open 6 and 9 date overlays and wheels

[Ephry73]

Where doe sone source open 6 and 9 datewheels or overlays for ETA and DG movements? I would like to start modifying the 2783 movement for a better look and feel. Thanks.

E

[superlative]

You might want to try Cubic Works or buy this cheapie from Silix and salvage it for parts. Unfortunately, with Cubic Works, you're not guaranteed to get a datewheel overlay with the open 6/9.

Edited July 14, 2011 by superlative

[Jkay]

No Forum member is currently replicating these datewheels, altho they have in the past to great effect. You could ask for a high resolution image and try your hand at making them yourself.

[Ephry73]

Thanks for the replies. I'll give the image replication a try.

E

[highoeyazmuhudee]

you can easily make your own overlay

[Ephry73]

What material, printer and images, or image size output should I be looking at? Who has done it successfully before?

E

[If you see Kay]

I made my own open 6 and 9 overlay using a high resolution image and scanned it and fixed it up pixel by pixel using 1000x image magnification. I then got high quality paper to have it printed on by a printing company.

Still not as good as an orignial overlay, but you'd really have to look closely to see the differences.

[Rolexaddict]

Ephry73, have a look here : VSO

Remember, ETA disc don't have Rolex specs, you will have to glue the Rolex disc on the ETA disc

[Tribal]

wholsaleoutlet has crappy date wheels the printing sucks

[Jkay]

What material, printer and images, or image size output should I be looking at? Who has done it successfully before?

E

[Ephry73]

This will actually be for an ETA movement. To be precise an eta 2783. Thanks for the link. I'm debating on whether I should just buy a 9 date wheel for ease of use, or make it more my own. Anyone here try this with decent success? Ink fade after time and sun exposure? I use my watches daily and they do see beach and plenty of water time.

E

[highoeyazmuhudee]

needs some cleaning up and vectorizing in illustrator

maybe if i have a bit of time i ll make a vector template for members here to download

[blix]

I've been thinking about printing my own too. But what paper is used among the people who have done so? I'm guessing you want something that doesn't show texture (like glossy paper?) but with a satin/matt finish.

[JoeyB]

needs some cleaning up and vectorizing in illustrator

maybe if i have a bit of time i ll make a vector template for members here to download

That is the date wheel overlay I made, pretty much 'freehand' on my computer. It does need some tweaking, but it is close and made for the ETA 28xx movements. I have tried various papers, including peel and stick photo paper. Depending on the build, the paper thickness can be an issue for clearance.

The last two I did I used water-slide decal paper. It is about as thin as you can get, and if you use Krylon Crystal Clear to seal the ink on the decal paper it comes in gloss, satin or flat.

Edited July 16, 2011 by JoeyB

[Martyd3]

Matte photo paper, which is available in different weights, can work. This is a project that is much easier said than done ... correctly

[Ephry73]

Matte photo paper, which is available in different weights, can work. This is a project that is much easier said than done ... correctly

Exactly. If I do it, I don't want to half ass it. I do have good quality photo paper here. Perhaps the the photo paper will have less sun degradation on the ink.

E

[JoeyB]

Ink degradation will depend on the printer and ink used. I don't think anyone knows yet how long photos printed by an inkjet printer on good photo paper will last. And I surely have no idea how long the inkjet ink will last under a coating of Krylon Crystal Clear.

[Ephry73]

Hmm, my issue will also be the thickness of the printout

E

[sishac]

I really like the water decal idea...it is thin enough that it could be overlayed on white paper or silver for the elusive silver datewheel.

Concerning the silver date wheel, has anyone thought of using silver vellum paper? I believe that they make it both opaque and translucent. You can print on it without a problem as well. I have a gen 1675 GMT with the original silver datewheel and it simply jumps out of the the matte black dial.

I was personally thinking that a nice bold red datewheel would look great on the red sub that I am going to have to take apart because I broke the keyless works.

This is a project that can be done (although a previous poster said it right...easier said than done)!!

[Ephry73]

For lack of a good printer, I am willing to buy someone else's datewheel with open 6sand 9s to fit the ETA movement. This is to finish my 1665 project and have it be more legit. Or trade a movement or two for one with the correct datewheel

E

Edited August 3, 2011 by Ephry73

[Ephry73]

It seems the PT watches come with a stick on with open 6s and 9s. I wonder who is producing those. It would be awesome to source those. The fit and alignment is perfect.

E

[jmb]

I may have a decal worked up within a week if this last batch of waterslide decal paper I have ordered works out. This is what they will look like:

[Ephry73]

Awesome! Put me in for three at least.

E

[blix]

Very nice! It would be great to finally have a good roulette wheel for two of my Tudors. Good times ahead.

I may have a decal worked up within a week if this last batch of waterslide decal paper I have ordered works out. This is what they will look like:

[jmb]

I should get the new batch of decal stock in next week and hopefully the surface is more to my printer's liking. I had used ink jet paper in preliminary tests and the graphics were somewhat "blotchy" under magnification so I ordered some laser decal paper. Hopefully it will be smoother then everything should be razor sharp.