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Diving into Big Crown territory...


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Thought I'd try my hand at one of these... Brief departure from the 1940's dress watches I've been working on lately  :)

 

This project started more as a curiosity; I was intrigued specifically by the whisperings and 'myth' of dials that were so close to gen, that they may as well be. So, my adventure initiated with a dial and hand set from cc33; great guy to work with and cannot say enough good things about him. He's truly an asset to the community and I consider him one of the great authorities on Big Crowns. He's really done a lot of research on these and it shows in his fantastic builds.

 

The dial base is a genuine Beyeler, refinished to genuine specs in the same process that such dials were produced back in their time. The gilt fonts, chapters and index are all base metal, framed up with chocolate brown 'tropical', patina. Sealing everything in is nitrocellulose lacquer... Which provides a nice, glossy mirror-like finish. Looking at the dial at an angle, one can see that the gilt attributes are actually on a different, lower plane of the dial surface; adds a lot of character and depth to the watch. After seeing the dial up close and in my hands, I knew I had to keep going.

 

Hands are a nice set of gilt with lollipop seconds; nice match to the markers. Had to have a small repair done on the seconds hand; the tube had separated from it completely and so I had to have a new one riveted on (but it's all set now). A project just wouldn't be a project without a few hurdles along the way; it would be a bit boring if there were no troubleshooting or problems to solve and everything just went together without any effort  :)  I love LOVE the big bubble of the lollipop seconds... Maybe one of my favorite details on this watch. Perhaps especially so, considering the effort needed to get it sorted out  :wub:

 

The insert is a near mint, pristine example of a fat font I had come across on luck. It appears to be, perhaps from a 1680/8, as the fonts are slightly beige in tone. They're a great match to the cream luminous markers on the dial. I also picked up a nice, even faded grey insert, but felt that it wasn't quite as good of a match to the overall feel of the watch. Just chucked that one back into the spares box and will maybe find a use for it someday...

 

The movement is a clean 1030, fully overhauled by the master up North  ;)

 

And wrapping it all up is a case from Phong, matched with a gen 800 crown that I picked up for a whopping $15. Took a bit of a risk on it as the pics were not great, but there were some small details that stood out that I felt comfortable with. That... And it was only $15!  :)  Sure, it's got some wear... A knick here and a small ding there... But for the price... I ain't complaining. As mentioned in other threads, my crown doesn't screw down completely; a common problem as many gen examples out there seem to suffer the same issue.

 

On to some pics...

 

 

Insert pairing #1

 

 

Insert pairing #2

 

 

 

All I really need now is to find a suitable rivet Oyster (it's on a NATO for now)... For this I can wait. Got some Pateks to start working on now...

 

Thanks for looking!

 

//ubi

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I knew it ... I just knew it ... one day Il Maestro would build a Big Crown, and here it is.

 

That's a spectacular build Ubi.  Magnificent.  You and cc33 have set a high mark for us to aspire toward.

 

:notworthy:

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Bravo! It looks fantastic, thanks for all the kind words, it was my pleasure to help. I'm thrilled that we are able to make these beauty's thanks to these amazing dials. He actually ran out of genuine plates so I'm glad we were able to get a few while they were available. He refuses to use non genuine plates because you can't really call it a redial at that point, hint hint mq. Enjoy! And if you're anything like me it will be very hard not to wear it.

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I noticed a couple of things I missed earlier -
You posted pics of 2 different inserts & used the later version (I think the earlier would have been more appropriate)
10591680636_2b1dfc43ef_c.jpg
10591826963_0f85462ecc_c.jpg

Based on the extremely advanced position of the regulator, it looks like there is a problem with the balance & the gib (the tiny X-shaped clip on the rotor) is not locked into place
10591240464_476049b313_c.jpg

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This makes me even more impatient to finish my BC...

 

Very nice build Ubi !!!  :notworthy:

 

And thumbs up for @cc33 for his knowledge and as always very precious help...!!! He really deserve the "Mr. BC" title  :clap2: Or should I say, Mr. Bond ? ;)

 

@freddy, about the insert, the first shown is the Phong insert that comes with the case. Like Ubi, I also think it's better to use a genuine later MKIII FF insert rather than a "rep" insert, even if it is wrong talking about the period.

 

On my side, I prefer to use a ghost insert - this way the fonts are less visible, and it's harder to check the period of it :)

 

Needless to say the original period correct inserts are extremely expensive, impossible to find, etc...  :partytime:

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Thanks for the kind words! Much appreciated!

 

That is a truly beautiful build!!! Another masterpiece from a master. Gen rivet will make it perfect.

Gen rivet will be a must! Have a feeling it will completely change the look feel of the watch... While the NATO works, my preference for Rolex Subs is definitely a steel Oyster  -_-

 

Bravo! It looks fantastic, thanks for all the kind words, it was my pleasure to help. I'm thrilled that we are able to make these beauty's thanks to these amazing dials. He actually ran out of genuine plates so I'm glad we were able to get a few while they were available. He refuses to use non genuine plates because you can't really call it a redial at that point, hint hint mq. Enjoy! And if you're anything like me it will be very hard not to wear it.

Glad I got mine when I did!

 

Alright Ubi, how the H.E.Double-hockey-sticks did you find that crown for $15?  

 

I've been looking for over a year    attachicon.gifanim_notsure.gif

Happened on it by chance. The seller had some blurry images... And not a single one showing any great detail. I noticed some of the little crimps on the crown at the base of the teeth and figured it was either genuine, or an artifact of bad photography. Still... For the price, it was more than worth the chance... Just glad it turned out in my favor  :)

 

@Valty- I know we exchanged some discussion on how far our crowns seem to thread down; does yours screw down more/less or about the same as mine?

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