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Me too

I admire your determination with this project, it has the potential to be a very very good Frankentimer! May I suggest you use Quick-Steel or Chemical Metal to seal up the hole left after you re-drill the crown tube? The other task is to find a decent dial. Not an easy feat in itself!

Thanks for the comments guys Andreww; I've not switched an asian tricompax datewheel before; but what kind of DW would I swap it for? The ETA 7750 date @ 4.5? hmmm....thats got me thinking

More pics of the gen http://oomiyawakayama.ikora.tv/e115727.html looks like the dial is definately more white than silver. The date window is definately darker too time to get modding!

OP Edited

Hi. We all know how its a fairly easy mod to replace our replica dials with that of the genuine. Luckily the rep makers often create the same size dials which enable us collectors to enhance our reps further, but one or two watches require a little bit more attention than just a straight swap. "WHY BOTHER SWAPPING THE DIAL?" The rep dial, fine as it is, but lacks the sheen and reflectivity of the genuine. The difference in sharpness, font weight and logo etc. can also be noticeable when compared side by side. For this guide, we will concentrate on trimming and fitting the genuine dial of a 3,6,9 (tricompax) Navitimer into a 3,6,9 replica. With particular emphasis on the difference between a standard 7750 with 6,9,12 layout subdials. First of all, what tools and parts do you need? (You'll see that I will use a mixture of my own photos. However, the technique/concept is still the same) 1) a genuine dial. Notice how the black (arabic) rep dial lacks the tiny lip outside the scale rule markings? 2) a replica watch - a 3,6,9 Navitimer. I'd advise a 3,6,9 Navitimer. We'll go into detail 'why?' later 3) a digital caliper 4) assortment of fine hand files, sandpaper 5) a dremel-style tool with fine sanding disc 6) horology tools - case opener, screwdrivers, movement holder, hands lifter, tweezers, rodico or blu tac, case blower Now that you've got all the kit, let's get started!! This is what I did. You may have your own ways to do things: Remove movement. This is a topic well documented by others. If you need to know how, please take a look around the forum Refit the crown. Set the date slowly so that it has just clicked over to the next number. This will make the midnight switchover more accurate. To remove the dial, first locate the tiny dial post clips, which will be at the 7 o'clock and 1 o'clock positions. Push the "toe" of the clip inside the movement. This will free each post, enabling easy removal of the rep dial. 6,9,12 asian 7750's on the left, tricompax 3,6,9 asian 7750's on the right Now would be the time to swap datewheels if such a thing existed for the tricompax Navi. Measure the diameter of the replica dial using the calipers. It should be 31.43mm. Now measure the diameter of the genuine dial. It should be 32.65mm. You may also notice that the genuine dial is very slightly thicker than the rep. This would make the finished item sit very slightly higher This first measurement is what you be aiming for when trimming the gen dial down. You will remove 1.22mm from the diameter, thats just 0.61mm off the edge of the dial. I started off by wearing latex gloves so as not to scratch the gen dial. Use the hand file to remove the tiny lip mentioned earlier. The dial is very hard....brass, i think. It will take a while, but you have to be very, very methodical with each pass of the file. Otherwise you may scratch it!!! Periodically check the diameter using the caliper. Keep rotating the dial while you are filing, keeping it as circular as possible. You dont want something that resembles Fred Flintstones' wheels! Now that you reached 0.5mm of filing, its time to switch to the dremel. The aim here is the let the dremel slowly spin the dial, while you hold it in the centre using finger and thumb. This is to get a smoother uniform and circular edge. Do not use too much pressure!! Or the dial will go out of round and will become egg shaped! Trail fit the dial on its own into the rep case. You see that it will rub on the bezel scale rule. If so, keep sanding/filing where it rubs. Check the diameter. By now you should be close to 31.43mm. Finish the job with the sandpaper (on the back of a ruler or wood) lightly scuffing across the edge. Remove the burrs. Ok - now that the diameter is near-as-dammit. Trial fit again. It should be snug but not tight to the bezel scale rule...that is if you still want to rotate the bezel? Time to re-fit it to the movement! Wahooo! Clean off the dial with rodico/blu tac. Blow out the case, make sure there are no ugly fibres or dust on the scale rule and crystal. Use the eye loupe to check!! Refit the hands. Remember that earlier, the date change was set to exactly midnight Check the dial, hands and case for dust!!! Remove the crown, refit the whole thing into the case. Test the operation of the hands, date, chrono etc. Secure the movement, grease gaskets etc and retighten caseback. Now you will see that the date window is marginally outboard. This is because the dial was made for the ETA 7753. The date wheel is marginally bigger that the 7750 and therefore the asian 7750! The ETA 7753 should fit into the rep case ok, but its thickness I'm unsure of. The rep 7750 tricompax is thicker than the rep 7750 due to the extra transfer gears and plate. The datewheel became sunken because of this. Now, I mentioned that you should use a tricompax rep case for this conversion. The reason being, the rep 7750 tricompax is thicker than the 7750 (6,9,12). I fitted a 7750 into a tricompax case, and the dial was sunken. Not by a little, but a lot!! Also, the crown was quite stiff to operate in this guise. I think is is possible that the tricompax case has lower crown and pusher drillings than for the 7750 (6,9,12). The caseback also is difficult to fit because it touches the movement ring. If you used a 7750 case and fitted a tricompax movement and dial, I'm sure it would protrude further out from the bezel scale rule! I've never had a problem with fitting (other than trimming) 7750 (6,9,12) dials into 7750 cases. So, hopefully this has cleared up any unanswered questions. Hopefully you may have found this to be useful too! Cheers

Well, thats because i got both watches...and switched the straps! You could ask for a black strap to be made available?

Yes, all i did was rotate the wheels using the crown, until they were perfect. Since then the automatic date changes have been lined up, no "problems" if you can call it that

Yeah, that was during the first hour that i opened the parcel. Then I tweaked the day & date wheels and its been perfect ever since (since wednesday afternoon) as per the wristshots

My gen Navi went off for a service last week....otherwise i would've been able to take it apart! this is the closest I could find on the web: REDEYE SERIF MEDIUM or BOLD http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/aboutype/redeye-serif/ for an idea type in BREITLING 123489 the font still needs manipulating though.....like stretching it out. I posted this a couple of years ago, but some killjoy poo-poo'd it

Dudes.......YOU NEEEEED THIS WATCH!!

I would have been in the market for the white one...but seeing the silver grain of the gen I'm not so sure now. I think the Pepsi is the way to go

This asian 7750 is a direct copy of the swiss 7750. Like for like. There are no major modifications made because the 7750 was originally configured with 6,9,12 subdials....with seconds at 9. The asian 7750 with subdials at 3,6,9 (tricompax), seconds @ 3, seconds @ 6, seconds @ 12 - are all asian modified derivatives of the asian 7750! Hence the extra gears and plates etc creating the sunken datewheel. HTH!

Got my two today!! They are f-kin brilliant! Both watches are well made and are feel heavier than the previous Carrera (obviously). Both are very well made - as good as, if not better. The details are all there...the white dial one is awesome! It looks very classy with the polished bezel and leather strap. I love em! Thanks Joshua...dealer feedback coming soon!

I would say the Olympus aswell, although the Blackbird is a very good rep; it has none of the flaws typical of BB reps!

Yeah the gen black dial does not give any hues of AR, it looks so crisp and clear. I am liking these more than my fabled Breitling & Omegas!! Anyway, back to the rep; the TAG shield dial logo is also carried over from other reps; i just checked my rep RS2, it has the tiny G arrow missing! To be honest, if someone never pointed that out, i'd have never known! I'm gonna keep a lookout at the ADs to see if the white dial version has a tinted date window....

$108 watches are great................. ....for buying as presents to people who dont know much about watches! if you're really into it, often the best ones will only do

TAGs old Carrera with silver dial was definately silver: http://www.tagheuer.com/the-collection/car...w=CV2017.BA0786 and comparing the 2 TAG pictures, the shades of "silver" look nothing like each other I am quite confident that the rep silver/white is close enough to the gen I think there are TWO more flaws with the new rep though - the TACHYMETER on the bezel is carried from the old model. Whereas on the new genuine model the text is wider, but more condensed. on the white/silver model, the date window should be tinted

Here are pics of the genuine:

Some more "white dial" pics on Kings site. It could be metallic white, we'll have to see. The gen pics don't seem to show it as obviously silver...otherwise the markers and hands would be lost.

I have already ordered two!! one white with steel band, and one black with black leather! I spied the black one at the AD and it looked brilliant. Made the old Carrera look significantly smaller. The Ar really sets this piece apart from the "lesser" TAGs ...guess its time to make some space in the watch box again! oh how fickle we are....

This will be next on the list http://www.jpc8118.com/0006a-p-6144.html

Fantastic review! Well done

Superb collection....you are my kind of watch collector!!

I very much doubt that you could find an OEM Breitling d/w on its own, mate. I've never seen one for sale anywhere, ever. By that I mean ANY Breitling calibre. Granted, some complete Breitling movements come up for sale from time to time. If the mod was successful, someone would have to scan the OEM cal.23 d/w in order for it to be resized & replicated onto the new d/w. As far as I see it, the factories in China are probably best equipped (and funded) to do this job. Whether they would bother to do it is another matter!