sneed12

Yup. Apparently, early versions of the case would accept a gen dial and later versions would not (diameter is slightly too small). You could, if you're brave, probably make a gen dial fit the case, by reducing the OD slightly by sanding. I personally wouldn't unless you have the kind of money that ruining a gen dial doesn't bother you. Once you do that you'll also have to pick up a set of black hands for an ETA 2836 w/ GMT mod, which shouldn't be impossible but might be annoying. The hole size of the GMT hand isn't quite standardized. Usually it's NOT the same as the hands for a 2893-2, for example.

Good point. It never bothered me but it might bother some. I have tiny wrists, I know all the tricks to making bracelets and straps and clasps fit.

Looks to me like there are 4 fixed links on each side. The "extra" links you see are part of the diver's extension I think...

The hands you purchase must match the movement in your watch. Different movements use different size holes in the hands, although some are compatible and some you can make fit with a big enough hammer. Rolex hands will not in general fit ETA movements.

Cut one off. Not for the faint of heart but the only thing you can do. 10 seconds with bolt cutters or 60 seconds with a Dremel. Easy as pie.

Any chance you could put up some pics?

That's exactly what I do, my friend. You underestimate my clumsiness and ability to stab myself with things.

Changing bezels that are pressed in goes well about 50% of the time; the other half I nearly cut off a finger (I use the razor blade method, don't have a bezel remover). I think I'd be more comfortable uncasing and swapping movements.

Buying myself a present, just landed a new job. I want one just like this but with fluted bezel. Do they not exist? If not I'll buy two and swap the guts...

Depends on the case. You should be able to find a crystal that fits, and cyclops position isn't an issue for you. If you're lucky, an aftermarket crystal built to gen specifications will fit. For the third time, feel like sharing where you found this watch and what you paid for it? Or is it a secret?

Agreed, btw. I want one, and I know Jackjo would love to find a couple more to work his magic on.

You can't change the etching but it's simple to pop out the crystal and put in a new one. Sourcing the crystal is the trick.

Where in Switzerland are you? I used to live in Geneva.

If it were me, I'd uncase the movement, press the crystal out, THEN remove the bezel insert. That way you can get an Xacto knife blade under it without trying to twist or torque it up (no risk of breaking it). Then, while I was in there, I'd epoxy the HE valve. Then reassemble everything. Less than an hour of work (less than 10 minutes, with the right tools and if you skip the epoxy) and that way you know everything is done right. I used a c-clamp with wooden shims before I got a crystal press, as long as you're careful that works fine.

I've got a 2840 slow beat ETA in the parts box somewhere, I was saving it for a build like this...

Very nice looking case. Where did you get it?

It's worth more right now. This is the second time that's happened in the last 4 years. I lived in Switzerland for much of the last four years, but was still getting paid in US dollars, so I tracked the exchange rate quite closely. When it was .85 CHF /1 USD, that meant I got to splurge a little, when it was 1.05 CHF / 1 USD (like now) that meant I had to skip meals...

How long did you own it before it started having problems? What exactly do you expect Josh to do? You've been wearing the watch for some time, how is he to know you didn't break it somehow? Yet it's his fault that he won't take it back and exchange it for another watch?

"Hour turn" then would be 1/12th of a turn or 30 degrees. Sounds good to me. I've done spark plugs as "tight plus a quarter turn" for years.

Yes, it's possible to rotate the dial back. How hard it is depends on how far it must be rotated. Usually if it's less than a mm or so you can just loosen the case clamps and rotate it without even removing the stem. This puts sideways pressure on the stem, so you must be careful, but it's usually possible. Since a Milgauss doesn't have a date, worst case you can clip the feet and rotate it however far you want. You could put it in sideways if you felt like it.

I think ETA makes a version with just the day text as well... this photo from Ofrei seems to imply so anyway

The standard ETA day/date wheels for the 2834 come like that. Tuesday is the second day of the week, hence the 2. EDITED TO ADD: The convention that Monday is the first day of the week is used in most of the rest of the world, btw. A lot of Seikos come with day wheels that display the roman numerals I through VII instead of the MON through SUN.

PS, pics of the rehaut before and after I removed the engraving Before After Super easy to do.

Yeah, I saw that Jackjo had to stop offering his modded SSDs because he couldn't get base watches anymore.

I know they're out of production. I have a couple of those Explorers, but I was polishing the rehaut of my BK explorer II last night and it occurred to me that if I made a mistake I had no source of parts. Just thought I'd try to grab a couple more if anyone knew where some are.