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What's your thoughts on this Rolex Sea-Dweller, ref. 16600, calibre 3135 project?

VWatchie
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VWatchie Distinguished Member

VWatchie

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2 hours ago, rehajm said:

You’ve been duped by a bot!

That's what I'm hoping and believe, and why I wanted to discuss it with you.

2 hours ago, rehajm said:

OMG men I thought you were kidding

No, I'm being dead serious! What made you think I was kidding? It's a sincere question.

2 hours ago, rehajm said:

Rolex used those blue screws on the automatic movement to distinguish them from the plate screws.

What puzzles me is that only the top of the screw head is blued (see image in my previous post or below). Not even the screw slot is blued! In my opinion, it looks "Chinese-cheap" and not what I would associate with Rolex. Hence, it awakened my suspicion that something might be wrong.

1 hour ago, Kalanag said:

I‘ver never seen a fake Rolex with a free sprung balance and micro stella regulation.

Neither have I! I never paid much attention to all of those videos on YouTube explaining how to tell a fake and genuine Rolex movement apart, as I thought the escapement would be a dead giveaway. After all, who would be willing to pay for a fake free sprung balance with a Breguet hairspring and micro stella regulation, and having the insane precision that a genuine Rolex 3135 has? Looking at the timing machine results (my first post), I had no doubt whatsoever that I was dealing with the real McCoy.

FakeRolexEscapement.thumb.jpg.b8485a63172a5ef85edabe0612fb5df3.jpg

So @rehajm, are you telling us we're looking at a fake Rolex free sprung balance with a Breguet hairspring, micro stella regulation and KIF shock protection? If so, we were wrong to assume that we would never see that in a Chinese clone. Ay caramba! 😱 So, what's the giveaway?

1 hour ago, JohnR725 said:

But it would seem odd that you would make a generic screw blue if they were blue in the first place?

I get your point, John. It makes zero sense! But did you notice how both the original eBay screws and the generic screws are completely blued. The ones I found to hold the date indicator seating in place were only partly blued? Let me show you the picture again:

TF18.thumb.jpg.7d930cb8bb1d19a6bcd4f3352659b6f8.jpg

Makes you wonder if the Rolex screwmaker had a bad day or didn't understand the specification, as it was not written in Mandarin.

So, what's the verdict? Am I dealing with a genuine Rolex 3135 or a Chinese super clone? If you don't know or you're not sure, please feel free to take a guess! Here is a link to the first 100 pictures I've taken during the disassembly: https://1drv.ms/f/c/5643825a9f286b75/EpbF5n_qRCREvohfgbcZ4l4B0eUcw2h62xqmPYtdPzQ-QA?e=QIwcN0

Edited by VWatchie

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