AP 14790 36mm genuine dial build

[majwilliams0308]

Update time:
Fraflo87 was kind enough to sell his 14790 to me, and the reason I bought a SECOND 14790 is because something came across my desk that I HAD to purchase. A genuine blue dial. This is a service dial that is basically brand new, which is fantastic because it has all of the modern tapisserie, a shiny new finish but still retains somewhat of a intage charm. I have purchased a different gen date disc that has the more modern font in it that will be appropriate for this dial. Ignore the tiny hairs, they will be removed prior to installation.

Fraflo's 14790 was in much better condition than the one I used in my white dial build. The screws are recessed and polished in the bezel, brushing is much better. Interestingly, the dial is glossy, vs matte for the one in my OP here.

^^ The date disc I purchased and will be using.


It will be about 1 month to get the date disc, then it will be off for assembly!

 

[BIONONE]

Every time i see something like your projects on here i think to myself "man, this is a kind of milestone in this hobby" and then you come across with something like THIS!

What a spirit - much respect to you and your effort that goes into these builds and of course into the pre-/reviews that pop up from time to time with remarkable documental value. Thanks!

 

[Fraflo87]

Update time:
Fraflo87 was kind enough to sell his 14790 to me, and the reason I bought a SECOND 14790 is because something came across my desk that I HAD to purchase. A genuine blue dial. This is a service dial that is basically brand new, which is fantastic because it has all of the modern tapisserie, a shiny new finish but still retains somewhat of a intage charm. I have purchased a different gen date disc that has the more modern font in it that will be appropriate for this dial. Ignore the tiny hairs, they will be removed prior to installation.

Fraflo's 14790 was in much better condition than the one I used in my white dial build. The screws are recessed and polished in the bezel, brushing is much better. Interestingly, the dial is glossy, vs matte for the one in my OP here.

^^ The date disc I purchased and will be using.


It will be about 1 month to get the date disc, then it will be off for assembly!

My little beauty will be a masterpiece!

 

[majwilliams0308]

Every time i see something like your projects on here i think to myself "man, this is a kind of milestone in this hobby" and then you come across with something like THIS!

What a spirit - much respect to you and your effort that goes into these builds and of course into the pre-/reviews that pop up from time to time with remarkable documental value. Thanks!

Thank you buddy - I feel very much the same towards you! Much too fun of a hobby

 

[majwilliams0308]

Ok update time!

Date disc arrived! This was a big deal to me because this was not marketed as a cal 2225 date disc, but a 2125 date disc. The seller assured me it is all interchangeable, so I took him at his word because he seemed so knowledgeable.

The verdict: It fits!

Lots of pics, because why not, right? How often do you see (1) a genuine blue dial and (2) someone with a macro lens. Apologies, some (most) are slightly out of focus but I wanted to post these quickly for the community.

Once the watch comes back from prof (who is putting a 2xAR on it!!!!), I will send this off to be assembled. I know 2xAR is not gen, but I really want to do this lol.

 

[160million]

damn that are some high quality pictures!
really enjoy the progress of your build

 

[clockwork]

Marvelous!!! Amazing builds!!
36mm is THE size in AP RO

 

[jcstudio]

Very nice. Is this a matte dial or a sunburst dial?
Keep us posted with the progress.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ksbreitling]

Beautiful builds! Excellent photography as well.

 

[Kr guy]

Great project mate thank you for sharing
can i ask where you purchased the BP14970? Thanks

 

[majwilliams0308]

Ok update time.

Part 1: installing the dial and date disc

Oascom successfully installed the dial and date disc with the help of legend . It looks beautiful! However the crown was BROKEN and unrepairable (you can see it in the first pic).

Part 2: Finding a crown

With the crown being the way it was... I needed to find a replacement. I looked high and low through eBay, knowing that this is a rare and out-of-production model. However after some asking around to multiple TDs, I guess BP seems to be restocking this particular model!!! It would be a perfect fit so I just had to wait for it to arrive at my door step.

Once it arrived, the crown fit perfectly as a straight swap.

Part 3: Re-luming the hands


Oascom doesn't do luming services, so I reached out to yodog (who has previously lumed my 5711 hands), and he agreed to do the work. He did it perfectly.

My issue was the hands stayed green in nearly all lights except up close to an artificial light. It was irritating and hard to deal with seeing the really bad mismatch (you can see it on the second picture of Part 1). The new lume, while it isn't a perfect match, the gen hands seem to be slightly off-color as well, which is good enough for me (and yodog educated me on pigment and how adding color to lume kind of works).

Part 4 is coming, I am going to get 2xAR on this soon - the crystal reflections bother me when trying to get light to shine on the AP logo, which the 2xAR will fix no problem.

 

[Riverwind85]

Amazing watch! Congratulations for the blue dial!

 

[WildString46]

Hey Major, great build! I think replacing the datewheel/DWO is the single best improvement for the BP 14790.

A few questions though, if I am following the parts correctly, one of the builds has a gen 2824 and another a 2836? The datewheel you purchased fits the movements as-is or needed some modding? Wasn’t sure the extent of the work done to make it fit.

 

[BIONONE]

Breathtaking!

 

[mrsullivan]

That is beautiful watch, great work!

Envoyé de mon ELE-L29 en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[clockwork]

wonderful!!!

 

[SHB]

Superb build

 

[Hertzen]

Stunning, just stunning!

 

[ablabla]

damn ! i'm jealous !

 

[160million]

as i commmented before this watch is, besides a particular patek modell - major knows which one i am talking about haha - one of my all time favorites.
today i was lucky enough to get one 14790 bp version with a blue dial from said member that sold major his previous 14790: fraflo87

now the hunt begins: looking for a gen white dial and already found one on ebay but i dont know yet what prices are fair and which are just overpriced. have to do a little reasearch. same goes for the date disc (found stuff starting from 20€ up to 235€).

this thread is really a great storage of inspiration for going down the franken path. luckily i have expert domi in driveable distance so i have to ask him to do all the work once i found the gen pieces.
i will def. keep the community updated.

KR
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