Modding a genuine Am I carazy or what?

[panerai153]

I have an Ocean7 LM-5 GMT which is a similar watch to the Rolex GMT's in that it has a Pepsi bezel (Sapphire). The biggest problem that I have with this watch is the sword hands. I have never been a fan of these, and  iparticularly don't like the way these are only lumed about 3/4 up and the tip is a solid polished silver color.

the movement is a Swiss 2893-2, so it'sa a nice movement.

What I'm thinking about doing if possible is replace the hands with Mercedes hands ala Rolex. Now here is the problem the watch is larger than a Rolex GMT, the inner diameter of the bezel is 30.75mm. I laid a set of Rolex hands on top of the crystal, just to get and idea, they look OK, but the standard hands are too short. I believe the standard minute hand is around 12mm. To really look right I would need a minute hand of probably 14-15mm anda correspondengly longer seconds and  hour hand. the GMT hand is Ok.

 

So my question is, what do you all think about this as a project, and the most important question, are larger Mercedes style hands available.  I know that there are some watch manufacturers that have larger GMT's that use Mercedes hands , Steinhart has a 42mm version that comes to mind. Suggestions?

 

Here is the watch in question

 

 

 

 

[devus]

go for it brother. if you don't like em mod it.

[jmb]

Check Borel and ofrei, you can buy various length hands and you may find some to your liking...

[gavidoc]

While you're at it I'd add some brushing. Too much polish IMO.

[sgtguk]

You have got way too much time on your hands P    in both ways !

 

I reckon that your right though it would look far better with the hands changed and as gavidoc suggested I'd brush the top of the case too, would give it a real change for the better imho  Steinhart...something like this, same movement too..

 

  

[devus]

You could try changing the bezel too. After a while the coke and Pepsi bezels get a bit boring. It can be nice getting back to an all black sub.

Edited January 23, 2013 by devus

[panerai153]

You have got way too much time on your hands P    in both ways !

 

I reckon that your right though it would look far better with the hands changed and as gavidoc suggested I'd brush the top of the case too, would give it a real change for the better imho  Steinhart...something like this, same movement too..

 

  

 

You are right, I need it to be spring time!! lots morer things to do outside and not so much time to cook up projects and ways to spend money!! Actually, that was sort of the look that  I was trying to achieve. I had a Pepsi Steinhart GMT years ago, mine was the smaller size one though. I sold it for something else, can't even remember what it was.

 

AFA changing the bezel insert to a black, probably not. The bezel insert on this one is sapphire with the lume on the  bottom of the insert. also i have a bunch of black bezel watches already.

 

Here is what it looks like in the dark.

 

[kbh]

I think the standard hands would be fine. From taking a quick measurement it appears that the GMTIIC has roughly the same size dial and the hands look normal on that. Also they are readily available for a 2893 including the GMT hand if you were inclined to change them all.

 

[JoeyB]

Yep, that was my first thought. The maxi hands on the GMTc and the Deep Sea are wider, but same length.

 

 

 

 

panerai153 said:

 

Modding a genuine Am I carazy or what?

 

What does one have to do with the other? 

[panerai153]

That's a pretty good idea

 

I think the standard hands would be fine. From taking a quick measurement it appears that the GMTIIC has roughly the same size dial and the hands look normal on that. Also they are readily available for a 2893 including the GMT hand if you were inclined to change them all.

 

that sounds like a good idea. I looked over the hand selection at Borel and Ofrei and the longest they offer (minute hand) is 12.5mm. Where would I find a set of the wide hands like those on the GMTIIC that will fit a 2893-2 movement? I believe that someone posted that the GMT hand is the same size as the  genuine Rolex GMT hand? Are the other ones just regular ETA hands like the 2836, etc?

 

Now for part 2, the crystal. It's very hard to tell from these photos, but the crystal is flat, and it is actually recessed below the bezel insert. I havenever seen another watch like this, I have seen a couple that the crystal is flush with the bezel, but never one below the bezel. I believe that a thick sapphire domed crystal would look great on this project.. Any thoughts on this part of the project?

Here is a photo that shows the crystal/bezel relationship. From the distortion, it may seem that the crystal is slightly domed, it is not, it's dead flat.

 

[gavidoc]

That's..............odd. I would look for a different crystal