What AP Franken(s) do you have in the works?!

[MasterWatch]

Hm, that’s not a bad idea. I’m afraid though the exam committee will have to be all from around here, not sure anyone at AP would qualify, they just don’t have such an in-depth knowledge of the craziness that goes around here. To offer some empirical evidence, here’s a quick teaser of what had to be done to the minute hand to achieve the pyramid effect:


So who would like to guess what was done here? @QueTip?

You are a Mad Doctor Man. That's all I have to say.

 

[legend]

You are a Mad Doctor Man. That's all I have to say.

A franken in the true sense of the word.


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[Garuda]

tosoboso i have no idea what was done other than there is value in salvage parts.

how does your watchmakers work compare to domi's? does he do the case thinning and custom movement holder. have me thinking for future projects depending on prices and available parts

 

[tosoboso]

tosoboso i have no idea what was done other than there is value in salvage parts.

how does your watchmakers work compare to domi's? does he do the case thinning and custom movement holder. have me thinking for future projects depending on prices and available parts

My jeweller friend is new to AP watchmaking and I try to guide him as we go along. So far he’s built a ROC (26320), a Jumbo (5402/15202), a Diver (15706) and now the Beast (25721). I would say none of these builds is very wide-spread due to general lack of parts so there is little in the way of information on the fora. He’s done very well in reverse engineering the builds, often mashing up parts that are incompatible at first sight. This takes time and trial and error approach so I end up spending much more time on these builds that I would if things were sent directly to the 2 or 3 master watchmakers here. Why I do this? Because that allows me to be part of the watchmaking even though I have no watchmaking skills, but I am a thorough reader and know quite a bit about these APs engineering by now. So it’s overall fun in a strange kind of way when my jeweller friend and I irritate each other with silly requests and build approaches respectively. I’m very happy with the results so far. Whether that takes things to the next level where he would offer his services to other people remains to be seen.

 

[Garuda]

Whether that takes things to the next level where he would offer his services to other people remains to be seen.

too many watch and parts maker leave over demanding customers. don't let others spoil the good thing you have

 

[legend]

too many watch and parts maker leave over demanding customers. don't let others spoil the good thing you have

+1. Keep your source to yourself T, unless he himself decides to open up his doors to others.
You have spent a lot of time and effort building a relationship with our jeweller, and earned whatever chemistry, privilege, and understanding between you both.
I am happy to see the results of the completed beast. It possesses visually much more character, than the gens I see on chrono24.

 

[BatJoro87]

My favorite subscription of all here.
I am considering the idea about franken Diver Scuba Boutique Blue 15701, the watch from the link below
https://watchbase.com/audemars-piguet/royal-oak-offshore/15701st-oo-d002ca-02
My question is if I use for base watch 15710 diver let say last version V9, the dial will match the Miyota movement or Powermatic or no way to fit . In the gen 15701 version is 2325 caliber, but in 15710 is 3120. My doubt is about date window location and probably the way how are attached movement and dial together.
The plan is to use JF 15710 diver, gen tachy and dial, most probably low beat movement (here depends by the dial if it is ok with Miyota or Powermatic),
proper cyclop and date wheel.
Here is 15701 dial for reference https://www.chrono24.com/audemarspiguet/dial-royal-oak-diver-black-dial--id7680272.htm
The rest is optional like gen case back which is almost impossible to find but will be lovely addition, gen hands and bezel and gen straps/bracelet.
Looking forward for responses from the AP masters here.

 

[SuperLory]

Looking forward ! I’d always loved a rep 15701

 

[Garuda]

BatJoro87 you will never find the hands. forget that project.

i wouldn't even buy dial from that seller. his prices 2x real world prices

 

[legend]

BatJoro87 you will never find the hands. forget that project.

i wouldn't even buy dial from that seller. his prices 2x real world prices

lol, direct and to the point, but always 100% factual.

 

[BatJoro87]

The gen hands I mentioned are optional, the main thing is if that dial will match the design of a low beat modified MIYOTA or Powermatic 80.
If it is direct swap with the rep dial or needs some mods to fit or forget about.
Otherwise I am agree with Garuda, the price is too high even for a new dial. I

 

[legend]

The gen hands I mentioned are optional, the main thing is if that dial will match the design of a low beat modified MIYOTA or Powermatic 80.
If it is direct swap with the rep dial or needs some mods to fit or forget about.
Otherwise I am agree with Garuda, the price is too high even for a new dial. I

You will likely need to mod the dial to fit the movement. The feet position will differ. Also you cannot convert the miyota movement to a 21600bph low beat.


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[BatJoro87]

I confused the Miyota with 2824 movement. Apart from the feet position any idea if the date window position will match, that is my biggest concern?
In the gen as I mentioned they are two different caliber JLC in that version 15701, and 3120 in the 15710.
I remember tosoboso was selling at one moment tachy and dial for 15701. May be he can give all the answers.

 

[Francoboy]

forget those greedy italian/german sellers on c24 like richter, Uhrenbörse Teile, Stevanella Orologi
look for guys on fleebay with dials listed over 6 months and make a offer. the buyers dictate the market!

as tosoboso mention above, NOS LWO movements are decreasing and the vintage LWO is like 50-100% marked up. what you save with the dial is spent elsewhere.

domi's franken build must be near zero? would not surprise if domi says now build for 20% lower price #wishfulthinking

+1

Had a bad experience with Stevanella Orologi. Bought a tachymeter, he claimed its new and sent a few pictures that is almost perfect, but when it arrived oh my.. the text print were all missing. I had to process refund immediately thru c24.

Also not so great experience with Uhrenbörse Teile, replied very slow and not honest that he got two dials.

Another c24 seller Trade Watches said that many people are wasting his time asking about dials, hands, rehaut, etc because he claimed to only make US$100 profit on them (which is clearly bullshit). I wonder why he sells them if he doesn’t want to service the potential buyers basically asking about conditions, or detailed picture.

They are just not greedy, but have unrealistic expectations that the parts buyer are either blind or just cash to splash on poor quality parts.



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[Jurgenk]

Hm, that’s not a bad idea. I’m afraid though the exam committee will have to be all from around here, not sure anyone at AP would qualify, they just don’t have such an in-depth knowledge of the craziness that goes around here. To offer some empirical evidence, here’s a quick teaser of what had to be done to the minute hand to achieve the pyramid effect:


So who would like to guess what was done here? @QueTip?

This is master level tweaking that only a franken addict would pursue... my question is, how many Mikey or rep hands died to make these?

 

[Hublot1704]

+1

Had a bad experience with Stevanella Orologi. Bought a tachymeter, he claimed its new and sent a few pictures that is almost perfect, but when it arrived oh my.. the text print were all missing. I had to process refund immediately thru c24.

Also not so great experience with Uhrenbörse Teile, replied very slow and not honest that he got two dials.

Another c24 seller Trade Watches said that many people are wasting his time asking about dials, hands, rehaut, etc because he claimed to only make US$100 profit on them (which is clearly bullshit). I wonder why he sells them if he doesn’t want to service the potential buyers basically asking about conditions, or detailed picture.

They are just not greedy, but have unrealistic expectations that the parts buyer are either blind or just cash to splash on poor quality parts.



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I bought a gen dial from trade watches and it is on the way, hopefully it is even a dial

 

[tosoboso]

This is master level tweaking that only a franken addict would pursue... my question is, how many Mikey or rep hands died to make these?

Haha, thank you Sir for the kind words.

Here’s the thing: we used a stock gen hour hand from my treasures chest and a gen minute hand from a different AP reference, of which we transplanted the pyramid base onto a Mikey minute hand. Only 1 Mikey hand was used as we only had one. Mikey’s hands are plated brass, which allowed us to solder the two pieces together. We were very lucky in this regard. Overall the process is crazy complex as these are all very tiny bits and pieces and the error tolerances were even smaller. My jeweller friend did unbelievable job and, as legend already pointed out, truly frankened the build. What’s more, some of the hour markers of the gen dial were missing and he hand made the replacement ones from silver. Just crazy. I’m very happy with the end result as we took a few risks in terms of cash and time and they all paid back well.

 

[legend]

Haha, thank you Sir for the kind words.

Here’s the thing: we used a stock gen hour hand from my treasures chest and a gen minute hand from a different AP reference, of which we transplanted the pyramid base onto a Mikey minute hand. Only 1 Mikey hand was used as we only had one. Mikey’s hands are plated brass, which allowed us to solder the two pieces together. We were very lucky in this regard. Overall the process is crazy complex as these are all very tiny bits and pieces and the error tolerances were even smaller. My jeweller friend did unbelievable job and, as legend already pointed out, truly frankened the build. What’s more, some of the hour markers of the gen dial were missing and he hand made the replacement ones from silver. Just crazy. I’m very happy with the end result as we took a few risks in terms of cash and time and they all paid back well.

Thank you for confirming our strong suspicions. You sir are the true Mad Hatter of the AP world. What can I say? Hats off to you. Lol.


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[Jurgenk]

Haha, thank you Sir for the kind words.

Here’s the thing: we used a stock gen hour hand from my treasures chest and a gen minute hand from a different AP reference, of which we transplanted the pyramid base onto a Mikey minute hand. Only 1 Mikey hand was used as we only had one. Mikey’s hands are plated brass, which allowed us to solder the two pieces together. We were very lucky in this regard. Overall the process is crazy complex as these are all very tiny bits and pieces and the error tolerances were even smaller. My jeweller friend did unbelievable job and, as legend already pointed out, truly frankened the build. What’s more, some of the hour markers of the gen dial were missing and he hand made the replacement ones from silver. Just crazy. I’m very happy with the end result as we took a few risks in terms of cash and time and they all paid back well.

That is a true Franken Hall of Fame effort. Congrats on pushing the envelope once again, and enjoy the fruit of these labors in that beautiful watch!

 

[Hublot1704]

Gen dial and the datewheel from legend arrived so excited for the build

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