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My first Rolex platinumization


GenTLe

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SO I have this nice Noob V3 green Sub-C that I got m2m on the other RWG some time ago.

At the beginning it gave me a lot of troubles, because the seller (if I have to believe his words) didn't notice the fact that the date wasn't flipping at all with time (only quick date set was working). Also the dwo was very bad with numbers definitively too much on the left.

After the good SSteel gave me for free a well shaped 2836 gold main plate, and after I tried a BP GMT2 dw that I had around which was a lot better than the Noob one, I serviced the movement, replacing the plate and dw, and it started working properly.

But still I was annoyed by the off-white color of the ceramic bezel engravings (I am a kind of perfectionist...).

Some time ago I read a post over RWG of a guy that followed this guide http://www.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php?p=1118432 on his blue Sub-C with very good results, so I gave it a try :)

The part I was mostly scared about was the pearl removal: if you don't follow the correct procedure there is the risk of bezel crack... Definitively I didn't want to end up in that other trouble...

But again, following the instructions of the previous link and using a welder for electronic to heat the pearl all went fine:

9bef2900c460bf2e2ccfe13b89e7f9c2.jpg

Then I prepared the 1:4 diluted Testor enamel and this is the result of the first application:

94226661d78ed4873c889a59c8d08394.jpg

Now have to wait 24h to move on with the rest of the procedure.

To ne continued...

Edited by GenTLe
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I did a similar method and it worked great. I found the key was to get a good dilution so it's very thin. Then applied several coats. Took a week or so due to drying time but looked much better. Watch sold long ago and I cannot seem to find the pics of the process and outcome.

Good luck

Sent from my droptop using telepathy.

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Ok, so this evening it was scalpel and lacquer time.

First I removed carefully, with a couple of little screwdrivers and sharp tweezers, the glue residue in the hole of the pearl, so that I will be able to glue it back properly at the end.

Then, after some surgery scalpel job:

e6e66d2fab5f59a0818207b787c408be.jpg

bab4e2b1b8a57c24a1abd821671d3c0a.jpg

c0346ce79988991cf87a0327f9c728b9.jpg

And here you can already see the color differences of the engravings based on light incidence:

0a1eb63fa7ea26d4247eb97afe63e197.jpg

5ad4a250cf3cb34d3c08c79b6830de1c.jpg

And then up the transparent lacquer (here freshly applied). You have to be careful because the thinner of the lacquer tends to dilute also the already dried enamel:

29e33722eba81c827dc3f3e943205b2e.jpg

45718505352ead4d25065229e4217470.jpg

Now other 24h to let the lacquer to dry :)

To be continued...

Edited by GenTLe
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Ok after the last scalpel passage and the pearl reattachment with a bit of 2 component epoxy glue, I've done.

A suggestion to whom is going to do the same mod, not already mentioned in the original post on RWI is to avoid using a pointed scalpel. If the point ends up in the engraving you will probably ruin your work. Much better to use a curved blade like on the surgery one I used. Also always try to proceed with che blade so that it has a 45° angle respect to the engraving shapes (not speacking about the angle respect to the ceramic insert): for exaple it may seem easier to do the [] (0) with the blade 90° to the vertical part of the number -moving it straight/radially from the crystal to the bezel-, BUT you may end up with the whole blade in the horizontal part of the chyper _ and damage the job...

Here the final result:

30cc9f437e9772941da8638b92d8c312.jpg

42b0887604078759128668e79714b6d4.jpg

fa89f08352fafe255c39f5d064d6735c.jpg

4f22d49e817dda1b1579dc6700eee043.jpg

Hope you enjoyed :)

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  • 6 months later...

Nicely done, I was wondering : can you swim/shower with yours even after the PPP mod? I got mine done but unfortunately it came off, again... if yours is "resistant"; could you tell me how or what to apply/do in order to get it resistant? 

 
Thanks 
 
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Nicely done, I was wondering : can you swim/shower with yours even after the PPP mod? I got mine done but unfortunately it came off, again... if yours is "resistant"; could you tell me how or what to apply/do in order to get it resistant? 

 Thanks  

I took a couple of shower with this one with no problem. But in general I take all my watch out before.

I didn't do anything different then firstly clean very well the base surface with degreaser and a little brush, and then using the described enamel and clear coating leaving them dry 1 day between each passage and diluting them with their same brand thinners.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

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I took a couple of shower with this one with no problem. But in general I take all my watch out before.

I didn't do anything different then firstly clean very well the base surface with degreaser and a little brush, and then using the described enamel and clear coating leaving them dry 1 day between each passage and diluting them with their same brand thinners.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

Thanks for your reply. Mine came off in the pool, whilst the pool was about 30 degrees and I was only in for about 5 minutes.

Possibly a good idea to bake the insert after completion of above mentioned process?

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Bake? You mean heat it in a oven or so? Not really... Even the car water based paints use the "oven" just to protect the parts from the dust or to speed up the drying time, not because needed by the paint itself.

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Bake? You mean heat it in a oven or so? Not really... Even the car water based paints use the "oven" just to protect the parts from the dust or to speed up the drying time, not because needed by the paint itself.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

Allright, fair enough.. But how's it possible that the paint the insert comes with (Noob for example) never comes off? (Atleast nog for me) then I wanted a PPP-MOD, to make it more gen-like, and [censored] goes down. What am I missing?

Also, removing my watch before showering/swimming is so non-me, I want a watch I can bring everywhere anytime, know what I mean?

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Sincerely I don't know... Only thoughts are:

1 maybe the noob white paint is so thick that is more resistant

2 maybe the mod nas been done without cleaning properly the underneat surface

3 maybe the thinner wasn't compatible with the color used

4 maybe the white noob paint is not compatible with upper layers

5 ...

I cannot say, you have to test but not having the original Mirov paint to use as substrate it is just useless.

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