Can’t get a 116500? Well....

[samuel019]

You can make/build one. Well ladies and gents one of my favorite things about owning Daytona’s is having the ability to make soooooo many changes. It started for me way back in 2014 when I picked up my 116”523” and being in love with the font on the bezel of a 116508. Subtle differences I know but we like what we like. So what did I do? Well get a bezel from a 116508 and swap mine. Ironically enough Rolex must’ve liked my idea so they “borrowed” it and it’s now a 116503.

So when I picked up my Z serial 116520 this month I was already on a mission. Make changes!! Differences between my 520 and 500? Not many. Clasp and bezel. So away I went and after a TON of of research and shopping around I was done. Sourced both. Just needed a watchmaker. So after finding the right guy I present my modded 520/500.

Worth it? 1,000,000,000%. It feels like I have a totally new watch. The ceramic bezel cures the ONE minor minor thing about the Daytona that I don’t like, it wears kinda small. Something about the proportions of the ceramic makes it wear bigger which is odd. The SS bezel and ceramic bezel have the exact same diameters. So why does it seem to wear bigger? I have no idea but it does. As far as the clasp? Mine had the older version, not fat buckle. Newer version is heavier, not as flimsy, and a tad more comfortable. So for me all the effort was well worth it and as the owner that’s all that matters. Not to mention it’s completely reversible but I have zero intent on that. Plus I can recoup some of my investment by selling a few left over parts.

By the way thank you to all the forum members I reached out to along the way for help and advice. You know who you are! Thank you thank you

[garyk]

Haha, cool! I bet some on here will hate that but life is short...

[Chadridv]

Well done!!! Anyone who says this looks bad but the 116500 looks good is fooling themselves. Whether or not you like mods you can’t deny it looks great! Love it even more knowing it’s fully reversible.

[samuel019]

Originally Posted by garyk

Haha, cool! I bet some on here will hate that but life is short...

Probably but you’re right. My watch my choice.

I am on the “long list” for a 116500 at 2 of my AD’s who I deal with but in the meantime I am quite satisfied. When and if that call comes I’m gonna roll down and pick it up. Black or white. What to do with this one at that point? I will figure it out then...


Btw my other mod way back when

[brucethemanlee]

that looks impressive

[henrylee]

Very nice how much were the parts?

[sfbatman007]

Beautiful results but the dials are also different between the 116520 black vs 116500 black. The sub dial rings on the 116500 are more matte and whiter than the chrome looking rings on the 116520.




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[samuel019]

Originally Posted by Chadridv

Well done!!! Anyone who says this looks bad but the 116500 looks good is fooling themselves. Whether or not you like mods you can’t deny it looks great! Love it even more knowing it’s fully reversible.

Thank you brother. As far as the mod, put my 520 and a 500 side by side, pretty darn close. Needless to say I sat with my watchmaker while he did the work and a pressure test and he was quite amazed. We had a great hour of talking watches and how he became a watchmaker etc etc while he showed me how he does what he does. Had a blast watching him work. Awesome man he is.

[garyk]

It really does look great. Never knew you could even do this. Good job!

[Maxy]

That looks great and easy mod than crying over waiting list for years!! Congrats!

[samuel019]

Originally Posted by sfbatman007

Beautiful results but the dials are also different between the 116520 black vs 116500 black. The sub dial rings on the 116500 are more matte and whiter than the chrome looking rings on the 116520.

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Yes sir. Very true. As I stated, close. Not exact but close. I’m okay with it. Listen at the end of the day for me as weird as it sounds it’s the font. The font on the original SS bezel just looks outdated to me. So if it wasn’t a ceramic bezel it was gonna be a white gold bezel off a 116509.

To all the purists out there that love the 520 as is, I can respect and see that but for me I gotta please myself not the masses. Again I can get the bezel and clasp reversed in about 45 minutes. So no biggie either way but I love what I did.

[samuel019]

Originally Posted by garyk

It really does look great. Never knew you could even do this. Good job!

Yes sir. That’s the Awesome part about the Daytona bezel. I can tell you from much experience, they are ALL basically interchangeable. From a 16520, 116520, 116523, 116503, 508, 509, 116518 and 116519. Like all of them. Did I miss any?

[77T]

You can't always get what you want,
But if you try sometimes you find
You get what you need...


I really like what you did - and it’s pleasant to read a plan to assuage the difficulty getting what you want.

So much better than reading the rants

"We're gonna vent our frustration,
If we don't we're gonna blow a fifty-amp fuse"



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[sfbatman007]

Originally Posted by samuel019

Yes sir. Very true. As I stated, close. Not exact but close. I’m okay with it. Listen at the end of the day for me as weird as it sounds it’s the font. The font on the original SS bezel just looks outdated to me. So if it wasn’t a ceramic bezel it was gonna be a white gold bezel off a 116509.



To all the purists out there that love the 520 as is, I can respect and see that but for me I gotta please myself not the masses. Again I can get the bezel and clasp reversed in about 45 minutes. So no biggie either way but I love what I did.

I don't blame you at all. I did the same and swapped my 116520 dial and bezel with genuine 116500 dial and genuine 116500 bezel



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[ozwatchguy]

Well done I love it! Even better that it doesn’t look exactly like a 500 because that’s what makes it your unique watch! If there was 10x 500c side by side you’d have no trouble finding your watch! So cool


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[RM23_Q8]

Originally Posted by sfbatman007

I don't blame you at all. I did the same and swapped my 116520 dial and bezel with genuine 116500 dial and genuine 116500 bezel



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Where did you get these from? And if you don’t mind me asking, how much did you pay for them? Thanks

[Chadridv]

Originally Posted by samuel019

Thank you brother. As far as the mod, put my 520 and a 500 side by side, pretty darn close. Needless to say I sat with my watchmaker while he did the work and a pressure test and he was quite amazed. We had a great hour of talking watches and how he became a watchmaker etc etc while he showed me how he does what he does. Had a blast watching him work. Awesome man he is.

Very very cool. I hope you keep and enjoy this watch forever. Seems like an awesome experience to connect to your watch.

[Atone]

Enjoy the watch you have. Not a fan but to each his own.

[EEpro]

Looks great to me!

[nuwildcat928]

Amazing! I applaud your ingenuity.

[samuel019]

Originally Posted by 77T

You can't always get what you want,
But if you try sometimes you find
You get what you need...


I really like what you did - and it’s pleasant to read a plan to assuage the difficulty getting what you want.

So much better than reading the rants

"We're gonna vent our frustration,
If we don't we're gonna blow a fifty-amp fuse"



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Exactly. Thank you Paul. Appreciate that.

[dpt.calvin]

Looks good to me!

[1William]

No issues with what you do with your watch and it looks good. I prefer the 116520 as OEM to a Mod but to each their own.

[jumpmaster 175]

I agree completely that the SS bezel "insert" looks very dated when compared to ceramic...I have a similar story and am in the process of building my own "Yachtmaster"

well done!

[sfbatman007]

Moral of the story, Do what you like with your things and no one else's opinion matters.

My 116520 converter to 116500


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[garyk]

Originally Posted by samuel019

Yes sir. That’s the Awesome part about the Daytona bezel. I can tell you from much experience, they are ALL basically interchangeable. From a 16520, 116520, 116523, 116503, 508, 509, 116518 and 116519. Like all of them. Did I miss any?

Haha, I don’t think you missed any. Fantastic...

[kwingy]

Love the mods. A fresh new watch and keeps the interest high.

[Tensai]

Looks very cool.

And so much more interesting than the usual hoarding and bragging posts.

Well done!

[Robf52]

Outstanding! Looks great. Never knew about the interchangeability. Amazing what you can learn on TRF.

[KrismanX]

Your watch, your rules! I digg it! Always thought of this mod as a cool change up for my white ‘520. Looks great