Revere

No problem, happy to help. It occasionally makes a small bit of noise but not to the point that I regularly notice it while on the wrist. The noise is mostly due to the fact that the 9015 rotor freewheels in one direction and winds in the other. There are "mods" that basically saturate the auto-wind mechanism in oil in order to keep them from being noisy. I really strongly recommend against that; that's a great way of ruining your movement, dial, and hands.

I can't really remember since it's been a few months since I ordered my 15400, but I think that is the AP 15400 JF V2. I think when I ordered mine that was the best one... So I'm pretty sure that one is good. On the wrist the thickness doesn't really bother me. The watch definitely benefits from a 2xAR crystal, I would say that's the only required mod to it. If you order, make sure you ask the dealer to get you one with straight indices, and don't hesitate to be stingy about it. I accepted one with a sliiiiightly crooked 6 o'clock marker and it bugs me a bit. Oh well. Crooked markers and logos are the biggest issues with these.

Was the movement modified to accept gen dial feet? I have a 6538 built with a dial by the Dark Lord. It's ticking with a 1030 inside but I'm looking to replace it with a modern low-beat ETA, if and only if I can find an ETA movt to drill to accept the dial feet. If anyone has any input here besides OP I would appreciate it! Thank you

I have had success holding the watch down on a case holder (or put double sided tape on the crystal and press it against a table carefully) and depressing the stem release with a screwdriver in one hand and tugging on the stem nub w/ the other hand using a pair of tweezers. Never had to disassemble anything to get a broken stem out as long as there's a nub showing. Otherwise, disassembly

A physics degree! I'm studying for the same. Diligent research as always.

I stand well corrected, thank you for sharing the info guys!

I thought the space-dwellers were exclusively matte dials with white print. I could be wrong since I have never looked very very deep into the space-dweller, but I've never come across a gilt example or even whispers of one.

If you would not mind checking the size of the dial, I would greatly appreciate it. There are a few diameters available and I would hate to buy an incorrect one. Pics are always welcome too thank you!

The dial on my 15400 V2 bugs me a bit. The 6" index is not straight and even after sending to a modder it didn't come back perfect. I'd like to replace it with a gen dial and likely relume the hands to match. RO dials are pretty readily available here and there. Does anyone know: 1) Is the JF v2 gen-spec for the dial aperture? 2) If so, what size dial does the 15400 take? Can I replace the dial with a gen of the same size by trimming the dial feet and attaching it? Thanks folks! I promise to share any knowledge that comes outta this.

I definitely have read through the guide a few times. I'm not really asking who has the best hands or what, I'm more asking why so many builds that go above-and-beyond for a few parts end up getting hands that are just so-so.

We have a lot of amazing builds on this forum. Anyone who has been around knows that these builds involve gen dials, gen-like dials, customized cases, etc... but every now and then a gorgeous watch is ruined (for me) by some inaccurate hands! Am I the only one that notices a lot of mercedes hands used on builds are often skinny, and too long? They look like someone left them out in the sun and they shrunk! This is especially noticeable on vintage builds. I lose track of which hands are guilty of this, but I believe yuki and maybe clarks do it. Definitely some raffles hands. I think stock MBW hands have this issue, and a lot of stock vintage reps as well. The reason I'm posting this isn't to crap on people who don't spring for gen hands or source some CWP hands; I rarely see the hand inaccuracies mentioned, so I want to know if I'm wrong, or if the build emphasis is just usually placed on getting good cases/dials etc Thanks for any input! edit: there is also one more hunch I have. I think the dimensions of the hands might be correct, but they might be curved rather than flat... but this does not apply to some later vintage watches

What a nice effect from taking the midcase down. How did you do this? On a lathe, maybe a milling machine?

Thanks for the information! I'll be following your lead. If you don't mind me asking, where did you source your case? Does it accept a 26.5mm dial?

Wait... the dial feet on a gen dial fit this movement?

Thank you mir! I believe the true fit is somewhere between the two minutes hands. Do you know where you sourced your case from?

HR only takes 26mm dials :/ Are there any modders here that could enlarge a dial aperture? I'll check out both the HR ETA hands and the Cartel 5517. I think I remember asking if the 5517 had the updated 5513 case as well, and can't remember if that had been decided..

Hey all, I'm finally putting together a 5517 using a Whoopy dial from a while back. The dial is 26.5mm wide. What ETA hands are best for this build? The dial has 26mm printing which I believe is like gen. I would guess that gen hands were on the order of 11.5mm long, and ~8mm long for the hour hand. If these hands have bone white lume, that would be a plus... Regarding the case: Do the updated Cartel cases take 26.5mm dials? I'm looking at Cartel cases because of the reasonable cost but am open to other suggestions. The lugs do not have to be pressed, I can swing that myself. Thanks!

Thank you Alligoat, slay and TheSociety. I would love to get to the bottom of whether or not calendar derivatives of the V72 fit in a V72 case. I will talk to one of my watchmaker friends who works on Daytonas often enough and see if he has any input on the topic. It would be amazing if we had community resources/funds to put towards getting answers like this. A knowledge slush fund so to speak edit: just scrolled up a bit and saw that we already have a confirmation that those movements fit. That's sweet! What's the best current-market option for a Daytona case? phong?

Can anyone advise as to what the differences are between the 727 and 72, and how that might affect a 62XX series build?

I got my 1030 for $1300 two years ago. It was "recently serviced" but there's no way that's the case, because the amplitude of the balance is way low, and the isochronism sucks too. The hairspring is probably out of plane, and the mainspring is probably fatigued. Recently serviced can be untrue sometimes. Either way, I got a good deal, so I'm not super upset about it.

Well the 16710 rep you have probably has a date wheel overlay to correct for the fact that the ETA movt likely does not match the date aperture on the dial. The 16710 and 16750 dials have the date aperture in the same location, I believe, so if the date works for the 16710 it should work for the 16750. Otherwise, a different date wheel overlay is in order.

I'm looking to get a 7206 bracelet for my 6538 build. It seems like his 7206 is as good as you can get before shelling out a few thousand for the gen. I know it doesn't take 2 mm springbars but I remember reading here (I believe it was our own Nanuq?) saying that you can just force those endlinks open to take the 2 mm spring bar.

You may be able to fix the defect at 4 with incredibly careful application of a little-nothing'th of isopropyl alcohol on a pointed cone-shaped lint-free QTips. Very specific, but I have had some success in removing varnish like that

A lot of these CNC hubs work only in three axes. The majority (almost all, except for dirt cheap asian watches) of watches require casework in more than three axes. In addition, many cases require custom tooling beyond standard bits/reams/end mills you can outfit on a tool-switching CNC mill. 3D scanned or otherwise, the best you can hope for is 3 axes worth of finishing before you have to get into custom jigs, custom tooling, and custom processes. I would bet that Phong & co already CNC the primary shape of their cases, or stamp them, and then hand finish as best they can (because the real cost comes in the custom jigs etc).

That's a little tougher if you don't have the right equipment!