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I finally got a sample back from the print shop (they do Pad printing). I'm sorry to say that it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. From 12" away it looks ok, but close up, not so good. I'll see if I can work with them to get higher quality, or maybe go to another shop. In the mean time I might install it in my BCE to check for alignment. I was so excited to get this sample, I really thought it was going to look perfect, I'm a bit bummed, I guess I have more work to do. Getting these things marked is much more difficult than I expected.

SZV = My initials WJ = Walter Johnson High School (Bethesda, Maryland) ... uh... no not really, it's just a random UNIX password I was given back when I worked for GM and that I (for some stupid reason) have committed to memory. I can't remember my girlfriends birthday, but I remember a random UNIX password from 10 years ago!

The Medical Distinction between Guts and Balls - We've all heard about people 'having guts' or 'having balls'. but do you really know the difference between them? In an effort to keep you informed, the definition for each is listed below... Guts - is arriving home late after a night out with the guys, being met by your wife with a broom, and having the guts to ask: 'Are you still cleaning or are you flying somewhere?' Balls - is coming home late after a night out with the guys, smelling of perfume and beer, lipstick on your collar, slapping your wife on the butt and having the balls to say: 'You're next.' I hope this clears up any confusion on the definitions.. Medically speaking, there is no difference in the outcome...... as both ultimately result in death.

I know it's off topic, but I couldn't resist. I'm blaming it on Mickey. This version hits me a little closer to home.

Hey, I like System of a Down too, but I still appreciate ABBA. I wish I had a fraction of their residuals (I could probably buy a small island).

I'm with you Ken. You can't deny ABBA's talent. Yea, it's poppy and old, but it's still played regularly and it reminds me of my youth (that's right, I'm old too).

Nice collection! I didn't like the Breitlings when I first started collecting, but now they're top on my list (as are IWC). I'm trying to catch up to you. I have a Slate BCE with the dark rehaut ring swap, Superlume and soon (hopefully) a new datewheel (if I can find a good way to print them) and I just bought a Navitimer (should arrive next week). What fun!!

Very nice work, I would NOT have guessed that you'd be able to re-thread a shaft like that. It seems like the shaft would have broke or the threads would have been totally screwed-up. I'm impressed. You must have really tiny, steady hands (and good eyesight).

Here's the latest: Over the past several weeks, I've been begging for and/or purchasing ETA7750 datewheels, stripping them, re-painting them, and researching marking options. Most marking methods I've found would probably work, but are just too expensive. It's the old quality verses price dilemma. I've had some samples made, but they looked really bad. I'm hoping that I was just pursuing the wrong marking method (a bit of a waste of time, but a good learning experience). I just (like 30 minutes ago) sent some sample datewheels off to be marked using a different process. The guy seems to think that he can mark them "no problem". I've seen some of his work and it looks awesome (he marks medical instruments). He's going to mark two for free to show me how they'll look. I hope they turn out, I also hope that if I want more, they won't cost a fortune. I should know more in a week or two, stay tuned....

Andreww: I know what you mean as far as the "boldness" of the font. I'm going to have to work with the shop and adjust my artwork to get a good final product. I'm curious to see if it ends up more or less bold when it's finally done. I think I'll go with what I have for now and see what comes back. My fingers are crossed, I hope this works. Thanks everyone for the input, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thanks to input from other members, I think I'm about ready to try to have one made. If you see any errors, I'd appreciate your feedback:

Mentalist: Making a decal is a good (and inexpensive) idea and maybe other people are more skilled than I am, but I haven't been able to make that work. I tried and tried, but I just couldn't get it aligned properly on the datewheel. I always ended up with some numbers aligned, others off (really frustrating).

Thanks for the input. It actually looks like I still have a bit of work to do. Compared to the Gen, I really need to thin up my fonts. I'll work on fixing it this weekend.

Here's my latest update with serif's added everywhere I think they belong. I'm a bit unsure about the 4 and 5. Thanks for the input (and kind words), it's very much appreciated.

I modeled it using Pro-Engineer. It was the best tool I could think of to get the correct alignment of the gears to the text. I'm planning on having the parts fabricated (cut) out of a blank sheet of brass, directly from the CAD file (no loss of resolution).

UB7: Thank you so much, the pictures are extremely helpful! Very nice of you to post them!!

Here's an update. I tried to add the serifs. Too small, too big? Should there be serifs on the bottom of the 7's? Would it help if I posted close-ups of all the numbers? Thanks a lot for the input, I really appreciate it.

Thanks for the input, I see those little serif's now. I'll get that fixed.

I'm working on making a datewheel for my BCE. The picture is a model of my current design. I'm not sure how accurate I am to the gen. Are the ticks on the 1's correct? Are the 1's on the 11 spaced too far apart (or too close)? Any comments would be appreciated. I'd like to get this as close as possible before I go out for fabrication. Thanks

Are you going to get the sampler pack? If so, I'll be very interested to see what you find. I heard that The Zigmeister was using a combination of Tritium and Super-LumiNova in some of his watches (but he lives in Canada, where I guess you can get Tritium). I never heard how those watches turned out, but it would seem that the combination would give you the best of both pigments.

The 4813 movement in my Bell & Ross 03-92 died. I purchased a replacement movement (MT-DG4813) and spent a few hours last night swapping movements (1st attempt at swapping a movement). Everything went well, except: The Hours, Minutes and Seconds posts in the new movement aren't as long as in the movement that came with the watch. I figured out how to swap out the Minutes and Hours posts, but I couldn't figure out how to swap the seconds post (is it really complicated?). Can anyone please tell how to swap out the seconds post? Thanks in advance.

I finally got around to swapping the Rehaut on my Slate BCE. While I had the watch apart I stripped the Lume and applied LumiNova. I'm quite happy with the results. The last picture shows (kind-of) how bright the lume is (noon in my living room). I forgot to re-lume the second hand (it still has the original rep lume). Before (Slate/Slate): After (Slate/Black):

I really appreciate this thread. I'm looking to get my Fiance a watch, but I'm having difficulty finding one. We went out today looking at Gens, and it turns out she doesn't like the Cartier Roadster (I thought she would). Maybe the Omega Constellation would be a nice option, she likes the smaller size.

Thanks to a fellow member, I was able to add Super-Luminova to my comparison. Each pigment was mixed (in similar ratios) with NoctiLumina Binder 1A: DAYLIGHT INITIAL SHOT AFTER 10 MINUTES AFTER 20 MINUTES AFTER 30 MINUTES All photos were taken with F2.8 @ 1 second. CONCLUSION: The brightness drops off quickly, but is still visible after more than 1 hour (although it's difficult to photograph). There is little difference in brightness between LumiNova and SuperLumiNova (much to my surprise). NoctiLumina is a descent product (much better than rep lume) and is easy to purchase compared to the other two pigments, but does not perform as well. I believe I've found an inexpensive alternative to Super-LumiNova. The problem is that it's not possible to purchase it in small quantities (as far as I know).

I've really enjoyed reading your posts, I'm sorry it's become a pain for you. I hope you have a good summer... wear sunscreen.