My tropical explorer 6538 from Akira!

[EMM]

Here’s a post that’s long overdue.  About 4 months ago, I saw Akira post something (no idea what), and in the pic was a tropical-dialed, explorer-dialed (3-6-9 dial) 6538.  I immediately PMed him and he offered to make me one.

 

He slowly gathered up parts (rafflestime case and dial, sternkreuz plexi, athaya “brevet” crown, etc.), never asking me to pay him a dime.  Then I sent him an old cartel 2846 I had lying around, and it arrived dead.  So he had it serviced (for next to nothing), and got it running smooth as butter.  Still nothing out of my pocket. I literally paid nothing until I approved the final product.

 

And the final product is really something.  Akira reshaped the case to have soft angles typical of a 50-60 year-old watch, with a few dings and scratches that have been polished over for good measure.  The dial is a nice shade of dark umber, about the color of dark chocolate – not that brown-crayon tropical look you often see.  There are lots of subtle variations in tone and shading, along with a nice muted gilt to the dial text.  And, in what turned out to be a happy accident, Akira overbleached the insert and ended up with this really neat ghost effect where at some angles the insert is fully black, and at others looks completely silver.  It’s really something to see in person.  And not only does it look so nice, it runs silently, smoothly and accurately, with awesome power reserve.

 

Anyway, I got the watch about two weeks ago, and I waited so long to post because I wanted to put it on the right strap. I tried it on the bracelet, but the ghosted bezel just sort of washed out. I then tried a Donerix leather NATO, which looked good, but the extra bulk under the watch bothered me and the look was little too casual for the office.   I ultimately decided on Donerix’s cracked leather, which arrived today.  It looks fantastic on the watch, and really brings out the bezel and the tropical brown on the dial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few of my iphone shots.  Here you can see the bezel has the slightest tropical brown to it:

 

 

 

And a wristie with it's new strap:

 

 

Check out all the shades on the dial:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here are some much better shots Akira took of the watch on a folded 7836. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[whoever]

Beeeeeautiful piece. I'm nit the rolex guy, but this is gorgeous!

Sorry to ask, you can answer me by pm if you want, but how much all in all?

[TeeJay]

Stunning

[mjmj]

Wow..that looks very nice.Enjoy her

[freddy333]

I do not mean to hurt anyone's feelings & I can appreciate the amount of time, effort & work that went into this piece (obviously alot), but it is another example of too much of a good thing. Too much (mechanically-induced) wear & too much (chemically-induced) corrosion on a base that lacks some of the details of a true vintage Rolex gen. I get that many appreciate this style, but I think it looks artificial.........nice, but just not like the real thing. Kind of like a nice pair of silicone breasts or hair transplants. They have a certain draw, but, on an almost cartoonish level, they would never fool a knowledgable viewer.

Now, before people start posting pics of gens, I realize that you can always find a few that look similar to this, but they are the exception to the rule & often have questionable provenances too boot.

Just my $0.02.

[lhooq]

Wonderful to see one of Akira's pieces on your wrist, EMM! 

[awltoga]

I agree with Freddy on this. It's your watch and if you love it awesome...enjoy it. The completely beat up look seems quite off to me. I most often see this with pams and they are so beat up, as if to look as if they were at the bottom of the ocean. And it does look fake. I recently bleached an insert and went way to far, it looks cool but does not reflect a typical vintage watch. But nonetheless wear it in good health.

[aeromatic]

Congrats on your build ! i myself did an over the top ageing/fading on my tudor build with tropical insert although my insert came out authenic looking i must admit that the watch is getting less and less wrist time , and thats why my latest 6538 build has had no ageing done to it,i will wear it and let it age natually ,any other builds will have light ageing (to tone down the factory shine) as i live in a county that has more than 10 months bright sunshine a year in the daylight my over aged watch looks like a bleep,bleep,bleep (badly looked after watch) but i suppose its like a faded pair of jeans some prefer them slightly faded and others like them much more faded and ripped !!!

Edited October 17, 2013 by aeromatic

[coolfire]

Loving it, nonetheless!