TeeJay

I'm an SS fan myself, and I think the dial would definitely look good in an SS case

I just made the strongest possible sea salt solution from boiling water and dissolving as much salt as I could. I soaked and swirled the insert for one hour with no change. I even tried some abrasion with my fingers.... No effect.

I'll let it soak all night tonight and see what happens.

Can't wait to hear if it has any effect

If you do, let us know how it works out. I think the US cleaner might just have the right amount of agitation qualities to make this work quite nicely!

Doc's posted pics of a nicely aged dial is a good target to shoot for!

I will indeed, and absolutely, it is a fine example to aim for

I'm not too sure, but I would say at least mid 70's

thanks for the tips guys...alas..i`ve tried all the tricks with no joy.

teejay....i never thought of a stainless dj case!!! thats got me going ..good thinking !

No problem, glad to be of help The good thing about DJs, is the variation in bezel type and bracelets. Although I'm not a fan of the fluted bezels and 'tri-link' bracelets, that's what I think would look best with that dial/hand combo Either that, or a flat bezel with an oyster bracelet All I can suggest with the caseback, is keep trying, and eventually, it'll open up for you I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to use a penetrating fluid like WD40, or if the vapors could affect the oils in the movement, that would definitely need the confirmation from an expert before trying, you certainly wouldn't want to cause any damage to the internals

Have post counts changed (dropped, levelled, increased) on the gen forums that people frequent? I don't frequent any one group often enough to be a gauge. I'm curious if it's watches in general, or specific reps or what?

I also occasionally post on a prop-building forum, and that is absolutely dead at the moment.

That sounds like a fine choice to me

One time, I wore a Timex Ironman (which was a chrono-clone version of an Oakley Timebomb) another time, I wore my EuroFakes Submariner

Best of luck with your interview

thanks again teejay, the teeth on the case back dont sit proud so there is no way in for alan keys, i know what you are saying about putting on a strap and just wearing it, but its not really my thing, i`m a stainless steel kind of guy, i just thought if it had no real value it may be usefull for a franken...or would this be sacrilege ?

No problem From the look of the photo, I would have thought there might have been enough tooth there to press a flat edge against them, but photos can sometimes exaggerate details

Ahh, that's fair enough Well, once you get the caseback off, you could always try transplanting the dial and movement into a more modern case (which you could then always beat up to look old ) Something like a DJ case would probably look pretty good

Teejay, you may have also touched on something. Ocean water also has quite a bit of sand particles in it which may be causing an abrasive effect on the bezel insert. Perhaps amending my previous statement, how about a small amount of sea-salt and sand mixed into a small ultrasonic bath? And then let it soak in the sun for a while to age the luminous pearl?

It's certainly worth a try Or maybe even soaking a cloth in a salt/sand solution and using it as a rubbing compound. I definitely think the ultrasonic cleaner might be a good idea I have a friend who's a tattoo artist, I might have to ask if I could borrow one of his cleaners

i guess i just want to know: is it worth repairing or is it not economical ?

That's something only you can answer for yourself... Personally, I would say it looks like a really nice watch Throw it on a nice strap, and you'll be good to go

thanks teejay, tried that......thats why i`m typing with my nose lol seriously though i took it to a local jeweler and he says its a special size tool ??

No problem If you can't get it loose with just thumb pressure, you can sometimes use use the flat sides of two allen keys to apply pressure on the ridges, in the same anti-clockwise direction, to loosen the caseback enough for the rubbergloves to then take over Failing, it probably would be a case of using a specialist tool...

That sure is a fine piece

A method I have had success with removing casebacks, is to put on a pair of dish-washing gloves, and then press with the thumbs to rotate the caseback anti-clockwise. It can sometimes take a lot of effort, and feel like your thumbnails are about to separate from the nail beds, but I have found it a very successful method Best of luck

Just curious if anyone has Bleached before Baking?

Interesting suggestion... I think it would result in a faded dial, but who knows

You are not the only one.

I just noticed, that the hands have a distinctly blue hue to them, compared to the dial markers... Is this just a trick of the light?

I'll be picking one up at some point in the future, so I'll be sure to add photos when I do

Your cookery experiment is very different though, relying on heat generated by the low end (down to IR) of the EM spectrum, as far removed from the the UV 'baking' Nanuq's has been subjected to. I wouldn't expect the results to be comparable.

FWIW I think the gen slate-grey ageing is down to a combination of salt water and UV sunlight (which is mixed A and B ) and time. In other words, it's a very difficult task to replicate the effect of those exact conditions artificially. But hey, that's exactly why it makes it such fun trying

Of course, you're absolutely right about the EM difference, that was something which never occurred to me, I was just looking at it as 'heat', rather than the actual wavelengths involved...

Salt water, you say... That would make sense, after all, the saline solution could be acting as an abrasive to remove the paint, which could mean that the grey color is simply the result of abrasion, rather than purely chemically based...

As you say, it's all those things which make it fun to try and replicate the look

Ah, let me clarify... The bleaching was only for the insert. The dial has stayed beneath its tropic-39 oven in the sun and has zero lume ability.

Sorry, I was probably not making a clear distinction between the bleaching of the insert, and the sun-bleaching of the lume on the dial. If sun-bleaching destroys the lume (as well as cooking it does) I might indeed re-consider my plan... One thing I do like to be able to do, is see the time in the dark

I don't know but I would love to have access to that engine lathe.

Heck, I'd settle for having that much hair on my head again

I find it a little difficult to say I can't afford new watches when I just magicked $1000 out of my ass for a Moon Watch, but it's definitely the case for me, but oddly enough, I've felt like this since my missus gave up her job in Paris and we went from two very decent salaries to ... oh, wait, maybe that's it.

If I sent Mrs Pugwash out to the workfarm, maybe I can start getting a Rep or two a month.

$1000 or

Im in the same boat Teej. I think that If money were not an issue I likely would be buying gens. Money has always been tight for me, but we've always got by, and there has always been a bit left over at the end of the day for such luxuries as reps. Over the past year however it seems like its a struggle just to cover the basic necessities, and that there is never enough left for extravagances. I think that the nature of the rep hobby is simply more suited to the middle class, not the wealthy, and its the middle class that has really felt the pinch lately.

I would totally agree there. The upper class has had enough money to ride things out, the low class gets government benefits to support them, but the middle class, has been well and truly turned upside down... Not enough assets/savings to ride things out, too much income to qualify for government support... Personally, I think the easiest way to solve the issue, is to give every person in the UK

Good feedback and too bad about the economy TeeJay I guess were sort of spoiled up here in Norway as the crisis has not hit as hard

WildWest might be going too far agreed...we certainly wouldnt want to kill or drive out the natives (most of what I write is tongue in cheek or allegory in case you wonder).... but this should at least be frontier and a place of wonder

Best wishes

Gunnar (Send Out The Clowns)

Thanks for the good wishes, and indeed, it's a shame about the economy, but it's good to hear that not everywhere has been as badly affected

I know what you mean there about the 'new frontier', and I quite agree with you. That said, until people are in the position to buy more, or get involved with more projects, I think things might remain fairly quiet... In addition to my planned GMTIICSub project (which needs four watches for me to butcher ) I'm also going to have a Tudor Snowflake project in progress as well, and that will be the subject of an upcoming review (of a part) but I don't want to say too much yet, as it will spoil the surprise

Excellent post Andreww!

Point1: You are probably correct but do we know for sure that people are buying less replicas now or buying less expensive replicas? One should think that replicas should become more desirable considering the economic downturn?

I can only speak for myself, but my financial situation has got so bad that even the

No change from this photo for me (although the clothes have been washed since the pic was taken )

there are some good deals out there..

TJ is one of the most disciplined shoppers here..

I'm usually a "cheap" shopper when it comes to other items.. I have zero discipline when it comes to this hobby..

A~C

Lani

Thanks, bro, that's one of the nicest compliments anyone's ever paid me

Just to re-touch on the point, as mentioned, this only cost me £20 plus shipping... Ignore that the bracelet failed, anything mechanical is subject to failure, and I have had cheap watches which have not had bracelet failures... Ignore the movement failure, that was most likely a result of the impact when the watch fell, those things could have happened to any watch, at any price. Consider the watch solely on aesthetics, case/bracelet build and appearance, and compare to DJs being sold in the $100-$300 range... No gaping links, no gape at the lugs, all dial markers correctly lined up, all printing clear (not necessarily so from the photo) solid operation of the bracelet clasp, all hands in place when the watch arrived ( ) Why pay more?