projectologist

If you are planning to get a watch coated or just trying to decide if a coated rep has the shade of coating you're looking for... then making that decision with only pics to go by is no guarantee that what you see when the package arrives is what you were hoping for. Here are 3 pics of the same watch I had coated last week. As you can see, depending on the light source, the same finish can go from a lighter silver gray to a deep charcoal gray and a medium shade in between. If you study pics online of the PVD coated PreV models, you will see these same differences. Pic taken with morning daylight for the light source... Pic taken under a daylight temp fluorescent ring light... Pic taken under a neutral color LED light...

Thanks! The strap is a 2nd gen Dirk I re-stitched to look like a 1st gen. Thanks! I used a local coater that does a lot of work for both the medical and firearms industries.

What would I think? I would think you were thread crapping

Thanks! The pics in my OP were taken each time just after rubbing a little gun oil into the coating, but after a couple of minutes the finish would get dull and chalky looking again. So I decided to try w0lf's suggestion using sunscreen to get the patina and subtle sheen going, and it's working nicely. It's beginning to lose the chalky fresh PVD look that was bugging me... and it's lasted all day.

Started this one late last year, beginning with the reshaping of a Noob 111j case set. Softened shoulders, strap notches removed, DSN newborn PreV crown/tube, a modded LH cg and FGD dial/hands. Case set and cg re-polished then aluminum oxide blasted before going off to the coater. The PVD finish they applied was exactly what I was hoping for (no way to get a DLC coating to look like this no matter how you sand or CapeCod it). Still undecided if I want to start aging it now or let it happen naturally. Some informal pics to show how the shades of gray vary depending what light I was standing in... I didn't blast the threads so the case back would thread on easily and seal better... threads are covered with lint in this pic

Yep agree, they are a very special cg... and it looks like we're finally getting a worthy dial to go with it!

Just keeps getting better... nice to see this build again! The cg and case set... and now the dial

I thought this thread was supposed to be about SD's PreV dial project... WTF?

Great pics, great comparos... much appreciated. Excellent job on the lighting choice too.

And the price ???

I had the great pleasure of examining this build yesterday. It belongs to longtime member Cubeistan, a true PAM addicted guy whose passion is seen in every watch he has put together. The dial, correct movement, cg, bezel and crown are all OEM... I may have left out another bit or 2. Regardless, this is a benchmark build for all frankens to aspire to. A couple of pics to wet your appetite... Trying out my new phone... love the camera...

It should fit no problem.

This one came from a DSN 6152/1 watch. NightWatch has them in both brushed and polished, budget and OEM quality versions.

Why not cover it with a closed case back. Not only do you not have to see the mvt anymore, you also get the true look of the vintage model that inspired the 372 design. The vintage 6162/1's that saw actual service were all closed back. Only a couple of protos actually had open case backs or were for mfg displays and museums. This one will eventually get engraved by it's owner (I was giving the watch a quick polish).

Pre-V vs Pre-A Besides cg difference, notice lug shape...

It's definitely an enameled finish, and the weird thing is the thick edge is glass smooth (which leads me to thick it was a case of a slightly thicker application that got baked on). Since it's from the Pre-A era, 1997, it could be from a different vendor than is being used now. The gen Slytech dial I got to play with had the same texture. Combine that with the extreme side lighting I used to emphasize the concentric circles of the sub secs dial, and you get an exaggerated view of that texture. The dial surface looks glass-smooth to the naked eye.

It's a really nice build. It was put together a couple of years ago by a member in Europe. It's been FS a couple of times here at RWG. Finally made it to the States. I picked it up from a local member. I took it apart to flatten and polish the CP. Next was a little refinishing of the cg and pin. The dial is beautiful... OEM from vanni. Details and more about the case set in another post. Some informal pics after I put it back together...

I got this PreV 203/A dial awhile ago but it came with FGD's off-white lume and was abit lumpy. But the font is the correct thickness and has the subtle/almost there serif font. So nice. So I decided to see if I could paint-fill the indices with a more obvious shade of yellowed patina. I'm happy how it turned out (although I did have to go back in with a micro riffler file and smooth out the indices a bit). You can see the original lumpy surfaces in the last pic where I had been test different shades of yellow. Eventually the case will get the correct PVD coating that is correct for this dial. Still testing colors in pic below... note the original lumpy/gritty paint fill I ended up smoothing out.

Thanks... I love tear-down posts... well done my friend!

Have this watch head but no strap for it ATM. So I decided to try notching a PAM Asso strap to fit.. only 1mm per side, so no big change in strap appearance. More comfortable than I expected.

I'm not at all impressed... I'M BLOWN AWAY ...and the pics are total eye candy overload!

Reworked a Noob 111J case set. Reworked a LH cg. DSN newborn PreV crown and tube. Early series FGD 5218-203/A dial (the font is great on these). The dial is supposed to be in a PVD'd case set, but until that happens I decided to park it in the SS case set I've been working on. And I like how it looks More pics to follow tomorrow.

Man o man those new pics really turn up the heat. Insane macros!

PM sent with a proposal