r/repbuilds

The best of the best vintage diver 🌊

This one coming in hot with some big banger of gen parts

Specs:
Viet case & dial (Ruby)
Viet hands
CAC insert
Gen 1575 movement
Italian oyster w/raffles clasp
Gen crystal
Gen crown

One of those builds that quietly speaks for itself.

Silver sunburst Viet dial paired with warm
tropical-style registers, finished by hand to capture the character of a well-loved vintage Daytona.

Specs:
Modified ST-19 movement
Viet dial
Viet bezel
Milk case
13.5MM thickness
Clark crystal
Choice of stretch rivet or standard rivet bracelet

Built to be worn, enjoyed, and appreciated by those who love vintage chronographs.

Raffle 5513 case
Raffles 5512 dial
20mm nato eBay
Hands eBay
St2130 2 position
Aged hands, dial and pip
Textured dial
Worked cg

Howdy ladies and gentlemen

I would like to sell these two cases for 2834/36 movement for a 36mm 5-digit DayDate build
Built these with a Gen dial and 2836 movement + DWO (picture included). Looks pretty good imho and the gold isn't cheesey gold at all🧀.

Got these bad boys from China and personally upgraded my DD into a Veit case.
Therefore, these cases would need a new home and save some space for my case inventory.

Price: Gold/ 75 Silver/ 55 (shipping included in the US)
Payment: Zelle, PayPal (f&f)

I got more old new stock of these cases for sale
I am also available for commission builds

Imk if you have any questions

I really enjoy working on projects that span nearly every price range to offer something for everyone.

7 builds were made available ranging for base level builds with Raffles foundations to top tier Franken/Gen builds. All with a good bit of elbow grease and passion for these vintage builds.

And that’s a wrap!

This one is very, very special. The dial is absolutely insane — one of those pieces where there’s really not much else to say.

Enjoy the pictures.

Specs:

-JKF base watch
-Black Viet bezel
-Viet Valjoux spec dial
-Clark plexi
-Trip lock crown and tube
-Shoulderless 19mm spring bars
13,7mm thic

Cartier Ballon Bleu 33mm Build — Assembly Notes & Lessons Learned
Case ref. 739193YX, ETA 2671 movement (25j, 28,800 bph). Sharing this for anyone tackling the same kit — the Ballon Bleu’s case design has a few quirks that aren’t obvious until you’re mid-build.
Screw inventory (15 total):
• 3 short screws — movement holder ring (lightest torque, seat these first)
• 4 flathead, non-shiny screws — inner ring to dial face (go slow, flatheads cam out easily if your driver isn’t dead straight)
• 8 shiny screws — caseback
Assembly order that actually worked (learned through trial and error, not the order I started with):

1. Dial mated to movement first — locate the dial feet before anything else touches the ring.
2. Set the dial-foot clamps on the movement before the dial goes on. On this case design, the clamps sit under the dial edge — once the dial’s seated, you can’t access them anymore. If you forget this step order, you’re stuck.
3. Pull the stem before dropping the movement into the spacer ring — the stem will foul the ring’s crown notch otherwise.
4. Drop the movement into the ring rotor-side matching the ring’s engraved text orientation (mine read “G.METAL.C 1548 MD” facing the same way as the rotor).
5. Press the ring into the case using the smallest clamp — the Ballon Bleu case opening is tighter than a typical Rolex rep case, a bigger clamp fights the crown guard notch instead of pressing evenly. I used two of the small clamp + one longer clamp for even pressure.
6. Leave clamps slightly loose while reinserting the stem — tight clamps can pinch the ring just enough to hang up the stem.
7. Fit hands last, after the case-pressing is done. Doing the ring/clamp work with dial-on-but-hands-off means nothing’s standing proud of the dial to snag during handling. Learned this the hard way — it’s the safer sequence even though it’s not how I originally planned it.
8. Caseback last.
   Stem cutting: Go slow. Cut to ~10 threads remaining, then trim one thread at a time, test-fitting the crown against the case after each cut. I cut my first stem too short and had to source a second one — you can always remove another thread, you can’t put one back on. Also: invest in a real end-cutting nipper. A cheap stem cutter crushes the threads instead of shearing them cleanly, which gives you a burred end that won’t seat a crown properly even if your length is otherwise correct.
   Caseback screws: Thread every screw by hand into every hole before committing a driver to any of them. Back each one out a partial turn to confirm it’s not cross-threaded before final tightening. I dropped one screw mid-build and thought I’d need a replacement, but found the original on the bench — check thoroughly before assuming you’ve lost one.
   Crown/winding: This case design recesses the crown under a guard as part of the signature curved silhouette — genuine Ballon Bleus have this same trait. You’ll get noticeably less crown to grip than on a typical dive-watch homage. Don’t mistake this for a stiff or faulty crown — it’s just the design. Use fingernail/pad grip rather than trying to roll it with fingertips, and make sure you’re actually getting full winds in (30+ turns) before judging amplitude — a partially wound movement will read low amplitude that has nothing to do with the movement’s actual health.
   Lift angle for the ETA 2671: This is the one that surprised me. A lot of references (including some watchmaker forums) list 53°, but ETA’s own technical spec sheet lists 51° for all versions of the 2671. I ran the same movement at 51, 52, and 53 on my timegrapher — 51° gave the flattest, most consistent trace. Worth verifying on your own bench rather than trusting any single printed source, including this post.
   Final numbers (partial wind, pre-final-check):
   • Dial-down: -1 to +3 s/day, amplitude climbing as wind increases, beat error under 0.1ms
   • Dial-up: 0 s/day, 0.0ms beat error
   Full-wind final regulation still pending re-verification at the corrected 51° lift angle, but early numbers suggest this movement is a strong runner.
   Happy to answer questions if anyone’s working through the same kit.

I built this one for my daughter. 33mm Cartier Ballon Bleu

Case, dial, hands and bracelet from Arlan on Alibaba. Movement was ETA 2671.

Current collection of Rolex / Tudor watches

16570 (build by me)
11610LN
114060
6538 BIG CROWN (build by me)
5514 COMEX (build by me)
5517 MILSUB (build by me)
79090 (build by me)
1016 (build by me)
16220 (build by me)

A new piece for the personal collection. I’m very grateful for all of those who’ve trusted me to commission your builds. It’s been an amazing experience to work on some incredible projects.

Specs on this beauty:

Vietnam cases, dial and hands
Bezeljuice insert
Genuine crystal
Genuine Tudor 2484 with roulette date disc

Cheers!

Here is my newest personal build, only just the start but very happy so far. Currently running a 2836 ETA but may look to change it in the future. First time aging a dial for a creamy patina over pumpkin. A little more crown guard shaping needed I think.

I’m doing a build of a 33mm Cartier Ballon Bleu using an AF kit and an eta 2671. I’m nearly done but there is one screw that is longer than the others and I cannot figure out where it goes. There are 7 shiny screws which makes them an easy choice for the 8 caseback screw holes, but there is one screw that is longer and seems to have a Phillips head or similar pattern when all others are flathead. If anyone had done this build and could help point me in the right direction, I’d appreciate it

Finally building a few pieces I’ve always wanted to bring to life: an Albino and one of the Singer catalog prototypes.

Here are a few WIP

To be continued…

Hi everyone, just update my 16750 ( all raffles, plexy and insert eBay ) with a new and high quality plexy from eBay! Very far from raffles stock plexy, this one have very nice magnification on the date and lovely reflection and distortion on borders! Bezel turn and fit perfectly! Let me know if you like that 🙏🏻

Super unique early GMT ref 6542 nicknamed the “albino dial”

These cases were some of Rolexes thinnest cases with automatic movements at the time. Around 11mm with the top hat crystal included.

Full Vietnam build-
Case, dial & bracelet from Ruby
Roulette date disc
EWP hands with Raffles long post seconds hand
Clark’s 25-116
Asian 2836 GMT

After several long months of planning, acquiring parts, and letting go of my 16600 Franken to build this beauty, it’s finally here. Wrist shots don’t do it justice is all I can say.

Great job to Nick (No Candle) for his work on this banger. Thanks my man, it’ll be enjoyed I can assure you.

I love it so much I might just keep it.

Ruby Viet build with no date Swiss SW200-1b and German 1:1 hands. 7206 bracelet with 80 endlinks from BiV.

GRAIL SERIES
Tiffany & Co. Co-Branded 1675/8 “Concorde” – Brown Nipple Dial

Some watches are collectible.
Some are legendary.

And then there are watches like this.

The 18k yellow gold 1675/8 “Concorde” is already one of the most desirable GMT-Masters ever produced. Add an original Tiffany & Co. co-branded dial, and you’re looking at a piece that sits firmly in grail territory.

During the 1960s through the early 1990s, Tiffany & Co. retailed select Rolex watches with their signature printed directly on the dial, creating some of the most coveted double-signed vintage Rolexes in existence.

Grateful and excited to post this example here. Thanks for the hard work of my Team . As always, if you’d like to discuss a project, my DM’s are always open.

- Ghost and the Vintage Dream Team