UmpaHimself

8 hours ago, freddy333 said:

No, just an old 335.

Nice! I have one too, also in cherry but newer. My favorite guitar after the strat

13 hours ago, tomhorn said:

This is why the first order of business when deciding to build a franken is doing the research and coming up with the plan. It's critical to do this before buying the first part. Otherwise you can end up with a few parts, and no way to finish the project, or an end cost that's way more than you wanted to spend. Far better to figure out ahead of time what items are going to be the toughest to find, so you can start with them first.

My god, that is the story of my life right now. If only I would have known more before going in. But it has been a fantastic learning experience for both rep and gen buying. I think I have duplicate parts for everything at the moment. Dials, cases, hands, crystals, inserts (rep and gen). 

To OP, really depends on how perfect you want it. I think overall the MBW case is much better then the Cartel for your average sub but the 5514 isn't your average sub. In this case it may be best to go with Phong. As said you have Yuki and don't forget Minh Quy. His cases are a bit cheaper then Phong. Not sure the quality though.

3 hours ago, freddy333 said:

Is that a 335 I spy? Or a 333 based on your username

You can find Adrian on the Homageforum and on eBay but his prices are about $20 more on eBay.

http://www.homageforum.com/viewforum.php?f=66

20 hours ago, martijnp said:

Looks like it was a good GTG Stephane! 
 

Haha, you are joining then?  

I wish, too short of notice for work. Usually got to book two months in advance.

Hmmm, I've been looking for an excuse to visit NY...

I honestly only checked this thread because of you avatar

congrats on her first of many!

2 hours ago, naturopath said:

I have a newly built DJ build from Matt with a Swiss movement on the way, and need to have the movement decorated properly.

Decorated properly how? First of all, Rolex movements aren't really decorated to begin with. They are finished but not decorated. Notice, they never have open casebacks. They produce, high quality, robust, machine made movements with the intention of longevity over beauty.

Second, you're watch will have a Swiss ETA movement, not a Swiss Rolex movement so they will look nothing alike. No amount of decoration could do that. You may be able to find a replacement rotor that looks somewhat similar to a Rolex but that's about it.

Like this:

However, it's not really necessary since like I said above, the watch has a closed caseback so it's impossible to tell unless you remove that.

Now, if you just want to have it generally decorated for the look, it would probably be expensive and add no value to the watch, but I'm sure it could be done. Who would do that, I couldn't tell you.

Congrats! Love the explorer

Man that case does look amazing! An excellent build. I have two more DW daytonas coming my way, that will make three. Might have to sell one if a decent Monte Carlo comes up.

6 hours ago, sputim said:

Just ordered the new 1665 looks pretty nice and should be good for modding

Nice watches! What dial are you using on your 5512? Is it a yuki one?

Yup, exactly.

Nice! Congrats guys

4 hours ago, pam007 said:

2.  much much cheaper than plastic sub Fat Font inserts.  So you can probably pick one up for around $60

^ This, I wouldn't let that be a deal breaker. The insert is easily replaceable. The one that is currently on the watch looks fairly aged but the pearl doesn't seemed to have patina'ed the same. Good looking watch either way.

13 hours ago, Nanuq said:

DAYUM that is sexy!  Are you sure that's a T39 and not a T19? 

 

I'm 90% sure it's the 39 but I did buy both and tried both so it's hard to say at this point  

Edit: actually I just double checked and it is the T19. I guess the T39 was too wide for the bezel retaining ring and the bezel insert. Not sure what the spec of that one is but it's kind of useless and I spent a lot more on that then the T19.

Love the explorer dial. The rest... not so much. But it is a good looking watch.

17 hours ago, Nanuq said:

Niiiiiiiice. how about some profile shots of that gorgeous dome? I'm considering the same thing.

Here you go my friend! Also with newly added gen fat font insert.

Very nice job! He did great work on the CGs. If anything you could bleach the insert for only about 5 minutes just to take some off the shine off but not enough to change the color. I am doing very similar mods to mine so excited to see the result.

11 hours ago, jackflash said:

Got lucky, a Singer reprint off eBay. No idea who manufactured it.

Nice find!

5 hours ago, jackflash said:

Well, you could just go for the phong bezel and a cheaper case, that's what I did.

Another nice looking dial. Who is that from?

The razor did the trick! Thanks so much. Now my Red sub looks like this.

1 hour ago, dbane883 said:

Use a Stanley box cutter blade and gently tap it under the crystal. It should work.

Otherwise u can gently heat the case with a soldering iron. Most likely the crystal was glued into place.

Ok I'll try it. Thanks!

Hey guys!

I'm sorry but I have been searching the various fora and not finding an answer. I'm trying to replace the T27 on my MBW with a Clark T39. I was able to remove the crystal retaining ring but the crystal would't come out just by pulling. So then I removed the movement and tried to apply pressure from inside with my thumbs but not a single budge. Tried to pry it up from the sides but couldn't get anything underneath it. What else can I try?