JSebWC

Brief update. I have gathered up all the parts required for my 1019 Miilguass build and they have been sent off to France to a Watch-smith to complete the build. I felt that attempting to broach the hand is outside of my pay grade and didnt want to mess it up. He even felt that it may be a challenge for him so I wouldnt have even stood a chance lol I will update you when I know more....fingers crossed !! photos for Inspiration.

Another shot of it on a vintage art piece I made ...

Great work RJ. Another masterpiece. [emoji471][emoji1303] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Guys....I am very happy with it and it is the grail of my collection..it was a journey that's for sure....but well worth it! I still consider myself a Noob.... stilll get nervous removing stems from movements not to mess up the key less.... I work with my hands but am used to working with larger scale stuff out of wood and metal so its another world with this watch hobby....as stressful as it is when you mess up parts or damage something, I still find working on them calming and relaxing .... anyway... I may work on the Brevet Crown today or maybe not....lol My 1675 PCG OCC dial is in good company with the 6542. I do enjoy both watches alot but there is something thats not quite right about the 1675 that I am not quite fond of. ....I think its the colors of the faded bezel insert in relation to the color of the lume. I think it would look better if the lume was lighter in colour to suit the bezel or the bezel needs to be faded alot more to suite the lume.... Its still a cracking piece that I wear alot...Its a Yodog build but Ive done a bit of clean up and fine tuning to it. The OCC dial is almost a fantasy 1675 build as I have looked into it, there is such a small number of these models like this in the wild. Thanks Nanug.

Well Fellas, It's done!! ...sorta The parts arrived earlier this week and I did a final assembly. Everything went together as planned and she is a stunner if I do say so myself!! I am quite happy with how it turned out!! I do plan on doing some fine tuning. The Brevet + crown still needs to more shaping to look the part...but I could not be happier with the dial and hands and how the bezel ties it all together with the case work. I think it really works on the Jubilee brace I finally now know what all the fuss is about with Gilt Dials....They are hypnotic and you catch yourself admiring it alot during the day and how the light plays off of it.. It is quite tricky to capture but I think I managed pretty well. Thoughts and opinions ?

Bart that thing is just Fantastic!! Great work!!

Bump the gmt is getting close to completion was doing some final case work in prep for the final assembly. had to order new hands and a longer pinion seconds hand as the hand set that I had was just wrong. final assembly of the movement dial and hands in progress and hope to have it assembled in the near future!! 1019 Project. After speaking with some other builders...it was brought to my attention that attempting to broach the rolex hands to fit an eta movement would be very difficult as there just may not be enough meat on the hands to go from 130- to -150 This lead me on a search for alternatives. I could not find any hands that resemble the Milgauss hands to fit an eta movement....so then I thought a little deeper....and look at movements. obvously getting a gen movement would make this all quite easy..dial and hands would fit perfectly, but to find a unmolested movement for under 2000 is a challenge...and if you do, it needs either parts or a service or both. So I started the task of referencing other watch movements to see what else is out there, that has the similar or same pinon sizes as a rolex. came across a cal 1336 ...searched ebay and found a NOS movement...which happens to be a Sandoz automatic. picked this up for the cost of your average DG and received it...runs well. the hour hand sizes are similar and will require a minimal amount of hand broaching. I had yet to find another brand that uses the same size hands as Rolex but this is as close as I got for $20.00 Ive read threads over the years about the Henry Sandoz watches and heard good things. Ive been tempted to pick up his explorer 1 homages a few times but they tend to go for a fair bit these days. Anyway. onward and upward chaps...things are progressing and I am quite happy about it. The name of this game is patience... Cheers

I believe Clarks is working on a t-38 ...should be out now or in the very future. Have you considered getting a standard acrylic crystal and sanding off the cyclops.? its not very difficult...just takes a steady hand and patience ..

A brief update. The 6542 is very near completion. I am getting excited! In other news. While I try and figure out the final steps of my 1019 build. I picked up a 2813 movement and hands to build. 6541 Bobby Allison in the meantime. Well I got it done on the weekend and it turned out good ... sorta.....until earlier this week. Then noticed the minute hand came loose. So I had to pull it apart and reinstall the hands. I'm doing so I broke the pinion on the movement for the seconds hand off in the seconds hands so now I need a new set of hands and a new movement. At least I got to take a few cool pics of it before destroying it. [emoji38][emoji95]☠️ *sigh*. Back to the drawing board. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I found them on eBay.cm. from Arizona User Findingking. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Parts arrived. The dial and hands fit nicely into the case. The aged lume looks the part. Very happy Just waiting on the movement and broach tool to arrive Now I am looking for a Milgauss faraday cage that someone might have in their parts bin?

Are you able to remove and take measurements? You should be able to find a replacement on cousins.co.uk it eBay. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nicely done brother. It looks great. I have found myself on a similar journey. After seeing your Milgauss 1019 build from years ago. I decided I wanted to build one also. After encountering the same problems you had with the dial size not fitting into the 1655 case i had I kept searching I sourced a Silix 6538 case that will fit the larger dials which solved that problem. Next was the bezel. JMB had worked his magic on the case and also fabricated a smooth bezel for a gen like fit over the crystal This is a work in progress as I am awaiting the arrival of parts to complete the build. The 41 seconds [emoji298]️️ hand won't fit the movement I have so I have one on the way. This case is going to be doing a double duty. I will use it for a 6541. Bobby Alison for now But I plan on completing my 1019 build with it once all those parts arrive as well. I will swap completed movements when I desire The next piece I want to work on it the faraday cage. And am looking for something that would be suitable for that use. Your builds are an inspiration to me and I so wanted to buy your 1019 prototype build but I was too late. This had forced me to build my own and I am learning so much about this hobby I look forward to seeing your progress pics. [emoji482] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

1675 PCG OCC dial Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

cool I checked my kit and I have a similar stone. I will give it a try again I appreciate your wealth of knowledge and experience. please post some more pics of your 42 for inspiration!! came across this video on broaching....I need to source these tools.

@JoeyB Awesome thanks for the advice. I will defiantly attempt the back...But when you used the dremel bit to do the front did you spin the crown and hold the bit in hand or vise versa? I just got a new dremel bit kit I will check to see if I have one similar? Thanks for your help brother!

Thanks for info Joey and thanks for getting these done with Ken. Very cool. Did you use a file of sandpaper hard to tell from the pic@JoeyB Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is great. Thanks for the details. I will mod my + crown to suit. [emoji1303] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Because this thread started off as a toss up between a Milgauss 1019 and the GMT. I might as well post an update on my 1019 build. Found a suitable solution for the case. This is. Silix 6538 sub case that has been modified by JMB. HE did a bit of machining work to the case to have more of a gen bezel fit and then he machined a bezel to fit the domed 6538 crystal and fit flush to the case like gen. the bezel is slightly thicker than gen but that is to keep the proportion correct of the bezel to crystal which to my eye looks good. Good enough for fhd girls I go with anyway. [emoji38][emoji1303] It's a 38mm case with the proper thickness and crystal fit. This case willl for the 29mm dial and has the flat case sides and drilled lugs. The proportions are good in this case but it needs some beveled lugs. I plan on attempting this soon. Yuki dial and hands are in transit . As well as a ETA movement. My next hurdle will be to fit the Rolex hands to the movement. There will be some broaching involved which I will need to watch some videos of tutorials on how to do. Anyone seen any how to vides on YouTube ? So this is where we sit until parts arrive. I am really enjoying this as a hobby. I spend more time thinking about it than my business most days. Haha. As always. Comments and suggestions are welcome. [emoji482] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A few updates on the builds. First off. 6542. Sourced a Brevet 6mm crown from raffles but the profile isn't right. It's too squared. Anyone else have a suggestion on a rep crown with the proper profile ? These caseback decals arrived last week. They will be the icing on the cake. Waiting on the dial and this build will be done. Getting stoked [emoji1316] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bit of an update: I have the movement and hands and they have been sent of to a secret location along with the 1655 dial to have it expertly converted to a 6542 gmt master dial by a modder friend who was kind enough to take on my dial project....now its waiting game...PATIENCE!! when it arrives back to me I will drop it in the case and the 6542 project will be done! I am looking forward to that day.!! Still wanting to build a 1019 I needed to find a case that would fit a 29mm dial. I had an old ali expresss explorer 2 laying around that I gutted and found that it would fit a 29mm dial so I started on that....shaved the cg and started to sand the bezel but lost steam cause the case is just wrong....lugs are not correct and need lugs drilled...crystal is wrong and would be a pain to find something that would look legit. But!! \ This week came across a FS parts thread from Modder SToneP and he was selling a 6541 case that he modded to fit a smooth bezel on NCRich and I discussed the possibility of this a while ago as he had experience with the case but wasnt sure it could be done easily Low and behold I made a deal with SToneP on the case set the 41 milgauss dial and assorted other parts and this will be the case for my 1019 project!! It has lugs drilled, proper size 38mm proper xtal and smooth bezel. a year ago I wanted to build a 41 with a smooth bezel but wasnt sure it could be done....SToneP also was on that vibe but he told me he has too much on his plate so he is passing it on. I can go either way now with my 41 or 1019 build but I think I will do the 1019 but having that option there is cool! Just gonna polish up the bezel and pick up a movement . The bevels on the lugs would be a nice touch as well but that will take some patience and practice. but it will happen. the one last hurdle that I am fearing is getting rolex sized 1580 mvmt hands to fit an eta movement. there will be some reaming and broaching needed and I just dunno if I am up for the task could anyone recommend a modder that could do that for me? Thats all for today folks will update you when I have the parts together and am ready to assemble for some eye candy!! Case set on the way. 6541 inspiration. damnit image of case wont load and when saved it wont upload to page..grrrrrrrrr

Great job....its a beauty!!

Well done. [emoji1303] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk