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Gen Dial and hands question?


danza1812

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Please can somebody recommend where I can get hold of some slightly aged Rolex submariner hands to fit the eta movement?

White seems to be easy but my gen dial has a slightly creamy/yellow patina, I'd Luke to try to match the hands as best I can (although im aware I'll never get an exact match)

Wso sells them but they are $50!

I have had the same issue, and decided to relume the hands. It's very easy to do, not like luming a dial.

Take the hands you have that fit, and use acetone to remove the old lume. Then I mount each hand on a toothpick and stick the toothpick in a lump of clay or RODICO. I use RODICO because I was told I just had to have it, and have found no other use for the stuff. So, now the 3 or 4 hands are sitting horizontal on the upright toothpick. At this point you use whatever lume you choose.

I bought a product called 'Glo-Paint', under $5 at the local art supply store. It is whitish-glowish-greenish. It is a WATER BASED acrylic. I then bought a kid's acrylic water color tin. the kind that is dried in the tray and use water to make the mess for 99¢ at the dollar store. I mix a very tiny bit of whatever color, usually brown, to get the shade I want.

Then take a toothpick, dip it in the colored Glow-Paint to get a good drop on it. I start at the end of the hand with the hole, at the toothpick it's mounted on, and from UNDERNEATH run the drop straight out to the tip, filling the open space. No pressure is needed, the liquid will fill it naturally. With very little practice you won't even have any cleanup on the hands. And if you mess it up, it's water based, wipe it all off with a wet paper towel and do it again. The lume is not a 'super lume' at all, and about as strong and long lasting as the Chinese lume is. So far the oldest one I have was done two years ago last month, and it's still holding up fine. I imagine some day it will start to disintegrate, and likely look like old Tritium!

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Edited by JoeyB
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I decided to go with the yuki yellow hands, the dial is a nice eggshell patina, yukis vintage eta hands were a little too yellow. I dipped them in some bleach for a short time, a couple of black spots appeared, but has taken the edge off the yellow. And increases the vintage look somewhat.

Let me know what you think. Sorry for poor pics - iPhone through a loupe!

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Looks very good. I have some of those hands(for the priced shipped you really cannot beat the deal) and still waiting for them. These hands are meant for the rose sub, but may go in the 5512. How is the fit of the hands to the movement?

E

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im going to say dont mess around with glues or cements when dials or watch parts are involved. it gets stringy and cob web like and will ruin your gloss dial. why risk it? 3M makes a great double sided scarp booking tape which i have used NUMEROUS times without incident, it is very adhesive.

+1 I've NEVER had an issue of sideways dial movement/slippage when using double sided tape to secure the dial to the movement :good:

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