predfan2001 Posted December 8, 2007 Report Share Posted December 8, 2007 (edited) I found a Tudor Hydronaut dial on eBay awhile back and bought it. I didn't really know what I'd use it for, but it looked pretty cool and the price was right. I ending up moding a 5517 Submariner case, installing a "date" movement and the Tudor dial. A total fantasy watch but it's mostly just spare parts anyway. Here's some pics. This is the dial. A gen 27mm (before I almost cleaned the "2" off of the 200 ft.). I installed a T39 crystal and made the cgs "pointy" I bought a movement from a member here and mocked up the case to make sure everything fit The dial had no feet so I used dial dots (little gummy adhesive dots used for this purpose). I had to stack 4 of them in 4 places but they work great. The red spots show where I used them (this is not the movement I used-just for reference) Here's the end result. I ended up using an old insert I had in the parts bin. The sword hands are from the 5517 T19 vs T39 Pointy cgs. Olive NATO for now but a black one is on the way Edited December 18, 2007 by predfan2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted December 8, 2007 Report Share Posted December 8, 2007 Beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellomen Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 impressive!! The work you did on the case is excellent and it's a beauty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 Congrats on a fabulous project. It may be fantasy but they should have made it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 Wow, great work, I like it! That T39 is awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetsons Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 WOW! Great work and beautiful watch! :cool: The best part of this hobby is assembling creations such as this. Second, the T-39 looks terrific. Out of curiosity, is it a gen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
predfan2001 Posted December 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 WOW! Great work and beautiful watch! :cool: The best part of this hobby is assembling creations such as this. Second, the T-39 looks terrific. Out of curiosity, is it a gen? Nope, one of those $10.00 Helfands pieces. I like them, some people don't. This is the first T39 I've had. I bought it out of curiosity. I was amazed at how thick it is. I tried a cyclops crystal on this one and it just didn't look right to me. Maybe I like the Sea-Dweller look or maybe I'm just used to my Omegas that have no cyclops??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
predfan2001 Posted December 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2007 (edited) It's funny how somethings are missed at times, but tonight I was looking thru some parts and guess what I found? A 5517 minute hand. I didn't even notice that I had grabbed an old 1680 minute hand (thinner than the 5517) and installed on this watch. I've desided to take the movement out and paint the middle of the markers (I'm not sure why/or if the lume had been removed) but I'm not sure if I want to change the hand or not. This watch performs better than any watch I've ever had and knowing my luck something would go wrong. The date changes right at midnight and the hands are indexed perfectly. Not sure if I want to chance screwing that up. I think of this watch as a "head scratcher". I have several customers that are "watch guys" and they seem really confused when they see this watch. I don't say much about it, I just tell them it's a Tudor I traded for. A few just look at the Tudor name and assume it's a Sub and never notice the Hydronaut. It's pretty funny. I don't know that much about Tudors and I don't think many Rolex guys do either Edited December 15, 2007 by predfan2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cib0rgman Posted December 15, 2007 Report Share Posted December 15, 2007 What a fantastic job, you did. congrats on that franken watch. Regards Ivan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
predfan2001 Posted December 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2007 What a fantastic job, you did. congrats on that franken watch. Regards Ivan Thanks buddy. I appreciate the movement. A wonderful piece! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselpower Posted December 15, 2007 Report Share Posted December 15, 2007 Great looking watch. I admire your ingenuity! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
predfan2001 Posted December 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2007 (edited) I got brave and pulled the movement out this weekend (again, I was scared something would go wrong) and painted the 12-6-9 markers with a shade to match the hands. I thought about hitting the other hour markers but they are really small and my hand isn't that steady, I'd probably ruin the dial if I tried. The pic doesn't do it justice. The markers really make this dial stand out. I must say this project has been really fun and I love my new watch. I just can't seem to take it off. This has been one of the easiest watches to put together so far. I guess because the gen dial was the same size and the movement that I installed is the same, but with the date. The only thing left to change is the NATO band, I have a black one on the way. One thing I have thought about during this project is this. If the 5517 rep case accepts a gen size dial and crystal, what if the factories could make us a run of these cases without fixed bars but they must have lugholes. I'd take a few! I'm too poor to part out a MBW. I really like working with this case but I'd rather have one without fixed bars. I've been asked what I had in this watch. Most of the stuff was extra parts, but if I had to buy them, here's where I'd be: Silix 5517 Sub rep $150.00 (if you want one they are in the Airking section??) Gen Tudor dial off of eBay $60.00 A good used 2836-2 date movement $55.00 A quality NATO band $18.00 Replacement T39 crystal $10.00 Junky faded Sandoz bexel insert...free Total $293.00 Not bad being any Tudor Sub or Hydro is going to run you at least $1400-$1600! Remember, nothing says I wanted a Rolex but I couldn't afford it quite like a Tudor. (I guess it's really sad when you build a Tudor rep ) Edited December 18, 2007 by predfan2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chubbchubb Posted December 18, 2007 Report Share Posted December 18, 2007 Beautiful watch and good work! This is what I love about this hobby - you would never even dream about doing this with your gen watches.... (unless reps got you started first). There's nothing better than building something with your own hands... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
predfan2001 Posted December 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 (edited) Ok I couldn't stand it anymore. I just had to try to paint all of the markers. I went ahead and put the right minute hand on while I was in there. I've done all I can with this one, time to start on my nodate Sub. The End (I hope) Edited December 19, 2007 by predfan2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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