MBW 5513

[ubiquitous]

Excellent.

Based on what Ubi said, should you end up with a NDT or overly yellow dial, I am thinking a "scratch removal brush/pen" might be used successfully to accomplish the layer of yellow removal.

http://www.ofrei.com/page251.html#3067

Actually, I just used a toothpick! Very low-tech method... But hey, it works!

Thanks all for your invaluable input. Ubi cleared up why his dial is different in color as well as why it doesn't have big puffy globs for markers. Think I'll start by playing with the dial, iodine and baking but will probably end up with a gen dial and a tropic 19 crystal etc.

You really can't beat gen when it comes down to it. But finding a decent priced example (especially for matte) can require a bit of patience.

However, good deals are out there. For example, I picked my gen dial up for $620.00 US shipped, purchased from a seller in France. Not much more than an NDT or one of the custom dials I had made.

And here's another that recently sold for $400:

Meters First 5513 dial

A little scuffed, but a coat of clear matte over the top would really help to improve the overall aesthetics...

[highoeyazmuhudee]

I used yogurt as a protection film, no joke ;-)

what's wrong with aluminum foil?

[mjmj]

And here's another that recently sold for $400:

Meters First 5513 dial

A little scuffed, but a coat of clear matte over the top would really help to improve the overall aesthetics...

Good price for the dial but look at the shipping cost- $219.89 UPS Worldwide Saver. Thats very steep!!

[ubiquitous]

Whoa. I didn't see the Int'l ship rate.

Still, I'm sure one of our trusted US members here would help proxy ship...

[highoeyazmuhudee]

voila!

AFTER

the lower markers in the shadow are more representative of exactly what it looks like...the camera tends to over expose.

im happy with the results and the fact that each marker aging was made by hand makes no two markers look exactly the same and thus not machine printed and that much extra fake.

process.

paint some iodine on the markers with a small precise point paintbrush. the iodine will sit on the top with a bit of surface tension, make sure to get it as evenly covered as possible. i originally tried sanding the markers a bit so that the iodine will absorb into it but it didnt seem to effect these markers. going outside of the markers will stain the dial.

the markers should look wet and too orange.

bake it! it takes the color down to a peach tinge and helps even out the application.

i poked some holes in a piece of folded over tin foil for the dial feet and rested the dial on that, being sure to make the tin foil long enough to pull out of the oven. also cut a strip of tin foil to size and placed it over the dial print "rolex" crown and dial "submariner" as to mask it from browning, fading, or burning.

set the toaster oven to medium and placed directly under the element... first time it finished the timer it wasnt done to my satisfaction... second time on medium was the charm, be sure to monitor the marker so they dont blacken and burn.

let it cool for a minute, then its off to get a finishing layer of krylon for the matte and textured looked. sprayed and let it dry for about 12hours...

the result is what you see in the pics.. peach colored markers that have some, but NOT TOO MUCH inconsistency with the shade of color throughout

just gotta do the hands without over saturating them.

[Gorilladame]

what's wrong with aluminum foil?

I think aluminium foil is also ok, but with a liquid protection film you can work better IMHO

OPPS, a bit late...

Nice dial!!!

[Brightight]

Iodine seems a very hit an miss method. I use aniline wood dye (soluble in methylated spirits/denatured alcohol) which I have lying around for guitar refinishing. Water soluble products tend to bead on the surface. The alcohol seems not to attack any existing finishes (at least so far). You can get a wide variety of colours and dilute it so there's no risk of overdoing. A quick spray with matt or gloss lacquer afterwards fixes it.

Here is an example where an amber dye has been used to make some of the lettering look gold and brown/yellow for the markers -

This dial was also hit with amber dye. It also had the depth markings removed by carefully masking and rubbing off the unwanted lettering with T Cut. This leaves the surface smooth but again, the matt lacquer oversprayed sorts this out -

[highoeyazmuhudee]

yeah the iodine beads on the surface...UNTIL baked then it really sets in nicely and smoothly, no lumpy sections of color, slight variations in tone throughout

here's the test hand i did today

despite the orange color it's actually much more pale, its very hard to capture exacting color tones with scanners. the hands and dial actually match perfectly, and the dial looks 4X better than it does in the pic.

here's a GEN example i was trying to mimic

for the hands, if you bake them with iodine on them it will fade it all out completely and diluting it with water makes it too pale as well. just used straight iodine on this one and it's NOT as orange as it looks at all. became a bit innovative and simulated some rust on the hands like in the gen pic with some fallen burnt toaster crumbs i found in the bottom of the toaster oven...applied with a moist q tip to the hands... everything looks great in person.

i'll try to get some better pics of them together later

[Truamigo]

What I would do is spend time at the "Vintage Rolex Forums - Dial Archive". Compare Yuki, NDT, etc against the look you want. Also, if you find a dial at any of the mentioned sources EMAIL them and confirm their pictures are WYSIWIG. I recently bought a 1665 dial that was not what was pictured, but actually BETTER, but that was a fluke. Price wise I would gamble with Yuki, unless the NDT really rings your bell.

Mine went from the MBW dial to Ubi's NDT dial. I would could have lived with the MBW dial - BUT even though Rolex made "R O LEX" spaced dials I did not care for the MBW spacing in matching that.

Tritium ages to yellow/brown hues, so also think about if you want a aged beater look, or a well cared for possible serviced looking vintage.

For your inspiration:

Hi, who made this case?

E

[freddy333]

Hi, who made this case?

E

Please do not re-quote an entire set of pics just to add a few words at the end.