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16 hours ago, mymanmatt said:

I never recommend this, but have you tried rolling the time backwards. Sometimes it will reset. If everything is working on your watch, never roll time back more than a few minutes. Never at midnight

Thanks but nope, did not work. This definitely will have to be looked upon from the inside...

That, or did you ever see the movie 'Groundhog Day'? 

No can do, I'd have one hour left between the 16th and 17th...

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Do you know who the builder is? Maybe he can fix it for you.


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The builder resides in the US, while watchmaker is in EU, much closer to where I live.

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 That's a very nice watch by the way.  I had this problem too with a build I did a while back. The movement is too tight against the dial causing the date wheel to bind. You have to remove the hands, dail and add the small spacer ring. It also could be that the case screws are too tight. 

Thanks Mead. Yeah the dial is short of amazing. Unfortunately I do not possess the skills to perform the operations you suggested therefore, the watch is shipping to a competent watchmaker this week. He hopefully will be able to address this issue and, eventually, source a new datewheel if necessary.

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Hello everibody, I'm starting yet another thread because as per post title the datewheel on my Franken 1500 got stuck. It won't work upon moving the crown on first position, neither will it budge when operating hands to reach 12.00 position. I have even tried forcing it to rotate by dragging it with a small tool but nothing will do. 

Since I have the manuality of a drunken monkey I will not attempt opening the watch and will instead confy it to someone which know his way around such things but, before that I think I'd better find a replacement datewheel in order to have a spare handy in case the need should arise. I have tried looking around but did not come up with anything useful. Does anyone know where I could find this specific part fitting this specific watch? I'm looking for something with open '6s' and '9s' which will reproduce the gen part as faithfully as possible. Any pointer? Would anyone by chance have this part in its 'bin' and be eager to let it go for a premium?

Thanks in advance

L. 

As I said the attached image was the one which gave Natas and me the idea of the direction to follow. Until then I only had thought of having the dial relumed and, perhaps, lightly retotuched to stop it from looking so bland and flat. When Natas sent me this pic he had found online we agreed that this would be the way to go. As I have written elesewhere I already had seen pictures of his unbelievable Panerai builds, so I knew that he was the right man for the job, the only slightly worrisome point being that I was not sure about the outcome of translating the result of time and wear from a 45/47mm dial to a 36mm one. Would such an intense patina fit well on a smaller diameter? Would it not look 'overdone' ? I searched for pictures of weathered dials and found some excellent samples of vintage watches with fully patinated dials -some whose diameter was even smaller than that of my 1016- which looked stunning. This reassured me but did not the least prepare me for what Natas would come up with… 

Of course, I have not given up already on the original idea of a circa 1970 build with a very clean black dial and white puffy lume, but this is another story…

I think I may have found the watch on IG that was the inspiration of your dial.

AFAIK this is gen with natural patina.




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You're right, this looks very similar but no, the pic that started it all is another one. Finding it is impossible because in fact it bears no resemblance whatsoever with the final result; first off because the watch it displays is not even a 1016, then because it was just a loose representation of what the modder had in mind; the only tie with what was eventually crafted being the mix of various shades of brown.

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"So this movement should be an Unitas right?"
 
Yes, it is a 6431-6445.  It has both numbers stamped on it.  They have a very good reputation and were put in a lot of Swiss pocket watches in the 1960s and 1970s. 
It is a little bit bigger than the UT/ETA 6497/6498.
UT 6431-6445  18.5''  Dm= 41.0mm,  Do= 41.7mm,  4.7mm thick
ETA/UT 6497/6498  16.5'''  Dm= 36.6mm,  Do= 37.2mm,  4.5mm thick  (from Ranfft website)

Thanks a lot for the constant stream of knowledge Auto!
And speaking of pocket watches there's one I'd be eager to sport around, but apparently it's not been replicated as of yet (and I guess it will never be)...


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17 hours ago, automatico said:

Ha!  You never know what might happen.

I found the missing clutch wheel.  I dropped a watch strap on the floor of my 'shop' and when I picked it up the clutch wheel was right beside it.  Very strange,  I had gone over the floor with a bright light and powerful magnet the day before.

The Baylor pocket watch with UT 6431-6445 is running again.  I bought it new in June 1977 at Zale Jewelers and it stopped running 15 or 20 years ago...old oil gummed it up.

 

Well thanks a lot Auto. The wealth of informations you provide with each post is outstanding! So this movement should be an Unitas right?

I thought I'd share this pic because it's the one in which I've finally managed to capture something that has been eluding me so far: The way light dramatically changes the colour of the dial which, shifts from an almost lemony yellow under harsh direct light, to light brown, deep orange, siena, dark brown and finally almost black. This is Amazing...

"I've built one Day-Date from the rep case and the 2834 with plastic spacer for day wheel fit perfectly."
 
Thanks, mystery solved.  That's why the dial opening is so big...2834 and DD dial.
Hope to get to the '1016' soon but I keep misplacing (losing) parts on my ongoing projects.  Today it's a mia clutch wheel from a 1970s Unitas 6431-6445 powered pocket watch.  Looks like I am going to start working in a wash tub.
 
Heard about an old watch guy who used to take pocket watches apart on a little bench down in a high sided 4 claw leg bath tub.
...with a plug in the drain of course. 

Please don't do that. Just box the totality of your stuff and mail it to me. I'll be honoured to keep a vigilant eye on it for you. This way you will never loose anything ever again.

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Today on a very old leather strap for a more vintage look.

I have been looking up the 'usual suspects' (Watchbandit, Bulang, Geckota, Hirsch) for a Siena Brown strap, but could not find any I'd fancy. Any suggestion on alternatives to the above strap makers?

 

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On 2/6/2019 at 10:57 PM, Drummania said:

My 1016 with 16014 case, yuki dial and JMB bezel



The 16200 case is much taller. Here is my 114270 Franken






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Wow! This is a gorgeous build! the original black-dialed 1016 is one of the most beautiful and understated watches ever built… I tried to achieve something similar but I still have a long way to go:

First and foremost the triangle on Yuki's dial: Much too small.

Hands, Yuki again, a big tell especially the seconds one which appears too flat, short and with a truncated tip.

Case should be a reshaped JMB v1 or 2 and incorrect caseback.

Movement is a 21j clone 

 

This is a very good looking piece. What are the specs for that?

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Auto:
I have been buying at TDs twice during my stay among the good people at RWG. I got burned both times: First attempt was my fault. I was a noob, did not look closely enough at the QC pictures and ended getting something which was not what I thought I had ordered. Second attempt resulted in a DOA piece. Lesson learned: Never buy Chinese stuff.

For what is about your approach to work I fail to see what's wrong with it. You evidently are a very prudent person which thinks before acting. I wish I was like you, therefore less impulsive and careless...

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Yeah, not sure anyone tried ruby's 1016 case. 
 
JMB's case is good on frontal and side profile, but I feel the 16200 case back is too thick and sits high on the wrist. 16200 case is designed for sapphire crystal. While plexi fits it adds to the thickness.

Yes, Jmb's caseback is definitely too thick but, I suppose, there's nothing J can do about it as this is the one part of the case that cannot be shaved down.

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... 'computerized latte' ...
whereas that should be a lathe and not some technological coffee machine @ Starbucks... Darn autocorrect....

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Have you tried a vietnam 1016 case? 

Excellent idea. Minh Quy had some juicy ones back in the day, together with a bunch of flabbergasting 'professionally refinished' dials, the only downside being a somewhat steep price tag....
My 19200 case was reshaped on a computerized latte fed with digitized pictures of LHOOQ'S gen 1016 case. The whole operation did cost half the premium I'd have paid for the Vietnam counterpart. Additionally more than one well-educated RWG member had advised against the idea of walking the Vietnam path since the a.m. Minh Quy apparently was a slightly hard-to-deal-with character and, I was told, there was no guarantee whatsoever that the item I'd receive would be what I had paid for. I therefore decided for a perhaps more complicated solution which outcome I deem fairly good after all.

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A cold and sunny day back here. That's the weather I love....

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1 hour ago, automatico said:

I like the dial!   

Here is one similar to it on HQ Milton:

https://www.hqmilton.com/timepieces/rom6j13k/1965-rolex-explorer-1016-with-tropical-gilt-dial-8501

 

"Where can you find a 1016 service dial?"

 

Best bet for the money might be a good used Luminova dial with 'T Swiss T<25' on it.  The first run of Lumi 1016 dials had trit markings.  Besides the $$ difference, Lumi does not fizzle out like tritium.

I would go with a replica dial on a replica watch with Eta and only use a genuine dial on a $$ project with a 15xx mvt and high grade case...maybe a modified genuine 16200, 16000 case etc.

I have everything but a case...been looking for 20+ years.  If I could find a super ratty original case/dial I would send it in with a movement for one of their World Famous Extremely Reasonable Tune-ups and bite the bullet on a new case. 

Great-Damn-Big HA! on the Extremely Reasonable part. 

 

Trouble is...the replacement would be a '44' case making the watch worth a LOT less. 

Probably be lucky to break even.  

Thanks Auto! Yeah, there are some noticeable dials out there. I did a bit of research myself while discussing my options with NATAS and SSTEEL. Here are some I found quite interesting:

The dial I got from Denimhead actually comes with T Swiss T<25 markings. The case was a lucky find LHOOQ made on the Bay while helping me hunt for parts, and the Superdome I just bought from my usual watchmaker. I originally wanted to go 'all gen' and was looking for a gen 15xx movement but, even back then, these came for such a huge premium that I decided to skip that part and go for a Swiss, much cheaper, alternative instead.

I did not remember this detail: This caseback belongs to a JMB V2 assembly he engraved with a relevant serial number placing it into 4th quarter 66.

I could definitely use that case for another build, but although it's quite good it could still use some reshaping. I also have a spare Yuki dial which is already lumed and all, but the triangle feels a tad too small. Is there a way to reshape it with lume paste? Has anyone tried that or am I being obsessive once again?

My service dial came from a notable RWG member, I did not enquire about it's original provenance. 

15 hours ago, JSebWC said:

very cool watch.....really enjoy the dial  would love to know more about the techniques to create it 

 

 

Hello J! We have tried to lure Natas into revealing some intel regarding his Mad Luming-Ninkja Skillz®️ but he kept mum about it. I suspect that making him talk would require extreme measures, such as abducting and confying him to the loving hands of Nanuq, @the shack atop the freezing mountains… 🤣

Hello, thanks a lot for your interest! 

I had acquired this unlumed service dial through a fellow-RWG-member. The original plan was that of having it glossed and lumed in puffy white to build a circa-1970 piece around it. As such I also had sourced an hi-beat hacking ETA movement which had died on me upon trying to operate the keyless. 

When I confied the project to SSTEEL I mentioned two options:

- First one as per above, provided he'd succeed in reviving my movement and have the dial glossed.

- In case glossing should prove unfeasible and movement could not be resurrected from the grave, then I'd go for a vintage piece with a replacement lo-beat ETA.

As SSTEEL experiments with glossing a couple of dummy dials did not work out (see attached), I went for Plan B: The vintage solution, enter NATAS78, with which I talked extensively about tropical effect, patina and old weathered dials. Since I already was familiar with his body of work upon having had the chance to gawk at pictures of some of his otherwordly Panerai builds, I asked him to replicate one of those for me, which he eventually did thus achieving an incredible result imho. 

For what is about the movement, SSTEEL apparently was able to revive the one I had supplied and, upon servicing it,  he replaced some parts with new ones and added a couple of touches for cosmetic purposes.

Of course a 3156 is not coherent with a vintage build since these are modern calibers (circa 2000 if memory serves), and they never were used on 1016 models which carried 105x or 15xx calibers instead (again if memory serves),  but SSTEEL did not have a choice since I had instructed him to use my movement if repairable, and that's what he did. At the end of the day this movement ticks loud and strong and keeps perfect time. So far so good! 😊 

A few more shots for your viewing (hopefully) pleasure:

 

7 minutes ago, Natas78 said:

Hi guys, well there's no 12-step program to getting this result, it takes years of trying and testing to know what works.
All I can say is, if you know how to make a professional looking, realistic airfix or revell model, then you know how to do this

Glad you are happy Lorenzo, and it turned out to be a very handsome watch! Plexi has also come out very well. Congrats!

Thanks N! This would not have been possible without your "airfix or revell" skills  

2 hours ago, Mr Seamaster said:

Holy crap thats a hell of a dial!

Geez, Love it!

Mind sharing some details on the process done to the dial?

West it in good health.

Cheers

Hi Sea, I am not familiar with the process NATAS78 used to bring my old, flat and boring dial back to life.  He will perhaps jump in and talk about it himself. That would be very instructive!