spazthecat Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Hi, Be nice, this is my first attempt at "vintagizing" a watch. But, when I showed to my wife her response was "it looks old, why would you do that?" so, I think I'm at least in the ball park:) The pictures aren't the greatest, I might try some outside later this week. The only thing I might change is the hands. I think they need a little more work. Too shiny. Thanks for looking, Andy -- The parts are as follows: -Case and dial from JMB. -Ostrich strap from Stach Straps -Seagull movement that I had where the date change mechanism never quite worked correctly. So, I removed all of that stuff and replaced the set bridge with one from a 2801 movement. So, now only two crown positions like you would expect. -Case, dial, hands, and strap moderately aged by me. Here's the dial's original state: Here's after the aging process: And the final product: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmj Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Looks very good. Great work!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hcaht Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Looks really good to my amateur eye! I personally like how the branding really faded into the dial. Nice first build. You should be proud of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue. Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Congratulations on your first build! Nicely done I like the way you vintagized the gilt print! It is less present now and a little more discreet. Enjoy wearing this nice Explorer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mendota Explorer Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Looks really nice. How did you do the aging? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormTooper4 Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Great job on that dial Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 Very nice! Maybe abuse the hands a bit more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spazthecat Posted July 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 Very nice! Maybe abuse the hands a bit more? Thanks. Yeah, I was thinking about that. But, I hate to take it apart now that it's cased up and everything. Setting hands still gives me trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spazthecat Posted July 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 Looks really nice. How did you do the aging? Thanks! For aging each part I did the following: Case: -removed the crystal and bezel then taped off the dial opening. -Put the case and bezel in a box of rocks, screws, and nails and then shook it up a bit -Took a pair of pliers and random "pinched" parts of the case and bezel. -2500 grit sand paper the whole thing a little to give back a little shine. Dial and Hands: -Used a small paint brush to apply coffee and then baked in the oven at 350 for 2 minutes. Just enough to evaporate the coffee. I did this again after the dial cooled off a bit. As an aside, I don't see how the folks here get the indices to turn brown with baking. I had a couple of test dials that I used before doing this one and for each of them, the paint on the dial bubbled up well before there was any visible change in the lume. -Painted with strong iodine solution (Lugol's solution) and let it dry, then repeat. -For the dial - 2 coats of spray on semi-gloss polyurethane. I held the can moderately high over the dial. I didn't want it be evenly coated or smooth. -For the hands I just did 1 coat of poly and held the can pretty high above them so that it wouldn't coat evenly. Strap: -Scrotch brite pad until the shine was mostly gone. It's a pretty textured strap so, I couldn't get it all off in the little nooks an crannies. -Rubbed it with coffee grounds, seasalt, and olive oil. -Wrapped it in foil and baked in the oven at 350 for 2 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spazthecat Posted July 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 Wrist shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted July 24, 2014 Report Share Posted July 24, 2014 Cool! The "teeth-marks" left by the pliers is an interesting effect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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