chiman12 Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 I was never quite satified with the DSN reps of the Fifty Fathoms, maybe it was because it employed a newer movement or the fact that it didn't have the proper two-piece case back with the anti-magnetic cover. In any case, I bought my share of these reps, try to convince myself that it is a pretty good rep (which it is!) and then turn around and sell it back out in the rep market again. Well...truth be known is that I actually have two sets of the Vietnam/Phong Fifty Fathom case sets, so I decided to build a Fifty Fathoms out of one these case sets. At first I used a 2836 and a DSN LIP dial and hands set. BLAH...I said to the movment...too new, not vintage enough. I went on a discovery to find the perfect movement. According to my research, some of the vintage Blancpain's employed an AS (A. Schild) movement. So I found an AS movement from an old Mudu watch. With this, I also had an engraved Blancpain rotor, so I swapped it with the original... I really like the DSN dials. The silver printing on dial is thick and crisp, much like the original dials and the vintage lume really set the dial off. BUT the dial was too glossy and new and I wanted the vintage look; so I took it upon myself to apply a vintage look to the dial... Next up was the case...there was no crown tube on the case! I was pounding my head on the wall and scavenging my parts bin to find a suitable donor, then by the stroke of luck, I noticed a spring bar on the desk..."LIGHT BULB". I searched for a spring bar that had the approximately diameter as the hole in the case and also tested it with the winding stem...success!!! So I trimmed the ends of the spring bar and extracted the pins and spring. I then test fitted the tube onto the case. The diameter was slightly larger than the case hole, so I gently tapered the tube by filing down the tube. Using a small brass mallet, I gently tapped the tube into the case. After 45 minutes...successful... Another test, make sure that the winding stem fits and engages the keyless works properly... What the heck!?!?!? The case set I bought is missing the anti-magnetic cover! So I dug into my parts bin again, found an actual vintage anti-mag cover from a deceased watch. Trimmed the edges slightly to fit the case... Sure it is not exactly correct, but there is now an anti-mag cover. Finally, reinstalled the case back...end result Now...what am I going to do with the other case set??? Anyone have a spare "No Rad" dial??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woof* Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Excellent writeup Chiman, Very ingenious tube application. The dial texture came out good, I like whatever you do to dials to age them..I've seen others you've done. It really makes the watch look authentic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ogladio Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Looks fantastic Chiman! That case is definitely a step up from DSN and the matte varnish (?) really kicks off the dial, great work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Wow! What a beautiful transformation! Nicely done! Just needs a nice tropic strap for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoever Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 beautiful!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiman12 Posted July 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Thanks guys...next up for this project is a couple of thin rubber gaskets for the anti-mag cover and caseback. The crown has an inner o-ring, so it will seal the watch from that prespective, but at least I can wear the watch until i source the correct screw down crown and tube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ephry73 Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Looks really good Chi. If you ever want to get rid of the other case, just let a brother know . A nice vintage strap like the (that look like a NATO strap but have a friction lock) original ones would definitely set it off. Thanks for sharing brother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiman12 Posted July 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Thanks E...I know that a croc strap is not historically correct for this watch, but I really like the looks of the Donerix croc on this watch. I can even wear it with a dress shirt. Maybe I'll get a NATO and tropic strap just to swap out for occasions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 The crown has an inner o-ring, so it will seal the watch from that prespective, but at least I can wear the watch until i source the correct screw down crown and tube. Take a look here for some nice aftermarket stuff...... http://www.ofrei.com/page_156.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiman12 Posted July 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 thanks b! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ephry73 Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Oh, the Croc is the bomb on it for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 I love posts where (and i wont use the words bodge or kludge) something is made from something it is not supposed to me and works just the way it should. Good work man and a nice watch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Great work!! Your vintage dial really sets it off. That's the problem with almost every one of our vintage reps, they just look too new. Even a 40 year old "Safe queen" is going to have some vintage changes. Very innovative using the springbar tube for your "temp" tube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiman12 Posted July 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Thanks for the kind comments everyone... Andy...I like the word kludge, I think I'm going to use it in my everyday vocab..."the crown wouldn't fit on the winding stem, so I kludged it"..."I kludge the nail until it was flush to the board"..."I kludged my cat because it missed the litter box." I LIKE IT!!!!!! LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhooq Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Fantastic, Chi! The DSN dial in a Phong case is a great combo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mir36 Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 ChiMan/LHOOQ: I purchased this Blancpain FF dial from RWI 3 years ago when I first joined the rep forums. Any clues on the provenance of this dial? It has "T<25 MC" text at the 25-minute mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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