rmcsherry

The Zigmeister returned this watch to me a few months back with the 'T Swiss T' mod, tritium lume and some other bits, and it was promtly dropped on the floor - leaving the movement in a mess. I spent yesterday evening taking it apart, finding a new Swiss 6497, installing the high canon pinion, and reassembling the watch - it now works fine and looks great. It's cosmetically a little damaged, but I prefer to show the wear over the years - it gives it character! The strange thing is, I chucked the old Swiss 6497 onto the desk thinking it'd be too much hassle / too expensive to repair - and the impact got it running again. I've checked it with a loupe, and can't work out what's wrong - it's now in a new case and runs as though it's bomb proof! I would have thought the first thing to go would be the hairspring when you drop a watch - is it possible that the dial feet had twisted, putting pressure on the second hand? That's the only thing I can think of - and I was extremely careful with the dial, but the feet were at quite an unusual angle and had to be straightened before reinstalling the dial. Anyway, here are the rather poor, blurry pictures:

Here are my 2 for the time being. One has the wrong bezel, one has the massive lug screws, both have the strap notches. Other than that, the shape seems to be reasonable!

Awesome project, well done - impressed as always with Stephan's work. I can't wait to see your next project - let me know if there's anything I can help with.

I was browsing through the Risti refence section, and came across this: ...very odd, don't you think?!

If you think of Bob Frei's attitude towards his paying customers, I can only imagine his response to a scam site stealing his webpages!

You're right - the lugs do look very long / curved compared to some cases. The hunt continues...

Would you mind posting a photo from the side of the case, showing the lug shape / size and case curvature? The strap notch isn't a big deal, nobody would notice it on your wrist.

There are a few places out there - for vintage you don't always need a glow I've just sent a parcel your way - hopefully it'll come in useful.

...Gen on the left, reproductions on the right. Both are 100% interchangeable, measurements on a digital caliper are accurate to within 0.01mm - I don't think we're going to get any better than that! I'm amazed by the quality, the finish and price (considering the complexity of internally threading the tube, creating 3 pieces with perfectly finished edges etc.). The seller is a great guy to deal with - hopefully they'll be the perfect accompaniment to FGD's dials.

I'd agree with Kye - although watch out if you intend to use Pre-V double screws, the screw diameter looks larger than the top one (Pre-V = 1.6mm), so it may not look as good if you go down that route! Nice short / square lugs though, where's it from?

Looks great, Simon - i've just taken delivery of Adobe CS4 Master Collection, so I've got no excuses any more - you'll hopefully be hearing from me soon!

Each rep case is slightly different - and it would of been pointless making a larger screw size, as it wouldn't have fitted any original Pre-V watches. As FGD has pointed out, the next step is a perfect case - it already seems to exist, so I'm sure we can arrnage a re-run / with enough people, commission a new case design to accomodate the double screws. Maybe even DSN would be able to make them if somebody were to supply him CAD (although I'm sure there'll be some differences between the CAD and production case through conversion CNC).

Just a quick note - 1:1 Pre-V screws have arrived! I can guarantee that these were made with genuine Pre-V screws as a reference, although haven't received mine just yet - I'll post some pictures when they arrive!

Not sure how it took 3 years to switch the dials in a WM3646, and I'm not sure exactly how a WM3646 is exactly the same as an original - the case construction is completely different, he's not even bothered to solder the lugs / tube. I know he's a well respected seller, but have you seen the fiddy bezel and crystal for $1950 EACH??!! What a joke.

At the 9 O'clock position - as on vintage Panerai's. All Angelus movements share many parts - even key-wound movements have the space at the back of the plates to house keyless works (but are missing a central plate / bridge to allow you to do so) - essentially, the construction is modular, using around 80% of the same parts for each variant.

PM sent

I think I *may* have found a source. Other than slight strap 'dimples', the case looks pretty good - I'll post some photos and a link to the seller if it proves to be the watch pictured (although I won't hold my breath, as even Helenarou still has photos of her old case in the eBay listings).

Looking good, only if we had a good source of 1:1 CG's, 1:1 Pre-V screws and short-lugged case sets

Could you post another shot of the movement as well? The bridge shape is slightly different to others I've seen - I'm not sure if it's the photo or not! Have you added the sunburst decoration to the ratchet / winding wheel yourself, or was it already like this? Amazing job on the rest of it though, the dial looks really nice.

Strangely, I never had a problem with the movement height. I've no idea where it came from, but I have a 47mm case that when used with a 0.75mm thick dial, allows the Angelus to be dropped in with no issues (even the stem is aligned, and the case back fits!). A brass spacer ring and away we go! I'm sure I won't be so lucky on the next one. To clarify, is this a off-the-shelf dial that has been sanded, engraved and painted - I've probably missed something, but I'm still unsure of how you've done it!

Has anybody ordered a Helenarou Ti case recently? For the 5218-202A, SS or Ti shouldn't make a difference (I can't remember what the original was made from before the PVD'ing) - and maybe her Ti cases were from the same tooling as the old SS cases? Just a thought.

Have a good search around material houses and you'll find one - Renata made a Cortebert 616 staff replacement (I think it was #726, but that's just from memory).

Rob, The Elgin is amazing! I've got a spare unbranded Cortebert winding wheel that's yours if this is destined for a wrist watch. Very nice find.

How????!!!! The amount of work that has gone into this is incredible. Getting the movement to fit the case is challenging, removing the text from the case back is a horrible task, but the dial?! Having made vintage dials myself (not by hand - which makes this even more amazing), I'm amazed at the quality of the work, the resin-filled numerals and the colour matching on the dial. Matching the colour of the dial is something that I never expected to be so challenging - is this one painted, oxidised or have you used a different process? I'm looking forwards to seeing the other watches - it might persuade me to get around to finishing off all of the unfinished projects in my drawer!

Your EL 005 is certainly the type of watch I'm looking for! Thanks for the comments, I'll have a search and see if I can find any good links. Strangely, whilst searching I came across this link... 5218-218a - I have tried to buy things on this site (without any luck) before, but the 218a and 202a that this guy has seem to have heavily modded dials - certainly an unexpected find!