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Ubi, a watch that's been artificially aged is pretty easy to tell. Even when done very, very carefully the eye still sees things subconsciously that the conscious eye doesn't. The piece just "looks odd". You'd never be able to say what it is, but it's there. With my aging I use pretty dramatic methods to get the correct overall shape then it takes months of very mild abuse (oops I banged it into a doorframe!) followed by polishing it on t-shirts, jeans, etc. to smooth out the micro-damage. Focus on the areas you shaped manually, and let time and tons of elbow grease smooth and polish them. As that happens the bezel will get polished too, and the brass will begin to show. My Little Crown has been about 3 years of wear and t-shirt polishing to get the knurling on the bezel slightly rounded over, and some brass showing. I also handle it with grubby hands, else the areas between the knurling are too clean. I'm starting the process on the Big Crown, and it's off to a good start but a long way from where I want it to be. The brass is just starting to show around the lip on top that retains the insert. You get to go down this road with the bezel one time. Plan each step and go slow. Put away the sandpaper and go slow.

Ylfig, that sounds like a great idea! I'll get the huskies hooked up to the sled and hand deliver them. See you in ... about a month. Make sure the fire and the women are warm when I get there.

Hey Ubi, do you recognize the insert on the Little Crown? That was from you about ten years ago. I put it to good use.

Well spotted! There is a very very subtle difference between them. It took a long time to find the band on the 6536, it's a perfect steel color match. It's an early Yuki 7206. Likewise the band on the Big Gonzo perfectly matches its color, that's the MQ 7206. If I swap the bands then both watches look "wrong" it's that subtle. This way they both look "right".

Boy are you right about that. I have another one, also beat to hell, also given to me at a dear friend's funeral. It too was his working dive watch. I guess to the widow it's just his old watch, given and forgotten. To me it's something I wear and spend a day thinking about the time we had together. The case shape on the old timers is amazing. It's no wonder the factories can't get it right. Just amazing.

Thanks but it's not quite like that. The 6536 was much admired on the wrist of an old coot I used to cut firewood with. It was issued to him as a spec-ops diver and at his funeral his widow gave it to me. It was beat to hell and missing many of the original parts. It took me actually more than 15 years to get it put back together again.

eduardor, one was a beater and I restored it to exactly how it would have left the factory 55 years ago. It took me more than 15 years to put it together. The other one was built over the last year to look like an antique. Can you tell which is which? My goal is that you cannot.

The Big Gonzo and his little brother. Enjoy!

I'm glad you got it straightened out. Welcome to our forum!

You do a great job with these raffles MoaB! Thanks for doing it.

Well said, LK. And in my life every time I've seen someone stand up and face responsibility like a man, it always inspires forgiveness and respect from those offended. It may take time but it always happens.

Ubi, with Balls of Steel. I wouldn't risk a 1030 movt that way, so a 2846 lives inside my Big Gonzo.

Yes, your crown is brass with steel "wrapped" over it. That's where the crimps come from on the case-side. Please PM me details about your NOS 8mm set!

Valty, you want to be really careful doing that. It's a brass crown screwing onto steel threads and you can strip the crown pretty easily. I have a solution for you: send me your nasty NOS crown that won't screw down far enough and I'll send you my gorgeous Minh Quy crown that looks the same and screws down a full 1-1/4 turns

Truer words were never spoken. Every time I see a "Just something I distractedly threw together" post by Ubi I know I'll have chest pains.

Too bad it's not rolling over to SEVEN sevens.

Come on FrankT ... ONE MORE POST .....

Thanks for your efforts, please take a look at his section here... I tried to edit it with the new URL last night.

Mo' beddah?

Fraggle and Tony, you made a very good point... my profile here doesn't show ads or member signatures. So you're seeing something different than me when you look at MD2020's profile, or posts. Very good point, thanks for saying that. I'm going to have a look in his profile and see if I can remove the ads for his services. That's a much needed change. Red: no harm, no foul. I've been looking for the opportunity to use the word aggrandize for months.

Scotty just posted that he has had communication with MD2020 over the last month, and received his watch back. If I ban MD2020 than Scotty loses the ability to PM him. Do you see anyone here accepting and finding humor in MD2020 ripping people off? Have you read a post here that welcomes MD2020 back to find more victims? Have you seen anyone here welcoming him and endorsing his actions? If you have, point them out and I'll deal with them. Sure, I can be a nazi and ban people for pissing me off. Who's first? Anyone want to speak up? Your neck is on the line. Anyone? That's not how we operate here. We are not the Gestapo, neither are we a democracy. Everyone here is empowered to stand up and shout and complain when they see bad behavior. We also encourage everyone to mention good behavior when they see it. Heavy handed moderation results in members that are afraid to say what's on their mind. Then we're no better than the other boards that ban people for wearing the wrong shirt. That's not who we are here. It's a very fine line between allowing someone to remain here, keeping open lines of possible communication (that the scammer is likely to ignore anyway) vs. banning the lying bastard, only to have a dozen people pop up in PM asking why I did it? They're the silent ones that don't complain, and are using PM to resolve their issues, and don't say anything until after the fact. Do I listen to the 4 or 5 people that are calling for his head? Or do I try to let YOU GUYS keep the fires burning and warn each other? Is this place to aggrandize the ego of the Moderators, or to let you have a community to share in? Exactly how much Gestapo do you really want here? And how much freedom? Think hard about what you want this place to look like. We have many years of RWG culture behind us, and that's not to be squandered lightly.

Give it a try now.

Alright Ubi, how the H.E.Double-hockey-sticks did you find that crown for $15? I've been looking for over a year

I knew it ... I just knew it ... one day Il Maestro would build a Big Crown, and here it is. That's a spectacular build Ubi. Magnificent. You and cc33 have set a high mark for us to aspire toward.