vr44

Well that is def not the josh 5513.

Hey guys - thanks for all the kind words! @ephry - I did shave the cgs . there aren't really any good photos. I will have to take some more. Some more helpful hints for anyone looking to do a build like this - to remove the dial feet from the ndtrading dial I twisted them off. ---------------- After wearing the watch for a day - I feel like I want to make it look "older" yet. -I didnot modify this dial. Instead i left the pantina from mdtrading as is. The color of the hour markers is correct, but the texture is too glossy. Perhaps i need to cook it a bit in the toaster. - I am thinking that perhaps the rep crown is still too big. It really emphasizes the small cgs. Perhaps the 703 is the way to go - plexiglas , i didn't really modify this yet. I had wiped the inside of it with a paper towel which left it with swirl marks. Glad this is vintage or I would have been [censored] - next step is to rough up the plexiglas then hit it with the cape cod - the rep band sucks. Sharp edges everywhere. Even after sanding it down I still have sharp spots. I also have issues with it opening up. I rebent and adjusted everything. - but it still suck. It just feels cheap. Not sure what I will do Photos to come in a few days

here is the tudor and rolex dial side by side. above is a close up of the new dial feet i made. see how i shaved off excess solder with a razor blade and a file above i blued on the new dial feet. I had alot of issues properly ligning up the center hole. I wound up having to take the dial off of the retainer ring... putting the retainer ring on the movement, then re-gluing the dial back on the retainer ring while on the movement so that i could lign up the center hole properly. above is the dial with the hands. the lighting is poor, the hands match the dial lume much better then how this looks above are my attempts at aging the insert. the first one on the left was a fail. THis came from a watch that i believe i got from tony. (it was a poor rep). Look at how the colorine ate away at the metal around the pearl instead of eating the paint away. . The insert on the right was the insert off of the 5513. It aged beautifully. I had initially roughed it up with some light grit sandpaper then put it in the bleach. i talk about this in one of the posts above. and here is the finished product! again - hands look poor here, but i swear they look close to the color on the dial.... (maybe it is wishful thinking - but i really do think they match ) and this was the watch that inspired the build... the end.

here are some photos. You can see here that the ndtrading dial fits right into the cartel 5513 case. ...but the legs are in a different position instead of gluing the fing to the dial and the dial to the movement - i instead soldered feet onto the ring. I used probbal 18 or 20 awg copper wire probably from a cat5 cable. I then used a razor blad to trim and cu off excess solder

My dial aging experience: I used a toaster. I found then when you heat up the dial in the toaster the majority of the color change (oxidation) come when you open the door of the toaster up and the cool air floods in. Careful if anyone tries to toast their dials, they will get darker then you go to pull them out of the oven . I purchased some "matte" liquor finish for oilpainting because I read about someone using this to add "texture". I tried a couple of different spray techniques from different angles. Everything looked like [censored]. it just gives it a plastic looking shean. I highly recommend against using a matte laquor such as i did. Nothing is gained. My hand aging experience. I put a small (tiny) amount of iodine on the back of the dial hands and put them in the toaster. These came out spectacular. I only have good things to say about this. Iodine bakes onto the metal and gives it a nice aged look. It also help the dial hands loose their uniformity - which i also like.

OK - some updates! I drilled the Lugs (with proper 1.7mm bit) using a drill press Bleached the insert (this was a challenge - I found that heating up the bleach by placing it in a class sitting on my computer power supply worked well. For the record I had it sitting in the bleach for probably 18 hours. Somewhere in between I had taken int out and lightly sanded it to break the finish coating) - It came out perfect! Sanded down the case and braclet some more to git it the vintage feel Soldered a bracket to hold the tudor dial in place after I but the feet off of it. (I will post photos as soon as I get the chance) Now I need to buy some of the 2mm Spring bars from yuki for $4 shipped. I still need to figure out how I want to age my dial. I am conflicted and feel I have not seen enough examples of what people have done. I want it to have a nice warn look - with possibly some texture. I do not want it to look abused - just old.... Any input on dial age techniques / what you personally have done, would be spectacular. Will post photos soon!

ok - I am going to cut the dial feet... but first - it is lume time... here is the plan fr the hands "For enhanced patination (vintage appearance), I usually apply iodine to the lume & then bake hands in the oven at 550 degrees until golden brown (or as required)" For the Sub, I used a q-tip to coat the entire hand with iodine before baking. This tends to age the entire hand, which is good for diving watches (looks like the watch case may have been water damaged at some point many years ago). For the GMT, I used a toothpick to apply the iodine only to the rear of the lume, avoiding the steel as much as possible. Enhanced patination is art, not science & you are pretty much making the rules up (to suit your needs) as you go. 1 other thing - when baking delicate hands, keep a careful watch as you bake. At 500+ degrees, the dividing line between perfection & ruin can be as narrow as a minute.

Quote from another tudor build: For movement, go with a 2783 or 2784 if you can find one. The 2784 is what the gen uses, and will allow you to use the dial without cutting dial feet. The datewheel also lines up perfect. The 2783 is the same except in lower beat rate. Still usable, in my opinion and you can sometimes find these cheap. I used to pick them up for $20 a piece... but at this point - I am leaning towards cutting the dial feet.... anyone have any thoughts?

no idea if these fit the cartel 5513 case... but they would fit the dial

Just found this - The dial needs a 278x movement to fit correctly. The dial feet are too big to fit a 2836/2846/2824/2892. You could always snip the dial feet off, but that solution is less than ideal, especially when it can be installed correctly with dial feet intact using the right movement.

OK - dial & watch are in! BUT.... Dial feet/posts do not fit the a21J movement. What do I do now? Do i cut the feet off of my $150 dial? or Do i find a movement that fits the dial feet? Do the 2846 or 2743 fit the standard feet??? If i do cut the feet - they are soo close to the edge of the dial - how would i glue new ones back on?

Damn - they didn't have 1000 grit I have cape cod cloth - do you think that will work? And who is nostalgia? And how are yuki's 703 crowns and tubes?

@frank - that's for the suggestion. I just got wet/dry paper. One @ 220 and one @ 600 . I plan to cape cod to polish it off. Anyone know where to buy 2mm bars for this ?

http://www.repgeek.com/showthread.php?t=139958 Greatpost on modifying a noob case Should have my watch tomorrow -first mod will b the cgs . Suggestions on sand paper?

what does it look like? I imagine a reamer... both very helpful comments. Will the a21j hands fit this movement?