It is not just the chinese that are sloppy with QC i was helping out at a watch making seminar last weekens and one of the students opened his laco flieger and found 2 screw missing in his swiss eta
it is just a wooden case holder
I hold it free hand but i could clamp it down, when jusr enlarging lugs free hand is not a problem, drilling new ones will need more controll so i would clamp it to the x y table
Also when you compare a drilled case side with gen spring bars installed against a standard rep the difference is dramatic, also on the vintage case the ease of removing a bracelet take seconds with gen bars installed. It can some times be a pain drilling the lugs and the end links and last link of the bracelet but it is worth it, if you need lugs enlarged i have a good set up to do it.
one i did the other day
and some others
you may notice that the top two cases were drilled at 1.5mm which is a little large the botom case is 1.3mm which is a far better size from looks and fit. I am so happy with the 1.3mm setup i have now in conjunction with my jig that drilling lus is a brease.
I hope all went well, I have one MBW that leeks at the crown so i am waiting for a new one to arrive but apart from that the rest have all been no problem
it may be worth you reading this post on TZ UK it is a full tear down and comparison of the seagull variations and linked in there is another comparison.
Ok well i mesured 10.66 but the variation may be the overlay positioning, it may be be that the error we are seeing whith these cartel dials is just the size of the window that is making it look odd have you got a face on shot of yours after modding the dial?
Unfortunatly, the hand sizes and dial feet ar different, so to swap a 4813 for an ets you will need new hansa and use dial dots to secure the dial, if the rep is using an date overlay then that is about the only part that is transferable
Is this not what V (member here but has not been about for a while) did about a year ago, he had a load of CGs made from a gen and then sold them, (not cheep if i remember)
If any one has one still in bits could they mesure the date wheel alignment, ie from the seconds pinion to the out side of 23 (widest number i think)
Good work Dizzy
I had 2 a red and a white but i sold them, i liked them but as you say the height is an issue, the 1680 and 5512 sits a little lower and lighter, why not get a cartel 1665 and try it, if it does not suit sell it on.
Snap
A bit of a 1016 day today for me as well
My font on the 3,6and 9 looks a bit thicker than yours, Mine is supposed too be a gen dial, but yours looks good too, is yours gen?
Well i am not sure about the PT, are they different from the Cartel ones, the the qualitys are:-
they are cheep
accesable
slow beat movement.
Similar (not same) to gen construction
The down falls as far as i see are
The date wheel/dial position
the standard crystal has next to no magnification
the lug holes are in the wrong position to the gen
I would still rather start with an MBW case from what i have seen
Dont buy it, just dont do it, WTF some of those people were propperly crying cause they could not get one and then one of them just trys to sell it on for a fast buck futher perpetuating the self inflated value of what is a