ubiquitous

Ubi - I hope whatever you are dreading passes you by.

Really just Mondays in general

The Sub is looking good!

Someone's dreading Monday... And that someone is me.

Gotta go with the 5514 to help lift my spirits; that watch always makes me feel better!

Have a good week!

Pre-A 009 today...

Indeed; the big crown makes a big difference So much nicer to wind now...

Thought I'd include a pic of the internals uncased:

And (for me) the especially interesting part...

What do you intend to do to the Chrono?

For the chronograph, I'm having a new dial done and I still need to have the movement converted to gen specs. So for now, I consider it to be only 40%-ish complete...

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A few additional pics (with the case a little cleaner this time)...

Perfection!! Love it

You must do a traditional stack shot with the 201/a to show the lug and CG difference in the profile view

Some stacks...

...cos that lume is looking nice and flat and not sunken at all

A few quick pics that I took of Zig's awesome lume work under the sun.

PVD, from my experience has been pretty durable. I think DLC is a little more resilient to knocks, but I'll gladly sacrifice a little in that regard for the more organic appearance and finish of PVD as I don't regularly subject my watches to any tremendous amount of physical abuse Regardless, I have seen instances where PVD can chip, exposing the base metal underneath. But I've not seen it flake away, mostly due to the manner I suspect in which PVD is applied (the process involves the coating, starting as a solid or liquid evaporating into a gas and physically bonding via deposition to the surface of the base object). I'm no scientist, so if I've butchered that concept in explanation, please feel free to correct (that is just how I've come to understand the process).

I am looking forward to seeing how the surface ages and patinas over time; I think that may be the overall appeal for me in having a watch with this type of coating. The individual character that it takes on with patina to make it my own is something I have great anticipation for

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Giving the bracelets a break.

A tip: get some Gun Bluing Oil and wipe it down. Eliminates the smudges and fingerprints you constantly get on the PVD...

Very interesting, DL. Does the bluing oil change or alter the color of the PVD? i.e. make it darker?

Perfection! Another one of your builds that has me inspired!

And if the PVD looks that good in the pics, I can only imagine what it looks like in the metal.

Thank you, sir. Coming from you, I hold these comments in very high regard!

Love the faded look of that dial!

You know, I think that might just be one of my favorite aspects about this watch

I really enjoy the character and patina that the dial has taken on; the 18k dial base peeking through where the finish has worn away over the years really gives it a warm feel. The dial may not be in perfect mint condition, but I don't think I'd have it any other way.

This small, unassuming piece has quickly become a favorite of mine. It fits well, with a nicely proportioned case; even though it has a prestigious house's name on the face it doesn't scream for a lot of attention.

The gen dial, hands and movement certainly don't hurt either

Understated and low profile for Friday...

Thanks much for the kind words, gang

Here's the recipe list on this one...

-Jimmy Fzu case with PVD treatment from The Zigmeister

-Genuine Pre era crown (double gaskets on the flange) also PVD'd

-C3 sapphire crystal

-Gen 004/009 Pre-A dial

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Kidding! FGD dial with awesome luminous application and satin top coat by none other than The Zigmeister (who else?)

-FGD hands also given the lume treatment by Zig

-Old ‘Dirk’ strap (one of the straps with the Dirk name, made from the same leather from the same supplier but not actually sold by Dirk) with sewn in PVD Logo buckle

The watch in hand has a very dynamic color and tone to it as Zigmeister mentioned. It's very rich and deep, very smooth. I've had PVD and DLC watches before, but none with a finish as nice as this!

Gonna try and get some better pics sometime today/tomorrow... Free of smudges and fingerprints and all. After seeing my initial pics, I realized that I gotta give it a rinse and clean...

I've had this old Jimmy case that my good friend watchmeister gifted to me several years back. This case has housed numerous different movements and dials; most recently it was configured as a Pre-A 002:

I had sent the case/crown/CG up to Zigmeister for his most recent PVD run a few months back; well, today I got the case back and although I knew the finished product would be awesome, I wasn't quite prepared for how awesome the finish truly was. The pics are hurried and for that, I apologize, but I was pretty excited to get this one back together again

Wrist shot:

And with my w0lf-case 201/A:

Thanks for looking!

//ubi

I'd choose dial #2; the surface texture is more to my preference.

Great watch!

Did I mention that I'm a fan of the SM300 as well?

Thanks for the kind words gents, but I have to say that every wrist check is filled with some exceptional watches from some equally extraordinay people

In fact, one of my favorite things to do during my day is peruse the wristchecks to see all the great eye candy! Cause there's always lots of it to check out!

Nightshift edition... I like that

BTW, if memory serves correct the 2121 is in the Jumbo (e.g. 15202); the smaller 36mm 14790 has caliber 2225 (center sweep seconds)...

Just be aware of what you're getting into with regards to maintenance costs. I know that the basic movement service is around ~$1k alone; basic refinishing is around $500 - $700. For heavily worn parts, items needing replacement, etc. those figures will only go up. If the current condition of the watch is pretty beat down, that tells me that the owner really didn't think enough to take proper care of the watch and to expect more items that need attention than what a typical service would usually provide for.

You could be spending 2x - 3x more than your initial purchase price of the watch all said and done...

1600€ may be a low price, but you'll probably end up spending at least that figure having the watch overhauled/refinished by Audemars Piguet Service (hence doubling the cost of your purchase). For a Royal Oak classic, they're the only ones I would trust to do a proper case reconditioning and to have all the parts necessary to service the movement. However, if the case parts are really worn down (i.e. the bezel, bracelet etc), you could likely be spending significantly more for new replacement parts.

Before you make any decision, you may want to get an estimate done for the work to help determine if the overall price of the watch still makes sense to you. Considering that two tone 14790s run in the $5k/ €4k range, it may make more sense to spend a little more for an example that doesn't require as much work if you are hard pressed to add an RO to your collection...

Congrats to 5!

Congrats to 5!