TeeJay

TJ,

Thanks for the comments. I have no use for the old insert. It isn't in the best condition but if you would like it, PM me your address.

Kurt

PM Sent, thank you indeed

It's looking awesome Congrats on being able to source the parts to fix things Of course, it's also nice to see another Rolex sans-cyclops If you don't mind me asking, do you have any plans for the other bezel insert?

A little tip for smoothing the ruf edges. take a toothpick and a sandingpaper and turn it around. It works nice.

I'm liking the sound of that, thanks for the tip, very much appreciated

Looks like they contain deadly virus...

noo, it's new and differnt sized "tips" for the screwdriver

That's certainly a cool idea for the interchangeable tips Fantastic purchase

That's a fantastic piece Out of curiosity, what is in the two small vials above the screwdriver?

Teejay,

from my understanding, The PVD sub is a gen 5512 (it's not mine unfortunately )

It was an nos replacement case, that was PVD'd as an homage to a very rare issued watch, the South African Milsub.

cool thing was it was apparently done in around 2000, or so, way before pro hunter and Bamford and sons (makes you wonder if this watch inspired those companies in any way)

cheers eddog

Now that's an interesting story (and a new project to build ) As you say, possibly where those companies got their idea for PVD customization. Do you know if the original South African sub was also a Destro, or if that was simply a personal preference of the owner of the watch you showed?

[Edit to add]

Since 'flipping' my NATO project sub, rather than simply thinking of it as 'a watch', the easy access to the crown is instead making me think of it as an actual 'wrist tool'.

Inspired by Gavidoc and Eddog, I did this...

I would still class it as a composite watch, rather than a custom build, as it is still very much a work in progress, and missing the majority of the parts I want to install, it is very much just an example of assorted parts in a case, making a functional watch. To quote Gavidoc with regards to the destro mod:

"This build was surprisingly very easy to do and I'm glad I did it."

I have relumed a set of 1655 hands. The 24 hour hand on the 1655 has a large lume area, which was no problem at all to 're-paint' after striping the orignal lume and paint with paint stripper.

That's reassuring to hear, thanks for the input Thinking about it, a lollipop hand shouldn't be impossible, seeing as Snowflake hands can be lumed, which is a larger area

Not sure the hour hand will hold lume with a hole that big...

I know what you mean, it's certainly a concern of mine as well. The only thing I'm hoping, is if a gen hand can exist, it has to be possible (although that's probably a reason why the Mercedes hand is the more widely used ) Also, I couldn't remove all the material from the star, as I don't have any tools fine enough to do the work without tearing the outer ring open, but, I'm hoping that the extra material might provide a little extra purchase for the lume to anchor to

Not sure about 'lume' but you will have a long life and three children. All girls. God Bless.

<edit> When we were kids, my sister had a craft kit; she would bend common wire into flower forms, dip them into a plastic film which would fill the voids with surface tension (similar to soap bubble) the resin would harden. That may work as a substrate for the luminova.

Hopefully Rob will comment.

You may have to MacGyver the thing T'J. Should keep you busy for a while. Looking ahead, let me be the first to say "Congratualtions" and "Happy Holidays".

Thanks for the feedback and well-wishes That's certainly giving my some ideas for forming a base substrate of some kind, maybe something like cling film could be epoxied to the underside of the hand to provide that extra support, without thickening the hand enough to make it drag on the dial...

Cool !!!!

I love lollipops!

I actually had my 76100 Tudor lollipop relumed (to be honest, because the original lume fell out of the hour hand... )

Not sure how he did it, but the person who relumed it for me did it flawlessly...as well he back painted it with white paint to add strength and extra adhesion to the lume.

Cheers

eddog

Thanks I know it's far from perfect, but for something I did with a pair of nail clippers, I'm quite happy with the results, although I might try and improve on that if I can find precise enough tools

If there's someone who can relume a lollipop hand, that might save me some troubles, might you be able to share their contact details?

Re: the so perfectly coined "Destro Tudor"

(nice one BTW TeeJay),

It just seemed to be the correct term to use

There is genuine precedent for such a beast....

here's some shots of a 94010 MN tudor (French Navy), obviously set up for a lefty on the team..

...Which was the direct inspiration for my little pet project....

...The next stage of which will be somehow inspired by this little beauty...

Cheers!!

eddog

Wow I think my Snowflake project is going to have to have the destro look

Is the PVD sub a customized gen? It looks pretty awesome, tactical, but not too OTT about it

A little butchery of a Mercedes hand, and I've nearly got a lollipop hour hand The only problem now, is getting the hands re-lumed

Talking about this case. Purchased back from Cubeistan.

I'd say definitely worthy of a transplant Just be sure to vintage the case

Great minds thinking alike is one thing T'J but your 'Destro' comment took all the oooomph out of my original reply. Only glad I scrolled down before submitting. Redundancy is not on.

Did I just coin a new term? Then again, when I was about 8, I thought I'd invented the term 'Aquanaut'... Shame Gerry Anderson and Patek Philippe had beaten me to it

I know I'm probably searching for the non-existent, but just wondered if there are any sources for Snowflake hands which would fit an Asian movement?

A Destro Tudor

That's some unique work, I am liking it

One thing noticed on upgrade is I can't access the full range of little faces. I just get "nopermission"

Oh and what happened to old "conspiratorial wink" smilie that had migrated and was working yesterday? The new one looks like it's had a stroke ---> see?

I got that when using a proper reply, but using the quick reply, there was no problem

It does seem a bit hit at miss at the moment...

Yesterday, I was looking for the thread titled "Vintage Domes"

I typed "Vintage Domes" into the search box, but nothing come up... [Edit to add]When I say 'nothing came up', I meant the thread in question was not in the results pages.

When I just typed "Domes" in, it came up

To quote Eric Cartman:

"Oh, you know, the usual..."

Took the words right out of my mouth T'J, right down to the automobile allusion.

And too it's odd, if I were to take possession of Bob's watch, I would cherish it for the fact it had been around the block and he were responsible for it's patina. I would wear it in, and continue that vein. But, if I took possession of the virgin piece I would beat myself up for using it in it's intended design and marring it. It takes guts. That would be where Bob comes in.

That is why I am so glad my one vintage Rolex piece came from a good 39 years, albeit kind service. I get to wear it. I just have to be careful. If it came in the condition of the above Sea Dweller? I may wear it to bed.

Good find Chief. Great thread. Yup.

Great minds think alike Personally, I doubt if the watch has ever been worn. I had a bracelet like that pick up some scuffs at the link which goes into the end piece within 30 minutes of wear, just from the friction of the watch and wrist moving. Okay, it was easy to polish out, but, I doubt the owner of the SD even put it on long enough to make such 'repair work' necessary, as it's in such flawless condition, I suspect it went from the AD's display, straight into the safe, only to be seen at 'viewing time', when it would be appreciated on the table, maybe wiped with a diaper, then put back in the safe... To me, while it might be a good investment financially, it's a waste of a watch which borders on the criminal, and misses the point of owning a watch (to wear it to tell the time) I can think of many other fine items to buy as an investment which are intended to only be viewed 'in state' and appreciated, but not a watch designed to be worn while working underwater...

@TJ - Good call

Don't get me wrong, if people say it's gen, then I don't think I know enough about watches to say otherwise and would accept their opinion that it is a genuine watch. I was purely meaning that visually, it looked like a rep, simply because it was 100% box fresh. It's time in the safe has meant that it looks like a modern reproduction of a vintage watch, rather than an actual vintage watch, simply because it's condition is so good. On the one hand, it is a good thing that it has been so well preserved, the other hand, is more a matter of personal aesthetic taste While I can appreciate someone buying it purely as an investment, I think it is completely missing the point that a watch is something to be worn and used, not hidden away in a safe...

28k would seem to be a huge under valueation. I suspect this has been heavily restored. That dial has never seen much sunlight looking at the red print yet the lume is nicely aged. Does tritium yellow that way without UV exposure? It's just too good and you would be afraid to wear it as folk have said. Something not quite right here even tho the seller seems to be highly rated.

Col.

I wouldn't like to say too much about the aging process of tritium, but if one was to have a suspicious mind, and start noticing inconsistencies, the lume of the second hand is a few shades darker than the lume on the main hands. I wonder why the lume of one hand, would age differently to the lume of the others... I know on an invoice shown here recently, the second hand was priced separately from the main hands, but if Rolex were to replace a hand, would they not replace the entire handset at the same time rather than fitting new hour and minute hands but then putting the original second hand back in place? From what I've heard of Rolex repair centers, it's not their style to leave old parts in place if they can replace them with brand new ones... Who knows...

Once upon a time, my Pal Josh sold watches he called the TW Bests. They were exceptionally nice pieces that aren't available anymore.

Then there was a guy called Lucky who was the source of the mysterious, but highly coveted MBW's. Some got lucky with him, but some did not.

Then there was a real low key kinda guy I got to know. Upon hearing about my unlucky experience with Lucky,it turned out that he was able to get the MBW's I was looking for. He got me a few [ahem].

Then there was a time when Josh let me know that a few GMT's had been made with real GMT 2893 movements . . . I bought them.

Then I got connected with Ziggy - one of those anal kind of guys who does art, when he says, how he says and the way he promises to do it. Off went a bunch of the MBWs, and what a fabulous set of them I have now. I know that there are those who like their vintage lume to look old, there are those who like their vintages to have character, and their are some characters out there like Nanuq who do unspeakable things to their vintages. I like mine to look new, and I wanna be able to hold up my arm in a movie theater front row, and let everyone see what time it is!

You cannot believe the work that guy does.

I haven't been active on here in quite some time, so perhaps the newer guys I don't know should get an idea what can happen to you here.

I am Bill B., and I am a repaholic.

Bill

What an awesome collection Fantastic to see you back posting again

Birthday greetings, I hope you have a good one

Hey I love a Nanuq style vintage myself... but this is just a site to behold IMO. It looks like something you'd see Christie's sell for nearly six figures.

Oh I agree, it's certainly a beautiful piece, and indeed, something which will bring a handsome price at auction, I just think a watch like that should have spent the last 30 years doing something other than sitting in a safe

Wow, very nice! What that puppy needs is a little character.

+1

To me, although I know it's gen, it looks like a rep, because despite the vintage coloring and details, the condition of the watch is pristine... Gorgeous watch, but personally, I'd want a watch like that to actually look it's age, and actually been used for the purpose intended and seen some action, rather than being pristine. Pristine condition is for new stuff, not vintage (and on the flip-side of that, I would appreciate a fully restored vintage car, rather than on old banger ) To my way of thinking, this is how a watch of that vintage should look

Awwww, what's a little character amongst friends??

A fresher wrist-shot for me (the last one, by combination of angle of my arm/hand, conspired to make me look like I'd been inflated several sizes )

Here're my domes

I have a feeling this might be my first 'stack shot' as well

Following on from this previous post, here're some more dome shots... The 'top sub' has undergone considerable modification since I took the above shot, but I hope people will think for the better...

The dome on the NATO Sub did have a cyclops, but I chipped it away with a pocket knife, put in a few extra scuffs, buffed it back to 'clear', and then rotated the crystal so the mark left from the cyclops removal, would now look like impact damage between 10 and 11 I've definitely gotten into the vintage/wabi sabi aesthetic, can hardly get the vintage sub off my wrist, and also have plans to turn the NATO Sub into a Snowflake Tudor homage Enjoy

PS: Any feedback on the vintaging results would be greatly appreciated Please ignore the custom/composite nature of the watches, I'm talking purely about the application of vintaging techniques, and how the results are perceived