jmb

I think there are some here that think I'm in a 34mm rut! I have came to appreciate the facts - 34mm watches are comfortable and don't present such a big target when in the shop working around somewhat nasty machinery... But, far be it for me to fall into a rut so here is my latest project. I had scarfed up three of these dials because of the coloring and the nice brownish patina in the center of the dial. I was really excited when they were received then I found that, at over 30mm, I had no cases they would fit into! Along came LHOOQ to the rescue with a Jumbo Tudor case that he figured he could live without - Thanks, M!! I took M's case, my gen dial, a rep band, and an NOS ETA 2846 movement and finally got caught up enough today to assemble it. I wasn't really wild about the crystal so just for grins I tried on the sapphire Tudor Prince Date Chrono crystal I had bought (and discovered was too big for a rep Daytona case) from Mr. Slimeball and to my surprise it fit like a glove!! But, this necessitated yet another bezel project. I found that the bezel was almost 1.5" diameter and the biggest 316 stock I had was 1 7/16" so I started with a 2" chunk of 303 Stainless and whittled one out this morning. I really would like to find a plexi crystal big enough but the sapphire will do for now. The only thing that looks way off is the too short Datejust hands so I will need to start searching for some longer hands, or maybe a set of longer Dauphine style hands. One last detail that was added (feeding my non-conformist side) is a "roulette" date wheel - I think they are way cool! Here is a shot comparing the 38mm "Jumbo" with the 34mm standard Prince Oysterdate:

Gen Tudor for today...

Cool! Now, that's really thinking outside the box!!

Well, K, you should know! It just looked kinda weak... I think I can officially "stick a fork" in this one now that the cyclops is back on.

I have bought several from Silix with no problem. I think the only one I have left is my Turn-O-Graph but I really like it and it was cheaper 'n dirt!

My wife loves her Tudor...

It's a blue kinda day, in a good way!! My ofrei order finally got here so I glued a cyclops on this beauty - not impressed with the mag factor, though...

On the Sub style 2mm bars I've been very happy with the ones from ofrei.

Back to 34mm but keeping with the no-date theme...

What more can I say...

Damn, M, you're gonna break me! I am very tempted to put one of these in the future project queue!!! Nice looking example, wonder what one would look like in a Daytona case with re-shaped/squared off CGs?

The later PT and Cartel watches have an "oversized" retention ring and they then use a nylon/plastic spacer between the ring and crystal to taker up the slack. My best guess is that this allows for very loose/sloppy tolerances in the parts which keeps scrappage to a minimum and maximizes their profits. Most of the time once the original ring and spacer have been removed it is next to impossible to press it all back together without mangling the plastic spacer. The two options then are to glue everything back together or machine a properly sized retention ring.

Good job, dizz!

Krpster, I turned down a piece of round-stock for a mandrel, threaded the end of it the same thread as the case-back, screwed the case onto it, then chucked the whole thing up in the lathe and trimmed the rehaut with a boring bar... Luckily everything on the case as concentric so runout was almost nil or I would have needed to chuck it in the 4-jaw. Any time Chi-Dude, you and M always come up with neat/fun projects.

It's nice to see the finished product, Chiman! I now see what we were trying to accomplish by truing up the rehaut. Great looking watch - even if it ain't a Tudor!

Going a bit "bigger" today...

Probably...

I wonder if there are any magnifiers that could be glued onto, say, a T19 type plexi to get it in the correct spot for the PT/Cartel DW location?

It's almost like they do some of this crap on purpose...

Andy, btocamelo tried to start a thread about this a week or so ago and got no response! I have made retention rings for, and installed Clark crystals to, probably 10 of the PT and Cartel watches and the dial's date window position always looked off to me but nobody ever said anything and I convinced myself that it was just "old eyes" playing tricks! I'm somewhat relieved to discover I was not imagining things. Also it appears that on some 2 digit dates the left-most date is almost cut off like the window is too narrow.

Please explain what "loupe position" is?

21,600 vs. 28,800. The low-beat is historically more correct.

I bought both "dots" and the "curved". If you are not in a really big hurry maybe somebody could add some to their next order and then mail 'em a lot cheaper than $29! I would imagine they are sending via USPS Express Mail which is pretty ridiculous...

No-Date with a non-SEL band...

Looks like some of it got caught in the GARBAGE disposal! I do like one of the dials, though...