lugs. That said, I'm not sure how else you achieve that kind of change.

On a related note, my assumption has been that shops don't offer laser welding/adding metal so that people aren't using them to take polished watches and then sell them as unpolished/NOS. Not sure if this is correct or not.


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[Vincent65]

Originally Posted by jzeigler

So, I'm not sure. I know their official policy, and that of other restoration shops, is that they don't do laser welding on overpolished lugs. That said, I'm not sure how else you achieve that kind of change.

On a related note, my assumption has been that shops don't offer laser welding/adding metal so that people aren't using them to take polished watches and then sell them as unpolished/NOS. Not sure if this is correct or not.


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I imagine the only other way is to remove even more metal, which I'm not certain they've done here...

[jzeigler]

Originally Posted by Vincent65

I imagine the only other way is to remove even more metal, which I'm not certain they've done here...

I was wondering if they had replaced my spring bars with shorter-pronged ones. In any event, I'm not asking questions.


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[sea-dweller]

Looks nice!

[jzeigler]

Back home! As it turns out, their spring bars are in fact shorter-pronged than the ones I had in it. Theirs may be closer to OEM specs, as I got mine aftermarket. If I need to replace these I may try and get them from LAWW, because it does improve the look quite a bit.












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[Zoran]

Looks amazing!
These guys really can bring a watch back to life...

Congratulations on the re-birth of your 1680

[RLX-lvr]

Watch this intense video.

https://youtu.be/YMuWrI-sCj8

This video I believe is from the Rolex teaching grounds in Pennsylvania. No need to laser weld if you know how to do it properly, you just move metal from one part of the watch to another.
Alot of people or watchmakers are very inexperienced in polishing and brushing watches.

[adrianff7]

Very nice work. I'm thinking of sending mine to them or to ABC. Just one question, why they do not refinished the bezel too?

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[swish77]

Originally Posted by adrianff7

Very nice work. I'm thinking of sending mine to them or to ABC. Just one question, why they do not refinished the bezel too?

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I'm sure they would if asked. It's not a standard part of their vintage case restoration, based on my experiences at LAWW anyway.

[adrianff7]

Originally Posted by swish77

I'm sure they would if asked. It's not a standard part of their vintage case restoration, based on my experiences at LAWW anyway.

Thanks swish77. I'm asking because I've already seen other cases were the case was refinished and the bezel was not.

Originally Posted by swish77

I'm sure they would if asked. It's not a standard part of their vintage case restoration, based on my experiences at LAWW anyway.

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[quimbcn]

Really interesting

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[SubKing]

Originally Posted by RLX-lvr

Watch this intense video.

https://youtu.be/YMuWrI-sCj8

This video I believe is from the Rolex teaching grounds in Pennsylvania. No need to laser weld if you know how to do it properly, you just move metal from one part of the watch to another.
Alot of people or watchmakers are very inexperienced in polishing and brushing watches.

The way Rolex refinished our pieces is not called polishing per say.. Rolex, Laww and ABC are using a different system. They are more or less re machining/ re cutting our cases to be perfect with flat surfaces and sharp edges that can never be achieved with the "free floating polishing" that is done by hand.

The case of the watch is stripped down bare and is actually mounted in a stationary mount and the distance and angle that the case meets the plates is controlled by dials that move the case closer to the spinning plates and away.. it is not done by hand and very little case material is being removed. It's how you straighten poorly polished cases.

In some cases, laser weld can be added to a thin case and then it can be re cut.

Here is the style of machine used to give you the result you see from Rolex,abc,laww etc... they are more like machinists than polishers..

[Cantab]

So, basically a CNC operation?

[SubKing]

Originally Posted by Cantab

So, basically a CNC operation?

Almost like that but just different equipment..

[nfranco]

Not sure exactly how Beau does it but here's a look at some of the gear used.
I hope it's ok to link this.
A
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...pics-on-page-3


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[adrianff7]

Does anyone know if the parts (crystals, crowns, tubes, etc.) used for replacement at LAWW and ABC are new and original from Rolex or do they use aftermaket or used parts?

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[Wesley Crusher]

Great work by LAWW. I love the superdome, too!

[Psmith]

Nice work, looks great

[swish77]

Originally Posted by adrianff7

Does anyone know if the parts (crystals, crowns, tubes, etc.) used for replacement at LAWW and ABC are new and original from Rolex or do they use aftermaket or used parts?

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Every time they've sourced parts for me they're always original Rolex, both LAWW and ABC. Once I tracked down an aftermarket superdome crystal for my old 1665 DRSD that ABC installed for me (bad idea on my part that was later remedied). However, if you specify you want only original Rolex parts, they'd do that, of course.

[cop414]

Wow, that's just amazing! How in the heck did they make those lug holes so sharp seeing that they were somewhat "bowled" is magical!