PAM 6152 owners

[leitztozeiss]

Gorgeous.

[madasboot]

Mark´s crystal on my 3646

[leitztozeiss]

Wow Marco. I love it. Good work Mark!

[madasboot]

Wow Marco. I love it. Good work Mark!

I´ll start a post in an hour.

My photo skills are lousy so my wife is now taking some photos of the 3646 to do some justice to Mark's work.

M.

[rqthrottle]

I know a sapphire crystal is not historically correct, but does anyone know if a Davidsen fiddy glass will fit a molinja vintage MM?

Finepics, are you offering the plexy crystal replacement service for members? I am interested

Many thanks!

[ubiquitous]

Mark-

Any chance you can do this with the 45mm Radiomirs (e.g. Blackseal)?

[Finepics]

@ rqthrottle - not sure about this and I am unable to measure a bezel as I don't have one spare.

@ Ubi - Yes this should not be a problem. I will need the original crystal to take the measurements from as my man sets his cutting machine up from it then I hand finish them to give the correct curved edges. The crystal for the Radiomirs is not a bubble type (like the ones in the pics) but a much flatter dome shape that joins the bezel very slightly below the level of the bezel edge. I will post pics of mine that I have just finished later.

[ubiquitous]

Any chance that the tall crystal like flyback's can be done?

Also... I'm assuming I'll have to send my crystal to be cloned? Or do you already have a 183/210 crystal that can be used as the basis?

[rqthrottle]

Can a kind soul on this forum please measure the bezel of your vintage Marina Militare with Rolex crown?

Finepics, it has to be 40mm to fit, correct?

Many thanks,

@ rqthrottle - not sure about this and I am unable to measure a bezel as I don't have one spare.

[Finepics]

Any chance that the tall crystal like flyback's can be done?

Also... I'm assuming I'll have to send my crystal to be cloned? Or do you already have a 183/210 crystal that can be used as the basis?

Absolutely it can be done (I did it!!). Are you sure you want it to be this shape as here is a photo of what it should look like - this is a gen watch - look how tall the bezel is:

The tall type crystal is normally found in the 6152 watches as in this pic of a gen:

@rgthrottle - I need to have your crystal to set the machine up for the plexi crystal which is a solid 5mm thick at the centre - much much better than a sapphire!!

[premiumdesigners]

Im in for 1

[rqthrottle]

Sent you a PM.

@rgthrottle - I need to have your crystal to set the machine up for the plexi crystal which is a solid 5mm thick at the centre - much much better than a sapphire!!

[FxrAndy]

Can a kind soul on this forum please measure the bezel of your vintage Marina Militare with Rolex crown?

Finepics, it has to be 40mm to fit, correct?

Many thanks,

Mesured mine today at 41.7mm

[Finepics]

OK - here are some very rough quick pics of my current project. Ignore the dial and hands - they are just temporary while I wait for my new dial to arrive back from the printers. The casing is going away to my friend "Metta Rob" to have a strap stitched to the case in a few days (I would have sent it to Aaron but worried about it travelling all that way and Rob is just as skilled and more local).

You can see (I hope) that I have made up new stainless steel strap bars as my watch was delivered with bars that had a spring bar in the middle of two ends that are glued into the case and were not SS. I had to drill them out and bend up new bars from 1.8mm SS wire and I also took the opportunity to sink the stem tube into the case and weld that up at the same time (please don't ask me to do this as it really is a one off - I had to take a day off work to go to my old work place to do this so unless you want to pay me a days salary as well!!!).

First pic is of the watch as I got it - most of you who have this will know how crudely finished the case is. The corners are very badly defined and thick so a lot of time was spent refining the shape of the case as well. I have also spent time re-working the top flat surface of the bezel to make it look wider (the gen is really wide and very tall). The movt is sitting in there quite happily using the Molnija spacer (even though it is loose) which works well enough to leave as it is for the time being. The case back is odd in that is has a brushed face by chance (which is also like the gen) and I have rounded the edges of the corners.

The most difficult thing was the crystal which is still not quite right but I don't think I can get it any better without the risk of ruining it. It is a little bit too rounded but is close enough that I will leave it like that. It started ouit like the ones shown for the 6152 so I had to re-shape it by hand and polish it. Trying to get a completely smooth surface was not easy but I got there in the end.

As soon as I get the dial back (which is going to be rather special) I will update the post - meanwhile enjoy the pics.

[ubiquitous]

Mark... That is one gorgeous 3646!! I LOVE it!!

[madasboot]

U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E work Mark... this is state of the art.

After this one is ready we should baptize you as "Goldfingers"!!!

M.

[flyback]

Goldfingers, the man with the midas touch!

Awesome work Mark!

[Finepics]

Actually I spent most of this afternoon further refining the crystal - now it has that proper pointed dome shape rather than a semi circle like it was this morning!!!

And the really funny thing is that Harrods Fine watch department are going to properly engrave the winding crown with the "Brevet" and Swiss cross for me!!! There's a sort of irony in that I think!!

[madasboot]

And the really funny thing is that Harrods Fine watch department are going to properly engrave the winding crown with the "Brevet" and Swiss cross for me!!! There's a sort of irony in that I think!!

Lets just hope that this episode wont end recalled as the "Harrods Incident"...

[madasboot]

Hey Mark,

any further developments on this project of yours?

Cheers,

M.

[oswald]

Here are a couple I just made:

I think it needs to be somewhere between the two. I'd appreciate it if someone could send me the dimensions of the crystal at the thickest point. I used .250" plexi but I think I really need .375"

The first is just flat .250 with the edges radioused and the second is with a slight dome and some artificial ageing.

I could do short production runs in the US as I have my own machine shop and polishing equipment. The hardest part was figuring out how to hold it on the lathe without scarring it but I finally made a fixture that works pretty well. The setup took a lot longer than actually making the crystal!

A nice full scale drawing of the dome profile would also be helpful. My machines are in SAE so dimensions in thousanths of an inch would be helpful.

PM me if you're interested. I'm not looking to make any money...

[Finepics]

Here's my latest version:

And the real thing:

If only I could get that bezel made but the cost is too much.

[oswald]

Here's my latest version:

And the real thing:

If only I could get that bezel made but the cost is too much.

Looks good! It seems like your crystal is a little more "pointy" than the gen.

If you could send me some dimensions on the bezel and some detailed pics I could make you one. The thick case back wouldn't be that big of a deal except the threads. I think the finest threads my little collet lathe will cut are 111 TPI but of course our reps are metric

PM me, we could work out something in trade.

Edited August 31, 2006 by oswald

[Finepics]

I would love you forever if you could make a bezel. The crystal is a touch more pointed but not too much that it bothers me. I will PM youi as I have taken dimensions and made a crude drawing.

[gattenda]

some pictures from my project. the crystal is the default one (looks crappy, i know), i need some more time on that one...

I've over-killed the hour hand, so i'm going to ottofrei to get some lume to fix it up. in the meantime, i'm enjoying the super-beat up look.

Only for those who attempted the project know the significance of the clearance between hands and the dial.... i've learnt a lot about mechanism of a simple mechanical watch...at 2am with a bottle of red...

I'll probably make a few more, since i have 2 more vintage molniya's.

thanks everyone who posted quality info and answered my questions along the way

special thanks to Finepic and madasboot

Edited September 8, 2006 by gattenda