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Another Franken Planet Ocean completed


dluddy

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Jut got this back from it's final stop and couldn't be more pleased with the results and it's journey is worth telling thumbsupsmileyanim.gif

This is one of the famous 4th Generation ETA Pumpkin Planet Oceans (42MM). This one has had quite the journey but it is indicative of the spirit of RWG.

The first upgrade I planned was a Chief Double AR of the crystal. Shipped it off only to have the crystal get lost in the process of being returned by Chief. What did he do, he replaced it with a Genuine crystal - now that is customer service whistling.gif

A very generous forum friend (you might recognize the countertop) then completed phase 1 which included his ingenious pearl upgrade. The results were great and I was pleased. But, then I went hiking and while climbing through some caves, I scratched the bezel insert - wounded1.gif

Start:

IMG_8420.jpg

On to phase two which he so generously agreed to do the work - parts from ofrei:

Gen Dial

Gen Bezel

ETA DW (left over from a PAM Lello DW swap)

IMG_8429.jpg

A little snag along the way with the fitment of the gen bezel. Nothing is exact in the rep world as we know and the Gen bezel was a tad too snug to fit. I guess no two 4th Gen PO's are the same and it is hit or miss with the gen part fitments sometimes.

But....

We have another forum friend with a new lathe up yonder....

So, off it went to Canada.

Just got it back and am pretty impressed thumbsupsmileyanim.gif

omega22095000frankenw.jpg

omega22095000planetocea.jpg

omegafrankenpogenbezel.jpg

omegafrankenplanetocean.jpg

Special thanks to Chieftang, Ubiquitous and Ziggy for making this Franken come true drinks.gif

Ubi was right about the Gen Bezel - it is a huge improvement

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Nice watch. Great journey. Good tale.

I dunno D, if I had scratched that insert taking out the garbage? I would have prolly swapped it. But spelunking!? Cool!

Sometimes you have to ask yourself; WWND? (What Would 'Nanuq' Do?) The other week pulling Grouper out of the Atlantic with my kids, the sash weight on a Bandit reel swung in and crashed all hell out of my Josh Sub insert. Two years ago I would have been online to Watchmaterial.com stat. Now? It got a big "OH YEAH! BABY!"

I used to wonder why Bob would revel in his beautiful gens taking the brunt; 1. They are tool watches. Wilsdorf would be proud 2) Every scratch a memory. I'm working on my 'wristwatch philosophy'. :lol:

Wear your PO in good health!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow, very nice! I didn't like the orange version much, but this one would make me change my mind. Congrats

ww

I never appreciated the orange bezel either until I joined this forum. Still anxiously awaiting my PAM so that I could move on to a PO for my next project :-D

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  • 3 weeks later...

Not trying to hijack this thread, but I'd like some clarification. Is it safe to assume the 42mm PO, Asian movement that I just got from Narikaa in November is 4th generation? I like the watch, and for the money I don't mind that it's not right on with the gen. One of the weaknesses that I've noticed is the crown and crown tube. Will this accept a gen crown/crown tube, or are we referring just to the ETA 2824 versions of the watch. I expect to get a reasonable life out of the movement, but when and if it does fail, is it easiest just to replace with another Asian movement or is it possible to change to an ETA movement, which would probably require a different handset. I'm trying to understand which modding applies to which version of the 42mm PO.

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The 4th generation watch is based upon a very specific case; the easiest way to identify are 1) The position of the He Valve (slightly above 10:00, as per the genuine) and 2) The coin edged bezel. This is the only model that I've found that will easily accept genuine parts as the dimensions and size are on par with it's genuine counterpart. In dluddy's particular instance however, the genuine bezel would not fit as a 1:1 replacement, thus requiring slight machining to faciltate fit; on my case, the complete bezel assembly was a direct swap and snapped on without any additional work required.

Here is what a later 4th gen looks like out of the box:

IMG_4399.jpg

IMG_4354.jpg

Note the location of the He Valve along with the shape of the bezel edge.

After modification:

IMG_5710.jpg

The 42mm PO from Narikaa is a slight bit different; the diameter of the crystal, bezel and dial are all a bit larger than gen, and therefore those parts will not be a direct exchange.

Regarding the crown; I believe that this is the one item that is not a 1:1 swap with any of the models as the tube is slightly too small for the case. Most people epoxy their crown tubes in, and some have gone so far as to laser weld it in. I myself have been looking for a solution that requires neither glue nor weld, but rather a metal sleeve to allow for a press fit. I haven't gotten around to it just yet, however...

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