Rolex Daytona Series Review
I am oft times asked the question of 'who has the best Daytona', and figured I would put together a brief, quick guide on my perspective regarding the subject matter :)
To start, I would highly recommend anyone considering a Daytona to read ByTor's great review and buyer's guide for the 7750 sec@6:00 model. My posting here is more along the lines of addressing some of the general aspects of the popular reps out there, along with a brief explanation of their characteristics and follow up with some insight on putting together franken-Daytonas and why I choose to go the route of building.
So, the question goes:
"I am looking to buy a daytona and have started like the vintage reps. Do you know if they have the seconds at six problems like the daytona's now or was there ever a problem? Should I just shoot for the current style daytonas?"
First, let's run through the variations of popular reps out there, and their details:
Vintage
1) These models have a dummy hour counter @ 6:00 and are fitted with bi-compax movements of questionable reliability and unknown caliber ref, origin, etc. This makes servicing these watches nearly impossible as one would not even know where to find correct replacement parts for an unknown caliber (and believe me- More often than not, they are required). However, the subdial spacing is accurate to gen, case measures a correct 37.xmm with 19mm lugs, pushers are asymmetric (as per gen) and overall, a very nice looking watch (and hopefully free of problems for those lucky few who have serviced and operating examples *cough*kruzer*cough*). One other issue to note is that the early examples have excellent gen-like bracelets (78350) with hollow links and 571 end links, while the more current versions have mediocre bracelets fitted (poor fitting end links, solid links, etc).
2) Better than the previous movement models in terms of reliability, however the subdial spacing is incorrect and because the 7750 is a relatively thick movement, the caseback is substantially larger than the gen as it must facilitate a winding rotor. However, one could always remove the rotor and install a slimmer caseback; you would be relegated to handwinding only with this option (which is correct for this era/vintage of Daytona). All DW and 7750 cases are 37.xmm, and have asymmetric pushers; all these watches have the nice hollow link 19mm bracelet combos while the DWs are hit or miss.
an immaculate example of an EE6263
3) Seagull based Daytonas still suffer the incorrect subdial spacing issues and also carry a dummy hour counter at 6:00. Cases can vary in size- Some are the correct 37mm with 19mm lugs while others are 40mm with 20mm lugs. The Seagull models typically have symmetric (evenly spaced) pushers. The movement in this one is pretty robust however and will likely lend to problem free enjoyment.
empty seagull case on the right- 40mm case and 20mm lugs
Neo-vintage
3) These Daytonas have the subdial spacing issues, as the 7750 cannot easily replicate the closely grouped subdial positions like some other moevements without modification. The vintage models have also a fairly slim movement for a chronograph (6.5mm vs. the 7.9mm profile of the 7750)- largely thanks to the fact that it is an integrated chrono and hence the case for 7750 based pieces are a bit taller to accommodate the extra height (This applies to both case and caseback, I believe). If the subdial spacing does not bother you, this is a good candidate for a Daytona rep.
4) Asian movement with faux chronograph. These watches have a standard movement inside with a dummy chronograph 'look' to appear as though it is a full functional chronograph watch. I have not seen or handled one of these so I cannot say as to whether the subdials are completely faux/glued on hands, if they act as a calendar function (day/date/month) or if the pushers simply move the hands arbitrarily around their subdials. Nice, slim case, but no functionality.
Current Models
5) Based seconds at 9:00 modern Daytonas will house a reliable, unmodified 7750 movement inside with incorrectly spaced and positioned subdials. The genuine Rolex 4130 has the hour and minute subdials at 9:00 and 3:00 and these registers are positioned slightly above axis of the crown and center hour/min/stopwatch seconds pinions. The case for this model is only slightly thicker than the previous. Still a bit thicker than a gen (which has a 12.7-ish mm profile thanks to a slightly thinner movement) as the rep has to use the 7750, but overall case/caseback dimensions are probably the closest to being accurate (but still off).
6) Based seconds at 6:00 modern Daytonas offer the correct subdial layout/position/functions as gen, but will be a less reliable movement due to the re-engineering of the subdial positions and added friction of additional gears (for more information on this, there are several threads discussing the topic, please search for additional detail). As the movement has additional plates/gears added, this makes the movement even thicker than a standard 7750- As a result, the watch casing is larger to accommodate the extra height + rotor, which means either a thicker case, thicker caseback or both. The thicker case models also have a taller rehaut and thicker, more angular bezel, which is incorrect for this model. For these reasons, the thinner case with shallow rehaut and flat bezel (but with thick caseback) is preferred.
thick cased ; Valjoux 7750 mod sec@6:00
thin cased ; Valjoux 7750 mod sec@6:00 I built for a family member. This one kicked the bucket within a few months
my very first DW with Swiss movement transplanted
2009 Daytona Rep gen dials, swapped movement ect. My pair of grails :)
So, for accuracy, reliability, quality and longevity, I would recommend a build using as much genuine content as possible. It costs a bit more to achieve a finished product, but in the end, you'll have a nice, well built, fully functional gen equivalent watch (without the gen price tag) and the path to get there will be a fun, educational experience as well.
Hope this rundown helps; I tersely put it together as I'm a bit tight on time, but it should get the general point across. For anything I missed, please feel free to add or inquire...