De-Branding a Rep? (Explorer I)

[ratpatrolteam01]

Is it possible for to get a dial without any branding that fits the Explorer I ETA (2824 movement) rep, and get a non-branded Crown?

What would be the dial diameter for an Explorer I?

Would these 2 work?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Plain-Explorer-Watch-Dial-DIY-Project-/160512269699?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item255f46dd83#ht_1322wt_906

http://cgi.ebay.com/Explorer-Submariner-Style-Crown-Swiss-ETA-movement-/160457035555?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item255bfc0f23#ht_2178wt_754

same site, but not ebay.

http://www.rafflestime.com/servlet/the-13/Explorer-Submariner-Style-Crown/Detail

http://www.rafflestime.com/servlet/the-112/Plain-Explorer-Watch-Dial/Detail

**Would I have to apply lume to the dial, or is it applied already?

Thanks guys.

[JoeyB]

You'd have to measure the dial you have now. But Otto Frei has blank ETA dials that measure 28.5mm to fit the ETA 2824, and generic crowns for Rolex with no markings. Otto Frei Generic crowns to fit Rolex

[Ronin]

Yep, pull it apart, measure the current dial, but also measure the case ID @ the Rehaut for both minimum (visible) and maximum dial size. I have seen rep case able to accommodate up to a 2mm variance in dial size.

Also, even though they are designed for Seiko's there are a lot of cool dials offered by Noah Fuller and Yobokies. (Google). Soxa, Milspecs, Explorer style. Cut the feet and use dial dots.

[ratpatrolteam01]

Thank you very much for your reply guys, I don't have a ruler handy with me, but I think the crown is the 6mm one, I'm only saying that because of the shape XD. I might send it back to Katt for the replacements of the dial and crown. Or sell this watch outright.

How much would this be worth? I have a thread here.

thanks

[automatico]

"Is it possible for to get a dial without any branding that fits the Explorer I ETA (2824 movement) rep, and get a non-branded Crown?"

I bought a few 5.3mm and 6.0mm unsigned rolex spec screwdown crowns from Jules Borel Co a few years ago and they came in a Bestfit package and were very high quality. Iirc they were around $10 or $12 each.

I have seen a few homemade dial jobs that looked real good. All you need to do is remove a replica submariner etc dial, push the applied hour markers off from the back side, sand the dial smooth, paint it with an airbrush using flat black etc paint and reapply the markers. Start with 1000 paper and finish with 1200 or 1500. You can also remove the dial paint with paint remover and skip all the sanding except for maybe a final polishing with 1200/1500.

A dial without applied markers is a lot easier.

I have some submariner replicas from about 7 years ago with Seagull ST16 movements and ratty printing on the dials and I changed a few over to Mickey Mouse dials that turned out real good. I sanded the dials down to about half original thickness after removing the markers using 600 wet or dry sandpaper placed on a sheet of glass under running water, then glued the MM dial over it with epoxy.

The cases were pretty good...all steel with lug holes and a 60 click bezel.

I saw one I stuck together about 3 years ago last week and it was still running fine.

The MM dials do not have a date so I removed the date works from the ST16.

Also made one using a (Warner Bros) Wylie E. Coyote dial with a date window. WEC is down at the bottom of the dial 'underwater' with a snorkle and bubbles rising to the top of the dial. The steel buckle is signed ACME.

WEC looks worried as usual.