166.020 and 552 not compatible ?

Dials are the bane of the frankenmiester. I come from an era thirty years ago where repainted dials were the norm. So such do not bother me too much as long as such are decent. To that end I set up a fiber laser to cut some dial blanks. The results were promising but I quckly lost interest. Given that such things are only for personal use. Placeholders on the off chance something decent will turn up.

Cases, dials and bezels are sort of a complete unit. Best to get them as a set, otherwise it is a money pit as you found out. I have quite a few housless movements. The cheap under 50 buck cases one finds on the bay never fit anything common.

Does remain a weakness though. Just last night I saw a 2247 case going for around 20 bucks. I did a half hearted bid, which to my surprise won the auction. Now I need a 26.5 T3 movement or equivalent. To make matters worse, there is no dial. So another odd case for the collection.

Perhaps it is possible to flip things on the low end. Probably quite a few folk out there who attempt such things. The supply has dwindled quite a bit in the last year. Demand seems to also be on the down side as the people looking to buy are also interested in flipping.