dbutlerman

Thanks! I think I've found some gen. Hands too. Sweet!

...I just notice all that florescent green, it's coming from a plant on the desk...funny...

This is the NIkor 18-200 VRII. Not great for this kinda of shot - but it still works. I really want a macro lens - but I'm too cheap

I had the DSLR out and decided to make use of it...here are some updated pics. I swapped out the pitted Tritium hands for some service Luminova Replacements. These are much more functional at night, and I kept the originals to but it back if I ever want. Here are the pics:

Thanks! It's really super easy - anybody with the right tools can do this one without a lot of fear! Thanks Andy! Wish I could take credit for the idea. It really is a great idea! ...and here are some better pics:

It's really not bad!

@ ryaku I've got a few extra pins if you want 'em Easy job! @dluddy Thanks Buddy! I'm really happy with the results too!

Sorry to bring an up old post - but I did this trick and it works great. Here is a post with some pics of the process. Thanks Amplitude for your great idea! Click here for a pictorial of the process.

Some of you may have seen my WTB for a Lightly Frankened 3717. Luckily for me Chieftang responded that he was willing to part with his. I was hoping for a rep 3717 with either a Gen Dial or relumed V3 with the thick Lume pads removed. Chieftang's was more than I had hoped for. His had Gen Caseset (Crystal, Pushers, Midcase & case back), ETA 7750, Rep Hands Re-Lumed by the Zig, a Di-Moddell strap, and the rep original bracelet. He also had Gen. IWC German Day and Datewheels available for the next service interval. I tried to make contact with Concepta to see if he could find me a Gen. Bracelet and a handset, but I haven't heard back, so I decided to do a little work myself. As others have noted the Rep bracelet doesn't fit the Gen Case. The rep bracelet endlinks are 21.1mm and the Gen case lugs are right around 21.02~ mm. So, I filed down the endinks to a perfect fit and mounted the bracelet. The major tell of a Rep. bracelet are the holes in the clasp that allow for the spring bar to attach the two parts of the bracelet together. As seen below (picture stolen from rafi717): . I remember reading a post here on RWG about a bracelet mod that would get rid of the whole by replacing the spring bar with a solid stainless steel bar, and then sanding and polishing it down to make it disappear into the clasp. Which is probably exactly how IWC does it (although they probably have a better polishing rig than I do). The results turned out really good, I could probably polish it a bit more, but I am really happy with it for the moment. The original bracelet modification post is here: CLICK HERE. Here is a break down the process with some pictures: What you need to do is get one of these: Igot mine from Otto Frei, part number is MM-M124. It gets you a full set of bars from .8mm to 1.8mm. I used a 1mm bar, but from what I understand, the hole in the bracelet may vary is size. Use the bar that is the tightest fit into the hole, you'll need to hammer it into place later, and the tension between the hole and the bar is what holds everything in place, so a tight fit is good. You then remove the bracelet from the clasp from the bracelet, remove the tiny flat head screw that secures the release mechanism from the clasp, and then pull out the button. There is a small spring inside the clasp, go ahead and pull that out too so it doesn't get lost later. Release the spring bar and separate the two pieces. Next step is to disassemble the spring bar. Simply pull out the the ends and it will remove the tips, pull out the spring as well. We will use the spring bar tube to take up the space between the 1 mm bar and the part we just pulled the spring bar out of. Next, put the spring bar tube back in the clasp, put the clasp back where it came from, and hammer the steel bar through the outside of the clasp, through the spring bar tube, and clear through the other side of the bracelet. (this image is for clarity - this is done with the clasp separate from the watch - bar would be driven in from the right to the left) Drive the bar so it is flush at one side. You'll still have several mm left at the opposite side, trim off the excess with a good pair of wire cutters. Next step is sanding. I used a file to bring down the extra long side (the side you hammered from) until it was flush with the clasp. I then sanded both sides of the clasp using 200 grit sand paper, followed by 500 grit and then 1,000 grit sand paper. The land two steps take a while as it takes off very little material. The 1,000 grit takes a really long time. Here is a picture after the 1,000 grit sanding: ...and the opposite side: These pics are under 10x magnification. The next step is what makes all the difference, mask off the brushed parts of the parts of the clasp and then polish the sides of the clasp using Red Rouge and a bench polisher. After a few minutes of polishing the bar ends begin to disappear. Keep polishing until you can't see them anymore. When you're finished it will look like this: ...and under 10x magnification, depending on the light, you can just barely see the bar: ...and reattached to the bracelet: This side needs a bit more polishing - which I will take care of soon... ...and here are a couple of crappy pictures from my iPhone. I promise to take some better ones in the next couple of days with my DSLR.

Darn x 2...I hope I can still source what I need I sending subliminal messages to IWC right now "You're not Rolex. You're friendly, like Omega. You want to make money in the secondary markets. You're not Rolex. You're friendly, like Omega. You want to make money in the secondary markets...." Hopefully this will work...

Darn! I hope I haven't missed the boat on getting some parts...

Thanks, I have also contacted Texski and Hugo Alves. Just waitingto hear back...

I tried PMing him a couple of weeks back and never heard back. If he's not in the parts business anymore, does anybody know who is? Thanks!

Beautiful M! Amazing, Amazing, Amazing. Your write-up's and photos are amazing!

Just an example...Those not shooting innocents in a movie theatre.

I think you're right...I forgot that it uses a standard barrel arrangement and uses the electronics to regulate the time...

http://www.abc4.com/content/news/top_stories/story/Man-uses-concealed-weapon-to-stop-stabbing-spree/zdZzsT6hNk2Q9tJtkKq3VA.cspx Isolated event..I know..but the idea still applies...

I'm with j3T and Ephry73. I think j3T summed it up nicely with "An armed society is a polite society". I was listening to the radio this morning and one of the talking points was, would it be better to have tighter scrutiny (security checks) getting into a movie theatre, or to have easier access to CWPs (concealed weapons permits). I believe the latter is the better choice. If the "good guys" had easier access to guns, the "bad guys" would have less of a chance of wreaking havoc on the innocent. There are always going to be "nut-jobs" in this world, and making it harder for the non-"nut-jobs" to get guns isn't going to solve the issue. That being said - I strongly believe in thorough background checks, cooling off periods, and gun education prior to the acquisition of firearms.

Gen or Rep?

I think that's awesome!

Interesting. The Rotor transfer Mechanical energy into a "generator" which must then transfer the power to some storage device (capacitor or battery) to power the LCD display. Kinda cool...pointless, but cool. Not gonna buy one though...I guess in principal it's similar to the Seiko Spring Drive watches....

Ahhhh. Patience. I've heard of that before.

Nice Red! How long till you get it back?

I vote for factory fresh. If you could have bought a new one at the time, you probably would have, And you probably would have taken execellent care of it, so why not try to keep it as new looking as possible. I take really good care of my watches, my bet is in 15 years my Gen. planet ocean will look nearly as good as it does today. I see no reason to age a watch if all your parts look factory fresh.

If you're looking for Gen. style 2mm spring bars, I think this is what you're looking for: http://www.cousinsuk.com/catalog/4/0/1961/3395.aspx#select Part number is R19196