JoeyB

freddy, so what was dating Paul Newman's daughter like? 

4 hours ago, tomhorn said:

I have used two of the "Swiss Military" 2846's. Had them both serviced and have had no issues. There was an eBay seller in the Philippines that always had several of them listed. Think I paid less than $50 each including shipping to the US.

Same here. I bought 4 of them from him, and all were genuine ETA, and all needed just a cleaning service. 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41787046

So if the genuine is worth $18 million, wouldn't the reps be worth at minimum 1% of that? 

12 hours ago, Bart Cordell said:

 

 

There was an article Stefano Mazzariol blog which explained that rolex used more or less this method for gilt dials.

 

 

I agree. I came upon that article back in the pioneering days of dial decals. Mazzariol's blog is by invite only now, and I'm not invited. But I wrote about it back then, 20th reply. Come a long way since back then. 

       Yes. 

It would need to be very thin, as the decal shows all. Well done! Thank you. 

How did you do the red? 

I have these 6mm Brevet crowns on both my 6542's, and my 6204. The 6542 with the DG movement is my daily wearer for about 5 years now, and, so far, no failure in crown or tube  at all. 

I secured the crown and slowly turned the stone using  the 'cup' part of the stone to take the edge down. All by hand. 

Inside I used fine emery cloth doubled-faced taped to a popsicle stick. All very high tech. I needed to use an old stem to secure it in the Dremel.

On the outside, be careful. It is very easy to take the bottom of the '+' off'. High tech first hand experience. Eventually I used a Dremel stone that comes with a hollowed out on the top and hand turned that. It worked better for me.  You can see the edge this stone made better in the 6542 pic.

22 hours ago, JSebWC said:

First off. 6542. Sourced a Brevet 6mm crown from raffles but the profile isn't right. It's too squared. Anyone else have a suggestion on a rep crown with the proper profile ?

When I worked with Rafflestime to make the 6mm Brevet crown some communication was lost in translation. So I modified the crown and it works out well. 

https://rwg.cc/topic/140709-6mm-brevet-crown/#comment-1046260

That's why I couldn't use the HR case. I paid over $100 for it, and should try to sell it I suppose. 

1 hour ago, rolojack said:

The bezel was carved too to reach a closer profile to genuine. A swiss T39 was shaved and repolished to recreate the same side profile as the stock HR sapphire and so be pressed fit WITHOUT GLUE in place.

 

I bought a HR case a while ago because the side profile shape is very good, closer to gen than any others I've seen, though it does need to be thinned. I like the case-back much better as well. 

In regards to the bezel/crystal mounting, mine is not the gen design using the pressed on retainer to secure the crystal, and the bezel clipping on the retainer with the spring, instead it is the cement-in crystal 'trough'.   Have they changed them, or did I misunderstand your post?  

The 6542 used 1036 (1954-1959), 1065 (1957-1959) and 1066 (1957-1959). The 1500 series was first useed in the GMT with the 1675 model, 1565 (1959-1964), 1575 (1965-1980), 1565 (1959-1964), 1575 (1965-1980). 

When I made my overlay to print I looked long and hard at many of them. The ETA and DG movements rotate opposite of the genuine Rolex 6542 and later movements. 

https://www.hqmilton.com/timepieces/morx9gol/1956-rolex-gmt-6542-with-tropical-serpico-y-laino-dial-8700

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/bring-a-loupe-december-9-2016

The '6' in the number '26' should be open as are the other '6' around the wheel. 

Well done!

I am located in the suburbs of Chicago, USA. Went to 'Michael's' craft store, the 'Sharpie Metallic Fine Point Permanent Marker Silver' is $2.49. On line coupon is 20% off. So that's $2.00 plus sales tax. That's a nice fix. 

Most all the watch material supply houses have hands to fit ETA. Try Otto Frei.

No offense, but if .5mm and a set of hands is enough to stop you, don't bother trying to build a 6542. 

 I can only speak on GMT and Sub dials that had a chapter ring, I have no knowledge of others. The chapter ring diameter itself is 26mm. That's why the long minute hand on the early 1950s models had a 13mm minute hand, and they all had a 13mm GMT hand. 

First, what is the diameter of the dial that came with your 1655? Does it fit the case with no 'wiggle-room' at all? You might have some flexibility as 1mm isn't much room. 

I have reduced the diameter on dials, and made dials round from flat stock, by using a bamboo shish-ka-bob skewer as an 'axle' in the center hole, and lightly touching it, making the dial spin on the axle, to a bench grinder.

caution: Using metal as an axle will ruin the dial by enlarging the center hole while spinning!  

A toothpick isn't strong enough and will break. The bamboo is strong enough. Afterward you can use that bamboo stick to apply lume. 

Holding the axle and using my thumbs on each side to steady the dial, I touch the dial edge to the bench grinder slightly. The dial will spin on the axle, and grind a tad, then stop and fit to the case.  It usually takes a few times as you don't want to take too much or overheat the paint on the dial. If you have a spare dial you can practice. 

Yep, I tried red paint under the decal, but it left a 'lump'. The decals dry quite tight and take the impression of whatever they are applied to. Grinding a 'trough' of sorts in the specific area might work. Paint fill, then level, then apply the decal. 

7 hours ago, manodeoro said:

True !!!
I tried for weeks to print at 6000 dpi and/or higher def without being able to avoid puddles ... then I tried 4500/5000 dpi and everything was OK
I should have asked you some advice sooner.
BTW ... the idea of building and albino is slowly settling in my mind, so I will probably ask you some tips and tricks if you dont mind

Envoyé de mon XT1068 en utilisant Tapatalk
 

I've done two white dials several years ago. My picture needs updating. It's not sharp enough. Essentially what I did was print just the lettering on clear decal, and painted the dial itself white. Other than that, it's the same technique. 

Most photo printers will do fine. Ant printing more than 5000dpi makes puddles of ink on the decal paper. 

Rafflestime has the small GMT hand and the 6mm Brevet + crown. The crown needs some modding. There is a thread on that in the archives.