Never Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth...

[Watchmeister]

A number of months ago I received a wonderful gift from long time friend and esteemed member Ubiquitous. Ubi had started to build a 5514 with some parts he had on hand but ultimately went with the motto "go big or go home" picking up a gen dial, custom case, etc and building an outrageous project. But when he finished his revised project he decided that all that work done on his earlier version should not go to waste. (read as I am one lucky SOB!) Fast forward to today and I was wearing it on my wrist staring at it lovingly (as we all do) and it occurred to me that I had no idea what the components of the watch were. So I called Ubi and got the details - and I was blown away. The time and effort he put into what was his JV project when he decided to send it to me has provided me with a varsity one. So here are the details.

This baby started life as an MBW. Ubi himself did a phenomenal job on the basic case work. The pointed crown guards are stunning. The edges have that touch of softening purposely choosing to make it look like that 30 year old Rolex that had visited the RSC and been polished a few times over thirty years.

Ubi then sent the custom dial he had spec'ed for this project to Ziggy for the treatment. IMHO, the dial is truly phenomenal with proper layout, good coronet and Rolex font and even proper layout of "t-swiss..." between the 28th and 32nd hashmarks:

Now add a proper gen vintage insert with matching tritium pearl:

And of course a proper functioning He valve installed by Ziggy:

And here we have a wonderful watch and an even more wonderful gift. Great projects, great watches and most importantly great friendships are what makes RWG the place it is. I hope folks enjoyed this little story.

[highoeyazmuhudee]

LOVE IT. Ubi does some wonderful work from what ive seen.

is that the original pearl that came with the insert? i have the same insert sans pearl and an ofrei replacement doesnt fit it perfectly

[Ronin]

No question, Ubi is a Jedi Master!

[panerai153]

Man I have to concur, Beautiful watch, great story and Ubi's master touch. W, you have a real winner here, and one I'm sure you will treasure always.

[dieselpower]

Lovely watch, lovely story and Ubi? Lovely guy, it's him and his like that make RWG a privilege to be a part of.

[Nanuq]

That case and its "softened" edges is just over the top. We are lucky people to have Ubi walking among us.

[freddy333]

Some of the guys here are truly Master Craftsmen, & I do not use that term loosely.

[HauteHippie]

Ya, W, it's a beauty even without knowing the details or from whom it originated, but with the info in hand and knowing it came from Ubi... well that makes it a gem!

[TeeJay]

Some of the guys here are truly Master Craftsmen, & I do not use that term loosely.

+1

[Watchmeister]

I couldn't be happier. When Ubi sent this one I did see it was beautiful but didn't give it much thought as to how it was built. The more I looked at it the more I was realizing he had gone to great lengths. So I finally called him and then found out what lengths he had gone to. And I know intuitively that Ubi is the kind of person who will spend more time on a project when he knows it is going to someone else. Kind of says it all.

On the insert I believe it is the original pearl.

[mjmj]

stunningly beautiful!!

[kin tama]

class

[Toadtorrent]

Beautiful piece...great work...fantastic story.

[coolfire]

I'm utterly lost for words...

[Cats]

:wub: :wub:

Great watch great gesture

Wear it well

Cats