Watchmeister Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Hope springs eternal. Here is the latest prototype for the long awaited pre-v project. I finally got smart and roped in my favorite watch smith to help move it along. Lugs have been drilled out to accomodate the 1:1 strap pins and the bezel has been adapted to bring it closer to the case and to allow for proper "popping" of a gen spec crystal from the bezel. Still need to select a case tube but other than that I think we are looking pretty good. Everyone else agree? The next step is to reach out to a couple of CNC folks for quotes. I am not wed to any particular CNC shop so if anyone has one they have had an excellent experience with please let me know. The saga continues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drulee Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Wow, so that's what a proper pre-V case is supposed to look like Did the pre-v cases have hexagonal crown tubes as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobyPanFan Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Wow... Looks beautiful! I have been wondering about this, I am oh so glad to see it is one step closer!!!!!! Keep up the fantastic work and thanks for the all the hard work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w0lf Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 AWESOME! Just what the doctor ordered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babola Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Great news W! Thanks a million for getting this done It really looks great, so is this an old-school EL/Honpo case used as a prototype? I keep comparing it to mine and sure it looks almost identical - great eye for detail, that was definitely the closest pre-V rep case ever made, IMO. On the crystal note, at least from the pics it appears that it sits just a tad higher over the top bezel edge, but I guess something had to give once the bezel was 'thinned' to sit closer to the top of the case. I'm assuming the one on your pics is a standard 3.5mm thick sapphire like gen and DSN? cheers and keep us posted! b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dluddy Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babola Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 The xtal height and position isn't that bad looking actually, the ones that came on pre-V watches seem to be 'sitting' a little higher, having a bigger lip on top of the bezel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted May 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Glad folks are liking it. To be honest I am not exactly sure whose case it originally was. Another generous member actually donated it to the cause when I wasn't happy with the first try on my own. And in fact it came to me originally as an automatic now retrofitted for a hand wind. On the crystal the one in the pics is actually one of my gens. It will sit slightly lower when compressed into the case with a gasket but Pre-V's stick out high above the bezel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babola Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Glad folks are liking it. To be honest I am not exactly sure whose case it originally was. Another generous member actually donated it to the cause when I wasn't happy with the first try on my own. And in fact it came to me originally as an automatic now retrofitted for a hand wind. On the crystal the one in the pics is actually one of my gens. It will sit slightly lower when compressed into the case with a gasket but Pre-V's stick out high above the bezel. Excellent, thanks. After you mentioned it was an auto case, I pulled out my old 27A from '06 from the box and it sure looks very similar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimp Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Lovin' it! Great work, mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
100 Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Thank you sir for not giving up on the project. You sure are making a lot of us happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted May 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Nope, haven't given up yet. This should be infinitely doable. Just need to find out what it costs. Here is a good side profile of the crystal on a gen to give you a sense of the crystal "pop": Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 If the crystal height is not correct, meaning that it's sticking out too far, it is a simple matter to put the case in the lathe once more and turn down the crystal seat slightly. I checked a number of gen pics and machined the crystal seat to the height that matched the pics I had sent to me, it appeared to be correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolfire Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Yummy! Great news indeed, W! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cskent69 Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Sorry guys - did not see the prior thread. Is the idea to produce these? That would be INCREDIBLE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milesd Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted May 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2010 Sorry guys - did not see the prior thread. Is the idea to produce these? That would be INCREDIBLE! That's the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted May 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2010 All you Pre-V folks, please chime in and let me know what you think of the crystal height. As Ziggy has said he can lower it further. I am not sure what to do. bear in mind that the crystal in my pics is a gen and I don't really know how a standard rep crystal we would use would compare in height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haveblue Posted May 19, 2010 Report Share Posted May 19, 2010 I like how the case/strap dimple between the lugs is not so pronounced and looks close to the gen. Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babola Posted May 19, 2010 Report Share Posted May 19, 2010 W, what I know is that the old-school cartel sapphire xtal as well as DSN sapphire are the same height and thickness as the gens. I also know that the new-wave sapphires that Jackson and GETAT's currently offer are almost 0.5mm thinner. I measured them with my digi calipers before I on-sold them, sorry didn't make a note on exact measurements. I believe "standard" good quality cartel and DSN sapphire xtals should fit just fine. You said the case you used as a prototype here is for auto Pam. If it was one of those old-school cartel cases (which I believe it was judging by the photos posted) standard rep xtals should just drop-in, as the thickness of xtals used for both manual and auto reps should be the same. As we agreed previously, the xtal on gen pre-V cases seems to sit a little higher than on more contemporary PAMs from Vendome/Richemont period, although yours appears to be sticking a tad too far above the bezel line. Not sure, really. If you could post the dead-on case side photo it would be much easier to reach a consensus on this. What say others...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakob Posted May 19, 2010 Report Share Posted May 19, 2010 Looks great! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted May 19, 2010 Report Share Posted May 19, 2010 I'll post a side pic so you can verify the height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babola Posted May 19, 2010 Report Share Posted May 19, 2010 Just to keep the discussion going...here are some good bezel and crystal comparo pics Volker posted over at 'Risti of his pre-V 201/A and contemporary PAM088 auto-GMT. As you can see the crystal on 201/A sits a little higher and you can almost see the matte finish of its side. The 088 doesn't show it, only the polished crystal bevel edge. My guess is the crystal 'bed' The Zigmeister is talking about was machined a little shallower on pre-Vs and deeper on bezels that come with Vendome/Richemont era watches. Pics borrowed from Volker's post. 088 on the top, pre-V on the bottom: After The Zigmeister manages to post some side photos of W's pre-V case we'd beable to see a little better, for sure. cheers, b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbiz Posted May 20, 2010 Report Share Posted May 20, 2010 Manuals always have crystals that sit higher with respect to the bezel... it's more of an auto vs. manual thing than a pre-V thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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