jmb

Yeah, I was a bit surprised to not see a few tire-tracks on that one. I commend you for your restraint!

Always a pleasure to see your "lightly" vintagized watches!

You will need a .108" or .110" drill bit to drill out the hole before tapping.

You may be right, I couldn't remember. A lot of the older cases used a smaller than "proper" hole and they had to be drilled...

That is always a possibility when doing any kind of mods to this stuff. You have to weigh the pros and cons and decide what you can live with. When you do decide to remove the old tube you can use a small torch or big soldering iron to heat up the area around the tube before removing it. The heat will help release any adhesive that might have been used when installing the tube.

Although RWI undoubtedly has more activity most of it is trivial and I've always felt that RWG members existed on a higher "technical plane" than those on other fora. I think the level of knowledge and expertise here is far above the norm.

I don't remember, been a long time since I did anything to an MBW. A lot of the reps used to use a smaller hole, maybe M2.5, if so it would need to be drilled. If it is the right size then the hole would need to have a slight countersink drilled and the threads cleaned with a tap.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow watchaholics!

Yeah, they wear nicely!

Very nice, good job. A Prince Date is probably the best build for a "greenhorn" to tackle as there are rarely any surprises and you learn how things are supposed to fit together.

Maybe next batch I make I'll try to remember to shoot a video. I usually think about that stuff after I'm already done...

I remember the $hit-storm somebody tried stirring up on RWI and Stone was very gracious and transparent - I would've taught everybody a few new words. I've collaborated with Stone on numerous projects over the past several years and I always enjoy seeing his creations. His honesty and attention to detail is beyond reproach. If folks want a V1 case (let the record show I was not the one who came up with these rev numbers!) I did save back 5 of the 2824 cases for this type of thing but I'll warn you that StoneP has put dibs on two of them...

I agree 100%! These cases are a great base for building all kinds of stuff.

Well, maybe one watch...

I don't know, if I had a spare Mil laying around it would go toward really cool cars and motorcycles, not a watch!

A bit over the top but kinda cool! https://newatlas.com/vacheron-constantin-les-cabinotiers-celestia-astronomical-grand-complication/52132

Lookin good!

I bought my wife a gen Tudor Princess and she can't wear it! I can have it running on the bench for days and it keeps perfect time, and I've even put in a different movement with no luck. Her Bulova quartz runs flawlessly...

The rubberized block is more "forgiving" as to technique...

Considerably cheaper, thanks!

Bergeon makes a rubberized abrasive block (in three grits) for doing this. I use the "medium" block and get pretty decent results.

That is often "normal" from my experience. But, on your case it's magnified by the heavy edge bevel.

Looks like somebody created a "fantasy" by putting DSSD dial in a Sub case.

Super job!

This batch is the same as the later batches with the larger dial opening. The spacer is 29.17mm so everybody can use that as a guide but I have to put out the disclaimer that I have not tried a gen movement in the case...