Vintagizing a Bezel Insert

[Edge]

I recently decided to undertake mods myself, I have been successfull so far with IMHO, a Beautifull 1680. Now it is the turn of the Bond Sub, which I recently received from silix. Nice watch for the price and a good starting point for mods.

This is a very quick peak into ageing the bezel insert to be more weather beaten and vintage.

REALLY SIMPLE!!!

Take 1 Muller Yoghurt.....eat said yoghurt.......wash pot........fill pot with detergent.......put insert into pot.......leave for 2 mins........rub with tissue/cloth...let dry

VERY VERY SIMPLE.

HOWEVER!!!!!!!!

Do not do what I did at first and leave the insert in for 30 mins....forgot about it lol.

Here you can see the finished product on the watch, and also my first attempt lol:

Here she is with the beautiful 1680 I mentioned:

And finally Rep Rollie + Gen Dolce....perfect:

See how easy it is.

Enjoy!

More threads to come once I actually get the finger out and start working on the case and dial.

[miquel]

Very nice result! I am going to try it tonight when I get home.

What kind of detegent did you use? Tide? Also, liquid or powder?

Edited May 1, 2006 by miquel

[Edge]

Glad to hear it Miguel.

Es muy fácil. Aprenda de mi error y no lo deje adentro por 30 minutos.

[miquel]

Gracias por el aconsejar.

[V]

Lovely result

[ubiquitous]

Very nice result, Chris!

You definitely don't want to leave inserts in the solution for too long! That's for sure!

Here's the results of a genuine insert, left in the bath for an hour. A little too long methinks

[Edge]

LOL glad that happened to others and not just me, I managed to strip off all of the paint lol......OOOPS!

Thanks for the input Ubi.

Chris

[pitimany]

@edge

buen trabajo. me encanta tu avatar.

[manuel]

edge, cant find this watch on silix site. I want to know if this watch comes with holes in the lugs.

I like your method. what kind of deterget do you use? itds comercial name?

[tasotti55]

Hi tios,

Lo escribo en español, que es tarde y no me apetece en inglés.

Una guía de P.M. para desmantelar el submariner. Le compré uno a Edd y se le calleron la marcas luminiscentes de las horas al poco tiempo. Gracias a los consejos, he sabido abrir el reloj y pegarlas por mi cuenta. De otra forma no me hubiera atrevido a meterle mano.

Thank u all friends!!!

[Highflyingclive]

@Edge... how do you remove the bezel insert on an SMP without damaging it?

[kingkitesurf]

I have done it succesfully with a cup with 50%water / 50% bleach and a spoon of salt. Left it in with intervals of 15 minutes. After 3 dips it was perfect.

[ubiquitous]

3 minutes in the bath... 1 dip.... 1 set of careful eyes....

[supermanx]

I was looking for those too - but they seem to be hard to come by...

As you can see on my vintage 5512, Bob - we share the same thought when it comes to vintagizing...

As far as shape goes it looks very close to the pearl ofrei sells, you would just have to put a little work into making look vintage. I bought the pearl mistaking thinking it could replace a modern sub pearl.

[Edge]

Keep em coming guys, I look forward to seeing your attempts Oli, I love the 5512 so let us see how that goes. Glad that y'all are giving this a go as it really is easy, and the only prob is not leaving it in the bleach too long.

Nanuq - You have PM.

[erwinner]

I'm also looking for a pearl; does not need to be vintage or so... who's best to contact? and what to look for on a silix sub?

[HauteHippie]

Really nice results. So let me get this straight... Three minutes in undiluted liquid laundry detergent is giving these results?