1665 Comex Sea Dweller mods

[Dudemeister]

The other day I took my Comex Sea Dweller out of the box, only to find out that for some reason it wasn't working any longer. Upon opening and examining the movement, the problem was shown to be a broken piece on the balance wheel. I'm not exactly sure what this piece is called, but it is the little pin at the bottom of the balance wheel that engages the pallet fork and swings it back and forth.

Anyway, I had previously planned on one day removing and replacing the 2836-2 ETA copy that was in there with a gen ETA with Perle

[panerai153]

Very nice job. Got yourself a fine watch.

Arthur

[alligoat]

Nice job on the lume. Those are never easy and an exercise in patience. I remember Ziggy saying once he applies the lume w/ a needle or pin- very precise work.

The pearl looks good, but it's the wrong one for that model SD- should be an all acrylic one w/ no metal surround. Not a big deal- alot of the replacement inserts for the 1665/5513/1680 have the metal even.

Trimming the cg's and maybe drilling the lugholes are other mods to consider, but certainly having a nicely lumed rep is a great first step, along with the swiss eta. Congrats.

[Dudemeister]

Nice job on the lume. Those are never easy and an exercise in patience. I remember The Zigmeister saying once he applies the lume w/ a needle or pin- very precise work.

The pearl looks good, but it's the wrong one for that model SD- should be an all acrylic one w/ no metal surround. Not a big deal- alot of the replacement inserts for the 1665/5513/1680 have the metal even.

Trimming the cg's and maybe drilling the lugholes are other mods to consider, but certainly having a nicely lumed rep is a great first step, along with the swiss eta. Congrats.

Thank you for your comments.

Like The Zigmeister, I used a ultra small oiling pike to apply the lume. That's about the only way it can be done. Brushes and toothpicks don't really work.

As far as the pearl is concerned, all the photos I saw of the gen that my watch tries to copy show a metal ring around the pearl. Take a look at this set of photos of the real Comex 1665 with a "610m" dial.

Comex 1665

The case already has lug holes. Why do they need to be drilled out? As for the crown guards, you're right, they should be thinner at the tips. However, that is not something I'm willing to tackle just yet.

Here are some detail pics showing the lug holes, crown guards and pearl height.

[alligoat]

Actually this is a forum for people with OCD- obsessive compulsive disorder- we just parade around discussing replica watches as a form of therapy.

But seriously, this is where you can probably learn just as much about real watches as you can on any gen forum. Take the Comex 1665 SD- the model you are trying to emulate- yes, the pearl is all acrylic- the site you linked to shows an all acrylic pearl- you just need to look more closely. Yes, your watch already has lugholes, but they are too small. Rolex uses a 2mm springbar pin and those are bigger than typical pins- look at them almost sticking out og the gen watch. So to get the more correct size, you drill out the lugholes with a #55 cobalt drill bit (maybe 1.3mm)and then repolish the lugs. Same with the crown guards- look at the gen then look at yours. Yours are typical CN lugs, too fat and they envelope the crown. You need to file at the base and create something thinner- look at the gen.

These are fine points, granted, but the closer your watch looks to the gen, the better your replica is and the less likely you'll be called out. But remember, in the wild, if you happen upon a WIS, you will be spotted in a heartbeat. He may not call you out, but he will know you're wearing a fake! The Comex 1665 SD is very rare and valuable and you wouldn't be wearing it as an everyday watch- maybe to a watch show of other OCD type people- but not as a beater everyday- it's just too friggin valuable!

Welcome aboard!