HauteHippie

Didn't get your PM, so I'll PM you.

Does anyone here have Adobe Illustrator (or I suppose Corel Draw would work) skills? If so, I could use some advice / help on a project. Thanks!!

Research the seller as best you can. Ask the seller if he/she is willing to sell use an escrow service.

You need to upgrade your membership to sell items, but not to browse items already posted for sale.

I agree that this movie was a bore. I disagree about Brosnan. He was a great Bond IMO.

EMS is an option, not a requirement. If you can live with regular airmail, then it's $40. I'll change the wording of the original post.

Good stuff Tribal. My wheel also arrived yesterday.

They can be coated, but they are not sapphire. I have an extra if you want it.

Talk about deeeeeeeeep rehaut!!! http://www.minutemachines.com/watches/Mara.../Marathon02.jpg

I have high hopes for the lacquer thinner. My only question is whether or not the crystal itself will survive. The coating company will reject a previously coated crystal and send it back uncoated. BTW, I've added a section to the original post about installing the coated crystals...

Guys, thanks for your kind words. As far as stripping goes: it's not black and white. I've read some accounts of people having success stripping AR of genuine watches with acetone, a rag, and a lot of elbow grease (read a lot of work). During the previous run, I did ask the coater to strip an existing coat off my Breitling Avenger Ti. Stripping is a service they offer. However, it was only partially successful. So I've now got a crystal that is ruined, however I'm going to try my own hand an finishing the job with lacquer thinner and/or naptha. We'll see what happens. Regarding paypal / moneybookers... The issue here is mainly that this form of payment will delay the run. Basically I take all the received bank checks to my bank and have them draft a single check made out to the coating company. So if you're paying by paypal, then I have to request a check from them (I don't let paypal have my real bank account # for electronic transfers), wait for it to arrive, and then take it into the bank with all the other checks. I did do this for a couple EU members last time, so am not totally opposed to it. But it isn't preferable. I understand it might be unavoidable. What about Western Union... Will they draft a check redeemable in the USA?

My newly double AR coated VCO should take me through the end of the week.... or at least until Thursday. :-) Other mods: C1 Superlume on dial and hands, cross transplant (both courtesy of The Zigmeister). Bracelet mods courtesy of flav.

AR Coating Reference Thread Many of you now know that a group of forum members recently sent off some of our watch crystals to a professional optics laboratory for anti-reflective coating. You can see pictures of the results in threads such as this one: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?s=&amp...st&p=217535 Here are a couple: Many people are now expressing interest in coating their own crystals and have sent me PMs, so I'd like to use this thread as a reference which contains everything I now know (and potentially alot more than you ever wanted to know) about AR, the process, the pricing, etc. Here it goes... The Coating Not all AR coatings are equal. The performance and durability of the coating can vary dramatically based on the type of coating and how it is applied. I have found an optical coating company that provides coatings for high end watch and sunglass manufacturers, and there are two viable options for coating watch crystals using their facilities: (A) A durable single layer coating that can be applied to one or both sides of a watch crystal. This coating is applied inside a vacuum chamber at temperatures of approximately 550 degrees F or 290 degrees C. Because of the extreme conditions in the chamber, we can not coat crystals with cyclopes attached double sided because the crystal glue will melt and most likely smear across the surface of the crystal (See Option B for coating crystals with cyclopes). The durability of this coating is derived from the high temperature at which it is applied and it meets US Military Specification MIL-C-675 for durability. MIL-C-675 specifies that the coating will not show degradation to the naked eye after 20 strokes with a rubber pumice eraser. MIL-C-675 coatings can be cleaned repeatedly and survive moderate to severe handling. They will not, however, resist scratches in the same way as uncoated sapphire. If you do not use common sense when cleaning the coated crystal, you CAN scratch the coating. The durable nature of this coating means that it will be extremely difficult, and possibly impossible to strip it off the crystal through an acid wash process. So once it is applied to a crystal, it's there to stay. ( A non-durable single layer coating that can be applied only to the inside surface of a watch crystal. This coating is applied inside a vacuum chamber at room temperature. The result is a coating which can NOT be touched or cleaned. Extreme care must be taken when handling and reinstalling the watch crystal. However, because this is a room temperature process, it should allow us to coat crystals with cyclopes attached. There is still a risk that a poorly installed cyclopes (for example one with air bubbles in the glue joint) could fail inside the vacuum, and that the cyclops might pop off. This coating can be stripped through an acid wash process. Both coatings used in A and B are the same chemically. So, both have a slightly bluish tint. Both provide <1% reflectance on the coated surface (compare to roughly 4% reflectance off an uncoated sapphire surface). The Machinery The crystals themselves must be secured inside the coating chamber in some fashion. For the durable high temperature coating this is done using two parallel straight rails that sandwich the crystal and secure it inside the machine. These rails have a small lip which rests on top of the surface being coated. The lip measures 0.035" or 0.8mm nominally. Because the rail lips must overlap the face of the crystal to secure it in place, there will be two small sections of the crystal 180 degrees apart which do not receive any coating. We'll call these uncoated sections "lip marks". Most lip marks will be a bit less than 0.035" because the coating company is able to clamp the crystals down slightly loose in the machine. This is the nature of the beast and is going to be the case at any coating company who performs high temp coating. The metal rails will expand and contract more than any other material at the high temperature. So without the lips, the rails would expand more than the crystals, and the crystals would come unclamped and probably be destroyed. For the non-durable single sided coating, we can avoid lip marks by requesting that the coating company use double stick tape to secure the crystals in the chamber. This tape would melt at high temperatures, so it is not an option for the double sided coating. Fixtures For Genuine Watches You might be wondering whether or not AR coated crystals on genuine watches have these lip marks. The answer is yes and no. To coat crystals for watch manufacturers, custom fixtures are designed. These custom fixtures are circular and completely surround the crystals, as opposed to the parallel rails that we need to use. The coefficients of expansion and contraction can be precisely determined since they're dealing with the same crystals over and over and over. Essentially they know much better what they're able to get away with, so therefore they are able to design crystal fixtures of precisely the right diameter and with lips of only about 0.025". The end result on a coated crystal for a genuine watch is that the lip mark encircles the entire crystal rather than being only at two sides 180 degrees apart as on ours. For anyone mechanically inclined, there is a patent opportunity in designing an adjustable radius circular fixture for coating watch crystals of variable size. ;-) Pictures Of Lip Marks Here are a few pictures of lip marks. In order to see them with the naked eye, you have to be looking at just the correct angle to see the coating. They are difficult to photograph, but here's what I've been able to capture. The red arrows point to the lip marks. The Process Because of there being a potential for mistakes by the coating company, we'll be separating AR Runs into two: (1) Double sided durable no-cyclops coating runs; and (2) Single sided non-durable cyclops or no-cyclops coating runs. Sign-up threads will be posted to the Repair and Upgrade section of the RWG forum. Once 20 commitments are made, I will assign numbers to each crystal. Then each participant of the AR run will send me (chieftang) the crystals labeled with the provided number, which side (or both) to be coated, their forum name, their real name and return address, and a cashier's check or money order (from a bank or US Post Office -- not a liquor store) for $40 USD per crystal. Once all the crystals are received, I will measure each one with dial calipers, package them individually with instructions for the coater, and ship them off. The coating process can take anywhere from 1-3 weeks, not including transit time to and from the coater. Once the coating is complete and I've received the coated crystals back from the coater, I will remeasure them to confirm that I return the right crystals to the right people, package them up and ship them back. Logistically speaking, it is probably a 6 week process from the time you ship until the time you receive a coated crystal. Unforeseen circumstances could alter this time frame. I will provide up to the day status at each phase of the project to all participants through PMs. AR Stripping I will not accept crystals that have an existing AR coat on them. If you wish to try stripping the light replica AR off a crystal that is up to you, but do not send me any crystals that still have existing AR remnants. I have successfully stripped a replica AR coat off a Seawolf Avenger Ti crystal. This wasn't what I'd call "light AR" - it was a deep blue color and fairly thick. But compared to the professional coating, it wasn't what I'd call good AR, either. In any event, here's what you need to strip an AR coating: Paint respirator ($20 link), Lacquer thinner ($6 link), Stripping gloves ($3 link), #0000 steel wool ($5 link). With the respirator on your face and gloves on your hands, simply apply the lacquer thinner directly to the crystal and to the steel wool pad, and then rub until the coating is gone. Be sure to check the edges and keep working at it until all remnants are gone. It shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes. You may have to wet the crystal and wool pad with more thinner a few times. Be forewarned that if your crystal is not sapphire, it could scratch. I think (but don't know for sure) that my crystal is mineral, however it did not scratch at all. Last but not least, be sure to properly dispose of any rags, steel wool, etc that you've soaked with lacquer thinner. Do not bunch them up and toss them in the trash - they can spontaneously ignite and cause a fire if you do this. Soak them in water and drape them over something outdoors to dry. I can't make any guarantees that this will work for everyone, but the ease at which it removed my coating makes me think it should work on most coatings. I also intend to get another sample from the AR company to try stripping using this method just to see if it can remove the Mil Spec coating or not. The Group Pricing The magic number of crystals needed to initiate a run is 20. Pricing is $40 per crystal. The $40 includes: The AR coating (single or double sided), the cost of unregistered air mail return shipping with delivery confirmation (delivery confirmation is only available in the US), the cost of shipping to and from the coating company, my time in unpackaging (twice), measuring (twice), repackaging (twice) all the crystals. Optionally, you may want to pay extra for the following: insured return shipping (+$3 per $100 of coverage), priority return shipping (+$5), registered return shipping (+$10 and up), international EMS shipping (+$30, the only way to obtain a tracking number for international shipments), etc. All prices are in USD. I will accept paypal payments for non-USA members who are unable to obtain bank cheques in US Dollars, but you will cover my paypal fees. You will also understand that the run will be delayed for a week to ten days while I wait for the check from paypal to arrive in the mail. The cost per crystal will be $42 USD if paying through paypal. You will also have to add an additional 3% to the cost of any shipping upgrades (express, priority, etc) as well. See examples. Examples: One crystal for coating to be return in US paid by check would cost: $40 USD Two crystals for coating to be returned to Canada via EMS paid by paypal would cost: $42x2 + $30x1.03 = $114.90 USD Three crystals for coating to be returned to EU via unregistered air mail paid by paypal would cost: $42x3 = $126 USD Installation Of Coated Crystals (A) If you're installing a double sided (durable) coated crystal, simply place a polishing cloth between your crystal press die and the crystal to prevent marring of the AR coat, and then press it into place. You can use a polishing cloth to wipe the interior suface clean prior to installing, if you feel this is necessary. Air should be good enough. ( If you're installing a single sided (non-durable) coated crystal, take extreme care to not touch the crystal with your hands prior to pressing it back in to place. Oils from your fingers will permanently ruin this coating, so use rubber gloves or finger cots to handle the crystal. Only hold the crystal at the edges. Do not touch the coated surface, even with gloves, a cloth, etc. Use only air to clean it. Be very careful when setting the crystal back into place and be sure that the coated surface doesn't rub against the watch. Disclaimers As with any modding project there are risks involved. All risk is borne by the individual participants and not by me. I am not responsible for any damage that occurs to any crystals during shipping, coating, or any other phase of this project. I am not responsible for any mistakes made by the coating company. Your satisfaction is not guaranteed. I've shown pictures of actual crystals that have undergone this coating process already. If you like what you see, feel free to participate in a future run. If you are unsure, then please do not participate. If you have any further questions, please ask.

There is the used watch section where you can find watches for sale within the US. But, really, customs seizures are rather rare....

Today I received my PAM GMT date wheel from Mark and my vintage Rollie wheel from ubi/archibald/kruzer. WOW!! Both look fantastic. Thanks again to these guys for heading up these tremendous projects!

Nice tip!

Congrats!!! How'd you finalize on the 111 vs. the 112 vs. the 005 ?

You pulled the trigger already? Sweet!! Bad move? No way. The sandwich dial is awesome.

Yea, that's why we need new date wheels - the incorrect font looks even worse when correctly magnified!!!

Mahler, you will want to find out what type of coating this optician applies. Most of the coatings applied by opticians are spin coats, which are not the same type of coating used on watches. They're less durable, and usually the color isn't right. FYI

Looks good. One thing with these cyclopes is that the new datewheels are now needed more than ever!! Thanks for showing off your new lens.

Ahhh, thanks bosk. I see mine does not have chronometer. I should have known to look for that. Oh well. Like I said, it was a cheap gamble.

As I suspected he would. Cartier has half a brain, then. Good.

No, the coating doesn't come off if it makes contact with water. In fact, it doesn't really come off at all. I'm not sure what you mean by fade. If you mean will the color fade, no. If you mean will the anti-reflective properties degrade, no. The color is not artificial or added, it is simply the color of the AR substrate. As far as durability goes, the coating we used meets military spec Mil-C-675 for durability. It can be touched, washed, etc. But it doesn't withstand abrasives like sapphire (or even mineral), so if you're not using common sense, then you CAN scratch it.