Do the stickers on the rotor of your HBB annoy you? Well me too, and I've finally done something about it. These stickers look terrible; they are the wrong font, too bold, usually applied crookedly and leave a sticky residue on the rotor where the glue drips. These stickers are my pet (and perhaps only) peeve with these HBB reps.
I enlisted the help of a friend who works in graphic design, and another who is very good with water-slide decals and has a professional grade laser printer. Together, they've created a fix which I would say is about 95% accurate to gen. The only real difference is, of course, that mine is not actually engraved. The font, thickness of font, size of font, spacing between letters and placement on rotor are identical.
To those who are not familiar with water-slide decals, they work the same way as temporary tattoos... the only difference is that they are MUCH higher quality and are permanent... they will not fade, crack or in any other way deteriorate with time. Arts and craft gurus use them to put photos on mugs and that sort of thing.
I am a very anal person, and even I am EXTREMELY satisfied with this mod. You would have to look EXTREMELY close to tell that it wasn't engraved (almost loupe territory), and without a loupe you wouldn't be 100% certain that it wasn't engraved.
The decal was cut in the EXACT same shape and size (shape of the letter 'C') as the weighted end of the rotor in such a way that it is seamless. Additionally, my friend finished the decal in such a way that there is absolutely no way to tell that there has been anything applied to the surface of the rotor (there are no edge lines).
I have retained the original stickers just in case I ever need to send the watch back for repairs. Even though the decal is permanently fixed to the rotor, it can be removed if necessary. I can just scratch off the decal, re-apply the stickers and then send back for repairs!!
THE PICTURES DO NOT DO THIS MOD JUSTICE!!
I've tried to take some photos of the rotor both with and without the watch case backing but unfortunately I am not a professional photographer nor do I have professional equipment. The mod is EXTREMELY CLEAN and looks virtually identical to the gen, and I assure you that any smudges or marks on the rotor or crystal are simply specs of dust (I should have wiped them clean before taking these photos).
This mod has given me a newfound appreciation for my HBB... Let me know what you guys think!!