hanski

Thanks for the heads up, I’ve done just that.

This is a really good conversation to be had. I’ve been under the impression that quality went: Silix (low) HR Cartel Yuki MQ Ruby Jensen Phong (high) Basically, MQ was a way to get into VN quality without paying Phong/Jensen prices. But maybe that isn’t the case (ha, pun intended). Maybe I’m also disappointed to have dropped some hard earned coin on MQ expecting it to be of better quality and I’d like to get word out about quality/price so we’re not overpaying. Vote with our wallets, right?

Sigh...this hobby...smh... What was wrong with your rehaute?

I chose it for the engravings and case back primarily. I have a Phong Insert and dial, gen Tudor 2784, TC hand set, and MN strap. When I selected this case I saw the CG’s needed shaping and lugs beveled - no big deal. Don’t mind drilling lugs - but expected them to be correctly sized at this price. I’ll deal with crystal and crown if needs be. Thanks for the insights.

This is most disappointing to hear - I sent MQ money for a 9411/0 case set on Friday. Please tell me the case is at least better than a Cartel case... 😰 Despite the poor quality from MQ, your build looks nice!

Ha! Thanks. Look forward to seeing yours.

Well, I decided to relume. Hardest lume job I’ve done yet! Those skinny numbers...ia, ia, ia. In addition to that some of the outlines to the numbers came off. Not only did I relume but I had to touch up the black outlines. For the lume I used a slightly thicker mixture to avoid seepage. Good choice for that reason but the thicker the mixture, the harder it is to control the lumpiness. I chose a darker yellow-khaki tone for the quality of being aged but without being a mucky-green-black. I think the quality and tone is period correct. Thoughts? (I could always do it again...) PS. After this I definitely don’t fear those ginormous Explorer Dial fonts.

Made some good progress this evening: - movement fully reassembled - new pushers installed into case, stems cut to correct length - dial and movement installed into case - hands set, beautiful alignment - stem cut to length, crown installed The chrono, pushers, winding, and time setting are all working properly. I still need to wrap up a few bits and make a couple of tough decisions. - new internal crown gasket - need to fit a new crystal - new case back gasket And the two tough questions: - Relume or leave it alone??? - What kind of strap/bracelet? Yeah, I’ve seen them there too. $20 for the watch, $30 for pushers, $25 for a new stem, $6 in gaskets, and $10 for spring bars, and $15 for a crystal isn’t a bad investment then.

Was hoping to have more of an update today but the chrono complications were a bit slow going. I mistakenly rotated two (you’d think I would have learned my lesson after one...) eccentric screws while disassembling. Lesson learned: DO NOT touch eccentric screws!!! The one adjusting the second hand chrono mechanism was fairly easy to adjust but the minute chrono complication took FOREVER. Anyways, all the wheels are turning correctly, smoothly, etc. To be continued.

Not this one, this is a Lê Landeron 48 movement.

Agreed! I lightly dusted and cleaned with rodico - done.

I picked up a gen, mid-seventies, Clebar “Big Eyes” Chrono for $20. Watch was in fair shape: case worn, missing pusher, rusted stem, some rust on the movement, cracked crystal, and not keeping great time. I figured with a new crystal, thorough cleaning, and a couple new parts it could be a great watch again. Fastforward several months, I finally got a replacement stem from Germany, pusher from China, and ultrasonic cleaner from Pennsylvania. I’ve torn the movement and watch apart, cleaned everything, and catalogued each part with its respective screw in a pill container. Made some good progress this evening after cleaning everything yesterday (rust is all gone), reassembled and oiled the gear train and keyless works. Pallet fork and balance is installed - everything is winding and setting smoothly - balance is moving freely - and it’s ticking away presently. Pleased with the progress on my first chronograph full tear down, cleaning, oiling, and rebuilding Next is the chorongraph complications. Original movement and dial above (before cleaning) Catalogue of parts Partially rebuilt movement

These are amazing! Nice work!

Here’s a few updates shots - I couldn’t live with the CG’s being slightly assymetric and with too large a cut out. I had more material welded on and redid the work. Happy to have it reassembled and going back on my wrist. This is by far my favorite watch.

Same reshaped WSO bezel just repolished. I messed up on the opening for the crown. After posting the question to ask the opening width on someone’s gen or VN case but no response I guessed .25mm on either side would work. But somewhere along the way I must have converted the imperial end mill bit to metric wrong and it’s more like .75mm. When I have some time I’m going to get a touch up laser welding and recut the crown opening a bit tighter. https://rwg.cc/topic/192899-expensive-1675-experiment-in-laser-welding-cg’s/ For now I live with it but it’s slowly gnawing away at my soul.

Updates: - CG’s: Laser welded then reshaped, cnc’d, and repolished by me. See my other post for details - Crown: 5320 tube installed and gen 530 crown attached. - Insert: Decided to try on a gen black Insert. Let me know what you think (unless it’s to say it’s not gen, in which case let me live in the sweet, expensive bliss of pretending it is, and say nothing). Enjoy some pics!

All included (disassembly, removing old lume, and relume) ~1hr. The actual lume is pretty quick, about 20-30 min. It’s important to move quickly so the lume doesn’t dry out midway thru.

I use a medium Oiler for most of it. I use a thin Oiler for the tip of the triangle. It’s all about getting the right lume consistency before applying them floating the material around the plots.

Recently got the chance to relume a JK Factory Tiffany’s Dial 1680. It’s a pleasure reluming this “era” watch with a creamy yellow, slightly pillowed lume. The added depth helps the flat, stock Cartel dial come alive. I just got my hands on some dark brown tritium tone lume powder - my next endeavor is to start experimenting with adding another layer of tone/texture to the lume dots - mimicking the degrading tritium lume of years past. Just need to get my hands on a spare 1680 dial... Oh, some pictures:

A “budget” 1675 project is a sadistic thing - the Cartel case as a basis for modifications leaves so many issues for rework, resolution, replacement, and tweaking. The latest in my never-ending endeavor to make this watch 200% genuine has been adding material to the stumpy, odd shaped crown guards. I found a local craftsman who would laser weld 316 stainless steel material to the CG’s for me at his hourly rate ($90/hr here in the Pacific Northwest). I gave him detailed drawings indicating where and how much material to add - making sure the material is overbuilt. This was important, I wanted to be able to reshape and cut the material away. Here’s what I learned through the process: - The color matching and seams of laser welding 316 stainless to the case worked out great. After filing, grinding, sanding, and polishing, I don’t see areas of addition differentiated against the rest of the material. - I decided this was a good excuse to install a new tube and 5.3mm crown - A 5300, 5320, and 5330 tube screws right in to a Cartel case. No retapping required! - The 5320 was the best fitting tube when paired with the 5.3mm 530 crown I purchased of eBay (eBay said it was Gen, so it must be) - I used a 1/4” end mill milling bit on a milling machine to re-bore the crown opening in the crown guards. In my estimating, I thought this would come pretty close to hugging the crown with about .5mm space. I was unfortunately wrong or off in my estimate - I think it created a bit too much space. Next time I would use a slightly smaller end mill bit. Oh, an end mill bit is important since it ends with a flat edge, not angled. This allows the hole to have a flat bottom. - I notice the location of the tube is lower than ten on a Cartel case. This means not matter what CG reshaping done, the crown will never, ever sit as high as a ten does. Unless…I laser weld the tube hole, re-drill, re-tap…no, no, no just buy a damn Vietnam case if you’re about to go through all that. - I’m very satisfied with the shape and thickness of the CG’s otherwise. Well, that’s it for now - I’m not shelling out more money to re-laser weld and re-mill the crown opening. I’m going to enjoy it as is - a 199% gen, heavily reworked Cartel 1675. Here’s some pics, thanks for looking!

Hello, I read @automatico post of crowns/tubes - super helpful. I’ve measured the crown in my Cartel 1675: ~2.4mm dia @ case side ~3.9mm dia @ crown side If I’m looking to buy a gen 530 crown and matching tube, what reference numbers and combinations am I trying to get? I see Phong or Jensen has this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rolex-Tudor-Prince-Oysterdate-Crown-5-3mm-Watch-Part-74000-3671-2784-7950-7996/392130647906?epid=682859194&hash=item5b4cced762%3Ag%3AeEAAAOxytBZSShRK&_pmc=true&_productid=682859194&rt=nc But it says it’s for a slightly larger tube. So I’d have to drill and tap the case. I’m also curious what ref number is for the tube on this one. He also has this but doesn’t come with tube: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tudor-Princess-5-3mm-Watch-Crown-Oyster-Date-24-530-0-Part-Turn-/392133984635 Says it’s for the same diameter as the tube in my Cartel. And then then there is this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rolex-Crown-5-3mm-24-530-0-GMT-1675-AAA-Condition/153175512241?_mwBanner=1&ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F0%2Fe11051.m43.l1123%2F7%3Feuid%3Dfb2ec3d8715f43d2b57787e9dfeef51a%26bu%3D43603559023%26loc%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F153175512241%26sojTags%3Dbu%3Dbu%26srcrot%3De11051.m43.l1123%26rvr_id%3D0%26rvr_ts%3D331a4df71660a9e29f507cd9fffa5cc1&ul_noapp=true Seller will include a 5320 tube for $20. But I have no idea the dimensions on the 5320. Can anyone one help me sort they the differences in 530 crowns and tubes? It seems there are two different sizes. Thanks!!

What is everyone finding to be the best (available) date wheel overlay compatible with Vietnam 1680 and 1675 dials? So far I’ve tried Riyi (Raffles Time I think) and Cartel. Mill probably order a Raffles Dial next but would love to hear some advice if it’s out there. Thanks!

Hello! I'm currently planning out my Burford dial, A/6538 build and I'm in the middle of my research and parts acquisition. From what I've read, there are many opinions on what case to use based on thickness, shape, dial size, and price. For me, I'm not going down the rabbit hole of a VN case build - I simply cannot afford $1050+ out of the gate on this build. So that said, I'm looking at building this around a Silix, HR, or Cartel case. Where I'm getting stuck is the size of the rehaute on these cases - I have no idea what aftermarket crystals can be installed in these various models. The build I'm currently thinking: - Silix, HR, or Cartel Case and Case Back - Aftermarket Tropic 19 Crystal (Clarks, Ofrei, Sternkreuz, etc) - WSO 1665 Bezel Assembly (planning to reshape to approximate the German silver bezels) - Custom dial (another member of another forum) - ETA2840 - Athaya 800 Crown and Tube (plus stem adapter) - Aftermarket hand set (Ofrei, Raffles, etc) - Ernst Westfall military insert (eBay seller) - WSO 2mm spring bars (until I figure out how to fix the bars - maybe soldering?) - Reshaping, luming, and assembly by yours truly - Case engraving...I still need to figure that one out... First, let me establish and confirm - I should be looking to install a Tropic 19 to be reference correct. If that is the right assumption, let me move on to Tropic 19's - if not, please correct me! From what I understand, there are multiple variations of the Tropic 19: http://www.ofrei.com/page419.html with ID's of 30.45, 30.48, and 30.30 (and probably others from other sellers). I have read this watch is meant to be pretty beefy and the images on RPR appear to be tall and rounded - so I would suspect the 20A variation would be the right one. The 20A comes in with a 30.30mm ID. Are any of the Silix, HR, or Cartel cases going to provide me with a reasonable friction fit to any of the available Tropic 19 crystals? I prefer to assembly without heavy use of glue or spacers. It's one thing to add a thin bead of silicon glue as a safety measure, it's another to require that glue to hold things in place. Anyways, any insights on the project is much appreciated. In the meantime I'm going to get back to obsessively reading everything I can find.

Thanks! It’s an honor to get the attention and compliments of a vintage expert like yourself! Frustratingly the VN date window doesn’t align with the stock cartel DWO. I need to get a new one to satisfy my OCD.