donerix

Thanks, yes this one came out quite nice. I am figuring out the smoking of the dial better with each project. The indices were bright yellow before....

Just finished this one:

Just finished this one:

Gave me goose bumps watching it. Very well done. I was in NYC right after it happened and saw many very impressive gestures of humanity and solidarity. Unfortunately politics and the media have abused these and changed their direction for their own purposes. Hopefully this anniversary will remind people again about the true values in life....

Just finished this one:

Photobucket decided to cooperate again:

I personally like gold hands on a Cali dial: I have a better pic but somehow photobucket and I won't cooperate today.....

I live in Nicaragua and we have about 2-3 power outages a week, you get used to it. On the other hand I lived the first 25 years of my live in Germany and I can only remember two power outages during the whole time...

Even for a V1 this is a pretty lame attempt IMO. You are better off buying a 5513 and a better aftermarket dial and hands...

NDT has two different types: The one for the 6542: and this one which I think is for a 6538:

Thanks for the link, buffering right now

I know Matthew Bain back from my days in Miami, actually just saw him a couple of months ago, sporting a 6542 on a leather strap. He and Massimo Barracca used to own a store called "Senzatempo" that had an upstairs office with some of the finest vintage time pieces. I bought a couple of Submariners and a GMT from him then and saw my first 6154 in the wild at on of the soirees at the store. Wish I had known more about watches then, could have picked up some nice pieces in the 90's Today they both run watchcommander.com and have (co)written a few books on collector watches.

Very very nice. My favorite Pre-V so well executed. Congratulations

Work in progress: And next to the stock version from Silix:

Well - life goes on Sorry, just wanted to try out my new avatar and signature

I only had the problem because of flight delays due to the volcanic ash cloud last year. My flight from Miami to Rome was late, so I had to run to make the connection to Nice, but my checked luggage didn't make it. When it finally arrived customs had lots of time to go through it. The 205A was the only watch I didn't have in my carry-on (like the 8 other watches I brought) because it was a gift and in a wooden box. I made several mistakes: I declared it as a gift. When asked to pay import taxes I declared the watch as "not real" - not aware of the French customs policy. Until I said that the watch had been accepted as the genuine article. If I would have said that it is my personal genuine watch I would have probably gotten away with it. I have been to France again since with several watches and no problems. Carry-on only !!!

Here is a movement (needs some cleaning though): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-gents-Tudor-Royal-movement-rust-/260840092130?pt=UK_Jewellery_Watches_WatchAccessories_SpareParts_SM&hash=item3cbb47f1e2#ht_500wt_1204

Yes, first I was threatened with a fine of twice the amount of the gen (which would have been North of $100K, but after she looked it up and saw that it was a "Stallone" watch, her eyes started glowing and she gave me a 100 Euro fine and kept the watch. While there seem to be some very knowledgeable members there I agree

I found this pic of a 7923 sideview: and after comparing it with 6542 cases (gen on top, Puretine on the bottom) I think it could be a good and cheaper alternative (maybe a different caseback) and you can just sand down the rehaut and a 27.3mm dial will fit just fine: NDT has the right bezel, they send me a wrong one by mistake for my 6542: But I also saw this gen pic with a bezel that looks more like a GMT version (and very much like the PT stock bezel): Just my 2 cents. Cool project BTW

I used to make a lot more money about 10-15 years ago than today and I liked watches and owned several gens throughout the years (Breitling Navitimer, Rolex TT Sub, SS Daytona, Tudor Big Block, Panerai Submersible to name a few). I knew very little about watches then (still can't remember which model PAM I actually owned in the late 90's) and of course never even thought about taking a look inside. Today I don't handle a watch without popping up the hood and checking it out. I have shaved off crown guards and lugs, torched dials and hands in my toaster oven and even made some minor repairs to movements (let's not talk about the collateral damage on the way ). This hobby has been very rewarding in so many ways: learning about the technology, testing one's creativity and ingenuity (I still remember the fist pumping moment when I managed to re-attach my first set of hand and the watch actually started to run again) and I met some of the nicest and most interesting people all over the world sharing the love for timepieces without caring about somebody's status or account balance. As for the famous watch brands loosing out because of us: reps are just an entry drug, so many of our real junkies here end up with more gens sooner or later than many regular watch buyers and have spent a small fortune in over priced gen parts on the way ($400 Rolex endlinks and bezel inserts - that cost nothing to produce - come to mind I honestly even feel that I don't have to justify my hobby any longer. When asked about the provenance of a watch on my wrist I can usually say "I built it" which always sounds better than "I bought it at Tourneau" and even gets people interested in the details of our hobby (of course the French customs officer at Nice airport couldn't agree, but I am sure her husband is still wearing my 205A ....).

I have the Gnomon nato, but I think the leather looks way better

This lighter used to be my dad's, but they sell them on ebay I saw (just look for "trench lighter")

Yes I sanded the hands down to the brass and heated them up. Not with the lighter that is next to it though

Power outage all day here, so all I could do was fiddle around with watches. I had this 1675 project based on a 1655 case where I am still waiting on a bezel assembly from wholesaleoutlet and this way to new looking gold-ish GMT insert, a GMT movement and a left over PT 6542 dial. And Goldfinger was born -again - (I am considering changing the working title to "The Gert Froebe" to not step on anybody's feet ). For now it's just loosely stuck together, but I like the way it is going (that insert definitely needs to be bent back into shape):