Blue ceramic Sub built on BP case, attempt #2

[sneed12]

http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/157609-116619-blue-ceramic-sub-built-on-bp-case/

 

 

I built a blue Sub-C on a BP case a while ago, but to be honest I wasn't super happy with it. It had a gen crystal in it originally, but I pulled the gen crystal to put in my GMT IIc and I wasn't super happy with the BP crystal. Also, the lume on the dial and hands was green, not blue. So I decided to pull the whole thing apart and start over.

 

I started with a Noob Sub-C dial this time:

 

 

and decided to pull the markers off and transplant markers from a BP dial. They fit exactly, so anyone who wants to use the black Noob Sub-C dial with the BP markers to fix the OFFICIALLYCERTIFIED problem can do so. You have to take the glue off the back of the dial with acetone

 

 

and then pop the markers off

 

 

 

They're quite decent actually, so I'll save them for another project

 

 

I wanted to compare the BP lume to the Noob lume (BP marker is the one on the dial already)

 

 

As you can see, the lume on both is pretty good--way better than "rep lume" used to be. The Noob lume has too much purple in it, the color of the gen lume is more like the bluish green of the BP markers. So I put some more markers on

 

 

and take another lume shot for fun

 

 

Finally finished with the dial

 

 

 

and glue the markers from the back.

 

 

While I'm waiting for the glue to dry, I decide to try and fit a WM9 crown.  The coronet on the BP crown is the old-style 702/early 703, and wrong for this watch. 

 

 

It turns out that the BP crown has the same threads as the gen/WM9 crown, but hole in the rep tube isn't wide enough to accept the gen crown.

 

 

 I wonder if I can just drill it out a bit to accept the gen crown, and it turns out the answer is no:

 

 

 

Tube snapped right at the joint with the case. No big deal, grab an easy-out and get what's left of the tube

 

 

 

 

and grab a Clark's 7030 tube.

 

 

Which, of course, doesn't fit.

 

 

So, I start drilling out the case and countersinking the hole

 

 

 

and finally get the WM9 crown installed.

 

 

 

Getting the Clark tube installed was a gigantic pain in the ass. Honestly, I don't think I'd do it again. It took a LOT of drilling to get the case to accept a gen-style tube, and you always run the risk of something like a broken tap. Next time I'll just deal or find a better rep crown.

 

Anyway, glue on the dial is dry so I grab a fresh ETA 2836-2 with BK DWO

 

 

 

 

snap a pic with the painted ceramic bezel insert, just for grins (glad I did, because that bezel insert breaks in about 20 minutes)

 

 

Now I'm ready to assemble, or so I think

 

 

except it turns out the Noob dial doesn't fit the BP case--there's a step just under the rehaut. You can see that the dial doesn't quite touch the bottom of the rehaut here. Like a moron, I didn't check the fit back at the beginning, which would have been the right time to do it. So the movement gets uncased, hands come off, and I trim the dial down. I've found that the best way is to install it on a Dremel like so

 

 

 

and apply sandpaper to the edge while it's spinning. This keeps it round and it goes quite quickly. Lots of painter's tape to make sure it doesn't get scratched. Reinstall dial and hands

 

 

as you can see, there was plenty of room outside the tick marks to trim.

 

BigCrown crystal and insane bezel spring stuff installed:

 

 

Bezel on and cleaned of old glue. The BP bezel is a giant pain in the ass to install, as far as I'm concerned. The BigCrown crystal is pretty decent, but the AR on the crystal is far too blue. The reason I decided to use a BigCrown with this watch is that I figured the blue might not be too noticeable against the blue dial and blue insert. I think I can live with it.

 

 

Here's how it looks with the insert on

 

 

but I noticed that the bezel wasn't on quite right, and did something monumentally stupid and just pressed on it with my thumb. The bezel retaining ring pushed on the back of the insert and snapped it in two places. It's being glued back together now and I'll take a look at it in the morning, but I'm probably going to need a new insert. Oh well. On the bright side, maybe the bezel paint will come out better on top of flat factory paint.

 

Fast forward three weeks:

 

Got the new bezel insert in the mail the other day. Here's a pic of the unmodded factory insert (bottom) compared to the broken, painted one (top)

 

Another pic, different angle

 

Look at how different the color of the "30" is compared to the color of the "50" due to the angle of the light. The unmodded bezel doesn't have this effect. Brianmds recently shared his opinion that my painted bezels look like crap, and it's true that my paint isn't as flat as a professional factory paint job could be, but I think this color changing effect is far more noticeable than a tiny bit of roughness in the paint that isn't visible except in macro pictures.

 

So, I paint my new bezel

 

and except for some cleanup, my watch is finally complete.

 

The black hole effect on the BigCrown crystal is quite good, actually, just as good as a gen. The only problem with the BigCrown crystal is that the AR is far too blue, but (as I hoped) the blue of the AR isn't really noticeable against the blue dial. I have my gen crystal in my GMT IIc and the BigCrown in this one.

 

[dutchguy2]

Wow, a lot of work went in this build but the outcome will be great.

[panerai153]

Sneed, as usual your builds are fantastic. i believe that your attention to detail, and quality control are second to none. I'm not a big fan of the new blue ceramic (?) sub, really much prefer the older TT 16613's but yours is really,really nice.

[flyr]

Great job! Really appreciate the detailed pics and narration.

[RG31417]

Great post and awesome (BP case) Sub-C build!  Thanks for sharing.

Quick question: Based on your build, would you think that BP Sub-C case (may) accept gen dial (with feet cut) ? If not, ... any insight as to why?

Best Regards

Edited May 5, 2013 by RG31417

[dcpark87]

Sneed, as usual your builds are fantastic. i believe that your attention to detail, and quality control are second to none. I'm not a big fan of the new blue ceramic (?) sub, really much prefer the older TT 16613's but yours is really,really nice.

+1

Superb craftsmanship, and narrative. Would not of expected anything less.