manodeoro Posted September 25, 2018 Report Share Posted September 25, 2018 (edited) May I introduce you to my newcomer, a 5500 Air-King Precision circa 1975. That watch shows a really nice patina dial and offers a thrilling experience on the wrist ... for vintage watch lovers of course. And it's been a really long journey to get that petite on my wrist. I'll tell you the complete story a little later but for the moment … i just hope you'll enjoy the pics. Here are some close-up pics … I’m definitely in love with that crown The complete story about that watch will come soon Edited September 25, 2018 by manodeoro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted September 25, 2018 Report Share Posted September 25, 2018 Looks nice. I wear the 1503 Date and the size doesn't bother me in the least. I like the close up of the tritium dots- cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobandshawn Posted September 25, 2018 Report Share Posted September 25, 2018 Beauty. PM in bound about... B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manodeoro Posted September 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2018 1 hour ago, alligoat said: Looks nice. I wear the 1503 Date and the size doesn't bother me in the least. I like the close up of the tritium dots- cool! Thanks buddy Well ... to be completely honest there's no tritium dots on that dial ... just home-made water-based lume on a DIY "sunburst patina decal dial " I'll soon post the complet story of that build 29 minutes ago, bobandshawn said: Beauty. PM in bound about... B Thanks Bob ... why not so let's talk about that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manodeoro Posted September 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2018 Here's the complete build story It all started when I saw, on a UK site, a watch showing a beautifull patina. That 5500 Air-King was at £3.000, a fair price IMO though I really had a better use for such an amount at that very moment. But I must admit that I fell in love at first sight and I craved to have one. I already had 2 Air-Kings, 14000 models in my drawers. One was a DHGate I got from @English Gent for the amazing amount of £67 shipped. The other one I bought from Silix, only $100 shipped, just to check if a$30 difference could imply a difference in the making. And yes there was a real difference as the Silix had a better dial, a better movement and a much better case and bracelet. Then, considering the fact that the DHGate one was a little small (not exactly 36mm) and spent almost all its time in the drawer despite the fact that she was really nice on the wrist, I decided that I could take my chance. So I decided I could try to transform a soso 14000 into a nice 5500 ... thus the really long journey. First I had to mod the dial. I removed the bar indexes and the crown and put them aside then I stripped all the letterings, using acetone and Q-Tips and only kept the "soleillé" (sunburst) I had already designed a 5500 Air-King Precision patina dial and had printed it on clear decal paper so I just had to put it on I picked the "right" indexes and a better crown from my spares, put them on the dial - with cyanolit because their positions had to be moved a little more close to the rehaut (about 1/2mm). I used 8 "thin" indexes and 3 "bold" indexes (at 3/6/9) and I reworked the crown a little with a diamond files so that it could look a litte more "genlike". Then of course a set of 5500 Precision hands and some dots of DIY vintage lume. Before putting the dial and movement in the case I had to rework it a BIG lot : - thinned the case and lugs a little to get closer to the 34mm size - drilled the lugs from scratch so that they could get vintage spring bars - filled the existing lug holes with solder so that the spring bars could not be "stucked" inside - erased the engravements on the rehaut and thinned it a little so that it could receive a Tropic crystal - reworked the bezel to the outer size of the Tropic Crystal - thinned the lugs and bezel again while smoothing everything - chamfered the inner side of the crwon so that the final look could be more « genlike » - mod standard springbars to vintage 1,8mm springbars I did not took pics of all the phases along the process but here are some What else ? It’s been a long but really interesting process and that I’m really happy with the final result. Hope you enjoyed the story. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sogeha Posted September 26, 2018 Report Share Posted September 26, 2018 I’m very impressed by your ingenuity. Well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagnesky Posted September 26, 2018 Report Share Posted September 26, 2018 wow awesome work mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardH Posted September 26, 2018 Report Share Posted September 26, 2018 Great post, and really nice job! Thanks for sharing the photos, I'm just about to start a similar project myself. Cheers - R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manodeoro Posted September 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2018 3 hours ago, Sogeha said: I’m very impressed by your ingenuity. Well done 3 hours ago, Champagnesky said: wow awesome work mate. 1 hour ago, RichardH said: Great post, and really nice job! Thanks for sharing the photos, I'm just about to start a similar project myself. Cheers - R Thank you all buddies @RichardH ... good luck on your project and hope you'll enjoy it, and fell free to chime here if you think I can be of any help. If I started to build a twin watch I would probably start with a 34 mm Oysterdate Precision case ... though I would have to source a different caseback as the 6694 Precision has a "rounded" caseback and the 5500 looks more like a 1002 caseback (with a flat brushed center). But the trickiest part (not so tricky) is the dial as, as far as I know, there is no 5500 Rep dial. So you have to start with a blank sunburst no-date dial, add a set of bar markers (8 thin and 3 thicker but all of the same length) and a matching coronet and build the Air-King dial. 50% of the fun is there cause when you have finished with that a lumed everything ... you're happy. The 5500 hands are not thatveasy to source too but if you get a complte 34mm Precision watch you can use the handset 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted October 1, 2018 Report Share Posted October 1, 2018 Great job on the dial! Here's my early 70s franken (all gen except crystal, movement, and hands) which I sold a few years back in a fit of insanity. Keep working on the lugs and the bezel is still a hair fat but you're getting there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manodeoro Posted October 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2018 3 hours ago, jmb said: Great job on the dial! Here's my early 70s franken (all gen except crystal, movement, and hands) which I sold a few years back in a fit of insanity. Keep working on the lugs and the bezel is still a hair fat but you're getting there. Thanks @jmb An enthusiastic quoting from you is one of the best rewards I could have hoped for Your're 100% right about the lugs and the bezel !!! so I'll certainly do some more casework within the next months. About the bracelet I'll probably keep the Oyster (I'll age it a little) as my build is supposed to be from the mid 70ies so a rivet bracelet would'nt be period correct I suppose. I still have a question for you ... HOW could you sold such a beauty ??? You were 100% insane when you did that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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