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Looking at this watch.. something still wasn't right. I thought: I finally have hands that are the correct length and general proportions, but they nonetheless look off. I looked around at some gen flat hands, and what I noticed is how incredibly thin they are structurally. Compared to mine: 🎳 Gen is on the left. I knew what must be done.. The thought of trying to thin out tiny, delicate hands while somehow maintaining their perfect lines seemed like it would end in disaster, but I had to give it a shot. I started with the minute hand. After removing the lume, I simply held it by the post hole and scraped a #11 blade at about a 45° angle against the interior of the two columns that hold up the pointed tip. After about 20 passes of shaving off small bits of metal, making sure to remove material evenly from the entire interior of the lume plot, I stopped to check the work. Before long, I had nice, thin columns. I thought: this is great, but surely the complex curves of the hour hand will be a different story. I noticed that just about everything on the hour hand needed trimming: the interior of the point, the whole ball of the Mercedes logo, and the rectangular plot at the bottom, which needed to be lengthened all the way to the post. I set to work, and soon realized that curves are even easier and more forgiving than straight lines. The hardest part was extending the bottom plot and keeping right angle corners square.. even the tiny tip of the #11 blade starts to round them out if you're the slightest bit imprecise. After about an hour of work on each hand, I was able to get a satisfying result: They aren't perfect, but overall, I was really surprised how easy and forgiving it is to alter these hands, and I'd recommend to anyone that they order some spares and give it a shot. It was a lot easier than luming my dial 😓. I'm sure that someone skilled with a rotary tool could get better results in less time. My big ball second hand was an unfortunate casualty in this experiment; it was just too thin and flimsy to work with after I've over-sanded it trying to get an even finish, and I mangled it trying to shave down the tip. So this was a two steps forward, one step back sort of endeavor, and my nice looking hour and minute have to endure being stationed with a crummy generic sweep second hand for now.

Hi guys! Need some help here. Im thinking to buy a new strap for my noob safari. Is a gen strap going to fit for my safari or i must do some mods to it? Same with my gray theme JF? Does gen fit or need some mods? I have heard noob and gen strap wil fit but i have not trie for my self so thats why Im asking for expert help Im thinking to buy from this site or AP bands. https://www.strapfreak.com/readystock Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk Gen/OEM straps Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk

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@SMP_lover is your guy personally I have only used his straps on gen and jf but I am sure he will let you know. Sent from me

I have bought several straps from strapfreak, manly Gunny straps and the quality is very good. When you order it, you can tell them that it is for a JF and it will fit very well. Donerix is a great option too, his straps are amazing

Personally I use one of the members here for my AP straps even on my gen, his quality is better than AP I [censored] you not. Sent from me

Thank god, cant wait for the pendulum to swing the other way again where I can actually wear new watches 😛

The trend is smaller watches at least to those in the know, the day of big ones is on the decline give it a few years ................... as far as factories they will cater to the numbers for now but those who are buying gen are going smaller they will catch up. The whole point is to offer cheaper reps instead of high price gens in demand , so when the smaller tread takes hold they will follow.

I believe only in the earliest ofthe explorer dial 5513’s. I could be wrong. But pretty certain the all red depth era 6538 explorer dials had the numeral depressions. That’s one of the reasons I never pursued a build like that; having a gilt Dial made in such a fashion wasn’t economically prudent.

Keep in mind that the 3-6-9 dials had the brass plate “carved” out I believe, to hold the luminous rather than just being applied to the plate on top of the lacquer. If you want it done right, that’s the way to go.

I'll post some pictures of mine later, I am at work currently. I absolutely loved building my 6538. It was my first big watch project. It sounds cheesy, but the project taught me a good bit of discipline and patience. A few members on this board were so helpful in completing the project - if y'all read this and remember my PMs to you a few years back, know that I am grateful for your help every time I wear my watch! A good dial is paramount. The rest of the watch will not matter if you do not have a great dial. Hands are also very important. If you have the financial means and the access, do not skimp on either the dial or the hands. A few tips that people passed on to me: if you buy a dial from MQ, make sure he does not send you a cheap dial in place of an expensive one. If you buy a case from phong, make sure the case he sent you matches the case he sends you QC pictures of. I also noticed that a few of phong's cases had crooked crown tubes, leading to the crown being crooked. If you can, get a gen 8 mm crown. The best 7206 bracelet that you can seem to get is the one from Yuki. The most accurate recreation of the strap used by Sean Connery in Dr. No can be found at the following link. It is important to note that the strap used in the film is not a standard NATO strap but is actually a one piece strap. https://www.esprit-nato.com/nl/nylon-watch-straps/153-the-real-james-bond-sean-connery-in-goldfinger-black-military-green-red.html?search_query=james+bond&results=63 Good luck with the project.

Happy Friday! [emoji41] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Just dusted this off from storage.

Can’t give better detailed informations than Nanuq, and as English is not my native language, here is some case pics.

I agree that double ARs look nice for some watches, but for APs, it actually makes the watch look inaccurate as gen AP crystals are all single AR. Also, the double AR accentuates the flaws on the tapisseries and printing for the rep. Double AR crystals are also prone to surface scratches and marring. My gen 15400, with single AR crystal

..... 😂 Worth every penny. Waiting on a rep ZF bracelet