foxindebox

3 hours ago, Mike on a bike said:

Fox, maybe they just read you do not have to be a member here to read most areas. Could be could not but we as mods choose not to pursue it further at this time if we did it would be done quietly behind the scenes in RWGcc style no witch hunts and we ain't starting one now.

 

That is true Mike, good point. And I’m not looking to start or participate in a Witch Hunt (God knows, life is to short for that). I just wouldn’t want anyone getting the wrong impression about how people are treated next door.

I’ve been lucky enough to be a member there since 2012 and have never had any bad dealings with anyone (I even managed to never get a hard time from Baldrick, which was a feat in itself). I treat others how I expect to be treated, according to how I have behaved or have been perceived to behave. I take both your (and Nanuq’s) rebuke on the chin if you believe I have acted or spoken out of turn (I am big, old and ugly enough to take responsibility for myself and answer accordingly). 

It can be a little rough at .bz but we look after each other and if someone or something walks like a duck, quacks like a duck... it’s usually a duck...

Anyway gentlemen, thanks and have a good week ahead.

On 09/11/2017 at 9:40 PM, tyrantblade said:

I been banned on 2 of the other rep forums, and i dont miss them at all.

 

I do know what they been up to on .bz though since they like to laugh it up at people they know arent on their forums to be able to stand up for themselves.

So you’ve been banned but still know what’s going on? Sock account?

Great dealer is Mary!

I've bought many watches from her with ZERO hassle. Fantastic customer service.

I use the same way, but I start with wet sandpaper grade 800/1000 then 1500 and final with 2000 (or even a 2500 spounge disc).

Finally I use a profesisonal car polish (fine grain).

 

Very important (that you haven't mentioned) is to protect with tape the rest of the case, especially if it is plated.

Very true, taping up is a must

Thanks, here is another picture that may show the result a little more clearly.

Hi Everyone,

I just thought I would post a quick guide as to how I restore my scratched Plexi Crystals, I use 4 different materials to do this and they are: -

Wet and Dry Sandpaper (Four different grades ranging from Medium Coarse to Fine which I pre cut into squares and staple together for ease of use).

Water (Lots and lots)

Cotton Wool

And most importantly, a great product called Polywatch (Available online, eBay, and Amazon etc).

So here is an old Smiths watch I am going to restore. As you can see, the Crystal looks pretty bad with scratches and some deep gouges.

Firstly I use the coarsest grade paper and PLENTY of water and rub the crystal down until it is smooth and there are no deep gouges left. It will look scratched and cloudy, but DONT panic!

So onto the next grade down. The crystal will feel a lot smoother after this pass and the clouding will look less "scratchy".

OK, so now onto the next grade down. Again, the clouding will remain but look a bit less "scratchy".

Now onto the final grade paper. This is just to smooth things out further.

Looks even worse than when we started eh? Not to worry, now we grab our Cotton Wool and Polywatch.

All we need to do now is put a small drop onto the Crystal and work it round and round for a minute using a little pressure as we go.

We can do this a couple of times until finally, the Crystal looks clear and shiny.

I hope you find this helpful and spend a lot less on new Plexi's

Lovely movement and dial.

 

Is that a bit of water staining around the crown / keyless mechanism? Obviously not corrosion otherwise wouldn't be working so well.

 

Enjoy it!

I think so, didn't look like corrosion though. The guy who did the service didn't mention it and he's as good as gold. If it was going to cause a problem, he would have got in touch before completing the work.

Hi everyone,

Here are some more pictures from the service. I've got the watch back now, so will post some more pictures with a strap on (ooh err missus).

Lots of bits and pieces.

Balance is in.

Train is back together.

Dial and hands back on.

Back in the case with the new casing ring.

Not bad for a 50-60 year old movement.

Finally, a couple of pictures with a mesh strap fitted. I'm not sure about it though.... I've got a brown croc Hirsch strap that I'm going to try.

I'm going to dig out my SLR and take a few proper pictures. I'll post them when I'm done.

That's all for now

Just thought I'd post an update to this thread.

One of the issues I had with this build was that here was no casing ring with the movement. I used a plastic one and it did the job, but I was not satisfied. Also the crown was not the right one for the case I bought. I didn't mind an unsigned crown, but I had no idea which one would fit.

So, I decided to send it off to a watchmaker I had used before and trusted implicitly. Christian Danneman (watch guy.co.uk) is a great guy and very reasonable so I sent the watch to him for a casing ring to be made, a new crown and tube fitted and a complete service (I had cleaned and oiled the watch myself, but am in no way up to his standards).

I've not yet had the watch back, but here are the work in progress pictures he sent (which are regularly updated).

There will be more pictures to follow when he job is completed. I highly recommend Christian for any work on Gen watches (unfortunately he does not work on reps).

These pictures are posted with permission from watchguy.co.uk

That is a lovely watch, stunning

I'm waiting on a blue dial Miyota 15400 and am having to settle for vicarious pleasure through other peoples thread pictures at the moment ....

Thanks once again to all of you for all of your kind comments. I have a black version of the same strap due to arrive soon and I'm going to try the same thing again to see if that looks even closer to the Gen strap. I'll put up some comparison pictures when it's done.

Definitely mate. It's really easy, just needs patience and a few cups of tea to steady the nerves before ripping out the old thread (or any other nerve-steadying beverage of your choice )

One question from me: is it cotton or nylon or... ?

Thanks ;-)

Just plain old cotton thread, with a little wax rubbed in by myself

Very nice, looks damn near perfect. Now you just need the clasp. Hopefully that will be coming soon from what I have seen. Already available non branded on the Parnis homages.

I know.... I Will be grabbing it a soon as I see one. I almost considered buying the Parnis, but that's an expensive clasp

Thanks again everyone

Thanks for the kind words everyone, much appreciated

Hi Everyone,

I've just finished my latest project, which was to learn how to restitch a leather strap (i.e. change the thread colour).

I have a Brown Bomber strap from "Strapped for time" fitted to my Black Bay, but just couldn't get past the white stitching (here is a picture from their site)

As we all probably know, this is one of the best options for a strap that is close to Gen. Unfortunately the white thread is not.... So it had to go!

So first I did my reading online and found out how to saddle stitch with two needles. Then I gathered my stuff (needles, thread, pliers, wax and my mate Stanley.....)

Note that I have already unpicked the original stitching and removed the hardware from my strap.

Then, I set up my table vice to hold the strap whilst I merrily stitched away

So, I cut a suitable length of thread and threaded a needle on either end (I had already applied some wax to the thread beforehand).

So off I went, starting with the end loops or whatever they are correctly called (I'm sure one of the real strap makers here can enlighten me!), and stitched using the existing holes, one needle in one way and then the other from the other side.

Until finally.......

And a last picture on the watch itself

I'm really pleased with the outcome and happy to have learned a new skill. Next step is to learn how to make the whole strap myself

Hope you like it!

Thanks very much guys

Well here we go...

The dial came back today and I think it looks lovely

I popped the hands back on

And into the case she went. There are still a few bits n bobs that need sorting (such the crown and strap), but I am over the moon with the result and just had to pop it on a strap to try it on.

Anyway, I hope you all like it! More pictures to come when it's finally finished.

Nice project! Vintage jlc is a hole I need to fill in my collection.

How much does the dial restoration from those guys run? Been thinking about one for my Heuer, but there is what looks to be a nos one on the bay for around £170.

The restoration runs to a VERY reasonable £65. Can't wait to see how it turns out, I'm really excited to get cracking with putting this all together.

A mesh strap! or steel bracelett

Mmm.....Mesh..... I like it!!

Thanks very much for all of your kind comments and interest.

I have had the movement for about six months now and have been hunting high and low for a suitable case. When I found this one (on this board care of rolojack) I jumped at the chance to get it.

Luckily enough the dial and movement fitted perfectly, and so now I am currently trying to source a suitable crown (preferably JLC signed), whilst waiting for the dial to come back. The only problem I can foresee is that I'm not entirely sure what type of crown I need to get. There is no tube or thread so that rules out a screw down, similarly there are no o rings inside the case which I think rules out a crown with a tube attached. The only conclusion I can come to is that a vintage dustproof crown might be the one I need.

Then.... What type of strap to go for? Hmmmmm any ideas chaps?

Right, here are some movement and case pictures. Not the best pictures I'm afraid due to limits of my iphone

And now for the case which was bought on an M2M sale for €30, which is good value for period LeCoultre

That's it for now

Thanks, What a beautiful watch you have there!

Hi everyone,

I've just started work on my vintage Jaeger Lecoultre franken and thought I'd share my progress with anyone who is interested.

Firstly I have sourced a mid sixties JLC K800c manual wind movement, complete with dial and hands from eBay (if I remember rightly, it cost about £70). It is in very good working condition and keeps time well (although not accurately measured as yet).

I have decided to get the dial restored, so removed it and posted it off to D R Bill and Sons, who by all accounts are very good. I did want the dial to be more of a silver colour instead of the current "champagne" it should be. Hopefully, it should look good with the case I have sourced (more of that in the next post).

Anyway, here are some more pictures I took when removing the dial to send away.

So, that's all for now...... Plenty more to come.

All sorted!!! Thanks very much GenTLe, was as easy as switching the router off and back on again. I checked the IP addresses as you suggested and hey presto, got a different one when the router booted up again.

Thanks again got the info, much appreciated

Sorry for the bad language, should have said "bottom".....