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Here's one for Gabus (5513 gilt build)


ubiquitous

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Just thought I'd share a little MBW transformation I did for my friend Gabus.

He had sent me this 5513 back in Nov, along with a bunch of parts for it; I didn't really have much time to do anything on it until the New Year's weekend, 2am when everyone in the house was asleep :) There were a few tricky issues with the watch from the start; notably a caseback that had a ding on the inner lip that kept it from wanting to unthread along with a stem that didn't want to release from the keyless works, the result of a prior repair he had done, along with the stock MBW spacer ring that came stock with the watch (which needed some notches filed into it as the ring was too tall, thus placing too much pressure/tension inside the case and causing the movement to sit a little too far inboard towards the caseback).

I didn't take as many pics as I would have liked, but here's what I have :)

I started off by tearing this one down to just the mid case. The MBW tube is removed, and the threads re-tapped.

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This is why I re-tap the threads... Looks at how much metal was actually removed from the threads. Even after tapping, the tube was still a little snug, but fit much better than before the tap was run through:

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Clean threads:

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Next is to address those CGs. Stock guards:

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In prog:

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Finished:

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And Triplock tube installed:

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Gilt dial goes on next... But I had to modify the stock MBW hands to match the gilt look. Overall, not too shabby:

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Case it up:

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And ready to go:

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The only thing I would suggest doing at this point is fitting a gen 703:

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The crown that's on there is an improvement over the MBW crown, but still a little too tall. A gen Triplock would suit this one nicely.

Thanks for looking, and thanks to Gabus for the privilege and pleasure on working on his watch.

Cheers and best,

//ubi

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Ubi,

I just got home to find a package in the mail. Since I hadn't heard from you since our last email I figured you just sent the watch back..I was bummed but understood your reluctance. You can't believe how surprised I was when I opened the package. The watch looks great and I don't know how to express my appreciation adequately. Many Thanks my friend.

Gen insert, tritium pearl and a NDT gilt dial..and of course all the love and attention from the Master. :thumbsupsmileyanim:

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Don't forget- Gen service 25-19 as well! ;)

There were plenty of hiccups along the way, but what can I say? I didn't feel right about not giving it a go... And I like to surprise my friends with such things when I can. Just wish I had more time to do these...

Glad you like it! :) Thanks for letting me be a part of your project!

Cheers and best,

//ubi

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Very nice!

I see you took some metal off the case under the crown, to bring the crown closer to the bezel. Thats the ONE thing bugging me about my MBW is that the case is too wide and you get that weird "gap" of too much metal between the base of the crown and the bezel. Anyone who has an old skool MBW will know what i mean.

I'm going to try filing mine a bit next time I pull it apart. Same issue on my 1665 too.

dizz

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