TeeJay

A few recent posts have made me realize that it's time I graduated from 'short-pants' and got myself a DRSD. I don't care how plausible it might be for someone of my age and status to be wearing one, I want one, so have been doing quite a bit of research on the subject, and today, decided to start some provisional prep work with regards the lume on the dial. Before anyone says anything, yes, I know that the lume on a 40 year old watch would not be good, and the luminous paint I'm using is adequate, but certainly not super-lume in terms of luminosity and duration of glow... My pockets aren't deep, so my plan is to obtain one of the readily available 1665s from a dealer, and making a few aesthetic modifications, ie insert fading, case softening etc, but the dials available are that yellow color which isn't really what I have in mind... I want the watch to look 40 years old, but not with the harsh yellow lume which some genuine examples have shown... I might bake the dial for a few seconds, but essentially, I just want to re-lume the dial, then matte spray. With that aim in mind, I've been doing some experimentation with what I have available, and was hoping that folks might be able to give a 'yay or nay', as to if they consider the appearance/color of the lume to be in accordance with the standards of a Mark IV dial. This is a thin coat of white enamel paint, covered with a thin coating of luminous paint. As you can see, the base color is a variety of yellow tones, and personally, I think that the color has been reasonably obliterated. To my eye, I would describe the color as a very pale creamy off-white. Black was used as edging, just to show how the contrast might look on a dial Thanks for reading the long-winded explanation, and thanks in advance for any feedback

Temperature's dropped a few degrees today, so cold enough to wear this

Main forum index page, just scroll down till you hit Watches, Clothing & Accessories...

Not sure if there's a particular version which is better than any other, but I'm sure you'd be happy with one from any of the forum recommended dealers

I hope your day's going well too, K

That looks really nice When you bleach the insert, I'd suggest sanding down the back of the insert so it sits a bit lower in the bezel, but other than that, looking good

I can see your point, but when dealing with 'power sellers', they all use stock photos. As long as they send what is described/shown, there's no issue, and even if there is, they can normally be resolved easily As above, I think if someone needs to check a very specific aspect of the watch, then yes, it can't hurt to ask for pics, but I don't think dealers should always be expected to provide QC pics on every purchase, unless they are specifically requested

I know, but it still makes kids go :Jumpy: :Jumpy: and tastes great

No Euros here Have to admit, I quite like the idea of a global currency (Dollars, of course) but I realy don't like the whole EU thing... Thanks to the EU, certain food additives aren't allowed, specifically tartrazine (has a tendency to make kids go :Jumpy: :Jumpy: ) but all that does is keeps wonders like Fanta Grape off the shelves in my local stores [Edit to add] Contraband

I was raised watching American TV and reading American books. I might speak English with an English accent, but I think and write in American

Thanks, I'll definitely give that method a go I haven't bleached an inset in a while, but a planned project will need it, and I want to get just that kind of effect

Absolutely so I don't think comparing factory-issued watches to buying pre-owned watches is really the same thing with regards the need to see pics, afterall, a pre-owned watch could literally be in any condition, from pristine, to seriously beaten up and abused, and what the seller thinks of as okay (or unacceptable) the buyer might consider the opposite. Buying from a dealer, as before, a no-date Sub is a no date Sub, and as long as it matches the dealer's sales photo, that's all a person would get with a genuine 'buying online' experience from somewhere like Amazon I would agree with the caveat that if someone's spending Big Dollars, or needs to be very specific about a particular detail, then sure, QC pics are helpful for them, but I don't think it needs to be considered SOP for all dealers all the time on all [regular] purchases Just my .2c

Thanks £37 shipped to my door

Check it out While on the site, check out the Kisai RPM, it was designed by a friend

Budget stuff can still look good too

As krpster said, date looks a bit large, but other than that, a really nice watch... Good acquisition

Same watch, new photo

I mostly use a dealer who trades under 'eshopping88' on CQout, but then again, I'm strapped for cash and not prepared to spend big bucks unless a project really calls for it. Never had an issue with the guy, he's always taken care of business like a pro. Another CQout dealer I bought from religiously in the past, was TonyXKF, before he fell foul of the CQout three-strikes rule, and now he trades here as WatchEden. Not had the spare cash to actually purchase from him since he 'upped his status', but I'm sure his customer loyalty is every bit as good as I remember

Awesome, did you leave it in long? I've had mixed results with bleaching, but also once tried gentle sanding first

Sounds like you've had a bit of a rough deal with dealers and QC. I've lost count of how many watches I've bought over the last few years, but it's probably close to fourty. Of those, I've only ever received one incorrect watch. The three which had to be returned due to faults (one flooded under immersion, one had a pin come out of a bracelet link and the other was a matter of the crown eventually not screwing down) were all issues which QC pics would have been unable to prevent or warn of. Which dealer gave you those issues, I'll be sure to avoid them in the future... I can understand that your past experiences have made you somewhat nervous about things, but maybe that is a sign to find a new dealer, rather than asking for pics? Sure, returns are a pain when they occur, and when I first started buying reps, I thought it was unfair to have to pay return fees, but sadly, that's just part of the game :shock: I expected bigger stones from you, Dr. Gran...

Fantastic results

You've had fantastic results, especially with the dial baking and insert bleaching Did you sand the insert at all prior to bleaching it?

I used to use Firefox, but have used Safari for years now and much prefer it

I know exactly what you mean there, as you say, a bracelet does have a lot more movement in it I wear my strap tight enought that it doesn't slop round my wrist, but loose enough that it still gets a bit of movement as well, just to aid with the ventilation NATO straps are definitely the best when it comes to comfort in the heat, I just don't like how they feel when the get wet, and it's not exactly a secret that I don't like taking my watch off in water (probably a drowned industrial diver in a past life )