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manodeoro

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manodeoro last won the day on March 3 2021

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About manodeoro

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  1. @madasboot ... @JSebWC .... come on guys ... I thought this forum was a place for friendly exchanges rather than fights? I know both of you and I'm sorry to read your messages, which are a little too brutal ... and then, as they say, each to his own 😉
  2. @Timelord Seagull ST16 movement ... so same dial feet positions than DG2813 ... Here's a comparative pic showing your movement and an ST16 I'm working on ...
  3. WRT (Watch Repair Talk) is a good source of informations if you want to learn how to work on watches ...
  4. [mention=795]Timelord[/mention] ... it's a DG2807 ... or Seagull ST16/2807 same dial feet position as DG2813
  5. After a complete service ... disassembly, cleaning, reassembly with lubrification (including automatic system) ... and regulation those movements can work really precisely (more or less 8s/d) for years.
  6. Don Aronow, an avid racer and New York businessman, founded Cigarette Racing Team on 188th Street in South Florida in 1999. Aronow's boats won over 350 offshore races and he was a two-time world champion and three-time U.S. champion. He has been elected to every powerboating Hall of Fame in existence and as stated above, he and Gar Wood were the only two Americans to have ever received the UIM Gold Medal of Honor. In 1979 a mini-serie of customized Rolex 5513 was produced for the "Cigarette 1" racing team ... some research shows they are only 50 in the world. One was sold at Christie's November 2005 and nother one in Geneva Octobre 2006. So .... Some time ago an Italian member on RWI contacted me showing me this MQ dial. I have never seen a Rolex 16800 with this dial and for me it is a fancy dial but I found the project interesting. Icing on the cake and to go further on the way of the fantasy, my Italian friend wanted the same dial for his GMT. I like challenges so I said "why not?" 😛 Then I followed the usual procedure ... First a first test print to set the dial design ... Then the final printing itself the painting of the GMT hand in red ... Lume work and the assembly on the movement ... And final assembly ... with 2 insert variants ... That watch is a fantasy one but I really like it ... letting it go to its real owner was a real pain 🤣 I hope you'll like it too ...
  7. So it's all about building a 6350 Honeycomb ... a long journey that started about 2 years ago. Many threads have been already posted here about early Explorers, so I wont write too much and will limit myself to the main informations ... 1 - The Explorer line was registered by Rolex in January 1953 ... 2 - The 6350s were the first Rolex to carry the "Explorer" on its dial ... 3 - The "honeycomb" 6350 ... this name referring to the specific texture of its dial ... is one of the most rare model ... I've been making dials for years and, if I remember ccorrectly, my first attempt to make a negative-gilt one was mid 2016. I slowly improved my skills along the years, modifing the technics I used, and always trying to do better and to take up new challenges. This until I felt, mid 2021, that I could maybe achieve to make a gilt honeycomb dial. I started to gather informations, pics and technicals details, read articles on the topic, and think about the difficulties I would have to overcome. At the same time I started to draw the outline of the project and quickly did my first print tests. And today, almost 2 years after I started, I'm happy to present the result I reached. What has been implemented to achieve that build ? 1 - An "Explorer" box from Raffles ... which I had to put through the worst torments ... I drilled the lugs to be able to use 2mm bars, but I also thinned them to modify their profile. I also rounded the caseback to get closer to the original "semi-bubbleback". And of course I engraved the whole thing, both between the horns and inside the caseback. 2 - 316 stainless steel, a precision lathe and … elbow grease ... Concerning the bezel, very particular on the Rolex 6350, I first thought about modifying the bezel of the Raffles case but I quickly realized that the only way to get closer to the original bezel was ... to make one. So I took the time to study the profile and draw it, some 316 stainless steel, a precision lathe, some files, a lot of sandpaper ... and I ended up with a bezel that, in my opinion, is totally credible. And frankly I am delighted with the result. 3 - 6350 "honeycomb" dial ... This was the central point of the project and what required the most patience and imagination. I won't tell you in detail how I proceeded ... there are some techniques that were obvious and everyone will guess it, and there are some little tricks that I discovered through mistakes, unsuccessful attempts, hesitations and then successes. I think my efforts have paid off and I am really happy with this dial 4 - 2824-2 low-beat and no-date movement ... I wanted a recent movement, which could receive a dial with dial feet (I don't like dial-posts) but I also wanted it to be low-beat and that the crown has only 2 positions (a no-date movement). I started with an Asian 2824-2 movement clocked at 21600bph ... these movements are reputed to be of "average quality" but once disassembled, cleaned, lubricated and reassembled they work very well and can even be regulated to almost 0s/day. On the other hand I replaced the keyless works parts by those of an ETA 2801, original no-date and of better quality. The result is a new low-beat and no-date movement. 5 - Some parts bought on the market to complete the project ... - T22 plexi - BREVET + crown - 2mm fat springbars - 6200 gold plated handset … just because of the specific seconds hand ... - 1016 gaskzts set ... And that's it ... I think I've done the trick. But "without pictures it doesn't exist" you might say, so I'll stop writing and let you make your own opinion ...
  8. Looks like a Foxter watch ... https://www.foxterwatches.com/sixties/40-montre-acier-sur-bracelet-acier-extensible-cadran-bleu-et-lunette-bleue.html
  9. Hi mate ... Thanks for the kind words [emoji16] Not a long shot at all though I've not been here for a long time ... I'm still making dials, Doxas, negative-gilts, Tudors and others, and since my last post I've improved my method a lot so they are better now ... so I'll try to update that thread as soon as I can ... In the meantime feel free to PM me about your Doxa project [emoji6]
  10. Hi folks ... it's been almost months since I haven't posted here ... I've had to put dialmaking and watchmaking aside and stay off from the forums for a while because I moved to a new house with my new GF and kids ... reconstructing a new family takes a lot of time. Then, early 2022, I had to take care of 2 old guys I love ... really close family ... One is almost OK now, though his brain is still so so ... The other one leaved our good hearth last week ... not in a starship I mean, he died after hard weeks of intensive care at the hospital ... Sometimes life is shitty and old age is not a bed of roses ... Now I start again working on watches and it proves to be helpful to avoid thinking about bad things ... so let's put sadness aside ... I'm happy to be back here ... So during the past week I 've been making some Doxa dials ... precision work was helpfull to sothe the mind ... Aqualungs ... one standard early Doxa and two from the Synchron era ... Blacklungs too ... not that much cause they require specific dial plates (I'm waiting for some more) ... Divingstars ... All Synchron era ... two standards and one "Poseidon" with that nice logo And two Sharkhunters ... those are not as popular than the others but they are really nice too ...
  11. just WOW !!! you did a great job ... Mine says hello ... I built it 2017 if I remember well home made Burford dial, fixed bars and 2 parts steel/german silver bezel ... a long journey ... it's been a box queen's for some years but now I've seen yours my wrist ask for it ...
  12. Back to the origins ... 1946 - Air Liquide founded "La Spirotechnique" to sell the "Scaphandre Cousteau-Gagnan", aka C45, aka Aqua-Lung ... 1952 - René Bussoz, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan founded U.S Divers Company ... 1957 - Bussoz sold U.S. Divers Co. to La Spirotechnique / Aqualung International 216 - Air Liquide sold Aqualung International to Montagu Private Equity ... Next ???
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