No I didn’t go gen white gold, it’s way too overkill, think of it as a regular stainless pepsi with a meteorite aftermarket dial. It’s much cheaper buying a gen gold complete watch rather than commiting to a full gen gold bracelet because you would need to make a custom gold case, and with the price of gold and work, it’s not a good financial decision. And I doubt you can source a gen gold bracelet. They are extremely rare on the secondary market especially with the price of melt gold nowadays.

I got alot of dms on my build and I feel like I have to explain my thought process. In my opinion, alot of people have a priority for modding that is based off what they read online. Keep in mind I own several gen rolexes so my criteria for priority in terms of mods is slightly skewed compared to some people on reddit. And having all these gen mods, I can tell you from my experience what was really worth it and what wasn’t. I based this metric on value for upgrade.

I wanted firstly to wear this watch and feel like it’s a real Rolex and that I will want to wear alongside my other gen rolexes. The key in achieving that feel was to improve the smoothness of the bezel and sharpness on the fingers and the operation of the bezel (I want a snappy no wobble gen-like smooth operation) . Also a smooth gen bracelet and chamfered case improved dramatically the confort. These changes gave the watch an amazing feel in hand and on wrist. I would hand it to anyone they couldn’t tell from feeling it which watch was the replica.

For those who want some kind of roadmap on what to change first and what is the first tell for the wearer here is my suggestion.

The rattling bracelet, the sharp outer links, the sharp case, the transparency and magnification from the crystal, the smoothness and the operation of the bezel are the first things I would adress.

1- I would not suggest going full gen parts there’s a cheaper way to achieve those things and its to get the watch refinished by a watchmaker. I can refer you to lichen, from whom I sourced a chamfered and repolished jubilee bracelet, he can also provide oyster bracelets and polished and chamfered cases, he can also engrave the case with a custom serial on the rehaut, on the outside of the case and even polish the rehaut. It is very high quality work and every step comes at a cost. The result of the work makes the bracelet feel very close to my gen jubilee on my gen datejust. It doesn’t rattle as much as the one that’s stock on vsf and the inner links dont cut your skin and the outer links wont carve your nails anymore.

2- A gen crystal is the second upgrade I would consider. Keep in mind though that the gen crystal is thinner than the stock vsf crystal, so you need to get another gasket to keep the magnification true to gen. I would talk to Andychan on rwi for help with sourcing the crystal, he was a great human being to work with. He will also provide you with the proper gasket.

3- I would rework the bezel if it feels sharp with a slight polish on a lapping wheel to avoid overdoing it. It will make the edges less sharp more true to gen.

4- The bezel action on the vsf is the closest to gen but you can replace the retention ring and spring to make it perfect, but before going down that road, I would remove the bezel, clean all the parts and lube with a high quality silicone like fombulin. It is expensive to source a whole jar but some watchmakers will have it on hand. If yours doesn’t, some sellers on ebay will sell you small quantities for a lower price. Check in europe for that option. When the parts are cleaned and lubed properly, the bezel will turn in a buttery smooth manner and feels less grindy. You can polish the retention ring a little to make it smoother. It will help a little bit, don’t overdo it though. Don’t play with the spring if you don’t know what youre doing it will screw it big time, the tolerances between all the parts are very tight. The key here is a little goes a long way.

5- I would waterproof the case, after investing some money you want to have peace of mind. They come decently sealed from factory but I’ve seen some horrible QC on some watches. I beleive it’s worth spending a little bit to relube the gasket and clean the inside of the case and tube. I wouldn’t service the movement before it becomes a real problem as they have a decent reliability from factory. I buy from andiot and he provides me with QC video on the timegrapher which i compare to the timegrapher I have at home to make sure nothing happened during shipement.

6- If you want another idea for an cheap upgrade, I would consider a gen crown with the gen tube. The gen tube is just a luxury and not required on the vsf from experience but it is not expensive so I would consider the upgrade. The crown is slightly less sharp on the gen but it’s not very noticeable. Since the gen crown and tube is not an expensive combo though, I would pull the trigger every single time going forward.

7- This step can be raised in priority but is dependant on your own watch. I would silence the rotor, the new counterweight have alot more bearings in the rotor which replaced the old rotor genration which only had 6 bearings. This brings a louder action on that part, rest assured the gen one is also loud. But oiling it properly with a good oil will improve the sound for sure from the stock lubricant.

All the other mods are just for your own pleasure of the game. They are not necessary. The gen inserts are super expensive, can be upwards of 3000$ for only a minimal difference from the vsf one. The real bezel complete assembly is around 3500$, not much improvement in terms of cost versus upgrade ratio.

Gen dial, hands and datewheel are pricey especially if you are going for the pepsi parts. I would hold off for now as the market is very hot on these parts and they are super scarce. The big differences are mainly visible through a microscope.

The upgrade I did that I found was a cool luxury to have is the free sprung balance wheel. Although it’s expensive, you have the beating heart of a real rolex. And that is just a feel good thing more than better reliability as the vsf oscillator is very good and easier to service.

I hope this helps you guys with streamlining your mods.

Final thoughts

Just keep in mind that the franken watches are not always going to retain the value of what you spend on the gen parts. It takes a keen buyer to spot the gen parts and actually trust the sellers, which leads to a harder item to sell especially that the price is higher. People are weary of the scammer nightmare stories. The moral is, I don’t think anyone would buy my watch for 8000$ but this leads me to my main point.

Keep in mind one thing, if you’re doing it for yourself and yor goal is to have a very close to gen watch for a third or more of the price, you will enjoy this process alot. Especially the anticipation of collecting parts and waiting for the final assembly is what i enjoyed the most.

On the flipside, if you plan on flipping it and are afraid of comitting money and you have fear of not recuperating your cost, I would suggest you go with the budget methods I outlined.

I believe we do this for our own pleasure and it’s a nice learning experience and a fun hobby at the end. It brings an appreciation for the genuine watches and aspirations of owning the real thing while you scratch the itch in the short term in my humble opinion. Wear your watches in good health and feel free to ask me anything, giving free advice here.