JoeyB

Yep, lightly sand to clean the areas to be joined, use flux on both pieces where you want the solder to go. Just a little solder, I cut off a sliver with a razor blade and a very little heat. I learned how to solder here: http://www.repgeek.com/showthread.php?t=123646&highlight=harris The principle is the same for most soldering we do on reps.

This is one way: http://www.yukiwatch.com/articles/article/7390084/160035.htm I solder two pieces of brass stock to the spacer ring at each indentation inside of the ring so as to clear and seat on the movement. Then while in position on the movement, I epoxy the back of the dial to the ring, positioning it correctly.

Not with a decal, it would show. I would find an artist.

It sounds essentially the same, but using an adhesive film instead of decal. Using the jig to get the picture perfectly round and 1:1 makes sense. As I said, most pictures off of the internet are not perfectly framed, so they are not perfectly round. I've adjusted those using my photo program, making a perfect circle and positioning the markers and script properly. As Rolexaddict alluded to, the dial is an issue to be aware of. Without factory authorization it is copyright infringement, depending on the country you're in and the laws there, and it is forgery. For your own personal use there would likely be no issue at all, but to resell could be a huge problem. For us here, when building a watch -especially vintage- the cost of the dial, even repainted/refinished, can be from $100 to $450 or more and most of those are not perfectly accurate. Making an acceptable dial for under $10 plus your own labor to me is the way to go. Obviously it makes the project more affordable, but it also gives latitude to adjust date windows for other movements, or special lettering from limited editions, or customizing. The flexibility is great. The oldest dial I have is over 2 years now, and no sign of deterioration at all, no fading or peeling or bubbling up. I tried to 'age' one by leaving it in direct sunlight all day but with no affect at all. I suspect the decals being made from vinyl are the reason. They are sealed. Anyway, it works for me!

Ink jet water slide decals come two ways, clear and white. Ink jet does not print white. On the white decal paper anything you print is what you get. JMB has a different setup than I do, and his will print white. The clear decal paper is great for dark printing, but the lighter colors are more opaque, the background shows through. I use the clear on dials because I think the lettering coming from the background looks more crisp. I paint the dial white or creme for the background. You print at photo quality, so it is capable of being sharp and clear. Use Photo Shop or any other photo program to size, tweak, adjust or anything else to the picture to be printed. I print at the highest resolution for sharpness. You can find water slide decals at most any hobby shop. I use Hobby Lobby because they have 40% coupons all the time, so it costs about $8 for a package that will yield more than 50 dials. I use a setting solution called 'Micro Set'. It makes the decal stick better, and easier to work with. You must use a sealer to seal the printing on the decal. The stuff the hobby shop sells makes the ink bleed, especially noticeable on a white dial. Instead use Krylon Crystal Clear spray. It comes in gloss, matte and flat. The ink does not run with this, you can seal about an hour after printing. It is under $4 at Walmart, and over $7 at Hobby Lobby! This sealer will give you the finish you want, aged, spider-webbed, patina or smooth. The most difficult is glossy smooth. It has to be dust free. On the aged dials for my 6542 and 6204 I put it on thick and get a nice aged spider web effect. Very thin will give a patina look. Experiment a bit, and it becomes obvious to get what you want. The pictures you get from the internet will work, but be prepared for them to be a little out of round. Unless the picture is taken perfectly it won't be round. You can fix that with your photo shop program. Then it's practice. Make your picture, size it and print. Then seal it, cut it out, put some Micro Set on the dial, wet the decal and slide it on. Use a Q-tip to smooth it and get any bubbles out. It will move, so be gentle. I use the Styrofoam that comes with meat from the butcher to work on dials. The dial feet sit in the Styrofoam so it doesn't move and doesn't hurt the legs. The tip of your finger on the edge will hold the decal in place while you slide it on. You've got a good minute to position it, so don't rush, but be ready to be quick. It will not look perfectly smooth at first. As it dries it stretches itself taught because of the Micro Sol. I wait at least an hour to trim out the holes using a razor knife. For the date window it is a little tricky. The decals are a vinyl, so when cut they leave a little 'hanging chad'. I tried all sorts of ways and have a method I like best. I cut the decal over the date window in an 'X' corner to corner. Then using a toothpick,. I wet the back of each triangular piece of the decal, one at a time. I then push that triangular part through the window and fold it over onto the back of the dial, and stretch it a bit until it sets. That takes some practice, but is makes a smooth finished look, especially on beveled windows. I use a water based acrylic 'Glow Paint' for lume. I use a kid's 99¢ paint set, those dried ones, to tint the lume. It last about as our Chinese reps do, not a Super lume at all. Pretty much, it takes practice. But once you get the hang of it there is no limit to what you can do.

I'm told the old Silix case that freddy333 and I used has been changed, but they still have the no crown guard Subs. http://www.silix-pri...sort=20a&page=3 Rafflestime has no crown guard cases. I haven't seen one in person, but they look like the ones from Hong Kong called 'Tiger'. Ken refers to 'Tiger' in some of his write ups. http://www.rafflesti...007-Bond/Detail I bought a case from this Ebay seller from Hong Kong called a 'Tiger' and the one I think is the same as Rafflestime. It does need some shaping and thinning, but I think it will make a very good 6542. http://www.ebay.com/...=item2c611ac9d0 This is still in rough stage, but the case is just about finished. The bezel needs to be beveled top and bottom. They are not engraved with any numbers at all.

Another Well done!

Everyone has to choose for themselves what is the 'best' for them. For me, I'd have to agree with akira. Spending even $2,000 for a rep is too much when I can have a gen for $4,000. Last week there was a Rolex 6542 on Ebay that sold for $4,111. The dial was wrong, hands wrong, the movement and case looked right. I thought about bidding, rebuilding it correctly and churning it. Those listed at $48,000 are a dream, but I think getting $12 to $15K would be about right. But to own and keep? Not for me. I want to wear my watches, and I want the convenient functions. The Old GMT doesn't hack and the GMT hand is not independently settable. It would be a pain as an everyday watch. A good modded rep at under $800 is more practical for me. But that's why we like to have choices. I have read online that the ETA 2892-2 and ETA 2893-2 are every bit as good as their Rolex counterpart. I read some say the ETA was better. I don't know. I own an ETA 2893-2 and love everything about it. I missed the part where you mention the ETA 2846. I now have two with that movement, one was NOS, non hacking that I put in my 6204. The other is in my 6542 now. I bought it used on Ebay for $24 shipped. Serviced it myself, modded it to GMT and added the hack lever. It runs and runs and runs, and has gained 2 seconds in over a month, wearing it everyday. I love that movement.

This is a 5 minute epoxy with a touch of lume underneath it.

I agree. But then I am cheap. The topless version in velvet is better. I saw that. I figured that the painting itself devalued the raw materials substantially. I have a drawing that's been on my refrigerator for 20 years done by my 24 year old that is better. That would be $106,999,999.75 too much.

Yep.

I hope so.

Well, I got first dibs... Lol! I don't know why it's taken this long already, so I'll push a bit a see if I can speed this up any.

I was hoping to have them already. Might be a few more weeks, but as soon as I get it I'll post it.

Clark's has ETA hands for the Rolex Tudor Sub. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hands-ETA-2824-2-White-Rolex-Tudor-Submariner-/230773244217?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35bb284139

Nanuq, are you looking for a genuine small-arrow GMT hand or aftermarket? I am working on having the small-arrow GMT hand made, it's been a few months now, but I hope to have a sample within the next few weeks.

NightColor by Revell label sounds like 'Glow Paint' in that both are acrylic, water based and thick. I bought one of those 99¢ dried paint tins for kids that are activated by water and kids make a mess with, and take a tiny piece to mix in with the Glow Paint and water. Just a very little chunk of brown gives that tan look of aged Rolex lume, and the thickness, even yjinned with water, gives the grainy look.

If you look at Nanuq's pic above, it is spider-cracked and nice patina. I can get that using the Krylon clear coat gloss using a heavy 2nd coat. Then after application, handling it a bit. Smoothing the decal with a clean fingertip dulls the gloss some. It's not like a painted dial that picks up every fingerprint, but the clear coat will wear out if you touch it too much. Also, I use, and Rolexaddict now uses too, a water based 'Glow-Paint' for the lume. I'm not in his league, but better than some of the gens I've seen on line. He uses a needle, I've tried that and an oiler, toothpick and everything else you can imagine. I've settled on a toothpick with a flattened tip for the round markers. One dip, touch and it's perfect. Thicker, as RA does takes two or three dip and touches. The markers are harder, take practice, I use a nib pen like they use for calligraphy. It's a couple of bucks at the art store. It too takes practice, but I feel I have better control with it. I've had "photographic issues" my entire life! If he could, I'd bet freddy would like to reach through the screen and shake me! Like all of it, practice, practice, practice! The end result is the pride of accomplishment.

Gary Clark is working on new hands that have the curvature as gen Rolex does. Last I heard he should be close to having them. The Tudor Sub hands do fit all the ETA 28XX movements.

To my knowledge, all the 1950s gilt dials were gloss. At some 60 years old how glossy is the question. Ingod's calls his 6542 dial 'gloss', but it looks to be semi-gloss or matte finish. That might be about right for a 60 year old dial. A clear coat would raise questions. I think acrylic would be compatible, but not certain. We don't know what they use in Vietnam. Then there is the issue of spray painting talent. On gloss, every dust spec shows, any uneven coverage shows. That's why I make mine look aged! I'm not that good at it.

The pics I've seen of Nanuq's gen looks 'gilty' in spots and white in others to me. To my knowledge, all the 1950s gilt dials were gloss. Age has diminished the gloss for certain. How much gloss now is up to us. The decal manufacturer I use recommended using Krylon crystal clear to seal the decal. It comes in gloss, matte or flat. The Krylon is cheap at Walmart, and it does not make the ink bleed. That's what I used on the bare brass to tone it down some, in matte with the decal finished in gloss. The more 'gilt' in the printing the less of the dial shows through. It will knock down the gold or brassy of the dial for the look that you want. But. And there always is a 'but'. Inkjet uses green in the mix to make the gold color, and that comes through on my equipment. As it set and dried, the green 'tint' was more pronounced. I used Photoshop to blow the pic up, find all the green I could and delete it out. It helped a lot. But I am still experimenting with that.

That depends on the model, and then possibly the year. The 6204 Submariner had gilt/gilt while the 6542 had a gilt dial with silver hands. But in later years of the gilt dial I've seen both ways, so they could be replaced or could be Rolex doing as they pleased, again. The decals I use are for inkjet, so they do not print white. If printed on white decal paper the picture is just what you'll get, regardless what background color the dial is. If you use clear, as I use most of the time, the lighter colors are opaque, so yellow like gold will pickup whatever the background is. I've experimented putting a decal on a rough sanded brass dial. It is too 'gilty', looks a bit like gold leaf. Then I tried a matte clear on the brass. That toned it down some, but not enough, particularly in bright sun. What seems to work best for me so far, is the brass dial rough sanded, then white or creme paint smeared on it. I use a piece of thin cardboard and 'squeegee' the paint across. That leaves some streaks of white and shiny brass. The decal then picks up both so the gilt looks like it is aging to white. It also picks up the contour of the paint, so there is a noticeable patina to the dial. Head on it looks glossy and smooth, and from the side it shows the spider cracking of the heavy clear coat I use, and the patina surface. I hope that gives some help. If it's been done wrong, I did it! I've experimented a lot with the decals, and really enjoy trying to figure out how to perfect them.

Of course, 'Give `em H­ell Harry!. I fart dust.

I got my first rep in 1982, a Rolex SS Day-Date with pearl white dial and diamond markers. The quartz movement gained 2 seconds every 6 months. I loved it, and still have it. But I was already old in the early `80s. Got old in `70 & `71, been old since.

They are flat top in and out, too. The '2' and '8' along with the '4' were key fonts to get right, along with the dots being in the correct position. The 'grainy' look and 3D effect really came out well.