fitch Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 Hi all, I recently purchased this great 5513 with the following specs: MBW/MBK case (CGs shaved) OEM 93150 bracelet, 580 link OEM insert OEM crown OEM T19 Yuki gilt dial (baked) Yuki gilt Tudor hands ETA 2824/36 I have baked and faded both OEM inserts and am very happy with the outcome; baked and faded bezel; baked and faded more extreme and baked again; the two inserts together; and again; New hands (both silver as well as gold) are on their way to do experiments on aging to replace the current golden hands. I will also do some more work on the cg's I'm wundering if there is anything else to do... might a gen bezel be a worhtwhile improvement (and more important; will the mbw case accept the gen parts that any of you know of?) gen movement + hands will acquire work on the case in order to fit correctly which is something I can't do myself so that's off the table for now.. any other suggestions..? I look forward reading your replies! Cheers, fitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiesn089 Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 Beautiful watch, great looking inserts, could you elaborate a little more on how you did that? I'd get pearls for the inserts, the ones you can fill yourself so you can match the patina of the lume, maybe gen relumed Tudor hands or have the current ones relumed (again to match the hour markers). I always feel like the aftermarket mercedes hand look a little bit pointy compared to gen ones, but maybe that's just me, I'm absolutely no experts on them, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dluddy Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 It might just be me but I am not a fan of faded to brown inserts. I think your hands are just fine as is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fitch Posted May 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 Beautiful watch, great looking inserts, could you elaborate a little more on how you did that? I'd get pearls for the inserts, the ones you can fill yourself so you can match the patina of the lume, maybe gen relumed Tudor hands or have the current ones relumed (again to match the hour markers). I always feel like the aftermarket mercedes hand look a little bit pointy compared to gen ones, but maybe that's just me, I'm absolutely no experts on them, though. sure; the darker one; baked at 250 degrees celsius for 25 minutes, after that for 1 minute in household bleach (bleaching process went very quickly; be carefull with it!), rinse and capecodded it a bit, after that another rinse with mild soap and warm wather; that did the trick! the lighter one; I received it backed (so it was very dark brown), I put in in bleach for 2~3 minutes, after that I backed them again to get a yellow fade on the entire bezel for 20 minutes in 250 degrees celcius. capecodded and rinsed it and that was it! the yuki pearl has been ordered yesterday thanks for the tip though!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sardonix Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 (edited) Your watch looks nice and sharp as it is! Very sweet, i also have a 5513 project going, not such a nice case as you but an old not 1:1 Chinese bastard, dial looks also rather baked, laquered and trashy. May i ask where you ordered the new hand sets? i have a 2824-2 movement in it. Minute hand on mine seems to fat and is bent, second hand is also bent, and the hour hand is a litlle skew i guess it drags a circle on the dial Here is a vintaged pic of my dial: Edited May 30, 2012 by sardonix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woof* Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 Wether or not you change the color scheme, those inserts need pearls. If you've never worked with these pearls, make sure you get spares. They are very easy to lose. If you like the brown, your inserts and dial match. If you change to regular black, I recommend Ingod44 dials or gen. Very nice watch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiesn089 Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 Thanks for the explanation, will definitely try that when I put the finishing touches on my current project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 Personally I would just fade a black insert to grey. But still nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutchguy2 Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 Personally I would just fade a black insert to grey. But still nice +1 Not a fan of the brown inserts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 My only suggestion would be to give the bracelet and case a bit of a flogging: A watch which was sun-damaged to such a degree would not have been a safe-queen Other than that, I can't make any suggestions for such a fine piece Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fitch Posted May 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 May i ask where you ordered the new hand sets? These are the ones I ordered: http://www.yukiwatch.com/catalog/item/6960394/9192114.htm http://helenarou.com/silver-anodize-luminous-benz-watch-hand-for-eta-28282428342836.html http://www.yukiwatch.com/catalog/item/6960394/7061069.htm Nice vintage dial btw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fitch Posted May 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 My only suggestion would be to give the bracelet and case a bit of a flogging: A watch which was sun-damaged to such a degree would not have been a safe-queen Other than that, I can't make any suggestions for such a fine piece I agree but I'm still contemplating the degree of 'wear' I would like to give it I think I will start gently with smoothing things up and see how far I can take it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted May 31, 2012 Report Share Posted May 31, 2012 I agree but I'm still contemplating the degree of 'wear' I would like to give it I think I will start gently with smoothing things up and see how far I can take it I'd suggest some scuffing on the underside of the bracelet at the edges of the wrist and the clasp to simulate wear, and maybe the occasional ding on the case wouldn't look out of place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormTooper4 Posted May 31, 2012 Report Share Posted May 31, 2012 Way Nice ....love the brown insert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted May 31, 2012 Report Share Posted May 31, 2012 Replace the chocolate inserts with aged grey, and add a pearl. I have seen a lot of vintage Rolex watches and I cannot remember ever seeing one in the wild that didn't have a pearl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woof* Posted May 31, 2012 Report Share Posted May 31, 2012 I don't know if I'd put anything but natural wear on a gen bracelet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dluddy Posted May 31, 2012 Report Share Posted May 31, 2012 I dont get the fascination with extreme aging. Guess I like the safe queen look better. Gently aged lume and pearl and I am happy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira Posted May 31, 2012 Report Share Posted May 31, 2012 (edited) +1 on the grey faded insert Edited May 31, 2012 by Akira Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchguy51 Posted May 31, 2012 Report Share Posted May 31, 2012 Looks awesome. I'd add a pearl though. It looks better, and a watch in that good condition should have one. I don't see the need for aging the case though.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted June 2, 2012 Report Share Posted June 2, 2012 I dont get the fascination with extreme aging. Guess I like the safe queen look better. Gently aged lume and pearl and I am happy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Consistency/realism... That's not to say it has to be heavily abused, but as above, a watch which had been exposed to enough sun to get that level of insert fading, would not be in safe queen condition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira Posted June 2, 2012 Report Share Posted June 2, 2012 Actually, you probably won't find a 5512/3 with a thin font service insert faded that heavily by nature. Those inserts first appeared sometime in the 90's to my knowledge. So max. 20 years of sub exposure Correct me if l'm wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted June 2, 2012 Report Share Posted June 2, 2012 Actually, you probably won't find a 5512/3 with a thin font service insert faded that heavily by nature. Those inserts first appeared sometime in the 90's to my knowledge. So max. 20 years of sub exposure Correct me if l'm wrong Ahh, I can't see 20 years achieving that kind of brown color, afterall, 16800's still have black inserts That said, I do have a 6542-esque project planned which will feature some non 'period-accurate' parts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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