Nanuq Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 I wonder if the black background could be coaxed into fading to chocolate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted January 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 I wonder if the black background could be coaxed into fading to chocolate? I was not able to figure out how to do that without damaging the dial. Although I was unable to produce a realistic patina with any of them, here are some of the things I tried light spray of brown paintlight spray of paint removerlight spray of bleachheat (though I remain convinced that heat, in some form, is the key)UV lightlight sanding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanikai Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 I was not able to figure out how to do that without damaging the dial. Although I was unable to produce a realistic patina with any of them, here are some of the things I tried light spray of brown paintlight spray of paint removerlight spray of bleachheat (though I remain convinced that heat, in some form, is the key)UV lightlight sanding if fading it in anyway.. weather with chemicals or uv.. it would really depend on the mirade of different shades of black.. there are literally dozens of black colours depending on how much brown was used.. some blacks have much more brown or red and some very little if any.. in the mixtures.. so without knowing the "mix" of the black used.. (to do this you would have to know the maufacturer of the paint and the shade charts they use) or it could be just a crap shoot.. in other words you could fade it and still end up with a faded black instead of the chocolate shade of black custom ordering a certain shade of black would do it.. Black is not just Black.. .. just my experience with paints.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Exactly ... my old MBW is fading to a charcoal grey, not brown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanikai Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Conversely.. some of the Macros I take of my MBW's show the red and brown pigment since the colour is so magnified.. you can see 'into" the paint.. I think freddy asked how I got it to look like that once.. the brown and red are in the paint .. but cannot be seen outside the macro's edit add:.. what that say's is they use different paints at different times.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 That is one fantastic DRSD, Freddy! You have built a beautiful watch using a great combination of real and rep parts- exactly what this hobby is all about. To take an MBW case and put a working HE valve in there, and a Rolex 1575 movement is quite an accomplishment. I also like your creativity- using rep parts like the bezel insert and pearl and a relumed dial and hands to make it just the way you wanted it. I, for one, sometimes cringe when I see that all too yellow lume- it just screams FAKE, or REP too often. And I guess as Ubiquitous says, "I built it from parts" says it all- you built this watch yourself- you didn't have to go out and pay some ungodly sum for a great watch. Congratulations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted January 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Thanks, Alligoat. That just said it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 I couldn't have said it better. There's a sense of satisfaction or accomplishment that comes from doing it yourself, instead of simply writing a check. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarini Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Spectacular achievement. But i did not expect nothing less from Freddy the blend of the top notch parts make this watch a true gem. Freddy's attention to details never ceased to amaze me. Wear it well, Laz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted January 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 I couldn't have said it better. There's a sense of satisfaction or accomplishment that comes from doing it yourself, instead of simply writing a check. Well done. Oh, I still wrote a check. But the check for this watch required only 3 zeros While a check for this watch would require 5 Spectacular achievement. But i did not expect nothing less from Freddy the blend of the top notch parts make this watch a true gem. Freddy's attention to details never ceased to amaze me. Wear it well, Laz Thanks All. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 beautiful watch freddy!!! I absolutely love it. regarding the UV light idea.. what kiind of light do you use and whats the exposure time? I am wanting to try UV on some one my vintage projects to see what i can do with the dials.. I think a combination of heat and UV light would give you that browning effect. The only thing i found with heat is that it will take the "white" away from the lettering. i think UV might be the answer to fade the red lettering if you get the exposure time long enough? dizz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 regarding the UV light idea.. what kiind of light do you use and whats the exposure time? I use a UV light made for curing crystal cement & the exposure time is however long it takes. With my limited experience, this is definitely more art than science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Do you remember a couple years ago someone tried this technique to get a vintage, aged, slightly yellowed look to a tropic crystal? All was going well, then the crystal suddenly started crazing and he had to abandon the experiment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Yes, I remember that. But I was just UVing dials by themselves. Although my preference is always for the clearest crystal possible, I think heat would be the best way to vintagize a crystal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Great piece, freddy. Out of curiosity, what were your specifications given to Kent Parks for the relume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dluddy Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Wow Freddy. Finishing 2008 with the GMT and now starting 2009 off with this fabulous 1665 Nicely done my friend What is the advantage of the ofrei dot over the standard PMWF dot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Great piece, freddy. Out of curiosity, what were your specifications given to Kent Parks for the relume? Reshape the 6 & 9 index markers to match a set of gen pics I provided & relume all of the markers with white, non-glowing tritium-like (uneven, containing peaks & valleys) paint. Wow Freddy. Finishing 2008 with the GMT and now starting 2009 off with this fabulous 1665 Nicely done my friend What is the advantage of the ofrei dot over the standard PMWF dot Thanks, d. The Ofrei dot looks exactly like a gen Rolex service pearl (who knows, Rolex & Ofrei might be using the same supplier). Fortunately, the Ofrei dot is a perfect press-fit into the PMWF insert (by hand & without the need for adhesives). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Reshape the 6 & 9 index markers to match a set of gen pics I provided & relume all of the markers with white, non-glowing tritium-like (uneven, containing peaks & valleys) paint. OK, that's what I was wondering about... Are the peaks and valleys and imperfect edges typical on an original dial of this vintage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Are the peaks and valleys and imperfect edges typical on an original dial of this vintage? Yes, you can see the crater-like effect fairly clearly on the 4, 5, 8 & 9 o'clock markers in this pic of 1 of the gens I used as a guide (this watch was likely an RSC relume as evidenced by the slight overage of the white (tritium) onto the surrounding black areas of the dial & the graduated appearance of some of the markers' edges) Kent had quite a struggle getting the dial to match my (seemingly simple ) specs, so I am not sure how willing he will be to do another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 How can you tell if it is a RSC relume vs. a third party relume, though? I'm surprised that RSC relumes would be so sloppy, if in fact they were ever in the business of doing relumes. Previously I had thought the RSCs were more in the business of replacing/swapping entire dials rather than reluming existing ones by hand.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 How can you tell if it is a RSC relume vs. a third party relume, though? I'm surprised that RSC relumes would be so sloppy, if in fact they were ever in the business of doing relumes. Previously I had thought the RSCs were more in the business of replacing/swapping entire dials rather than reluming existing ones by hand.... Rolex did not apply lume by hand. Instead, they had some type of template that fit over the dial (covering everything but the index markers) & the lume material was then rolled on with a type of paint roller. Or, at least, that is how I remember seeing it done many years ago. A couple years ago, I posted a thread looking for ideas on how to replicate the template so we could more accurately mimic the appearance of the gen dials. Unfortunately, none of the masking procedures I came up with worked very well. And I forgot to mention above that I slightly modded Kent's work by manually adding some pits & lines into the lume with the (clean/dry) tip of an oiler & then top-coated the entire dial with a matte finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Rolex did not apply lume by hand. Instead, they had some type of template that fit over the dial (covering everything but the index markers) & the lume material was then rolled on with a type of paint roller. Or, at least, that is how I remember seeing it done many years ago. A couple years ago, I posted a thread looking for ideas on how to replicate the template so we could more accurately mimic the appearance of the gen dials. Unfortunately, none of the masking procedures I came up with worked very well. LOL. Wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbutlerman Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Great Post Freddy! From what I am reading - you did not have to do any case mods to accept the 157x movement - the only case mods you had to do were to add the work HEV correct? Did the case clamps works from the ETA movement - just toss out the retaining ring for the ETA and use the same clamps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted September 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 No, I had to remove a small bit of metal from the 1575's calendar ring to allow the movement to fit all the way into the case. I also had to remove a bit of metal on the pillar plate adjacent to the Hev to allow for valve stem clearance (Rolex had to do the same thing in the gen watch). I should also point out that the 157x has built-in screw locks that fit/press into the threading on the inside of the case to lock the dial/movement into place. Because I had (previously) installed the working Hev, which provided an indent for 1 of the screw locks to fit while inserting the movement, I did not have to provide a separate indent (most Rolex cases contain a small, semi-circular indentation through which 1 of the screw locks slide to fit the movement into the case. Then, you can rotate the movement around to fit the stem. Otherwise, I do not recall having to do anything else within the case to get the movement to fit or the stem to properly align Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted September 23, 2010 Report Share Posted September 23, 2010 Well I wish I didnt run into this thread again, because now I am looking at Yuki & NDT cases and searching ebay for old beaten up datejusts to canabalize. This is going to have to be one of my extra long-term projects. Freddy and Ubi what would you say is the better way to go, Yuki or NDT for a 1665 case? I'll start with the case and a dial for now, and get it all vintageized... I'll look for a nice old gen rivet bracelet, or a 9315...and I'll need another T-39.. I think I'm destined to spend all my extra cash on old Rolex parts lol Dizz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.