veja74 Posted May 22, 2010 Report Share Posted May 22, 2010 So I have finally finished all my Omega projects and am ready to move on to something else. I now present for your viewing pleasure, the holy trinity! Here is what you are seeing: 1. Cartel pumpkin UPO, swiss ETA movt, with gen bezel insert, gen dial, gen crystal, gen hour minute and seconds hands, and gen rubber strap 2. Cartel 007 Casino Royale, swiss ETA movt, with gen bezel insert, gen dial, gen crystal, gen hour and minute hands, painted to correct color seconds hand and gen bracelet. 3. Cartel SMP Chrono, A7750 movt serviced by Rex, gen bezel, gen dial, gen hour minute and chrono seconds hands, Chief AR on crystal and gen bracelet. All mods performed by me except for chrono seconds on SMP which was broached by Rex during the service. Yes, I know the UPO bezel inserts are a little banged up, that is how I manage to not pay minimal price for the bezels. Turns out when the gen owners have their bezels replaced for a little ding, Omega sends them back the original bezel and you can pick them up if you keep your eyes open. And you gotta love the lume you get with those gen parts! Feedback appreciated but if you are going to tell me how nuts I am for doing the mods instead of just buying the real deal, keep it to yourself. You can't buy the learning experience or the modding skills gained from projects like this. I JUST LOVE THIS PLACE!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arniezac Posted May 22, 2010 Report Share Posted May 22, 2010 These three are just gorgeous, I hope to eventually do my UPO the same, except for the crystal which Chief is currently spinning his magic on. It must be incredibly satisfying to look at these three beauties, knowing you did all the work yourself. Big congrats Did you photo the modification process, I'm reasonably comfortable doing the hands and dial, but have yet to see a definitive 'How To' on adding a Gen bezel insert . I'm aware there is some machining involved and its probably the most difficult mod to do to the UPO. My pearl is n't the best I've seen so I think it will have to go eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gran Posted May 22, 2010 Report Share Posted May 22, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veja74 Posted May 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2010 Thanks arniezac. Unfortunately I did not photograph the process and kind of wish I had. Good luck with the crystal, I just had no success with them. They always seemed to scratch very easily after getting them back from Chief. Now, to his credit he did redo both crystals two more times but the AR would scratch as easily as having a towel wiped across them. That being said, the Chief crystal on my SMP Chrono gets lots of wear and is still scratch free. As for the bezel insert, it really is pretty easy to do and I just use a dremel with a grinder bit to take off the bulk and then a diamond bit to finish off the job. I have another bezel insert that I will be working on soon an I will try to post pics of that process. Good luck on yours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimster Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 Excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CopperCrocodile Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 Nice work...Great pics too. Never had the pumpkin b/c wasnt sure the orange on the rep would be close enough to the orange on the gen. Any thoughts on how the rep orange compares to gen? Do different dealers have different "orange" or are they all the same watch, just different dealer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veja74 Posted May 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 The orange rep bezel is close enough. Orange second hand, not even close. Orange on the numbers, close enough but your bigger problem is the "happy feet" on the logo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 Thanks arniezac. Unfortunately I did not photograph the process and kind of wish I had. Good luck with the crystal, I just had no success with them. They always seemed to scratch very easily after getting them back from Chief. Now, to his credit he did redo both crystals two more times but the AR would scratch as easily as having a towel wiped across them. That being said, the Chief crystal on my SMP Chrono gets lots of wear and is still scratch free. This is precisely why I don't guarantee UPO crystals anymore... Some of them just don't work and it is baffling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veja74 Posted May 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 This is precisely why I don't guarantee UPO crystals anymore... Some of them just don't work and it is baffling. Thanks for chiming in here Chief... If I did not make it abundantly clear to everybody already, Chief did everything possible to make these UPO crystals work and even polished them after I did my own polish to ensure there was no existing AR. And based on the performance of the SMP Chrono crystal, I am as convinced as Chief is that there is something funky going on with those UPO rep crystals. Thanks again for all your help chief! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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