pete2528ca

no, i am going to leave as is. i don't like that beat to crap look.

So, on the Left is my Radiomir 6154. This started out its life as a Rolex/Panerai that I traded from madcatlancelot that was originally from HK45CA. I wanted the watch but not the Rolex dial so I did a swap. I wanted to order from DSN again, but had issues in the past that have since been forgotten (see my review in his review section). I ordered a Radiomir Panerai dial from DSN and got it in about 8 business days. It was a fairly straight forward swap, but the Molinja does not have a release screw, but a pusher that is a pain in the ass. The keyless works buggered up, and I had to remove the hands and dial again, open up the works, and use the google machine to find a picture of the keyless works to rebuild it. It went back together and works now. Mind you it is a 30 year old movement, so it will have its issues. I did clean and lube it with some olive oil, so it should be fine now. Because of the quality of that watch, I ordered (on the right) a 6152-1 from davidsen as well. I can't say I built the whole thing, but I did do a lot of the work on it. Well, am I ever happy. The case is engraved, not etched. The dial is sweet. Genuine Swiss movement, and the fit and finish is fairly sound. The only issue was the crown lever. It was super rough, looked like it was filed to fit and close against the crown, but it was never polished, so it closed poorly and bound, and the profile was changed. Because of this I decided to swap out the lever with one from an RXW Marina Militare. It was much thicker, so it needed quite a bit of sanding and polishing to make it fit. It is now tight inside the opening and it actually looks a lot better. The top of the lever, where you grab it to open it, is more like the genuine. Eventually i'll get an Oki crown guard, but for now it works. The gun is my Tikka M695 7MM Rem Mag in stainless synthetic. It loves to kill moose! I am planning now to slowly accumulate the parts to build a proper vintage, this will be some time in the making, but am looking forward to it. Just as an FYI, the DSN lever is recessed inside and fitted with tiny "O" rings. The verdict. Very happy with the watches. Would I order parts from Davidsen again? You better believe it. Pietro.

here is the link to the flash video... http://www.eta.ch/swisslab/6497/6947.html

Hey all, my 187 bezel doesn't line up right. Has anyone removed theirs to make it so? Is it difficult? thanks. Pietro

Will DSN's tall plexi fit into a RXW case from Josh/Andrew? What about the case back? He said it should, but just want to make sure. Thanks. Pietro

How would one remove a crystal without specialized tools? I have a rep RXW MM20, which i want to remove the shitty crystal out of and put in a DSN tall plexi. (I am converting it into a vintage piece) Should I push it out with my fingers, or is there some other way. Thanks Pietro

ah, feels good to support. sorry it took so long guys, i am an [censored].

actually i think the crystal should be 39.5mm, 39 is a bit loose. i am trying one half a mm bigger next week.

yup, it is for real. i am going to try the crystal again though. i like how it looks, a lot actually, but it may be a hair too tall. i have a vintage dsn, and it is about a mm shorter. i need to have it ground a bit better, this one is round, but has a couple of flat spots, not really visible ,but there nevertheless. i need to talk to an opthamologist to see if they can grind me a 39mm piece of plexiglass.

So, I decided to redo this watch that I had kicking around. It originally had a sterile dial, but wanted to put a Radiomir dial in. Thanks to Pam1a for the dial, BUT, the dial was too thick. Basically i had to take a dial that was almost 1mm thick and grind it down to under 1/2 of a millimeter. In the process of sanding the dial, I was able to age it as well. It took me 6 hours to "thin" it down. Now, the crystal. I wanted a tall perspex just like the originals would have had. I cut a piece into a 39mm rough circle and then hand filed and ground the crystal into an almost perfect circle. It sticks up about 5mm. Anyway, for a daily beater it turned out ok. Gets lots of attention too. Dial on the sand paper. Wet dry 400 grit. "Sanding block" Ugh, still too thick, time to bring out the big guns. Finished dial. Monster crystal. And another couple of views.

"Do you Believe in Banging out Big Bucks for a Beautiful Box? " It only depends on what she looks like and what she is willing to do...

logo was easy. i went to a sign shop and got a piece of white 2mm vinyl. then i printed a logo off on paper, and cut it out with an exacto knife. easy peasy lemon sqeezy. oh, and thanks for the kind words.

Well, I was bored this snowy morning, so I decided to take some family pictures. So, on with the show. This first one is of the house. It is a dj's wire organizer that I turned into a watch box by removing the mesh that holds the wires in place. It was a great pickup at Winners (which is like TJMax in the States). It was quite cheap, like $25. IT is in two sections. So the daily wearers are on the top shelf, and the "safe queens" are on the bottom. Top shelf combined picture. The far right holds my extra straps and screwdrivers, oh and wedding ring, can't forget that. Most people know what straps look like, so I didn't bother snapping those. As for the wedding ring, for those that have one, know that it burns like the devil when it is on, and leaves a scar under it on the skin. Bottom shelf split pictures as I don't have a wide angle on the camera, or maybe I do and I just don't know how to use it. and now on to the close up pictures. 1. PAM000. This was originally a DSN purchase that I reworked. The lugs were stripped, (typical) that I rethreaded with this wicked product that is used in the aviation industry. Basically you put this gel on the screw as a release agent and then this green goop inside the hole. Screw it in, and let it harden then it works like new. Anyway, Swiss movement on this with the Panerai engraved plates. It is on a strap culture legend 2. 2. Raidomir 210 Base. Just got this from Time4, (thanks Rob). It is the $99 entry level watch that I reworked this weekend. It came with a cheap asian movement. I swapped it out for this really nice seagull one that I had. Looks great, and has nice cotes de Geneve, and a dagger swan neck. I also put on the tall cannon pin and filed down the hands. The case itself is bloody unbelievable. Better than the ones that the twins sell, and I know this because my mate has one from the twins, and the engraving on the case isn't as crisp. The strap was yuck so I swapped it out for a DSN strap, which as for rep straps are concerned are some of the best. The crown is awesome too, the OP logo lines up perfect when screwed in. 3. 47mm cased vintage. This one is still a work in progress. It has a seagull swan neck movement, and tall cannon pin. the dial is just a sterile off the bay. I got the case in a trade (strap is enroute, thanks man). Case has a plexi front and back crystal. I have ordered some polywatch to clean it up inside and out. The crystal was glued in and needs to get scraped off by the seven marker. Polywatch should work for this. I am looking for a Marina Militare dial or something like that to swap it out. I have gold hands to complete it. Anyway, makes a nice beater for now. 4. PAM036. Got this one in a trade. It is more of a franken 036, as it isn't in a titanium case, It is in a standard stainless steel one that I brushed to look like titanium. I am looking for a ti case to swap it over to. Not a huge priority right now. Plus the movement is wrong. It has a seagull swan neck that I put into it. I am going to buy a swiss standard from otto frei shortly and do the swap over. 5. Pre-V 5218-201/A. This one is fully built by me. Case is a DSN case (one of the standard ones he sometimes sells), with a HUGE crown guard I found. I reworked it a bit to fit the case nicely. Movement is a Swiss standard I got from OFrie. Dial is DSN, hands are, well not sure where they are from, but they have a vintage lume on them. Nice vintage strap on it with a pre-v buckle. 6. Pre-V 5218-202/A. Again fully built by me. DSN case, little mad about this one as the case has the notch out at the crown and the crown guard sits a bit tall over the case, which is the lesser of two evils because my buddies DSN pvd has the low crown guard that makes it hard to wind. Swiss movement from Ofrie, DSN dial and hands. Nice vintage strap. 7. Vintage 6152-1. DSN creation. Actually of all the DSN watches I have had or currently have, this is the best. Not much to say other than it has the tall plexi and looks like a beast. Swiss movement, Decima Mas engraved case back, and all the other lug engravings. This is on a TWB vintage baseball strap. Just awesome. Well that is the collection for now. What a great couple of years amassing it. Happy holidays everyone. Pietro

So it was snowing like a bastard today, and decided that there was no bloody way I was going to work. I was waiting for a vintage 47mm case to arrive and low and behold today was the lucky day. I had picked up a sterile watch off the bay. It was in a radiomir case, and I really didn't like it. Couldn't put my finger on it, but something was missing, (yah, yah, it was missing the logo). Anyway I picked up this 47mm vintage case from someone off another forum. Case was in ok shape, the crystal was plexiglass, and was epoxied in. Some of the epoxy did run onto the crystal, and I noticed it after it was put together. No biggie as I am just using this "in the mean time" while I am waiting for another dial to arrive. The strap is a cheap rep strap that came with the ebay watch. It stunk something fierce. Like the oils or something that they used to tan the leather. Anyway, I washed it with soap and water three times, nothing, still stunk. I then cleaned it with acetone (a gunstock maker once told me to soak my shotgun stock in acetone over night to draw out any oils that may have crept in from the inside before re-finishing it.) The acetone draws out the oil. Then I generously rubbed in some fruits and passion olive oil, cypres and lime hand cream, and some wax dressing. Now it smells beautiful and is butter soft. Anyway, here are some pictures of it. It isn't half bad. Will make a good beater watch for sure, something for the gym maybe. The back shot came out a bit blurry, but you get the idea. All in all I am quite pleased with it. I have a plain Marina Militare dial coming, but maybe a DSN vintage will look good. A little bit of something to clean off the dried glue is in order too, or maybe a whole new tall plexi. Cheers Pietro

why do those douche bags have to post pictures of their watches like next to their over priced cars...