ubiquitous

Feeling a little valve-ish today...

Set up your shot with a tripod and timer or remote. The key to a good lume shot is to have the camera steady. That's where the tripod comes in handy... Using a timer or remote will allow the camera to snap the pic without being disturbed:

DL- That piece is killer!

K- It's a Yuki dial. The hands were standard rep hands that I modified to a gilt-like finish.

BTW, for the dial, I believe I purchased from watchparts.international (or something to that effect)...

I believe I used this one: http://www.kingshowbox.com/goods.php?id=238

Thanks, gents. After building this for my friend, I discovered an appreciation for the brand and even more specifically for the Conquistador. For me, this was really a piece that had to be seen in hand; it captures well in pics, but to experience the curves and facets of the case, the elaborate sunburst guilloche of the gen dial... These really are beautiful watches. Indeed- The dial fit without any modifications or adjustments. I wasn't certain if it would; all I could do when I was picking up parts was eyeball the overall distances of the datewindow and the 6:00 edge of the rehaut and make a best guess. Luckily, when everything arrived and I test fit the parts, it all worked out. Thanks sir, but as fun as it is, I think doing this as a full time job would drive me crazy Thanks gang! //ubi

Basically the same case I used for this one...

Regarding theft- I think I'd probably feel more comfortable wearing some $300k Patek over a $5k Rolex, only because not everyone would recognize or understand the value of the Patek or even what the brand is. The Rolex however, is more likely to be recognized by just about anyone.

jcmiro- Are you able to compare your 16622 to his, side by side? That should confirm/validate size or difference

It's interesting what the mind perceives...

A 16622 should be 40mm, and a BK/WM9 YM should be the same. There is a mid-size YM (168622) that is 36mm, but that should be fairly easy to identify as it's quite a bit smaller than the full size, and it's also fitted with the 6mm crown... All things aside, I don't believe BK does one of those...

I have to say... For the watches I've put together using ETA movements paired with dials missing dial feet, etc. Getting date wheels to line up, aligning dials... Every one of them took far more time and effort than putting together a franken with gen dial, movement and hands. Doing an ETA swap usually requires assembling, disassembling, adjusting and re-fitting a few times over to get everything just right. Fitting a genuine 1520 or 1570 is as straight forward as it gets...

If you had a case specifically for a 1520 movement, then using an ETA 2824 would be a good retrofit for that case. There are conversion rings out there to make the installation easier, but certainly not absolutely necessary. If you were to ever want to change to a genuine 1520 at a later date, you would need a new set of hands at minimum as the ETA and 1520 have different size pinions. You could re-use the dial between the two, but if you start with a dial for a 1520, you'll need to clip the dial feet off to fit on an ETA; this means that a later installation with a 1520 will still require the dial dots since the dial feet have been removed. Or, you could get another dial for a 1520 to have dial feet...

Not only do you have the potential to get more for the parts... You are also likely to sell the parts off easier than an entire watch.

BTW, the suggestion of which movement to use for your project will largely depend on the case. If you are using a rep case that originally housed an ETA 2836, then aligoat is correct- An ETA 2846 will suit your needs; I've also found that an ETA 2783 is a great movement to use for a no date Sub. If you are using a case intended for a gen 1520, you will need the 2824.

Red- Thanks for the clip; I'll try and check it out today! Philosopher- Thanks for the suggestion on that title- I'll see if I can find that book chief/eton- I've used the black construction paper technique before, but found that in a lot of cases it blocked the light. Maybe I need to experiment a little more with that as well. capice- Is the editing method of merging RAW images similar to HDR? Sorry for the noobish question... I'm not very savvy when it comes to digital editing. Thanks all for the suggestions and advice! Seems it's going to be a lot of trial and error for me Cheers! //ubi

You'll actually need an ETA 2824. I used a 1520 from a 5500 Air King for my 5514 project: Not wanting the old 5500 case to go to waste, I retro fit a 2824 to turn it into this little guy: A 2836/2846 is thicker than a 2824; the stem position/height varies between the two by a little less than 1mm. That's enough to keep the stem from lining up center on a 2836 to 1520 case retrofit. A 2824 fits much better in a case meant for a 1520. Conversely, I believe a 2836 fits well for cases intended for a 1570 with date, hence why you can take a caliber 1570 from a 1500 Date and fit it into an MBW case. Only problem is the 2824 has too high of a beat rate; 28800bph.

Looks great, Andy!

I would suggest visiting your local Cartier AD to try on the various sizes to get an idea of which would suit your tastes the best.

You know, it really is quite an interesting piece! So much depth with the case shape and what not; the finish is quite sumptious, considering it's just stainless steel. seymur, I purchased the watch from King Cheers! //ubi

Not a lot to really show... Just a watch sitting on the granite with a window near by

Hmmmm... Maybe a bit better...

Thanks, red! It took some time finding the parts... The dial needed some work, and I wasn't exactly sure if it would fit the case. Several aspects of this project were a leap of faith, and I was never certain if I'd end up with a working piece, or a pile of parts that just didn't mesh. Luckily, everything worked out in the end. The dial relume turned out well, but I think some of the edge/borders of a few of the numerals got scraped off on accident when the old lume was removed. It's kind of hard to avoid stuff like that as the shape and size of those indicies can't be easy to work with. The next hurdle will be fitting the crown/tube; I have a feeling that some custom work will be needed there, but to what extent remains to be seen. All in all, something fun and different. When I started this project, I felt certain that this would not be a watch for me. By the time I had most of the stuff worked out, I started to appreciate it's charm and good looks