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u/Open_Supermarket2746

r/Rep_Watch_World r/VintageWatches r/repbuilds r/ReplicaWatchMods r/ModdedReplicaWatch r/vintagerepwatches
Image 1 — Gifted Datejust 126333 Shitter brought back to life—with steps you’d never expect to read!
Image 2 — Gifted Datejust 126333 Shitter brought back to life—with steps you’d never expect to read!
Image 3 — Gifted Datejust 126333 Shitter brought back to life—with steps you’d never expect to read!
Image 4 — Gifted Datejust 126333 Shitter brought back to life—with steps you’d never expect to read!
Image 5 — Gifted Datejust 126333 Shitter brought back to life—with steps you’d never expect to read!
Image 6 — Gifted Datejust 126333 Shitter brought back to life—with steps you’d never expect to read!
Image 7 — Gifted Datejust 126333 Shitter brought back to life—with steps you’d never expect to read!
Image 8 — Gifted Datejust 126333 Shitter brought back to life—with steps you’d never expect to read!
▲ 8 r/ModdedReplicaWatch+1 crossposts

Gifted Datejust 126333 Shitter brought back to life—with steps you’d never expect to read!

Hey everyone! Wanted to share this overhaul project I’ve been working on lately.
I didn't buy this watch—it was actually given to me as a gift in absolutely terrible condition. The previous owner had abused it badly: it had been dropped, and they even tried to force the caseback open with a knife, leaving deep gouges and heavy scratches all over the case and the caseback.
Inside was the infamous DG2813. When I opened it up, the movement literally fell apart right into my hands, with loose parts rattling everywhere. To make matters worse, the dial feet were completely snapped off inside the movement from the fall.

Here is how I brought it back to life step by step:
1. Ronda R150 attempt: Initially, I tried fitting a Ronda R150 movement inside, but I quickly realized the case dimensions just wouldn't accommodate it.

2. The Miyota 8215 swap: I ended up buying a Miyota 8215 off AliExpress (back when prices were a bit lower)—a huge step up in reliability compared to the DG.

3. Saving the original crown: The winding stem had snapped off flush inside the crown threads. Following an AI suggestion, I soaked the crown in acetone overnight. By next morning, I managed to unscrew the broken piece with small precision pliers and saved the crown!

4. Case restoration: I spent a ton of time sanding down the deep knife gouges, reshaping the case contours, and doing fine finishing work (even using razor blades for sharp details) before giving the case a thorough wash.

5. Lathe work on the caseback: Since the caseback was also in horrific shape from knife marks, I mounted it on the lathe to resurface it. I shaved off a bit of material to remove all the gouges and brought it back to a clean, polished finish.

6. Dial & Hands: Since the dial feet were broken, I secured the original dial using Dial Dots. The stock DG hands didn't fit the Miyota pinion sizes, so I sourced a new set of hands from AliExpress.

7. Reused parts: Thankfully, both the original crystal and dial were still usable!

Even though the base case wasn't anything fancy, I had a blast working on it, turning it on the lathe, and bringing it back to life. I totally forgot to take tear-down photos during the process (my bad!), but the end result was well worth the effort.
With enough patience, I turned a literal piece of junk into a solid, functional timepiece. Let me know what you guys think!

If you go to my Reddit profile, there’s still the post from when I was asking what movement was inside this watch—and it turned out to be a DG2813.

u/Open_Supermarket2746 — 13 days ago
▲ 41 r/ReplicaWatchMods+3 crossposts

My first Vintage Build: 1680 Submariner

This is my first vintage build ever that I’ve worked on. Could you please give me some advice on how to improve the case? I got the case, bracelet, hands, and dial from Raffles. For the movement, I used a genuine Ronda R150 Mecano—I think I might actually be the absolute first person to ever make a build with this movement.
I ran into some issues installing the hour hand because it came with a factory defect; I measured the hand and the diameter was 1.42mm, so I had to widen the hole using a reamer. I aged the dial a bit using a torch lighter (I actually just wanted to straighten the dial feet, but it ended up creating this beautiful effect on the dial). I worked on the case using a razor blade and also gave it a satin finish to make it look more matte, so to speak.
The only thing I think I still need to work on are the crown guards—I should file them down. Other than that, the R150 caliber gave me no issues at all; it’s practically identical to the ETA 2824 in every way, we could say.

u/Open_Supermarket2746 — 2 months ago