redwatch

Haha! I love it! I sent my Tudor to Ubi in one of those boxes too!! Looks amazing W.M.! Congrats on acquiring such a fine time piece!

I tried to find HKTan's info on Paneristi, but I was unable to find anything. Does anyone have his contact info?

Thanks for the suggestion A! I was thinking about an HKTan strap for this one. Do you happen to have any pics of the one on your IWC?

Well they did a stunning job and you picked out a beauty! Congrats!

Wow! The bookmatched grain on the body is beautiful! Well done!

Thanks S! Thanks TJ. I'm looking forward to seeing the end result! I know my grandmother will be very impressed when she sees it completed and that I am finally wearing it. I've had this watch in my possession since 1998 and I have never once worn it. It will be nice to finally be able to wear it on a more regular basis.

The Di-Modell straps look nice, but they have a very limited selection of 18mm ones unfortunately. I really like the Hand-Stitched ones but they are 20mm only. Also like the Bali with matching stitching but again, they only have the 18mm in Dark Brown.

Thanks DB. They are plating the hands as well. I got a replacement set so they can plate that instead (that way I don't have to worry about damaging the existing hands when I remove them)

The cost is dependent on the amount of case work required before they plate it. My watch case is costing me $150.00 for the following: Strip the existing gold plating Polish any nicks and scratches out of the case Plate the case in nickel for a harder base Plate the case in Rhodium Plate the three hands in Rhodium (they don't need the nickel base plate because they are contained in the watch and will not be subjected to scratches from possibly banging the watch) Of course, if you have to have the watch dismantled and re-assembled then there will be more costs involved. I am doing the work myself. Also, they said they couldn't do the crown because it would take too much work to strip the original gold plating and clean it up. The size of the crown is too small and the all the little teeth make it more difficult to work on. They said it would be better to source a new replacement crown (which I did). Hope that helps!

It's already in the shop being plated. It's really cool and not too expensive! I had my fiancee's ring rhodium plated and rebuilt from my grandmothers engagement ring. They did a great job. They strip it down, polish it up, nickel plate it for a harder base and then rhodium plate over the nickel. It turned out beautifully! The watch case was finished as of Friday night, but upon close inspection, it looked as though there was a plating error as a small bit around the bezel looked like it was missing some rhodium. They were very sorry for the error and took it straight back to be re-plated again at no cost. I will post some pics once I get it back.

Hi Folks, I am restoring/rebuilding my Grandfathers Bulova watch that was given to me after he passed away. It was a yellow gold plated watch, but since I really don't like gold anything I haven't worn it since it was given to me. One day I had a thought. Why not de-case the movement, pop out the crystal and have the case stripped, polished and Rhodium plated? That way it is still his watch, but it will be something that I would happily wear. It also had a horrible stretchy gold band on it. My plan, once it comes back from the plater, is to put it on a nice black leather strap. Maybe even one with a deployant buckle on it. So here's my question for the community. Can you guys/gals recommend a really nice, 18mm, black and very soft & supple leather strap for me? Something very simple & dressy. Here's a pick of the original watch before I dismantled it.

Wow! That's awesome Stilty! Where did you source the open caseback for it?

A while back Concepta sold a beautiful GMT IIc with a Corum 2893-2 movement, gen dial, etc.... You can find the sales post here I would say that answers the question as to whether or not Domi will fit a 2893-2 movement in there. Not sure what was involved on the mod, but it seems as though it is very do-able.

I miss my prototype Rocket Dial Cartier Santos. I should have never sold it! It had a perfect HK Tan strap and was a really great rep.

Good lord! That is a beauty R! Well done! I figured you couldn't have just one Daytona

Super nice of you B! Well done!

Congrats T! Can't think of a more deserving guy! Super nice gesture from Giorgio and Frederico! Wear it in good health and best of luck with your upcoming nuptials!

How about an Alain Silberstein?? Leather....big....and definitely not up BT's alley!

For me it depends on the bracelet. If it's a SS bracelet, like an oyster, I prefer it to be a little loose. There is something about the 40mm Rollies that just sit so nicely on my wrist that I can get away with wearing them a little loose. If it's a Panerai, then I like the leather straps to be a little tighter. It's too top heavy to be flopping around my wrist like a lop sided bracelet. Just my personal preference. Oddly enough, if I wear my Datejust, I prefer the gen jubiliee to be a little tighter. It molds so nicely to my wrist that it feels weird when it's too loose.

Wow R! That's one heck of a beautiful blue dial! I'm surprised By-Tor hasn't weighed in on this thread yet! Very very nice find!

Navitimer for sure....but only because I am really, really partial to the Navitimer Spatiographe

Wow! What a beauty!! Congrats on finally acquiring your grail watch!!!

The Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia Tequila can be purchased from several stores in the US. BevMo sells it as well as some high end liquor stores. I've seen it range from about $80 to $120

That doesn't surprise me at all! The color's of the case and dial are just glorious!!! I think that is my new favorite PAM!

I have a Giottos Light Box with Smith Victor lighting and daylight 5500k lights in it. I have the right gear, it's just adjusting the placement of everything that is been frustrating. Here's a couple of pics of the set-up: I've gotten some decent shots with it, but it's been hit or miss. Here's my favorite so far: