Nanuq

Boy that's nice! Well done!

Bugs

Well they say "beauty is in the eye of the beer holder..." Bottom line, I think we're waaaaaaay too picky here about what a modded watch "should" look like. They come in all shapes.

Yes, it's been well loved ... some watches just wind up getting used, a *cough* lot. Crown guards? Hey, if you're modding your rep and miss, and gouge half the metal off, they look gen! Bashed your crown and caved in half the dots? Looks gen. Hit it on the rocks 10,000 times and grind your "Tophat" into a "Domehat"? Looks gen.

Easter

Okay, first up is a Charles Gigandet triple-date chrono, with the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) wings. From what I can tell this was a precursor to the Breitling Navitimer, but I've never seen another one. Next up is one of Harold's Seiko mods. Let's see, who's next? How about a Doxa SUB 300 "no T"? This is from the first year of production before they went to the flat crystals. This is the Sharkhunter with the black dial, and rare USD outline logo. Next up is another Doxa, this is the rare "Black Lung", one of ~10 made. Now is the only watch I own with a flat crystal, this is a very early, very rare Sector Diving Team 1000 from the earliest run. It's got the machined bezel and other goodies, not the boring cast parts. Chunky meets funky. Here's the one that gets the most wrist time, it's 95% gen but not quite there, wish it was. My grandfather's watch. He was the head Ranger in Yellowstone Park for decades and wore this one. Now we get down and dirty. Here's the 1680 Submariner that's seen some hard use. "Love it to death", they say. This one has been cared for a little better. It's all original from 1964, my AD buddy added this tropical gilt dial last year, I've added a small-arrow GMT hand in the last few months. Here's my birth-year watch. It saw rough duty, being issued to a Spec-Ops diver and when he passed on his widow gave it to me. Over the last 20 years I've been putting it back to original spec. This one spent its life at the bottom of the seven seas. It's been everywhere and done everything. Literally. When its owner tore his foot off his diving days were over, and it became mine. I received this one from his widow, but I'd rather have him back again. I've spent several years putting this one back to all-original spec too.

Good Lord that thing's pretty. A meters-first gilt? Ohhhhhhhh baby.

Pfffffffft, not likely! Okay I'll dig out some pics.

Hey B-T you've all seen my pics, should I put some up again?

That? Pfffffffft. Couple winters ago we got a little over 90 feet of the good stuff.

It's always winter somewhere!

Especially if he lives in the Moab region.

I had a stash of four vintage Superdome T39 crystals saved up, and it was time to replace the nasty, gouged-up Service Replacement T39 on my 1665. Off I went to the Rolex AD with parts in hand. We pulled the old crystal and decased the movement, then looked the four horsemen over with loupes. We graded them best through ugliest, and tried test fits. The prettiest one went on just right, so the seals were greased and we ran a pressure check of the empty case. It failed dramatically where the retaining ring would not seal the crystal to the rehaut at the 5:30 position. So the next prettiest crystal went on, another pressure check, and another dramatic failure at the 10:30 position. We popped off the retaining ring for inspection, and looked the case over under the loupes. All were in excellent condition, no gouges, scrapes or cracks. We tried the next-prettiest and the ugliest crystals, both of them failed too. Dramatic leaks. Bottom line: the crystals sat so long in their envelopes they lost elasticity, and would not deform to seal correctly to the case. So we mounted up the prettiest crystal, and I had to accept that the 1665 will never go swimming again. PS: it was only much later I found out he can get fresh new high dome crystals from Rolex. I have not had one installed because I don't want to fight the temptation to go swimming with the old girl. I have other watches for that.

Michelangelo

Excitement

Come on up, big guy! Plenty of arctic char in this lake. Bring a warm coat.

Amen to that. How many times this morning have you looked at your watch? Okay now pop quiz: without looking again, what time is it? See, we just enjoy the beasties, we're not so much wearing them to tell the time.

Wow! Boy that's nice.

What a mind warp! Imagine a building big enough to have a canal inside it! Gondolas? Like big kayaks? And singing dudes paddling them around? That's just too much. Here, it's all "hush man, don't make any noise so that big bear on the shore doesn't see us go by". What completely different worlds we inhabit. I'd be honored to sample a beer in your honor if I ever get to Las Vegas, though I doubt that will ever happen. But if you're ever in Alaska... hang on tight, it's going to be a 100mph whirlwind the whole time you're here! Don't count on any sleep, this is life in the last frontier and it comes in great big chunks. Thanks again for passing along that great news!

Oh, I have a T116. I want the elusive dome for my GMT. T38 is the one that fits.

Yes, the T-17 came from Philip on VRF, several years ago. I also bought a T16 from him (likewise sealed) and it turned out to be the one that fit my 6536/1 case.

Amen, brother. This is spectacularly good news! In a couple years we'll all look back on this thread and laugh, as you post yet again how your dad keeps hitting your dogs with his cane because they ate his newspaper. Thanks for letting us know. And HH, I'm sorry. Man that stuff hurts.

No, no, no.... how many times do we have to spell this for you? It's Velkommen til vårt hjem Now who brought the akkevit?

The pillaging begins at noon!