imajedi

Installed a gen AR LEC crystal last night. Can't believe what a difference it made. I had the big crown AR crystal before and the clarity difference is unbelievable. The AR cyclops is also way less purple. Love the way the dial pops now.

Very cool

Make sure you get the right canon pinion height. If you don't the hands won't get above the dial. I had this issue and there is a thread on it if you search.

She's a beut Clark!

I'm an AR fan. I've said it here before. It's the first mod I do and it's very rare that I don't do it. So when it came to a TC sub, it needed an AR cyclops (I realize AR is not correct unless it's a service Xtal) BigCrown made some custom gen spec crystals with AR on three surfaces of the cyclops, on the main glass under the cyclops and on both sides of the cyclops. The result is an incredible black hole effect. I bought the crystal long before ever owning a TC sub. As luck would have it, I ended up getting the TC sub with a BC Xtal already installed. To this end, it is the only Sub Xtal I've ever know. However being an AR snob, the bluish purple tint of the AR on the BC Xtal always bothered me. I finally pulled the trigger and bought a gen Rolex Xtal with AR off a member here. The first thing you notice is the AR on the cyclops of the gen is much less blue then on the BC Xtal. This is difficult to show in photos but you can see it here if you look closely. Gen on the right. What's way more noticeable is the top beveled edge. The BC beveled edge is substantial and has crisp edges while the gen has much less of a beveled edge and the traditions seem to be rounded rather than crisp and squared off. Here are pics through a 10x loop BC then gen. I'll post some pics of it installed. Waiting for my Rodico to come in before doing the mod.

Ssteel, Happen to have a name brand or link?

Thanks guys, I'll get some and try it out. Obviously a noob modder here. Appreciate the help.

Thanks guys. Do you just dab the dial and crystal with it?

I was wondering how you modders out there clean your dials and crystals during modding. When I put my watch back together I want both the dial and the crystal to be spotless. I use a tissue paper on the crystal and Q-tips on the dial to clean them. Then I blow each of them off with canned air and then heavily inspect under bright light and repeat as necessary. The problem with q-tips is that they are far from lint free and the cleaning can leave little hairs behind. Even if I do a great job, under a 10X loop I can still see dust. How are others doing this? I want mine to be spotless even under a 10x loop. This hobby has made me so completely crazy when it comes to the perfection of my watches. Uhhhhhh!

Women only want what every other woman has. Doesn't matter if it's a total piece of crap or not, just how they are. My gf wore the same damn watch in some kind of creme fake stone look. Awful. Thank god the strap broke.

Looks like 312

Just ask for a movement pic.

I would consider my self incredibly "metro" and I've never even heard of this. I would also never do it. How did you even find it? That said to each his own. As long as you feel better wearing it then without, wear away. Unless you start putting lipstick on, then I'd see a psychiatrist. :-)

Thanks all. My gut tells me that the omega will definitely need the H4 height because the dial markers are raised substantially. I'll try a test fit with the rep dial. Which means I have a nice Swiss 2824 I can't use. Uhhhh learning this hobby is fun but frustrating. Hopefully one day I'll be better at spotting the potential snags. Thanks all.

Thanks, I actually saw his tutorial and it is fantastic. I had the sw200 sitting there so thought I'd just swap it. Whant whant waaaa.

Panda

Follow up question. Why is the H4 height needed on Reps for hand clearance, but I'm assuming not gens, if the movements are typically sold with a shorter canon pinion height? Are gen dials thinner? The reason I asked is because I have a Swiss 2824 I was planning in using in a Fraken PO with a gen dial and hands. Assuming my Swiss 2824 is not an H4 height, will this work or will I have the same issue with the gen dial and gen hands?

Thank you everyone so much for your help. I swapped the movement because I screwed up the keyless on my A2824. Rather than pay to have it fixed I thought I'd try to just swap it. I actually had the sw200 spare from another project so it seemed like an easy solution. It seems like the parts will actually fit but thanks to the advice above, I won't try it. Searching for a already assembled movement with the H4 height.

so basically make sure you buy your movement with the right height cannon pinion. Another lesson learned....arrrgggg

Hey guys!! The one thing that is consistent for me in my horoligical learning process is that if you don't measure it ahead of time, it won't fit. Nothing ever fits. :-( I replaced the 2824 movement on my little project watch with a sw200 and everything worked perfectly except the cannon pinion height on the replacement movement is too short. The hands are scrapping the hr markers so I had to bend them slightly up (looks unprofessional). I tried making the dial spacer as thin as possible but it's still not enough clearance. I have the old cannon pinion parts from the original movement (see pic) but it doesn't seem like I can just swap them. The bronze part (hr hand) in the pic is easy, it just falls off and can be easily replaced but the silver part (minute hand) seems to not be removable in the new movement. It feels like it's attached to the bigger gear below. I'm not sure if I'd also need to somehow replace the little stem the second Hand sits on. My question is do I need to buy the movement with the correct cannon pinion height or is there some (relatively easy) way to change it? Forever learning. -Jedi

Vac modded milli. Amazing Lume.

New shoes

One more time....do not bend the dial feet. Depending on your watch, you likely have a date wheel overlay DWO. It's a printed sheet of dates that is stuck to the original date wheel to move the dates to a new position. If this slips or is misaligned to begin with, the dates will be off. Start with checking to see if you have one and if so, realign it.