Jump to content
When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
  • Current Donation Goals

Marina Militare 3646 Modded


Falco

Recommended Posts

Marina Militare 3646 Davidsen with Germano custom-made strap incl. sewn-in buckle

Hope you like it :victory:

Mods done:

Replaced dial with thin lume version

Aged dial/hands, case, crystals and strap using various methods

Aged/darkened Rolex bridges using phosphoric acid & steel wool

EDIT UPDATE:

Vintageing process;

First, most of these instructions I've found on the forums and my sincere thanks to those posted

similar instructions before. Second, try at on risk.

Dial: brushed lightly w/ steel wool and a thick mix of (chewing) tobacco, Nescafe and sugar

mixed in just a little cold water is rubbed on the dial with q-tips.

Careful around dial text since the text is water soluble in luke warm water.

Extra sugar can be added into mix and placed onto dial numbers if you want a more glassy/shiny look

on these.

Hands: Fine sandpaper onto surface, then paint them w/ diluted mix of the dial mixture

Case: Press granite stones onto case, use sandpaper, steel wool and cape cod polish.

Crystal: steel wool around outside edges, diluted yellow ethanol marker pen at inside vertical edges

Strap: steel wool on buckle, soaking strap overnight in leather oils, dry, and wiggle the strap in

all possible directions. Polish leather when dry w/ cloth to get a shine.

Rolex plates:

First note that winding stem of Molijna movement needs to be removed in time-setting position,

but still can be messed up. Movement also prone to rust. Please read The Zigmeisters posts about it.

Also acid is dangerous, wear gloves and goggles.

Remove rolex plates and leave in at least 40% phosphoric acid at least overnight until darkened in right shade.

give it a light polish with steel wool and apply light coat of anti-rust oil like WD40.

Alternative to phosphoric acid is gun bluing but movement will get a blue/black instead of grey/black tint.

Additional mods possible but not tried yet:

Davidsens crown doesn't fit close to the case, tube can be removed & grind down for this and inserted deeper.

Did sort of like it the way it is though.

Lug welding, need to find proper cheap equipment or a good watchsmith.

That's it, don't be afraid to try and if I can do it you can do it

194436-4212.jpg

194436-4213.jpg

194436-4214.jpg

194436-4215.jpg

194436-4216.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marina Militare 3646 Davidsen with Germano custom-made strap incl. sewn-in buckle

Hope you like it :victory:

Mods done:

Replaced dial with thin lume version

Aged dial/hands, case, crystals and strap using various methods

Aged/darkened Rolex bridges using phosphoric acid & steel wool

Wow! Very beautiful work. Do you mind telling us bit more how you got that vintage look at the dial and the hands? Would be very interesting to hear.

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Falco,

Congratulations. I am totally impressed with your work!

It makes my work on my 6152/1 look like garbage...

This is certainly an abuse :) but would you help doing me a dial and a pair of hands for a future project I have in mind?

Cheers,

Marco

Marco, most of these vintageing techniques are from your excellent post :thumbsupsmileyanim: :

Marco's 6152/1

I just added some chemicals and distressing :whistling:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marco, most of these vintageing techniques are from your excellent post :thumbsupsmileyanim: :

Marco's 6152/1

I just added some chemicals and distressing :whistling:

Hey Falco, thanks for the compliment! I am flattered :) but technique is one thing and art is other.

I still think your work on vintageizing the dial and hands is way better than mine and I would really appreciate your help.

I am now working on something that will be very useful for all of us vintage lovers but I will only unveil it later on when I am positively sure of its production conditions.

Cheers,

Marco

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marco, by comparing your 6152/1 dial to my 3646 dial I think there's only few differences;

you used more sugar on dial numbers which in my opinion looks better

Try to use (thewatchboys) steel wool to slightly roughen the dial surface and smear some some chewed tobacco (really great stuff :thumbsupsmileyanim: )

on dials and hands and it should be identical (if not a lot better)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you used more sugar on dial numbers which in my opinion looks better

Try to use (thewatchboys) steel wool to slightly roughen the dial surface and smear some some chewed tobacco (really great stuff :thumbsupsmileyanim: )

on dials and hands and it should be identical (if not a lot better)

Great! this looks like Chef's talk! Special dial "confit"...

In the meantime do you have an alternative to tobacco? I quitted the smokes 8 months ago and I can not have proximity to that stuff... :)

BTW do not forget to seal the "sugared" numeral cutouts with a coat of satin varnish being careful not to stain the dial surface with it!

Cheers,

Marco

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes the dial should be pretty tasty by now :chef:

Smokers hate chewing tobacco so hopefully you're safe

Thanks for the tip about varnish :victory: forgot about that, got some spare varnish I can use from a superlumina package

The dial soaks up most of the solution, but I'll do it just to be safe, and it will get a bit more glossy surface, great!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes the dial should be pretty tasty by now :chef:

Smokers hate chewing tobacco so hopefully you're safe

Thanks for the tip about varnish :victory: forgot about that, got some spare varnish I can use from a superlumina package

The dial soaks up most of the solution, but I'll do it just to be safe, and it will get a bit more glossy surface, great!

The cherry on top of our "cakes" will be thick plexis correctly produced but we will talk about that later on....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now this is becomming more like a cook book than a watch forum :-) , but could you mention which proportions you are using when you make that mix you put on the dial and hands?

I will try to do something similar within a near future and since I only have one dial, I get no second chance.

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now this is becomming more like a cook book than a watch forum :-) , but could you mention which proportions you are using when you make that mix you put on the dial and hands?

I will try to do something similar within a near future and since I only have one dial, I get no second chance.

Thanks

If my memory doesnt fail me I think I PMd you a recipe some time ago...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up