Some Eyecandy.... My New Breitlings.... Navitimer And Chronomat

[Guest chronomat123]

Lay off, Pug. I wasn't talking to you.

[sevomd]

You can't get an M.D. from dental school.

Eddy

[swdivad]

Lay off, Pug. I wasn't talking to you.

We thought you were leaving... Why would you want to hang out with us photo-nerds, geeks, and low-life fake watch collectors anyway? We're obviously way below you...

[Estaban]

WAY too much information from a guy no one cares to hear from. He "was going to a clinical". More like visiting his clinician.

Chrono,

You must have very thick skin or a poor short term memory. You post, get flamed, and then make like everyone is your best friend. I'm guessing you were the one that got the [censored] kicked out of you in school.

Take all your gens over to Timezone and make some new friends. I'm very tired of you and I know I'm not alone by a long shot.

[Guest chronomat123]

Correct. You get it after dental school, which is why I am working my ass off right now so that I might get accepted to an OMFS program and get my MD.

At UF, it's a six year program of surgical residency and MD training.

If that doesn't happen, then I'll be snapping on brackets, archwires, and elastics all day.

[dosanim]

Eddy. Just for clearing up. OMFS program, long time ago was mainly 3 yr program, thus no MD degree. Nowdays, OMS program is 6 long years after dental school (except few programs still offer 3 yr program). OMFS residents go through general surgery program first and must pass medical board. That's why they are MD and DDS or DMD upon completion of OMFS program. One of my friend is OMFS surgeon who went through 6 yr program. He is MD and DMD(Columbia) practicing @ Kaiser Hospital as MD for Head and Neck surgery.

Trusty went through similar flaming when he first came to old RWG. There always has been war of words between members. Especially when new members arrived w/o knowing rules or customs of the board.

It is always easy to fire up, but very difficult to mend the wound. I hope everyone keeps that in mind, please?

Just my 2cc. Thanks.

PS. Looks like Eric already beat me to it.

Edited July 16, 2006 by dosanim

[ToothDoc]

Correct. You get it after dental school, which is why I am working my ass off right now so that I might get accepted to an OMFS program and get my MD.

At UF, it's a six year program of surgical residency and MD training.

If that doesn't happen, then I'll be snapping on brackets, archwires, and elastics all day.

Good luck with either, they are both great professions and allow you to waste alot of your day enjoying posts like these.

Dustin

[Guest chronomat123]

Thanks, toothdoc.. nice name lol

[andreww]

Thanks, toothdoc.. nice name lol

Chrono, you seem like a bright guy, and maybe its just a case of getting started on the wrong foot. Its just common courtesy to be on top of the items you buy and sell. You seem to have great taste in watches, and I think you'll fit in here well if you just take the time to be more polite to other members, whether it be in transactions or in the forums.

Anyway I wish you would spend a couple of bucks on a decent digital camera, I would love to see a quality image of your scuffed up Navitimer. Did you disassemble it before you sanded it? Are the scuff lines straight on the bracelet?

I love my SS navitimer, but cant wear the band to work as it gets all scratched up on the side that rests on my desk when I work on my computer. I would love to pick up a Series Special just for this kind of project.

[Pugwash]

Lay off, Pug. I wasn't talking to you.

Oh, and that means you're free to run your mouth off?

(geddit? Mouth? Dental?)

You bore me. Go away.

[Guest chronomat123]

Hey Andrew--

Thanks for being a straight, stand-up guy. It's well appreciated over here.

Yea, I think I do need a digicam. Is there one recommended? Looking to keep it under $300, as it probably won't see much use.

Anyway, yes, I did disassemble it to a certain extent:

1) Cracked open the caseback, to make it easier to give it a thorough finish

2) Removed the crown and pushers from the case by detaching them from the movement

It was much easier to finish the side of the case that holds the pushers and crown this way.

I used 600 grit sandpaper that I bought at Lowe's. I also tried fine 320 and this worked nicely too. But I ran out of it.

There was a slight difference in the finish between these two: I prefer the 600, as it made many more tiny scratches as opposed to the 320, which produced fewer but deeper scratches, as it was coarser. But either should work without taking too much metal of the watch. Buy both and try it on the clasp to see which you prefer.

As for the bracelet, I cheated, because the backside of these bracelets is already brushed:

If you take the bracelet off these Navitimers and unscrew it from the clasp on both sides and then flip the bracelet over so the brushed side is on the front of the watch and the polished side is on your wrist and reattach it, you instantly have a brushed finish bracelet. Then you just need to sand down the clasp, connecting links, and endpieces.

After flipping the bracelet over and reattaching it, I then attacked the already brushed part of the bracelet with 600 grit to even out the finish, but it was much easier than if I'd tried to give the polished side of the bracelet a brushed finish.

To finish the bracelet, I laid the bracelet on a flat surface and went up and down vertically--only vertically--with the sandpaper, with light force, a bunch of times until it looked pleasing and complete.

I then used masking tape to very carefully cover the crystal to protect the antireflective coating. I only did the top part of the bezel which is flush to the crystal, which really made the watch look sharp, and didn't bother with the sides of the bezel, as I liked the polished fluting inside the ridges of the bezel.

As for the left and right sides of the case, I taped off the top part of the lugs and used the sandpaper to make horizontal lines parallel to the direction of the curvature of the side of the case.

I then taped off the newly finished sides of the case and used a sharp 45 degree angle to finish the top surface of the lugs and the little ridge that separates the top of the lugs from the side of the case.

Did the crown and pushers separately and reattached them.

Voila, new watch.

Hope I explained this somewhat logically.

Bottom line, it looks amazing. And any scratches you put on the watch after refinishing it-- they just make it look better!

[Pugwash]

Yea, I think I do need a digicam. Is there one recommended? Looking to keep it under $300, as it probably won't see much use.

Pretty much any new camera, including $100 ones, will do. As long as you stick to safe brands, you can do a lot better than a phone camera.

[CY0811]

:velho:

[Guest chronomat123]

cool dragon thing, its super neat cy0

[CY0811]

I thought it might help change the subject matter. =)

[andreww]

On my bracelet each piece is slightly curved to match the roundness of the wrist. Does flipping the bracelet make the band look or feel odd?

Was it difficult to get a decent finish on the crown & pushers?

On the top of the bezel did you sand in a linear motion or in a circular motion?

BTW I have found the Canon cameras to be the best of the point and shoot models. I have one of the small versions, and find it great for throwing in my pocket, and carrying around town.

Cheers!

[andreww]

BTW, I've got a leather BOB Navitimer strap on the way. I've yet to find an accurate strap yet. I find the stiching to be to fine and the thickness of the leather to be too thin on all the ones I have. The BOB version is said to be built to Breitling specs, so I'll post a review and pics when it arrives.

[Guest chronomat123]

On my bracelet each piece is slightly curved to match the roundness of the wrist. Does flipping the bracelet make the band look or feel odd?

Was it difficult to get a decent finish on the crown & pushers?

On the top of the bezel did you sand in a linear motion or in a circular motion?

BTW I have found the Canon cameras to be the best of the point and shoot models. I have one of the small versions, and find it great for throwing in my pocket, and carrying around town.

Cheers!

Hi Andrew,

It wasn't actually that hard to get a good finish on the crown and pushers. Another good idea is to sand them down them before you remove them from the case; since they're so small, it helps to have them anchored to something. Then, once you remove them from the case, you can do any necessary touchups.

I used a circular motion on the top of the bezel.

Thanks for the camera advice; I hope to get one this weekend, if I survive the week.

[andreww]

Here are some pics of my new BOB calf strap made for the Navitimer. Its very thick, and the closest thing I've found to the genuine!

[Alextor]

How's the Asian Valijoux movement it comes with? Any reliability issues? I think Daytonas with the same movement had problems

Cheers

Edited July 18, 2006 by Alextor

[andreww]

How's the Asian Valijoux movement it comes with? Any reliability issues? I think Daytonas with the same movement had problems

Cheers

I think the daytonas had more issues because they had to be modified to get the subdials in the right spot. I think the 7750 is more reliable than in the past. It does seem more prone to issues, but is also more complicated than other rep movements.