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Hi crazy watch lovers When I begun that build I made myself a promise that I would not create this thread before having a complete story to tell. But I'm too impatient so I have to post now ... and I will write and post eveything else later all along the builsing process. So what is this all about?... about an A/6538 ... a "Burford" one specifically Question was ... what should I do to wear this watch? 1st option was to become VERY wealthy and lucky enough to find one to buy ... 2nd option was to have some imagination plus a little patience and build one. Unfortunately, as far as I know, a correct 6538 case that already can receive a 5513 bezel costs about $800 to $1500 - totally out of my budget. Fortunately !!! I have A BUNCH of imagination and A BUNCH of patience. So here is what is already done : 1 - start with a Silix 6538 midcase ... $ 45 but NOT accepting a 5513 bezel assembly 2 - shave the rehaut and graft a new one ... "gen-specs" an "easy" mod as long as you know how to measure, design, draw ... and have a friend who own a lathe and is OK to provide some help 3 - build a Burford dial strating from scratch ... and while I was in the building a vintage dial I decided to make it "Tropical" So here I am now, with still a lot of work to do but the most difficult parts of that build (grafting the rehaut + building the dial) are already done. Building the custom bezel won't be easy but it's already in progress ... the rest will be a peace of cake So let's talk about THE CASE The Silix 6538 midcase have been rworked on a lathe and the original rehaut have been "shaved". A new rehault has been turned, on the lathe too. I did all the technical design but the lathe work has been done by my friend @mascob (not a member here unfortunately). @mascob sent me back the reworked midcase and the rehaut and I managed to make it all fit together. Here are some pics Silix 6538 midcase with the new rehaut already "grafted" + the T19 and the 5513 bezel assembly Same midcase with the T19 and bezel assembly on ... the bezel turns perfectly A "nice" insert (will change that one) and the home-made 26mm Burford dial that I'll put in that case About the ... BURFORD DIAL making Well ... that was "almost" easy I already had designed (for a nice forum member) a crispy Burford dial some months ago, using both Photoshop and Illustrator (dozens of hours searching for good pics + dozens of hours working on the design using a 5000ppi definition). That design was black and withe only and done for a standard Silix case using a 29mm dial so I : 1 - resized everything using Illustrator so the design could fit a 26mm dial (25.8mm exactly as the Burdford dials where supposed to be reprinted on on 6538 Gilt dials) 2 - spent about a dozen of hours (again) using Photoshop to design a "blank" tropical 26mm dial 3 - copied the white parts of the first design and pasted that on the "tropical" design 4 - printed on clear decal paper and protected with 2 coats of matte varnish 5 - prepared a 26mm dial with a "cream" paint ... randomly applied so that some areas where more or less clear or dark ... then sanded finely to get an almost smooth surface (not perfect) 6 - applied the decal on the dial and sprayed 2 coats of matte varnish ... each coat dried for about 24 hours 7 - sprayed a 3rd coat of matte varnish and used an hairdryer spo that the varnish dried faster on some areas 8 - sprayed a 4th coat of matte varnish and used the hairdryer again ET VOILA ... Now the next fun part of that build will be to put a 25.8mm dial in a modded 6538 midcase with a 26mm case opening WITHOUT holding it with a Gen movement It could be, theoretically, impossible ... But there are ways, you know, and I have a few more tricks up my sleeves and ... THAT is another part of the story that I still have to write ... just hope you liked this one