lanikai

Great to see you TMG.. ya must of been busier than a one legged man in an ass kickin contest

Sporting my finished GMTIIC ar'd mag for Saturday

AC/Lani

RWG has been around longer than the forum name at present.. RWG has had a couple of name changes through the years.. with member #1... Admin.. who started a web site so people could be advised on scam sites.. it has grown and flourished into one if not the most knowledgeable watch forum gen. or rep.

With tutorials on watch movements by our own Ziggy .. now the "Zigmeister"

Reviews , pictorials.. knowledge and much more.

We've started a newsletter for those who don't have the time to log in , so we can keep them abreast of the most recent releases, reviews.. upcoming events etc.

Our dealers section is >Here.. watches, accessories, cloths, tools.. all are trusted dealers that have been around for a long time, and some new apprentice

dealers that have proven that they are conscientious about providing the best customer service.

Many members cross the bridge from forum to forum..

enjoy your visit.. RWG is here for anyone with a desire to share in the passion of watches..

AC/Lani

Josh has the eta 28.8k

Here

getting the pin into the second link can be tricky.. and often times frustrating .. the links have to be totally aligned for the pin to get into the second link.. I may have some spare links.. not sure but it's promising.. I can take a look Monday if worse comes to worse and you need another link..

that pin tool is very useful if not only for the UPO, the pin comes out like cutting soft butter..

The reason that the pin cannot be too long ... IMO .. is the tension with that long a pin would put too much pressure at it's weakest point.. all you need is small craft pliers.. and pull straight out.

dang this thread is 3 years old..

Ciguatera

Ajima I like the Ultimate pearl.. it's an easy swap.. dunno about the V5 pearl

Waters

enjoy the view gents.. hope your leaky roof is mended soon

BINGO!

Cheers, Lani. We finally solved this one!!

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been along journey for this one!!!!!!

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I took out the crystal and got the rest of the AR from the edges of the underside of the mag..

it didn't cause any issues as the AR directly under the Mag is AR's too and what is left on the flip side of the mag is just a plus.. I removed it past the outline of the mag.

it's most obvious when the light turns the crystal white but date is easily viewed .. I may not be able to see the time with all the glare of the crystal.. but I'll know what date it is..

It FUC**** works !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

note the discolorationwith some of the AR I left on the back of the crystal over the edge cannot be seen with the naked eye :thumbsupsmileyanim:

if you could imagine the natural high I'm feelin now :Jumpy:

LOL. What would we do with out Lani!?!? Sounds like you're having fun. Dying to see the end result!

Fun?

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. you call if fun to gouge off your AR?

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Tis a bitter sweet moment Chief.. kinda like saying no to a hot babe cause ya gotta go to work.. and CANNOT call in sick..

how's that for an analogy

Redding

I've charged the dremel twice in the last 2 hours.. I'm on the home stretch.. about 75% done with the back.. I'm leaving the underside of the mag as the only place with AR left.. I believe the underside of the mag on the top of the crystal where the mag is glued will retain the AR also..

believe it!!!.... Chiefs AR is like sanding off paint.. and I'm using green rouge and a felt wheel.. even acetone would not take it off on the top.. when I was cleaning the glue on the top side with it.

it just pains me to be removing chiefs AR

but I'm starting to see the difference in the un-AR'd part of the crystal compared to the AR mag underside..

edit add... I've decided no matter how this turns out I'm going to send another one into chief and then reattach the mag and leave it as that.. maybe the AR gods will be appeased

Good stuff Lani. I'll be watching this closely and can't wait to see the final results

I'd imagine the Chief AR makes a nice difference on the dial - even though it get's removed

you know it D.. wish Rolex would just AR the hole beast.. it is hard to remove it, knowing it looks better than the gen.

the best part that came out of this .. is you can just order the Clarks crystal and use it same gasket as the rep too.just take off the mag and send Chief the crystal.

I originally planned to send the crystal to Zig to attach the mag.. but decided to step up to the plate.. even if I screwed up Royally.. it's the only way to learn. and it would of cost me another trip to chief.. the cost of knowledge would of been 50 usd and the wait... and if I had done that I would not have learned that the Clarks crystal is identical to our rep xtal.. so there was a good reason the universe pushed me to do it..

@Deniz.. your evolution like everyone else's will come with time.. if it's meant to be... all things will happen in time, and with this community .. that is not a problem..

great job man

do you have any watch that dont has this....something special in it

a ar job on the mag crystal you are crazy

hey bro set the gmt in german time

the genuine has the ar under just the mag.. that is what sets it apart.. but most people even watch smiths don't know that or don't notice.. but we do..

This hobby would really be boring if all I did was buy reps and strap it on.. you'll evolve in the same way in time D.. at first just wearing reps is cool... but after awhile it would be just like buying a gen if that is all you did..

small projects like this make it more rewarding..some vet members live for projects of a bigger magnitude.. rather than buying a genuine.. this is what it's all about lil Bro..

I confirm that the mag is a 295c and Clarks would work perfect.. so get ready all you GMTIIC owners for chiefs next run...

At the time of the failed Mag project Clarks did not have the 295C.. fyi..

Elevator

Another prob with plating kits, is that you must prep well first. to do that you must know exactly what metal you are plating. And that in itself is problematic. Get it somewhat wrong, you get zero result...partly right , will give a patchy result....what I am saying is you must get everything right to get anything like an acceptable result.

I have a Caswell kit, and only ever use it for "touch up" plating. (with varying results)

You will spend a couple of hundred getting the kit and solutions, and you can get 2 or 3 watches professionally plated for that amount. I send most of my jobs out!

O/S

exactly OS.. without the proper chemicals to prep the metal, and nickel needs to be the coating of choice for the gold to come out nicely.... unless it is a side biz its simply not worth it..

I got my AR crystal back from chief for my GMTIIC AR mag project..

You will all be happy to note that the Clarks 295c sub crystal is the exact crystal dimensions and lip as the GMTIIc xtal.. that would ave you the trouble of having your watch missing a crystal..

so we start with the finished AR crystal, a clarks crystal.. UV glue.. acetone, cotton swap, Joe blow, and tweezers

notice I taped the clarks crystal to get a line for gluing the mag to the ar'd crystat

but I scratched this method the existing crystal gave off too many false lines with

the light bouncing through it.

but clean the surface with alcohol do not use acetone yet.

check the surface with a loupe.. just to make sure it is free from any debri

Blow job just in case something settled in the last few seconds

I did not use the needle as the glue would not come out.. and too much pressure..

I was concerned the pressure would pop the top off.. what a mess that would be.

so I poured some glue out and used the needle to spread it on the back of the mag.

**** I could not do any more pics of the steps.. I only had a 2 minute window to set the mag and taking pics would of been a mind f**k...

I then put the crystal on top of the case with the movement and dial in the case

don't worry about the mess outside of the mag and lines of the mag, we'll clean that up later.. and lined the mag up with the date window..you have about a minute and a half, seeing it takes time to put the glue on and place the mag on the crystal.

the UV glue does "set" in a couple of minutes.. and will not budge, 2 more minutes in the sun, remember to give the mag a good healthy press to release any air bubbles from under the mag.. again don't worry about the glue overflowing from under the mag..

presto.

I carried the whole case and crystal out in the sunlight for 2 minutes.. the mag will move slightly if you give it any angle to do so... warning the glue will set even without UV.. the lamp is not necessary just a little UV (even through clouds) is sufficient.

So it's best to leave it as horizontal as possible

you cannot tell by the pic above because everything is AR'd.. and uniformed.. I have to charge my dremel.. it died whist I was removing the AR..

And btw.. chiefs AR is a bear to remove.. you will need a dremel

used acetone to remove some of the glue and the point of the tweezers to etch away the glue that poured out from under the mag, after cleaning most off with acetone, it is rather soft after you rub acetone over it.. but if you go to far off base with the mag, simply remove it .. you can use the stove and a pair of tweeter to hold the crystal.. and put the crystal almost directly on the electric coils or if you have gas.. you can figure that one out..after a bit the mag will slide off the crystal, test it with a tooth pick and when it is ready it can slide off easily.

I'll have pics of the finished piece later..

AC/Lani

Jar

I really have nothing else to say, im speechless

That's a first

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"ONE in a Row"

I would not have the nerve to attempt myself.

But other than the risk of patchyness, what about the engravings/etchings? Do they survive another plating?

the engravings and etchings wont "fill up" if that is the concern.. it takes 1000 microns to make up a Millimeter .. and 5 microns is doable with the reps.. that is not as thick as the 15 microns from BK.. but it is substantial, the parts that will wear first are the parts with sharp edges.. ie. crown .. realistically the crown should be thicker plated as the edges will not take as much plating at one time as the flatter surfaces do, hence it wears down much faster in proportion to the case and with the handling of the edges more so..but I have not had a problem with the high end plated reps.

the plating machines depends on anodes and ion charged chemicals to "rub" on the metal the base metal should be nickel plated first, SS will take gold plating but wagin you would need the proper prepping chemicals for the gold to bond with it.. otherwise it will not adhere to the metal.

So a "positive" charge is run thru the anodes and some use medical cotton, wrapped around the anode and then dipped in the liquid chemical that contains the gold in a liquid form.

There is a way to get the 14k plating to have the appearance of 18k.. that is done by using a higher voltage charge and "burning" the plating a little so it darkens.. it looks much better with the 18k darkness than the lighter 14k.

When you take it into a jeweler, they have what looks like an ultra sonic cleaner, a thin gold leaf is hooked on a electrically charged wire (positive charge) and put into a chemical solution, the pieces that are to be plated are put in a little metal basket or hung by wire hook in the solution, the little machine is then turned on and a positive charged Current is run through the solution.. the pieces that are plating attracts the positive ion particles to bond.. a lot of jewelers will "treat" their 14 jewelry with 18k gold for a darker "look" since some 14k gold chains are very light in colour, like the Italian gold chains, since the alloys they use causes a more brilliant sheen but lightens the gold.. this is legal and nothing bordering on not enough gold in the material.

You find more pure gold in Asian countries .. truly pure gold and not the nuggets taken from streams..has the appearance of more a copper tone... and is very, very soft.. Vietnam has very dark coloured gold.. the jewelry holds less alloys and more pure gold.

SSurfer had his Pam Wempe re-plated with "Rose gold", it looks outstanding.. and will no doubt outlive the servicing of the movement a few times over.

The only problem with plating kits is that it's difficult to get an even colour and "flow" it you are using a cheapo kit and the good ones are pricey.. the liquid gold is usually 14k and not cheap.

I used to gold plate car emblems and the portable plater with anodes and chemicals cost me north of 3k, then the liquid gold cost 600 usd. for a tiny bottle.. but this was a high end quality machine.. and if you have a "bals spot on the area to be plated, it usually looks like a "patch" of gold after you re-plate it.... and unless you have the right chemicals to use to "bond" the gold it's a very unforgiving outcome..

just an fyi for those looking for plating machines on the net..

.... when you plan your day by what watch"s" your going to wear and end up taking a travel case with 6 watches along with you.. just in case...

Universal Studio's