jigelow

Managed to get the tube the rest of the way in by countersinking it a bit more. Even thought 98% of the time I'll never notice that it's a gen 700, it makes me happy, and isn't that what this hobby is all about. Besides, my Athaya crown and tube has been in San Francisco customs for a week.

I bought a new retainer off eBay from watchman. It's clearly different than the MQ retainer. It's much thicker; however, it doesn't have the angle where the bezel locks in that the MQ retainer has. I sanded the inner diameter of the watchman so it fit over the crystal and sanded the outer diameter so the bezel fit. I suspect if I went too far, it just wouldn't stay on at all. As it stands, the bezel is pretty immobile. I'll probably leave it as is for now. I never use the bezel on my 16610 or 7016, so I probably won't miss it. We'll see how anal I'll end up with it. 

I've managed to slightly age the hands, but I'm wanting a bit more. Anyone have any tips for chemicals? @slay @Bart Cordell? I've tried various mixes of salt water, vinegar, mineral oil, soda, bleach, gun cleaner. I'm going to be making my own non-luminous lume, but I don't think I could stand some super-shiny gold hands.

This sucks. Was there blowback because of this incident?

On 3/22/2017 at 1:16 PM, BimmerLover said:

I have had several 24-700 gen crown installed on sone of my builds and the stem size is always 0.9 so dont worry ;-)

Thanks! You're right. Stem screwed right in. 

Another bonus  is is the crown screwed right on the tube on the case. Not sure if that means there's already an Adrian or gen tube or if a standard Vietnam tube would take a gen crown. 

Regardless, the tube isn't countersunk enough to get the crow close enough to the midcase. It's not terrible, but small details like that drive me nuts. I'll attempt to drill a countersink this weekend. 

Nice. Now we just have to find a second one for me.

So I have an Athaya crown and tube coming, but in waiting I ran across a gen 700 I couldn't say no to. In reading, it appears the stem for this should be 1.1mm and the ETA I have is .9mm. I've seen some adapters, but the closest I found was .9-1.2 on Ofrei. What have you guys used to adapt the ETA stem for a 700 crown?

Sounds awesome, but I've never seen them. 2012 is right about when I started getting in to things, so maybe they were more prevalent back then. 

702 is different than 700 (twinlock) or 703. If you look at a 702 tube, you'll see that the threads don't start all the way at the outside. 

With that said, I'm not familiar with Adrian's 702 crown and if it's an exact rep inside and out. Someone more wise can probably speak to that. 

3 hours ago, alligoat said:

I'm thinking the same thing- stem is too long or too short- I just don't know which it is, but my guess is too long since I have a 5513 rep with the a21j movt. and the short stem just makes it hard to wind- the crown engages with the tube too soon when winding.

Yeah. Too short wouldn't make it go backwards. I would guess too long and the pressure is causing it. 

Just now, jackflash said:

Hopefully you won't need to do that. Have you tried the assembly together with the crystal on the midcase yet?

Yeah. All the examples I have given were assembled. The retainer fits perfect on the midcase/crystal assembly. Just snug enough that I need the press for the final 1/2 until it's all the way on. 

Did the bend in the tension spring and was still loose. What I did then was bent a tension spring like in you picture @jackflash and put it against the retainer. I then put another, unbent retainer on top of that and popped on the bezel. Seems much more snug. I may try putting a third spring in, but I need to order some more as I pulled the second from my Snowflake. 

So I got the bezel assembly from MQ, which is pretty good service since the money hasn't even been picked up from Western Union.

The bezel is pretty loose on the retainer. I know that loose or tight is fairly common. I know what to do for too tight, but too loose, like I could easily lose it too loose...do I just try the fishing line/dental floss trick? Any other tips?

22 hours ago, panerai153 said:

I'm with sogeha, what one likes, dislikes is a very personal decision. For the life of me, I can't see why folks poll others about what they should purchase. I suppose I have always been pretty independent and also the reason I tell my wife, don't buy clothes for me that you "think" I will like. Ask me first and I will give you a list!!

In my experience, including my "poll" posts around decisions or purchases, I usually already know, but am trying to rationalize it. In a few cases, however, I am truly at an impasse. 

I don't find that the ceramics have any soul. They may in years down the road, but I feel more drawn to a Squale than a new Sub. 16610 and 16600  were the last of the classics in my eyes. I'm more drawn to the Tudor Heritage line than I am the new Rollies. 

1 hour ago, Sogeha said:

Probably about the same, my left wrist is 6 1/2 inches, my right 6 3/4

Whoops! I meant less than 6.5. Regardless, I think I could pull it off with a bracelet. Straps and natos seem to drift off center on my wrist and it's then that the >50mm lug-to-lug starts rearing it's ugly head (no pun intended) over the edge of my wrist.

You can see how even a Sub can drift on my wrist a bit.

8 minutes ago, Sogeha said:

I've had a black bay for a couple of years and I have girlie wrists. I find that it is quite chunky and stands tall, but the diameter is not a problem

How girly? I know I'm >6.5". I wore a PAM 177 for a while without issue and a Steinhart O1V, although I couldn't get it to sit right on a strap or NATO. 

Still waiting to be collected. Lonely. Sent MQ my cell phone number. No response. Sent a follow up. No response. 

Am I able to claw back the transfer minus the fee or does it just sit in limbo? How long do I wait?

5 hours ago, martijnp said:

Black Bay

 

 

 

How big is your wrist. I'm lusting after the Black Bay black on rivet, but I'm afraid my wrist may be too small. 

Money's still sitting there uncollected. :/

Yeah. They still have (or maybe up until recently had) the speed master reduced. Even most of the Tag Heuers with seconds at three used a variant of the 2894. There has to be someone out there that does them. 

Anyone know why MQ would want my cell phone number? 

Well, I sent money last night. The suspense for a reply is killing me.

I've got the rest of the parts coming in from various places around the world, so that may take a while.

I have an idea for the dial, but need to test it. Anyone have a garbage dial lying around? Doesn't have to be a Rolex, just has to have a bit of the finish left on it. 

Looks good. Let's see the crown side!

Does quick reply work for you?

5 hours ago, ceejay said:

Just been watching the assembly videos of this movement. I've done plenty of 7750's but this looks like a whole new world of pain!

 

Good luck!

Thats what I've heard.

Let me know if you guys know any watchsmiths that are more masochistic than normal. 

Anyone know someone stateside that's comfortable taking one of these on? I've read some say that they just replace the Dubois Depraz chrono module when servicing and I've read others say that any watchmaker that can do a 7750 can do one of these.

Eitherway, chronos are outside my realm of comfort right now, since I've only done 2824s and 3135s. 

Anyone know someone that I can reach out to? I'm missing wearing my Gevril Tribeca.