JSebWC

A brief update : I had the pleasure of building another commando for a forum member next door. This time I got to experience the mochacha dial first hand. GEN PARTS USED: 5500 case set 6mm crown folded link bracelet / end links crystal Other parts: Clone 2824-2 raffles movement holder - modified ofrie handset raffles DJ second hand Overall Dial impressions. Good quality quite accurate nice lume work and has a nice puffy appearance. 2 criticisms on the dial the paint is quite delicate compared to dials offered from yuki or raffles . the very outside edge of the dial chipped quite easily which was a bit of a disappointment It can not be seen when assembled but I expected slightly better for $400 dial the dial plate was slightly smaller and although it fit the case , it just barely did. I had forgot to measure the dial or opening. I was just glad I was able to make it work overall the dial is the closest there is to a gen example. He is now asking over $500 for the dial which I would say is where I draw the line If you must have one then yes but these doubled in price just over a year later is a bit much . ( I found out about them and this option just after I finished my build and considered ordering it as a replacement) but didnt. and probably wont . wish I did when it was sup $300 Here is the finished project . Overall I am very happy with how this build worked out. It was nice being able to see the mochacha dial first hand and work with it. The service from them was good and fast. Good communication and fast shipping . I would recommend them.

As far as I know there , JMB gets his cases from Raffles and they do offer a 2836 as well as a 2824 I assume the difference is in the crown height? I would reach out to raffles and ask the difference. I'veyah always bought the 2824 cases. The ver 1 case that I used is a standard case which he shapes the lugs and drills the lugs through at the factory location the ver 2 is done at the proper gen location

@madasboot Thanks for the reply Yes I used a translucent "candy" airbrush paint and dilute it. they are water based paints. and then used the dry detail paints to age the rest of the dial slightly. on the wrist it is alot more subtle, I blame the photo editor app that I tried tweaking the lighting in . its not as drastic irl I agree that your example is a watch that sat for ages in one spot. were my tudor has a bit more wear around the center mine had been stopped a few times it appear but it created a larger burn pattern and thought it was unique almost like a star burst of sorts due to the pointed hands .. Here are a few more examples that inspired this attempt Is it age, water damage, uv damage, radium burns or a combination of all 4 in a 50+ year old watch I like the look . especially on the last example the 6610 you can see where the paint had faded away and its in line with the sweep of the hands . or it might be lighting

I just did a quick copy paste from my post next door couldn't get rid of the highlighting unfortunately Most are here for the pics tho.

Been really diggin the 6610 lately and wanted to whip one together from the parts bin Aged Raffles dial - its the SCOC which is more accurate for an early 1016 if only they would do a OCC dial It does the job but once you experience gilt dials... these just dont cut it. I would really like to source a 6610 gilt dial for this project. JMB 1 case set spray painted the seconds hand and then aged it and it looks legit aged the hands and did a quick assembly. its a cool piece and have been wearing it for about 2 weeks but until I find a suitable dial I plan on using the case set for the albino build that I made a post about. as always comments and questions welcome

Putting together a parts order the other day for a few projects and came across the albino dial that raffles offers for the 1016 add to cart and it arrived at my door. was initially concerned about the lume colour - from the site as it looks very yellow but when it arrived it was a decent workable colour. decided it looked too new out of the box so I added some patina with some some dry brushing techniques using air brush translucent paint and some dry brush paints from tamiya Wanted to give it the radium burn appearance that my Tudor 7909 has the hands aren't a perfect match but within the realm of possibility . Have been inspired by what seems the springing up of 6610 albinos in the gen community lately. Since there is no rep dial available the 1016 would have to do. This is the Ruby dial I considered it but for some reason my eyes dont like the color of the lume on the dial it looks pinkish to me. that and its 10x the price of the raffles. The raffles dial does have an outline around the 369 similar to a 6610 where the ruby doesn't have it..but its not a dealbreaker for me considering these are like hens teeth in the wild and its a supposed prototype print testing on a blank so its plausible there was some variety in the samples The numerals are similar in shape . still need a few tweaks but overall I am happy with how it turned out. The printing on the dial is very well done I really like it. I'm still undecided if I like the radium burn on the dial I may remove it or redo it. probably should just leave it alone .. Thanks for looking ! Comments and questions welcome.

Big Rose

I think I have achieved passable results on my 5500 build. perhaps a bit much but I wanted to give it a well worn look with a gloss dial and gilt hands.. the contrast between the two is what does it for me. I use plyers , green scrub pad , fine sand paper and then a light buff with dremmel and paste

Raffles dials has added a no date ranger to their offerings. I just recently finished a build with a some help from the decal dial thread on RWI Mondonero created this small rose dial for me with gilt minute track. I cant be happier with the results!! \ Also a hand made 7205 rivet bracelet in 19mm to complete the build. this was commissioned by another builder on rwi It hasnt left my wrist in weeks.

I commissioned a member of the community to construct a 19mm 7205 Rivet bracelet and it arrived yesterday He did a great job and the look and feel is great and it compliments the Ranger nicely!! Having 7.5" wrists , finding a gen spec rivet bracelet is hard. Most if not all of the gen bracelets have a max of 12-13 links where I like to wear mine a bit loose and need 15 links. not to mention that the price of these bracelets have increased significantly with some complete pieces are on ebay for big money. The icing on the case will be to find a gen clasp for it which will likely cost me....but it will be worth it as it will pair nicely with a number of my 34mm in my collection. With the smooth clasp it looks like a gay freres . I would say his workmanship is impressive. handling a viet rivet bracelet I would say that it is on par or if in fact nicer than any I have seen . Time and attention to detain are evident. Especially with the stamping Thanks again buluth I truly appreciate you work!

Agreed with Rolojack on the vintage watches. Those are created by the truly obsessive. However its not the brands that have an issue ..its the second hand vintage dealers that have the issue with aftermarket and rep parts..since vintage watches are a minefield and you really need to know your stuff to spot a franken piece. I find that the rep community in most cases has a sharper eye to sus watches as we obsess over the details more than most gen owners do

The infamous Tudor Ranger.. like the 5500 Explorer a minefield of questions and doubt in the gen market. Many shy away from them as so many are franken , but every once in a while you come across one that appears to be legit and unmolested , they generally fetch a premium. Ebay was filled with Red Rangers and many poor redials from asia that were so very wrong but were selling for $1500-$2500 + but the red flags were too hard to ignore. What better way to know what your getting than to build one yourself! This journey started almost 2 years ago when i set out to build a 34mm ranger. The best dial option at the time was the Yuki ranger shield dial. So I went with that along with the Raffles case set, hands , eta movement and domed crystal I built this watch as a birthday gift for myself and I took it on a trip out to Arizona where I was celebrating my birthday with some family friends. ( vacationing . I remember we used to do that) Anyway this was how it started. JMB was kind enough to engrave me a proper caseback for the build. which was icing on the cake. I wore it for a while and enjoyed it but then you start noticing things that aren't correct about the dial and the watch starts to lose its appeal so in the watch box it sat. Finding a correct dial was always on my todo list so I reached out to manodeoro to see if he would be up to the challenge of creating a decal dial . After some discussion and sharing images of what I was after, he went to work creating the file. The 7995 is an earlier small rose version of the ranger and the most coveted . These are complex as they have a gilt minute track and T SWISS T but the rest of the print is in white. It took him a few tries to nail it but he nailed it!! It turned out beautiful The dial made it here in record time from France. .to arrive in my mailbox in about a week. So I went to work. The embossed appearance of the text and the negative relive gilt in one dial....crisp details and that satin flat black appearance sans film makes this dial look soo legit I asked him to leave the lume as off white as possible as I was intending to age the dial lume to match my hand set. it took a few attempts but I think I hit it and gave the hands an equally vintage appearance as the dial After a few tweeks I cased it back up to get my first look. YES PLEASE!! So I have to take some better pics to showcase this beauty and the current favorite of my collection. This will most likely end up being my summer 21 watch. 34mm gets a bad rap but it is one of the most comfortable watches . light on the wrist, especially in the summer heat and does not draw a lot of attention to itself. Pictured here with my Gen 7909 Tudor Those that know , know the significance of this model and its use in the BNGE in the early 50's I found this watch earlier this year and got it for a fair price. It was recently serviced, new crystal and appears to be all original, including crown . You can see the lineage of the 7909 and how it was carried into the Ranger line into the 60's The almond tone of the dial with the radium burns really give this watch alot of visual interest. Also shown with my 6429 commando another favorite of my collection. Less is more and the commando owns that motto! hand wind 3 hander , simple yet unique enough My collection is starting to get 34mm heavy which is really odd for a guy with 7.5" wrists but once you get used to them, its all you ever want to wear. The 34mm oysters are underappreciated by alot of people but I think they are a hidden gem Big Thanks to JMB and Manodeoro for sharing their skills and talents with me so that I can add a few very rare and unique pieces to my collection. I couldn't be happier! As always, comments and criticism welcome. Thanks for looking

The infamous Tudor Ranger.. like the 5500 Explorer a minefield of questions and doubt in the gen market. Many shy away from them as so many are franken , but every once in a while you come across one that appears to be legit and unmolested , they generally fetch a premium. Ebay was filled with Red Rangers and many poor redials from asia that were so very wrong but were selling for $1500-$2500 + but the red flags were too hard to ignore. What better way to know what your getting than to build one yourself! This journey started almost 2 years ago when i set out to build a 34mm ranger. The best dial option at the time was the Yuki ranger shield dial. So I went with that along with the Raffles case set, hands , eta movement and domed crystal I built this watch as a birthday gift for myself and I took it on a trip out to Arizona where I was celebrating my birthday with some family friends. ( vacationing . I remember we used to do that) Anyway this was how it started. [url=https://clickpix.org/image/ZgkkgL][img]https://clickpix.org/images/ZgkkgL.jpg[/img][/url] JMB was kind enough to engrave me a proper caseback for the build. which was icing on the cake. [url=https://clickpix.org/image/Zgk4mR][img]https://clickpix.org/images/Zgk4mR.jpg[/img][/url] I wore it for a while and enjoyed it but then you start noticing things that aren't correct about the dial and the watch starts to lose its appeal so in the watch box it sat. Finding a correct dial was always on my todo list so I reached out to manodeoro to see if he would be up to the challenge of creating a decal dial . After some discussion and sharing images of what I was after, he went to work creating the file. The 7995 is an earlier small rose version of the ranger and the most coveted . These are complex as they have a gilt minute track and T SWISS T but the rest of the print is in white. It took him a few tries to nail it but he nailed it!! It turned out beautiful The dial made it here in record time from France. .to arrive in my mailbox in about a week. So I went to work. The embossed appearance of the text and the negative relive gilt in one dial....crisp details and that satin flat black appearance sans film makes this dial look soo legit [url=https://clickpix.org/image/ZgkMP8][img]https://clickpix.org/images/ZgkMP8.jpg[/img][/url] I asked him to leave the lume as off white as possible as I was intending to age the dial lume to match my hand set. it took a few attempts but I think I hit it and gave the hands an equally vintage appearance as the dial [url=https://clickpix.org/image/Zgks0K][img]https://clickpix.org/images/Zgks0K.jpg[/img][/url] After a few tweeks I cased it back up to get my first look. [url=https://clickpix.org/image/Zgkvev][img]https://clickpix.org/images/Zgkvev.jpg[/img][/url] YES PLEASE!! So I have to take some better pics to showcase this beauty and the current favorite of my collection. This will most likely end up being my summer 21 watch. 34mm gets a bad rap but it is one of the most comfortable watches . light on the wrist, especially in the summer heat and does not draw a lot of attention to itself. Pictured here with my Gen 7909 Tudor Those that know , know the significance of this model and its use in the BNGE in the early 50's I found this watch earlier this year and got it for a fair price. It was recently serviced, new crystal and appears to be all original, including crown . You can see the lineage of the 7909 and how it was carried into the Ranger line into the 60's The almond tone of the dial with the radium burns really give this watch alot of visual interest. [url=https://clickpix.org/image/Zgk7t1][img]https://clickpix.org/images/Zgk7t1.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://clickpix.org/image/ZgkENj][img]https://clickpix.org/images/ZgkENj.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://clickpix.org/image/Zgkf1I][img]https://clickpix.org/images/Zgkf1I.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://clickpix.org/image/ZgkRH4][img]https://clickpix.org/images/ZgkRH4.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://clickpix.org/image/ZgkF4c][img]https://clickpix.org/images/ZgkF4c.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://clickpix.org/image/ZgkGgX][img]https://clickpix.org/images/ZgkGgX.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://clickpix.org/image/Zgk0oi][img]https://clickpix.org/images/Zgk0oi.jpg[/img][/url] Also shown with my 6429 commando another favorite of my collection. Less is more and the commando owns that motto! hand wind 3 hander , simple yet unique enough My collection is starting to get 34mm heavy which is really odd for a guy with 7.5" wrists but once you get used to them, its all you ever want to wear. The 34mm oysters are underappreciated by alot of people but I think they are a hidden gem Big Thanks to JMB and Manodeoro for sharing their skills and talents with me so that I can add a few very rare and unique pieces to my collection. I couldn't be happier! As always, comments and criticism welcome. Thanks for looking

Nice job!! night and day difference!! Ruby dial?

Was commissioned on another site by a member to build a space dweller 1016 The ingredients. Raffles explorer case. modified bezel to accept dommed t22 crystal aged case Ruby Space Dweller dial with some slight aging details. Ebay hands set , aged to match dial Eta 2824 clone. The results.

Nice one! Specs >?

Rolex 5500 Explorer. A few weeks back , while buying parts for some other builds I was working on, I decided to add a 5500 dial to my order as I have yet to add one to my collection of explorers. Parts arrive and I went to work. Dial In the Gen world, this is one of the ultra rare double t<25 stamped underline dial with gilt text and gloss finish. I first aged the lume some as it just looks too perfect out of the box. After all this watch was available in the late 50s to mid 60s . Hands: originally threw some generic merc hand set on there but wasn't feeling the hour hand. I had used the second hand for another project so for this build I used a dj style seconds hand and i liked the look ...but quickly tired of them and replaced them with a set from raffles time. I had a domed crystal on the case set but it took away from the appearance of the watch. made it feel much smaller and just wasn't feelin it on this build for some reason so I swapped it for a 25-12 clarks crystal . The clarks crystal gives the watch a bigger appearance and allows clearer view and really showcases the dial compared to the domed crystal. I have a preference for the domed crystal but the 25-12 just works for this build more so in my eyes. (with domed crystal and generic hands ) I settled on hands from Raffles , which I aged appropriately to achieve the vintage look and match the lume of the dial . Truthfully the lume is darker than what I was after but the pumpkin orange tone of the lume compliments the gold hands and text and it gives the watch a warm vintage feel. I went with the display case back as it is more rolex like and resolved the display window with a service sticker mounted on the inside of the caseback. This prevents the decal from getting damaged and peeling with use. I pushed it with the aging process of the case set. I tried out a few new techniques to achieve the aged appearance and I am quite happy with the results. I feel that it gives the watch a realistic well used look without looking deliberate. Eta 2824 clone movement. I've had good luck with the clones for half the price of Gen and they beat slightly slower than Gen ETAs. Bracelet is a Raffles 19mm rivet , which I aged similar to the case and complete the build . The result.: a great vintage piece with wrist presence that offers details that the other ref in the explorer line doesn't. As always comments and criticism welcome. I may be tempted to build more of these or sell this one on if anyone is interested. but in the meantime I am enjoying it. Thanks for looking.

Rolex 5500 Explorer. A few weeks back , while buying parts for some other builds I was working on, I decided to add a 5500 dial to my order as I have yet to add one to my collection of explorers. Parts arrive and I went to work. Dial In the Gen world, this is one of the ultra rare double t<25 stamped underline dial with gilt text and gloss finish. I first aged the lume some as it just looks too perfect out of the box. After all this watch was available in the late 50s to mid 60s . Hands: originally threw some generic merc hand set on there but wasn't feeling the hour hand. I had used the second hand for another project so for this build I used a dj style seconds hand and i liked the look ...but quickly tired of them and replaced them with a set from raffles time. I had a domed crystal on the case set but it took away from the appearance of the watch. made it feel much smaller and just wasn't feelin it on this build for some reason so I swapped it for a 25-12 clarks crystal . The clarks crystal gives the watch a bigger appearance and allows clearer view and really showcases the dial compared to the domed crystal. I have a preference for the domed crystal but the 25-12 just works for this build more so in my eyes. (with domed crystal and generic hands ) I settled on hands from Raffles , which I aged appropriately to achieve the vintage look and match the lume of the dial . Truthfully the lume is darker than what I was after but the pumpkin orange tone of the lume compliments the gold hands and text and it gives the watch a warm vintage feel. I went with the display case back as it is more rolex like and resolved the display window with a service sticker mounted on the inside of the caseback. This prevents the decal from getting damaged and peeling with use. I pushed it with the aging process of the case set. I tried out a few new techniques to achieve the aged appearance and I am quite happy with the results. I feel that it gives the watch a realistic well used look without looking deliberate. Eta 2824 clone movement. I've had good luck with the clones for half the price of Gen and they beat slightly slower than Gen ETAs. Bracelet is a Raffles 19mm rivet , which I aged similar to the case and complete the build . The result.: a great vintage piece with wrist presence that offers details that the other ref in the explorer line doesn't. As always comments and criticism welcome. I may be tempted to build more of these or sell this one on if anyone is interested. but in the meantime I am enjoying it. Thanks for looking.