Gemini Cricket

[jtiis]

Recently posted a pic of my new Speedy with brown dial.

I'd purchased a 40th Anniversary Gemini dial, and Broad Arrow bezel and hands - then red-tipped the seconds hand to match the 40th Ann red of the dial (hard to tell at this angle but doesn't smack you in the mouth from any angle... was going for a subtle tie-together on that front). Like her to death. Now shes on bracelet but here on a nice Croc... happy with both.

Just sharin' some joy.

B well.

[Utheman]

That thing looks awesome! Nice build!

[cougar1]

Very nice otis, lots of speedy modding going on lately. The gemini/BA hands is one of the cooler mods. How do you find it compared to the panda mod you did earlier?

[jtiis]

Well, gotta love the panda - but I was asking myself that same question this a.m. and I gotta say, I think I like this one better (I bought a black, panda and this dial to use one this watch as I sold my prior Speedy that I'd Panda-ized.)

The Panda is classy and bold ... but the silver hands have a tendency to disappear and with the white face the hands do so even more - and - the black bezel kind of closes the watch in.

The Blue Broad Arrow mod uses the steel bezel which just extends the watch face instead of closing it off with a circle of black - and the BA hands make time telling better - plus the blue dial also helps with this. Because its not a straight blue dial but a classy (less than flashy) sunburst blue dial its just much sweeter than photos allow... and the subs are not white but a silvery white that is very very nice. So, gotta say - like this one better. I'm hoping to come across an uber cheap Speedy that has a good movement and case but bad dial, bezel etc - so I can have 2 - a Panda and 20th BA in the box. (Hate having nice dials sitting unappreciated).

Cheers.

[cougar1]

Very nice. Great choices. I agree the panda is a bit more dressy - ish looking to me, still a nice mod but the gemini/ba hands just changes the whole look of the watch so substantially it seems to be the better everyday kinda choice. I'm gonna do something similar very soon, I'm still trying to decide whether to do the gemini/ba or the silver dial mod, very hard to decide which, there is also a few white military dial mods that look very tempting.

Here's a cool silver dial/black hands custom:

And a really cool custom military dial alaska project-ish style job:

...trouble is I want the whole lot of them

Edited October 24, 2012 by cougar1

[jtiis]

Yes, I wanted several too... and that's the problem. I now have 4 Speedy dials and 3 sets of hands and... 1 watch

There are 3 white dials that I've seen. Ofrei sells their Panda for $320. Watcho (on ebay) has the 40th Ann. White dial (which I bought) for less 250ish? The last white dial you show is harder to get as I know (and I actually don't like that one as much so it didn't matter). The silver dial that you have above is supposedly hard to get also - but watchco has them on the bay now too (Along with the Blue Gemini that I have (it's about 290). If the silver dial is basically the same as the silver/white of the Gemini subs I could see that as being a nice dial - but for now, just love the contrast of the blue and silver/white. Later, I'm sure I'll go Panda - but hopefully with a watch i pickup later... we'll see.

BTW, I may be able to get dials/hands for Omegas for you at a better price than Ofrei/Watchco now - not sure - but a potential (but to date untried source) has developed recently.

Cheers.

[cougar1]

Definitely keep us updated on the source for dials. They are getting harder to find and when watchco sells out then they will become even more difficult again, if not impossible. Definitely gonna pick up silver and gemini soon enough for future builds. You also have the brown dial speedy which is really sweet, the brown dial doesn't get much attention but imo it is nicer and more subtle than some of the LE speedies.

Anyway enjoy the gemini, it's a cracker!