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Here's the complete build story It all started when I saw, on a UK site, a watch showing a beautifull patina. That 5500 Air-King was at £3.000, a fair price IMO though I really had a better use for such an amount at that very moment. But I must admit that I fell in love at first sight and I craved to have one. I already had 2 Air-Kings, 14000 models in my drawers. One was a DHGate I got from @English Gent for the amazing amount of £67 shipped. The other one I bought from Silix, only $100 shipped, just to check if a$30 difference could imply a difference in the making. And yes there was a real difference as the Silix had a better dial, a better movement and a much better case and bracelet. Then, considering the fact that the DHGate one was a little small (not exactly 36mm) and spent almost all its time in the drawer despite the fact that she was really nice on the wrist, I decided that I could take my chance. So I decided I could try to transform a soso 14000 into a nice 5500 ... thus the really long journey. First I had to mod the dial. I removed the bar indexes and the crown and put them aside then I stripped all the letterings, using acetone and Q-Tips and only kept the "soleillé" (sunburst) I had already designed a 5500 Air-King Precision patina dial and had printed it on clear decal paper so I just had to put it on I picked the "right" indexes and a better crown from my spares, put them on the dial - with cyanolit because their positions had to be moved a little more close to the rehaut (about 1/2mm). I used 8 "thin" indexes and 3 "bold" indexes (at 3/6/9) and I reworked the crown a little with a diamond files so that it could look a litte more "genlike". Then of course a set of 5500 Precision hands and some dots of DIY vintage lume. Before putting the dial and movement in the case I had to rework it a BIG lot : - thinned the case and lugs a little to get closer to the 34mm size - drilled the lugs from scratch so that they could get vintage spring bars - filled the existing lug holes with solder so that the spring bars could not be "stucked" inside - erased the engravements on the rehaut and thinned it a little so that it could receive a Tropic crystal - reworked the bezel to the outer size of the Tropic Crystal - thinned the lugs and bezel again while smoothing everything - chamfered the inner side of the crwon so that the final look could be more « genlike » - mod standard springbars to vintage 1,8mm springbars I did not took pics of all the phases along the process but here are some What else ? It’s been a long but really interesting process and that I’m really happy with the final result. Hope you enjoyed the story.

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Thank you all buddies @RichardH ... good luck on your project and hope you'll enjoy it, and fell free to chime here if you think I can be of any help. If I started to build a twin watch I would probably start with a 34 mm Oysterdate Precision case ... though I would have to source a different caseback as the 6694 Precision has a "rounded" caseback and the 5500 looks more like a 1002 caseback (with a flat brushed center). But the trickiest part (not so tricky) is the dial as, as far as I know, there is no 5500 Rep dial. So you have to start with a blank sunburst no-date dial, add a set of bar markers (8 thin and 3 thicker but all of the same length) and a matching coronet and build the Air-King dial. 50% of the fun is there cause when you have finished with that a lumed everything ... you're happy. The 5500 hands are not thatveasy to source too but if you get a complte 34mm Precision watch you can use the handset

I promise, after I hit the lotto this will be the first thing I do!

Lady and Gentlemen (hey we do have a female member here): After much discussion with The Boss, the Main Cheese, He Who Occupies the Palace of Ice up north, we came to the realization that we need another man on top of the letterhead. "Admin" is unable to spend much time here at all, and my ability to participate has taken a downturn. So we talked about the man that is here all the time, always soothing wounded egos, wielding the sword when necessary, always with a steady hand, with fairness and an eerie sense of calm... and we decided that Mike On A Bike is the perfect choice for our next Co_admin. Tonight I set him up in his new role, and contacted him offline with the good news. But what's this?? He's gone to bed already? So I think it would be wholly appropriate to absolutely inundate his PM inbox with cheers and wishes of congratulations, don't you? After all a good co-admin never sleeps...... Please join me in welcoming RWG's newest Co-Admin .... MIKE ON A BIKE!

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I seem to remember something in the forum rules about the co-admin buying each member of the staff a case of their favorite libation??? Make mine Laphroaig!

6350 Explorer 1

I finally finished mine.