rionrlty Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Hi Guys, Thanks to your suggestions I have now corrected the problem with the improper dial depth in relation to the slide rule ring. The dial is now just a hair short of actually touching the slide rule ring. Any closer and it could damage the dial. The first 3 pictures are after correction and the rest are before pictures. Let me know what you think. Now if I could just find that gen date wheel. .................................................................................................................................................................................Hi Guys, here are the results of my latest Franken project. It has a gen dial, stem, crown and a gen Swiss ETA 7750 engine and the rest of the watch is rep. I also have a standard rep Navitimer Fighters SS watch with a rep blue dial and it is amazing the difference in color between the rep dial and the gen dial. The rep dial is darker and a lot more subtle. The gen dial just pops, especially in the TT version with gold printing. This watch is made up of parts from 5 different watches with an eye toward picking the best from each one. The case is from an older rep and has the larger bevel on the top outer edges of the lugs, which is far more Gen like. The gold bezel and TT bracelet actually came from a very old quartz rep and the clasp. The bezel construction was the same on the quartz watch but the keeper ring had to be cut down to make room for the thickness of the crystal. The Bracelet is from the quartz watch also but the clasp and back cover are from a recent rep with deeper, more correct engraving. When I first discovered the concept of "Frankens", after joining this forum, I kind of thought it was silly. Now I think I have gotten the bug as this is my second Navitimer franken. The first was an SS Fighters model with a gen Breitling B13 movement, gen stem and crown and gen 18mm deployant which I presented earlier in this section. While I have always liked my Navis more on a strap, I believe the TT one actually belongs on the TT bracelet. Eventually I would like to source a gen TT bracelet for this one. This has now officially become one of my favorite reps, along side of that one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
importr Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Not bad....but that gap between the dial and slide rule is a bit of a sore point? Was this built from a tricompax or fighters case? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
importr Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Ah seeing the case back I will answer my own question. Did you not trim the dial, to allow the movt to sit closer to the bezel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hackR Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 really nice work...i especially like the cuts on the bezel edge...they look great... you might want to ping a few places and see if you can pick up a gen Breitling date wheel instead of what looks like a stock eta date wheel...it does make a difference - as i'm sure your other Fighter can attest... R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rionrlty Posted December 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 Hey guys, thanks for the critique. I've listened to you and it's back to the drawing board to fix the dial problem. Wish me luck. Does anyone have a gen date wheel to sell? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronoluvvv Posted December 14, 2013 Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 (edited) Hey guys, thanks for the critique. I've listened to you and it's back to the drawing board to fix the dial problem. Wish me luck. Does anyone have a gen date wheel to sell? not that i have one but i've seen them 7750 DWs pop up from time to time so i'll keep an eye out p.s. a gen TT bracelet ? pheeeeeeeeeeeew that's as expensive it'll get in the history of rep'dom Edited December 14, 2013 by chronoluvvv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rionrlty Posted December 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 I actually bought one for a 38mm chronomat a few years back for $300 on Ebay. Still, I imagine the Navitimer bracelet would be quite a bit more. The thing is that the don't wrap these like the Rolex so that's the only way to get long term use from one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike on a bike Posted December 14, 2013 Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 Mike saw the non TT one and it was over $1500 as I remember, get a bunch of Rep ones when they get messed up change! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rionrlty Posted December 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2013 That's actually a pretty good idea MOAB. The Trouble is that I haven't found a dealer yet that will sell the TT one separate. That's the problem with TT, the gold always wears thru eventually. On bezels and cases there are platers who will lay it on thick for a little extra cost. I can't even imagine how much work it would be to take one of those bracelets apart and replate the center links. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rionrlty Posted December 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2013 There is a SS Navitimer 6/9/12 black with white subdials on Ebay for $3,000. Weird thing is it has a two tone bracelet. Anyone interested in the head only for $2500? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreww Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Looks much better, but there shouldn't be any gap whatsoever. It won't damage the dial, that's the way its meant to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rionrlty Posted December 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Andreww, there is no gap. What your seeing is an illusion caused by shadows that I couldn't seem to eliminate in my pictures. If you look carefully at all the pictures you will see what I mean. There is a very slight edge thickness to the metal ring (1/10 mm?) underlying the plastic slide rule overlay, plus the thickness of the plastic overlay itself and that may be casting the shadow, but no matter how I positioned my lights I could not seem to eliminate it. Here is another picture that may illustrate my point better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreww Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 Got ya. Looks better in that pic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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