Vintage date overlay.......honesty sought

[Justasgood]

Okay, I am a very handy person. I tore apart my first watch over 15 years ago, put it back together and it worked.

Since then, I have taken some courses, worked as an apprentice....kind of and have custom built many watches since.

But I have to be honest and would like to hear from others. I bought 5 overlays. I have since ruined 4 and quite honestly, I have no interest in trying to install the 5th. I tried trimming, using a bit of solvent (very very little), a wet paper towel and even installing one on top of the other.

The results........no good. Alignment is not the issue. The inner part of the vinyl overlay hangs up on the movement causing very slow and sometimes non-exisitent date changes.

So, I am now offering to buy anybody's rep overlay that they have removed to install the vintage ones(must be un-marred and usable).

I'll even throw in the one remaining un-used vintage overlay I have left.

Don't get me wrong, I have seen the pictures (although few) of other member's watches with the overlay installed and they look great. And I really commend the group that took on getting the things made. Perhaps this Mod just ain't in the cards for me.

Here is a pic of one that almost worked:

Please let me know if you have the MBW overlays that came with your watch. I can use as many as are offered.

Thanks in advance,

Kurt.

[Mickey Padge]

I thought the overlay went on top of the existing date disc no? So that would mean nobody would have a spare disc because it is still inside the watch, with the overlay attached on top of it?

I may be wrong though.........

[Justasgood]

I thought the overlay went on top of the existing date disc no? So that would mean nobody would have a spare disc because it is still inside the watch, with the overlay attached on top of it?

I may be wrong though.........

I tried that and had clearance issues with the underside of the dial.

Perhaps the promised "How To Install" tutorial will expose the secret that eludes me.

I thought the overlay went on top of the existing date disc no? So that would mean nobody would have a spare disc because it is still inside the watch, with the overlay attached on top of it?

I may be wrong though.........

[Sir-Lancelot]

I too fugged one up. Its okay until it gets in to the 20's.

Maybe the next one won

Edited March 29, 2007 by Sir-Lancelot

[LIBBY!]

Sigh.....

I got two and am waiting to use them in watches, what little that I have seen on these here does not sound promising!

Ubi???

[HauteHippie]

But I have to be honest and would like to hear from others. I bought 5 overlays. I have since ruined 4 and quite honestly, I have no interest in trying to install the 5th. I tried trimming, using a bit of solvent (very very little), a wet paper towel and even installing one on top of the other.

The results........no good. Alignment is not the issue. The inner part of the vinyl overlay hangs up on the movement causing very slow and sometimes non-exisitent date changes.

Too bad it's not working out for you. I have a similar issue with my franken 16610 which has a Noob date overlay. More often than not, the date will not change when I manually advance the hands across 12 midnight. I hear the mechanism click inside the watch, but the date doesn't move. However, for whatever reason, when the watch advances itself past midnight the date always advances. And, I can also manually advance the date with the crown in the date set position. So, anyhow, I don't know if your problem is similar to mine, but it's pretty minor to me and I just live with it.

[alt.watch.obsessive]

Hi Guys,

I just got done with a 16200 following all the great advice here and had similar issues. Not sure if this applies to subs...

I glued it to the existing datewheel. Test if it's working without the dial. When you install the dial, the spacer will probably be a hair small. I built mine up with a thin application of superglue, let it dry, then glued the dial. Then try it again. It needs to click over very freely--if it advances slowly when you set the date there is too much friction which you can overcome when advancing the date by hand but the watch won't be able to handle reliably on its own. You may need the longer pinnon on the movement for the hands to be perfect...I had to bend the minute hand ever so slightly to clear the large stick markers on the gen dial. When the date advances, no movement then "click" and it moves forward.

Cheers.

[14060 or 16610?]

Let me chime in here since my project is nearly complete.

The overlay goes right on top of the DW, there's no other way to do it. With that said, the teeth of the DW ride under the [censored] of the motion works. This is where you run into problems. Obviously if you just glue the overlay flush, it is going to jam up at the motion works [censored]. What you need is a bit of space, not much, but you definitely need to raise the overlay just a hair above the DW. What I did was use rubber cement. Put a generous bead on both the DW and the overlay, taking care to avoid the toothed area, and let everything dry for a few minutes. When it's all dry, simply stick the two pieces together. The beads on both pieces will create a built-up thickness that is just enough to clear the [censored] on the motion works. The result is that the DW will advance with no problems at all. Mine is very smooth and works like it should. The best part about rubber cement is that it is easily removed if you goof up with alignment or height. I goofed mine up 3 or 4 times and was able to remove the overlay with a razor blade, rub the cement off with my finger, and reapply.

I know since the DW is raised it means the dial will have to be raised as well, otherwise things will get hung up on each other. I plan to use either dial dots or micro thin double sided tape to attach the dial if necessary. These can also be layered to create height if needed.

Obviously this is a domino effect, and raising the DW along with the dial will now require bending of the hands to clear the stick markers. But I can live with that, at least temporarily until I am able to order new cannon pinion, etc. to raise everything properly.

Just my .02 - remember, my DW clicks and advances smoothly!

[14060 or 16610?]

Also, you can remove an existing overlay with no problem - they are made of metal and are just lightly glued. Just use a very sharp razor blade working around very gradually, and you will have no problems removing it. Very easy. If you have a junk sub or other Rollie rep lying around, you can remove the overlay.

[ubiquitous]

Kurt-

9 times out of 10, it's the date getting hung up on advancement because the overlay is rubbing on the underside of the dial. I ran into the problem, and I think Ziggy did too. There just isn't a ton of clearance between the date disc and the dial. This is also one of the reasons why we didn't use metal. We couldn't find metal thin enough to do the job (printing was an entirely different problem in and of itself).

Anyhow... Please send me a PM...

[14060 or 16610?]

Regarding the part about the overlay being metal, I am talking about a standard overlay, not the recent vintage version which, as stated above, is not printed on metal.

[vmena]

micro thin double sided tape to attach the dial if necessary

I did... it works.

[vmena]

You can buy overlays at

http://www.cubic-works.com/watchtools/index.html

Warning tho,

I did not have any luck with him and lost $20. His communication skills suck at best, but many on here have bought from him and say they are very good.

I've a couple from them and very very good (unfortunately I bought them at eBay and paid 30$ + shipping!) You only need to be patience... and expect some mistakes (gold instead of white, closed 6 & 9 instead of open.

If some of you are desperate I may resell on of the ones I have extra...

[Sherrington]

Not just me then. Don't see many posts praising them yet.