Frankenwatches; Are they Ever Acceptable?

My thoughts are that as long as the seller is upfront and the price is reflecting that the watch is such, it shouldn't matter. 

I own 2 that cost me $30 total and they work great. Mechanical Automatics with a dial color that is not usual. If I ever pass them on via sale or inheritance, the recipient will know what they are. 

Man, I LOVE frankenwatches!  I've already ordered a few of them.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the idea of having something truly one-of-a-kind!

That's the old old term. they called custom modded now. To me Custom is the best brand as no one else has that combination. All though some of the abominations out of india are cringe worthy. Old repainted dials with the same Mercedes hands on all of them.

I have a couple that I know are Frankenwatches, a HMT and something that purports to be a Selhor: https://www.watchcrunch.com/Aurelian/posts/still-life-with-frankenwatch-5020 

I think that everyone should have a refurbished HMT.  They are cheap fun.  Repairs and replacements that are not disclosed are another matter.

Ok, that's four comments in agreement.  Who is going to spoil this consensus?

My only problem is if someone tries to sell me one as an authentic brand watch. Nothing wrong with them as long as everything is upfront. 😀

The 2 I bought weren't ID'd as such, but we're priced as if they were, so I've got no complaints. 

Love this guy, The Nekkid Watchmaker. I saw this video when he uploaded it and I must say he did a bang up job on the Seiko. As some have already said, when buying one of these watches, so long as the seller is up front about it I don't have any problems at all. 

If I had the means and wherewithal to acquire a Rolex 1016 that had the dial replaced with one of the Sotheby’s auctioned “Space-Dweller” dials, would I?

Yep.

But I’d like to know that it was a replacement dial.

I thought we call them modded or homage or custom watches 🤔

I think they are cool, hope to add a few to my stable one of these days

Only if the Chap who sells me one invites me over for his Missus's Sunday roast!

This is one of his best videos! Great guy with good content. 

Nothing is wrong with Franken watches which is pretty much bringing a watch back to life using a different dial or movement into a case that fits. NOW where things go down south fast is when sellers do not want to disclose that is not an original watch and charge a grip of money (especially for old SKXs and old Rolex) Many people that don't know and think they are getting a bargain and get ripped off. So to me not only sounds fun to buy old watches that can have a new life at the end is a watch. I just hate the scammers.

When is a Mod a Franken is a hotly contested subject ... I say beware if watch semantics 👻 

I have run into many during my travels, it’s a huge pitfall for certain brands and vintage (Rado, Orient, Enicar, Fortis…).

 I think I only have one left, and it’s my Fortis Flieger, which is made up of Fortis parts but the serial is potentially garbage, and the dial… well the numbers are kind of the wrong font but they are better than average and is the main reason I like the watch. It’s also my lucky watch, so I’m not getting rid of it.

As with most things in life it's not a binary consideration. These are "Frankenwatches". Both were built by me. The top one has the dial and hands from one Seiko 5 7009 and the case/movement from another. The bottom one has the dial from a Seiko 5 7S26 but everything else from a 7009. They were done with care and sympathy.

This is also a "Frankenwatch". With a repainted diver style dial, skx type hands, a completely different case, a crown that doesn't fit and god knows what inside.

I believe there's a vast difference between the two approaches here and the unilateral term "Fankenwatch" is unhelpful.

Having a hip replacement or a heart transplant does not Frankenstein's monster make.

If you haven't watched the Nekkid Watchmaker... please do. Joe is a good friend of mine and is one of the nicest, most genuine people you could ever wish to come across. He also happens to be a brilliant watchmaker and his videos are a joy. He now owes me a beer.

Interestingly, there are only 10 types of people in the world. Those that understand binary and those that don't. 

I'm working my way through Joe's vids and agree that he is an example of the best of humanity. I was not trying to imply he was doing anything wrong, but re-reading my post, I can see how that wasn't clear. I have a ton of respect for him & his work. 

Like I said in my comment, I don't necessarily have an issue with a watch that's been cobbled together from different parts. Only if it's not been made clear that the watch is such a creation during a transaction. 

how is frankenwatch differ than modding a watch?

Excellent point. It's semantics I suppose. Franken is as modding does. 

Get scammed & it's a Franken, otherwise it's a mod?

I like my frankenwatch/modded watch and wear it more now. The original silver dauphine hands were hard to read, so when a movement replacement necessitated new hands, I went with legible, lumed pencil hands:

Im bingeing his content now and the aliases Trouble, Germ & The Accountant are genius creations. 

His skill is top notch. 

Oooh yeah, those OG hands sucked. 

Nice replacements. 

Thanks for the comment!

I love modded watches, as long as you're upfront about what they are. Just fun to wear something that you worked on, or that was made for you.

lol probably, when i post to share something about watchmod some of the watchfam here sharing about a seiko with different part from another seiko. i guess its the same thing but frankenwatch has negative connotation

I think it only matters to the purists or those who intend to sell or dump the watch later. Personally if you plan to hang onto it forever, who cares!

I didn't think you were being negative at all. Nice to see people appreciate his work. He's as mad as a box of frogs but such a great bloke. He now owes me 2 beers 🍻 

I will use an anecdote to make my point... which is "Frankenwatch" implies deceptive, bad intent, duping the uneducated buyer into buying something for a price higher than its market value. 

Everything else be it "project watch", "marriage watch", "customized", "modded", etc. implies a fun approach to creating something new or enhancing something or experimenting - no harm to the buyer if they know what the watch is and isn't.

To me the definition of "Frankenwatch" is the first Hamilton Electric "Ventura" I purchased from a watch dealer in an antique store who knew he was selling a Frankenwatch, but sussing out that I was a Newbie convinced me of its authenticity as a bona fide Hamilton Ventura. 

Thank goodness for Rene Rondeau - I contacted Rene (who I had no prior relationship with) and asked him to let me know if the watch was a proper Ventura as I had some misgivings and I knew Rene was the expert since he wrote the book on Hamilton Electrics. Sure enough Rene shared with me that the watch was the less expensive Hamilton Pacer that had been modified to look like a Ventura with the intent to deceive since the price of a Ventura is about double the price of a Pacer. 

Happy ending - I used the information provided by Rene to demand a full refund and returned the watch. Lesson learned early in my collecting education - and as they say once bitten, twice shy.

So for me it's the intent of the seller that determines the noun I use to describe the watch.

Many Frankenwatches coming from India and Turkey amongst other locales. The intent is clearly to deceive by using a brand name on the dial to lure in unsuspecting newbie collectors. I find this practice reprehensible and thus feel it should be called out for what it is.

Agree! It is only a problem to me if the seller is trying to pass it off like its a vintage collector piece.

If you make it yourself...

I am currently considering buying one. It is not coming from India (at least not directly), and it looks quite handsome, but it is supposed to be a Favre Leuba, and it does not really look like one. But it is cheap and I feel it is part of a watch enthusiast's resume to get one of those at some time.

A different one I saw this week I gave a miss. That had Oris on the dial, plus the 1-31 indicators for a date pointer, but that 4th hand was nowhere to be seen, so almost certainly the wrong movement for that too.

Yeah, I think everyone should experience a franken or cobblewatch as part of being an enthusiast.

All the "mistakes" we hear about (frankens, the 'Fever', etc.) are really learning opportunities we all should go through for ourselves.