irate03

This just arrived from Josh. it was on the bracelet but it's a little big and I haven't altered it yet. can you remove a link from the folded steel oyster bracelet ? or just adjust the pin position of the clasp? 

Recommendations please on what to do next. I have a raffles second hand and raffles GMT which looks much better. I was going to relume the hands with some slight ageing and then age the lume but only to a creamy tone, maybe not completely relume as the lume will look to thick, plus I doubt I can relume accurately enough .

I got the asian clone version just because I wanted a budget build to see if I liked it. some of my other Rolex builds have vintage ETA 2783's in them and I have a spare so maybe that's a future upgrade.

56 minutes ago, Phener9 said:

I really like the patina on that dial.

well done,great build.

Me too, I found the dial and hands on the Bay and that's how the whole project started.

2 hours ago, Sogeha said:

@irate03 I think the penny has just dropped. You used to post a lot on HF and did some rather tasty Pam dials at one time. I well remember following that Tudor build. I would love to see you posting more here mate.

That's me here's my little collection (Gen 1969 Datejust 1603) , soon to be adding a 1655

I'd like to share a quick rough and ready build. This is my 34mm Explorer.

Rolex 5500 case set.

Yuki Explorer dial and hands.

An old 'no brand' rivet bracelet I bought ages ago.

Powered by an ETA 2783

The plexi is from Cousins UK and I removed the cyclops and polished.

I'm looking for sources for a folded 20mm oyster rolex bracelet, I've seen a few builds with them but kinda find any online, is there a trusted dealer here ?

just found this so here's a big BUMP for this thread. I used a 5500 rolex case with a gen tudor dial recently and I used a low beat 2783, which lined up perfectly with the stem. I used a raffles movement ring for ETA which I had to grind out some little sections so the tabs could be screwed down low enough to grip under the case. Works a treat.

I used hands from Rik's place. The flat ones that fit a gen movement. I had to broach the holes to fit. Then i removed all the lume and relumed to match the dial

2 hours ago, Bart Cordell said:

 

 

This Tudor is stunning !

 

 

I bought a gen 1002 case to built a 5500 explorer. I have two movements I can use for this. ETA 2788 and 2846. Can you tell me what movement ring modifications are necessary ?

 

 

If the 1002 is the same inside as the 5500 you can use a standard eta movement ring . Raffles do two sizes, you need the smaller exterior diameter of the two. I used a 2783 which i think is thinner than a 2824 and 2836 so modding the ting depends on your stem alignment. I had to file two grooves in the ring so the movement tabs would screw down and fit under the lip in the case.

indeed the 6305 was on my hunt list until I realised how much more they were than a datejust. A build would be amazing as long as it could be made of gen parts including case. I have spoilt myself now with a gen 1971 DJ and my franken tudor

5 hours ago, meadowsweet_ said:

Awesome! Great eye for a dial many may have overlooked and the finished build is just perfectly understated. Wonderful work!

Btw, where did the bracelet come from? Looks nice...

I picked up the bracelet from ebay, it doesn't have a rolex clasp despite being constructed in the same way as oyster rivet bands. I have seen other old brands fitted with rivet bracelets so maybe that is the source. But  i'm damn pleased with it.

On 15/04/2016 at 4:09 PM, meadowsweet_ said:

Just some quick photos of a 2784-powered franken 5500 Air King of mine that's had the plate slotted to accept gen Air King dial (57 and 30). Like blue said, definitely do-able, but certainly requires a leap of faith in possibly messing up the movement, as there is very little room for error. The dial feet can also be just barely shortened too to ensure clearance of all other movememt parts mounted onto the plate. This AK runs like a champ, and should I ever decide to "upgrade" to a gen movmnt, the option will always be there (doubtful I'd ever want to though, no point really). Nevertheless less, the process can prove nerve-racking to say the least...

 

(Tudor-decorated 2784 slotted to accept dial feet at minute 30 and 57)

(Minute 57; microns of clearance; pardon the ugly holes too btw...)

 

(Minute 30; again, mere microns of clearance)

I am using a 2783 in my build, I wasn't aware this slotting could be done and I removed the dial feet but it has all gone together well. My question is about the tudor rotor. is it gen or an engraved ETA ?

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I've not been here for a while but I wanted to share something I put together recently.
It all started when I found this dial on the bay, cheap as chips. I took a gamble and then hunted for some hands and amazingly found the right set a few days later which I snapped up, the hands cost twice as much as the dial but the ball was now well and truly rolling.
 
Gen Tudor prince dial and hands. possibly reference 7909.
 

 

 

 
Then I managed to find a case, after searching for rep options I decided something like a 36mm jmb explorer case would not work as the dial was a tad too small. After making some enquiries I found that an ideal case would be that of an old 34mm airking 5500. So the hunt went on and I found one again on the bay. To my amazement I won the auction which meant the hunt was not on for a gen 5.3mm crown
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The movement I used was an old ETA 2783 which has the same CP and hour pinion size as the original tudor movement which I would have liked to use but I would have had to trade in a kidney for that.
 
 
The gen crown arrived, the movement ring has been modified.
 

 

 

 

 
So with the gen crown fitted I could now put it all together
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
today a gen construction rivet bracelet arrived. AND IT LOOKS AMAZING !!!
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are two 6538's on there now, one looks a bit iffy on the dial, the other looks like the engravings were machined yesterday. and the bezel is new.

read through my explanation " Clearly the only major flaw and issue in this build is the depth rating, the 6536 had 100m / 330ft text on the dial, and nobody apart for Yuki does this, and the Yuki dial is 37mm which would drop straight through the bezel."

Apart from a custom made dial the only ready made option I can find is Yuki and that is a 27mm (gen size) dial, the opening in the Tiger Concept V2 case is 27mm so the dial would drop though, you could back it with something but likely have an unsightly edge visible. So I have taken a little artistic license and built a slightly thick 6536 with 6538 depth rated dial. Given that so many vintage rolex's have the same authenticity issues as old panerai's with mix and match parts, I decided it would be something I could overlook.........for now

I did all the case and hands work, I only meant that if I wanted the case to be even thinner to the correct thickness it would need machine work. I thinned the underside of the lugs by hand. The hands were finely sanded then treated with a mixture of salt and vinegar to oxidise and give the colour, then they were lumed by me, I have a nice lume mixture that gives a puffy matt finish.

Just finished this little build. I wanted to make a 6536 small crown and a few months ago managed to source a gen vintage crown. I couldn't get an old crown tube so I bought a twin lock with the right chamfered base from cousins UK and had to drill out the centre for the spring loaded tube to fit through. Case was drilled out and re-threaded. I also shaped the chamfered edges on the lugs and also took away some metal under the lugs to create a thinner more curved case profile.

Bottom line is that the 6536 was a very thin case and nobody makes anything like it. And to re create the case accurately the lug holes would need filling and re-drilling in a slightly different place after the bottom and top of the case had been milled down. A massive job and not one I'm in a position to do.

It's a tiger concept V2 case, pain in the [censored] to source parts for because there is a lack of any replacement plexis.  I ended up using a cousins plexi which gave me a low dome. Hands are from a place called Ric's watch repair, they are flat sub hands made for 1570 movement, so I had to broach the holes to fit the asian movement I have at the moment, I'm waiting for a Swiss vintage ETA to be serviced that i'll put in for a truly nice finish. insert is from raffles, bleached so the coated layer comes off and fades. Dial is a re-lumed Helenarou from RWG member Big Dazza, cheers mate. I had to resize the dial to fit the TC case, from 29mm down to 28mm and in the process some of the matt spray coating came of, I cleaned a lot of the rest off but decided to leave some around the edge as it looked like the gloss dial was starting to age and fade and I liked the effect. Clearly the only major flaw and issue in this build is the depth rating, the 6536 had 100m / 330ft text on the dial, and nobody apart for Yuki does this, and the Yuki dial is 37mm which would drop straight through the bezel. Finally I added an "exclamation mark" under the 6 marker. I've seen these gen dials and thought it was a tiny detail i'd love to include, and a few days ago I found a gen 6536 picture with one of these dials.

I hope you like it.

I finally finished mine.

I have finally completed my 1016 build

the details.
Case - JMB
swiss 2783. (waiting for a fully serviced one, this one is a spare which is running well)
silver merc hands from raffles, aged and relumed
dial from Praz
Gen 6mm RLX crown with a modified rlx twin lock tube from cousins.
rep rivet strap modified for gen size spring bars.

Send me the OD of the case lip that holds the crystal and the ID of the crystal retainer. I may have a crystal for you. 

 

 

E

I've tried a variety of Cousins plexis, I thought the armoured dive watch plexis would work best as they have an inner lip when the metal ring is removed from them, but I found the one's that fitted the rehaut didn't allow the outer bezel to fit.

I've ordered a clark T19 and it is going to have the inner diameter custom recessed. I had one done for a silix 1016 build and as it happened it also fit the TC sub case. So i'm having another one done.

How do I tell if I have a V1 or V2, I've cracked the stock crystal and need a replacement, I am fitting a gen 6mm crown to build a 6536 variant. But need a new plexi.  It is the case where the bezel pushes over a gasket which sits around the plexi.

I need to find a replacement plexi for my tiger concept 6538 case, the stock plexi cracked. I would like to find something that has as close to gen shape for a 6536 as possible.
which is tricky in itself as there seem to be a variety used.
 
The stock plexi has an outer diameter of 30.16mm and an inner diameter of 28.55mm
the outer edge of the plexi seat/rehaut is 29.01mm and the inner diameter of the rotating bezel is 31.02mm
this is the tiger concept case with the bezel that pushes on with a white plastic gasket.
 

 

I do not normally get involved in these threads when quality is called in to question. And i have no opinion on the dial itself because i am no expert in these particular type of dials. But if i spoke to potential customers like this about the dials i make, i would no longer sell any dials !! Also i am a photographer and while taking a dial shot or wristi with a mobile phone camera or compact close up will distort the image slightly it is a uniform distortion not certain parts of the image. You don't need a hasseblad to take technically good photographs. You just need a decent size dslr sensor and the proper lens, in the case of photographing watches wolithout distortion then anything longer than an 85mm will do just fine.

it's a custom pvirus dial, I made some layout changes to his previous design to get the text more 'correctly' aligned.

thankyou for the inspiration, my JMB case arrived today, a quick mock up of my plan

Here are a couple of custom builds I have just finished.
I reshaped the cases to get a nicer smooth look and the original crowns have been removed and the case drilled tapped and swapped for Athaya's 8mm crown and tube. Dial's are hand painted and resin filled and lumed by me, the hands are Athaya's blue cali, buffed to remove the 'new shine' and then relumed, aged and the minute tip bent. Movement's are both serviced brass arnex vintage 6498's, one is hammered finish the other is brushed. After a few comments from previous versions of this dial type I decided to do one dial a slightly darker more neutral brown. The straps are made by me from ammo pouches and use Elias' brass 24mm buckles the boxes also contain a green nato strap with brass fittings. No forced ageing has been done to these, I have let them darken and age as I work on them and the patina is very natural.
 

I hope you enjoy the pictures.