Nanuq Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Some people here are putting together the pieces to build high ticket vintage watches. With the plethora of parts available out there I thought I'd start a topic to get people's opinions. I'll start... I'm looking at gilt 6538 dials. Ingod and Natalie both have tropical brown gilt dials. Here are the photos from their sites. Can anyone put up better pictures, or offer opinions? How gilty is the gilt? How glossy is the finish? How durable is the paint? Your opinions please? Ingod's dial Natalie's dial Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiker01 Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 I like ingod's better.....looks like it's already in vintage form......pair it with a set of vintage hands......that should fo it.....but what do I know???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zeleni kukuruz Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 I like ingod's better.....looks like it's already in vintage form......pair it with a set of vintage hands......that should fo it.....but what do I know???? +1 the same for me!!! Looks more crisp! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denimhead Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Here's my Mq 2 liner 'entry level' dial after big Daz has blown smoke over the lume and given it a matte cracked laquer effect. Natalie also offers the 'premium' version with the 'closer to gen' printed text that CC originally bought for his 6538 build from Mq. But hers appears to be the 'double red' version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denimhead Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Here's Natalies 'top of the tree' job, notice how the crown and other gilt print is flatter and the 'text rating' is raised. I'm sure CC posted something along the same lines with regards to the Mq versions. Its a 'request price' job so I'm guessing around the $800.00 mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyB Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Sorry, Nanuq. I have not ever seen Ingod or NDT dials in person. I make my own. This one is going to Honolulu Saturday. It's destined to be for the Graduate the following Saturday. $120,000+ just to get a watch... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiker01 Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Sorry, Nanuq. I have not ever seen Ingod or NDT dials in person. I make my own. This one is going to Honolulu Saturday. It's destined to be for the Graduate the following Saturday. $120,000+ just to get a watch... My Bond dial.JPG Sorry, Nanuq. I have not ever seen Ingod or NDT dials in person. I make my own. This one is going to Honolulu Saturday. It's destined to be for the Graduate the following Saturday. $120,000+ just to get a watch... My Bond dial.JPG Ingod's dial seems like a good match! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Sorry, Nanuq. I have not ever seen Ingod or NDT dials in person. I make my own. This one is going to Honolulu Saturday. It's destined to be for the Graduate the following Saturday. $120,000+ just to get a watch... Holy smokes! How did you make that?!! Do you trake eldest sons as down payment for another? Here's my Mq 2 liner 'entry level' dial after big Daz has blown smoke over the lume and given it a matte cracked laquer effect. Natalie also offers the 'premium' version with the 'closer to gen' printed text that CC originally bought for his 6538 build from Mq. But hers appears to be the 'double red' version. That's reallllllllllllllly nice. And you can see the Daz Lovin' it's got. Do you have a link for the Mq listing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Of the options shown, I think Ingod's dial contains the fewest sins. Depending on the look you are after, a bit of enhanced patination, in the form of a light spritz of matte varnish & some boot polish, might kick it up a notch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cc33 Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 I like denim's with the Daz treatment. I did something similar with my mq dial. He has a 300$ tier and a 1000$ tier so if that's his 300$ one that denim had worked on, then its the best option for the $ imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Now that's what I'm talking about! Beautiful. I need to find Mq's $300 tier online. Link? I like the ingod too but I'd love to have a glossy look. Freddy, do you spritz yours with lacquer, then apply the boot polish over it, to make the brown less uniform? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 I generally apply the boot polish prior to the varnish. You just have to be careful to avoid darkening the text. The only thing that should be on top of the final finish layer is the lume 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Yeah that's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay outside the skill set of someone whose favorite tools are an axe and a chainsaw. Boot polish? That's called "motor oil" to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyB Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Holy smokes! How did you make that?!! Do you trake eldest sons as down payment for another? Sheet brass and Water slide decal. You can make the picture anything you like, the finish any way you like. For under $25usd you can make over 100 of them. One of `em is bound to be good. My first was using the pic from Ingod's dial on Ebay. Since then I've made a bunch, experimented a lot and learned a few things. I will provide any advice asked. It works best with gilt chapter ring dials, IMO, though I've done both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Boot polish? That's called "motor oil" to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmg Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 B, just an FYI. I bought a tropical 1665 dial from Ingod and the base paint is very metallic looking, on top of that the base paint started chipping like crazy, then a indice fell off. Perhaps that was just the 1665 batch but from the looks of the photos on Ingod's site (unfortunately really grainy) it seems to have the same base finish as my 1665. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 For whatever it is worth, I have had the same problem (chipping paint) with MQ's ($1k+) dials. Unfortunately, that seems to be an all too common hallmark of aftermarket quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2013 Wow, that's a lot of good information. JoeyB, your results are amazing. Are you the one that did the lume after applying the decal? Wow. Freddy, I like your idea of the boot polish to make the dial less homogeneously brown. All gen tropical dials are faded lighter at the hole where the pinion protrudes, and at the date opening. So how do you apply the polish so it doesn't smear over onto the chapter ring or the minute tic marks? I could see dabbing it on with a q-tip and then polishing, but I'd want the darker tint to extend all the way to the edge, leaving it lightest in the middle. I don't know how you'd do that. cc33, I really like that coarse finish you achieved. Now I'm off to find Mq's entry level dial for comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyB Posted May 3, 2013 Report Share Posted May 3, 2013 Wow, that's a lot of good information. JoeyB, your results are amazing. Are you the one that did the lume after applying the decal? Wow. Yes. I use a water based acrylic 'Glow-Paint' similar to what RolexAddict uses. His are extraordinary, I can't match that. I can do a chapter ring dial 'good enough', staying inside the lines! The round markers are easy, flatten a toothpick tip to just under the marker size, then touch the lume, and 'touch' the marker. One stop drop! For the coronet and straight markers I have tried many things, and now have settled on using a nib. It gives me most control, and my old, tired eyes and shaky hands need all the help I can get! The nice thing about this lume is that you can tint it easily, it glows about as a 50+ year old lume would, it has the 'grainy' texture of the old lume, and if you mess up you just wipe it off with a wet tissue or Q-tip and get a do-over! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 That's amazing, Joey. You should think about making these for sale! I love the gorgeous tropical color you got.Looking closer at Ingod's dials, his black 2-liner gilt dial has a silver depth rating and gilt "SUBMARINER". But his tropical brown gilt dial has both the depth rating and "SUBMARINER" in gilt. Does anyone else think this was just a brain fart on his part? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyB Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 It's really too easy for anyone to do themselves, and there is a legal issue I don't wish to deal with. They can be made to any color you like, all on your printer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Freddy, I like your idea of the boot polish to make the dial less homogeneously brown. All gen tropical dials are faded lighter at the hole where the pinion protrudes, and at the date opening. So how do you apply the polish so it doesn't smear over onto the chapter ring or the minute tic marks? I could see dabbing it on with a q-tip and then polishing, but I'd want the darker tint to extend all the way to the edge, leaving it lightest in the middle. I don't know how you'd do that. Actually, you are not too far off on the application. I use a toothpick to apply the polish & then diffuse (smear) it as needed with my finger. Although there does not seem to be alot of consistency with dial patina, I generally find that the area around the center pinion tends to be darker. I think the color variation is due to a combination of UV exposure & reaction by the paint & since it is covered by the hands, the center tends to be less affected than other areas of the dial. But I also apply a bit of polish to other bits just to help maintain some inconsistency. The trick is to keep the color variations to within a narrow range, so the dial appears differently depending on the ambient lighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Thanks Freddy, that was a great description. This is the effect I'd go for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Once the dial is off, just apply a dot of boot polish where you want it. In this case, since the dial will already be black (in my case, the dial was brown & I was darkening it), you would use brown polish. Just apply a dot around the center hole & rub your finger in a circular fashion to spread it around the hole, being careful to keep away from the text. Same thing around the date window & anywhere else on the dial you want to lighten. Just err on the side of using too little & you should be fine. Once the color looks the way you want it, you can optionally give the entire dial a light spray of clear or yellow matte varnish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Dang, Freddy I didn't think of lightening the black with brown! You da MAN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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