u/retro_timemachine

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.

Feelin a little nostalgic today, so here’s a few of my faves!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Of course i gotta stay in good with the wife in order to keep the funds coming for my hobbies lol.. so to keep up my credit score I built her an anniversary dial 31 mm franken. The ivory anniversary dial did not come in this reference from the factory.
I started with a THB factory 278274 midcase and bracelet. The Case didn’t need any work so a slight polish to the Rehaut to make it pop and I set it aside. Bracelet is the hidden clasp jubilee that only really needed chamfers so I added those and called it done. The genuine anniversary dial mounting system is not by way of dial feet. Instead it uses a lip that surrounds the entire dial and is friction held in place. Since the 2235 movement used in this watch has provisions for dial feet only, I had to machine a groove in the movement enlarger to accept the older dial. Case clamps hold everything in place.

The goods-
THB case, caseback,crystal,hands,bezel (plated), bracelet,end links and spring bars.
Startime case tube
Movement is a clone 2235
Dial and crown are genuine.

Of course i gotta stay in good with the wife in order to keep the funds coming for my hobbies lol.. so to keep up my credit score I built her an anniversary dial 31 mm franken. The ivory anniversary dial did not come in this reference from the factory.
I started with a THB factory 278274 midcase and bracelet. The Case didn’t need any work so a slight polish to the Rehaut to make it pop and I set it aside. Bracelet is the hidden clasp jubilee that only really needed chamfers so I added those and called it done. The genuine anniversary dial mounting system is not by way of dial feet. Instead it uses a lip that surrounds the entire dial and is friction held in place. Since the 2235 movement used in this watch has provisions for dial feet only, I had to machine a groove in the movement enlarger to accept the older dial. Case clamps hold everything in place.

The goods-
THB case, caseback,crystal,hands,bezel (plated), bracelet,end links and spring bars.
Startime case tube
Movement is a clone 2235
Dial and crown are genuine.

Of course i gotta stay in good with the wife in order to keep the funds coming for my hobbies lol.. so to keep up my credit score I built her an anniversary dial 31 mm franken. The ivory anniversary dial did not come in this reference from the factory.
I started with a THB factory midcase and bracelet. The Case didn’t need any work so a slight polish to the Rehaut to make it pop and I set it aside. Bracelet is the hidden clasp jubilee that only really needed chamfers so I added those and called it done. The genuine anniversary dial mounting system is not by way of dial feet. Instead it uses a lip that surrounds the entire dial and is friction held in place. Since the 2235 movement used in this watch has provisions for dial feet only, I had to machine a groove in the movement enlarger to accept the older dial. Case clamps hold everything in place.

The goods-
THB case, caseback,crystal,hands,bezel (plated), bracelet,end links and spring bars.
Startime case tube
Movement is a clone 2235
Dial and crown are genuine.

Enter the Rolex 1675. After 55 years this reference still quenches the thirst for timeless perfection. A watch recognizable by its bi color insert the GMT master Pepsi, when seen in the wild elevates the heart rate of even the most seasoned collectors. This early 70’s example just left the bench on its way to live out its new lease on life in the Florida keys.
Build sheet-
Genuine dial,hands (relumed), datewheel, movement (serviced), crystal, crystal retainer ring, Pepsi insert, crown, crown tube , stem, folded link bracelet, clasp (1971 date), end links, spring bars..
aftermarket- viets mid case( softened and polished) bezel, bezel spring, case back..

Enter the Rolex 1675. After 55 years this reference still quenches the thirst for timeless perfection. A watch recognizable by its bi color insert the GMT master Pepsi, when seen in the wild elevates the heart rate of even the most seasoned collectors. This early 70’s example just left the bench on its way to live out its new lease on life in the Florida keys.
Build sheet-
Genuine dial,hands (relumed), datewheel, movement (serviced), crystal, crystal retainer ring, Pepsi insert, crown, crown tube , stem, folded link bracelet, clasp (1971 date), end links, spring bars..
aftermarket- viets mid case( softened and polished) bezel, bezel spring, case back..

Enter the Rolex 1675. After 55 years this reference still quenches the thirst for timeless perfection. A watch recognizable by its bi color insert the GMT master Pepsi, when seen in the wild elevates the heart rate of even the most seasoned collectors. This early 70’s example just left the bench on its way to live out its new lease on life in the Florida keys.
Build sheet-
Genuine dial,hands (relumed), datewheel, movement (serviced), crystal, crystal retainer ring, Pepsi insert, crown, crown tube , stem, folded link bracelet, clasp (1971 date), end links, spring bars..
aftermarket- viets mid case( softened and polished) bezel, bezel spring, case back..

Just finished this beauty today. These grey Tapestry dials are a joy to look at. The way the facets and machine marks catch the light is just mesmerizing. The build sheet- genuine dial, hands, crystal, crown, crown tube, bracelet and clasp. Aftermarket parts include an Old Crowns case, E Watch parts datewheel, and clone 3135 movement.

These grey Tapestry references are just awesome in person. The way the light catches the facets in the dial is mesmerizing. Bonus is viewing it through a genuine Acrylic crystal. It’s difficult for pictures to capture the effect.
Build sheet -
Genuine dial, hands, crystal, bezel, crown, crown tube, end links, bracelet, clasp… Old crowns case, E watch parts datewheel, clone 3135 movement.

These grey Tapestry references are just awesome in person. The way the light catches the facets in the dial is mesmerizing. Bonus is viewing it through a genuine Acrylic crystal. It’s difficult for pictures to capture the effect.
Build sheet -
Genuine dial, hands, crystal, bezel, crown, crown tube, end links, bracelet, clasp… Old crowns case, E watch parts datewheel, clone 3135 movement.

What a fun build! after a couple snags with the case taking only 2 months to get and dealing with a bobble-handstack movenent, we’re up and running! I can say the best plating in the world doesn’t even come close to the real thing. Although expensive, in the end this build was well worth it.

The short and sweet build sheet- everything gen except case, movement and 18k solid Italian bezel.

Well it’s finally done. After a two month wait on a case, and dealing with a movement with a bobble head hand-stack I finally got this baby put together. The short and sweet build sheet- everything gen except case, movement and solid 18K bezel.

Well it’s finally complete. Although not very photogenic, in person this reference doesn’t disappoint. And my camera gear and skills don’t help. The best plating in the world doesn’t come remotely close to the real thing. Although not cheap, in the end this build was well worth the money. The Short N sweet build sheet- everything gen except solid 18K Italian bezel, reworked Viet case and fully serviced clone movement.

The 16713 is nearly complete. The short and sweet build sheet-Everything Gen except case and movement.