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The Franken 1500 adventure

Voo-doo

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22/7/19
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hi guys!

So I wanted to make you guys a part of my journey to a Rolex 1500 Date Franken! You have to keep yourself busy when quarantined :p

It all started when I accidentally bumped into a rolex 1500 date case on another forum. I never had the intention to build a Franken watch but when I googled the 1500 it got me excited! I thought about building one for the Misses so I can sometimes steal it to put it on my own wrist :p

Not much later I stumbled on a gen 1500 case and I fired a bid. The seller accepted the bid and now the case is on it's way ...I already feel the regrets :p Although I have done some Seiko (7S26/NH36) modding, im not quite sure if this is my league. Anyway, there is no way back and we are going to find out soon!

Before i'm going to start I also wanted to pick your knowledge. I have some questions already and I hope that someone can put me on the right track:

So this are the parts which I will be needing (Fat font = already got it, i will update the list every now and then)

- Gen 1500 Case + glass with cyclops + caseback
- Gen ETA 2824-2

- DWO
- Raffles Tube+crown +stem
- Gen Dial
- Raffles handset
- Raffles ETA movement ring
- Gen bracelet


Some quick questions:
- DWO: do i need one with the ETA 2824-2 and which one? I found some old posts , it doesn't look promising. Is gen the only option here, or ...?
- Dial: I saw a topic with someone fitting the airking dial : It seems that you have to dremel some mm's of the dial, but what about the Air-king date dial? Both the Date as the air-king date dial seem to be the same size; 27mm. Does this mean that i can use the AK dial, and how will it allign with a (hypothethical) DWO?

Have a nice week all of you and stay safe!
 

Voo-doo

Active Member
22/7/19
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So i just got the case and it looks awsome!!

Another question. Does someone know which DWO I can use for mij 34mm date with the Eta 2824???
Saw that there is a lot of discussion for 36/41mm datejusts but not for the 34mm? I saw on the interwebs that a lot of people had done this mod, but still i cant find a clear answer for this.

If someone knows, i appreciate it alot!
 

369mafia

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So i just got the case and it looks awsome!!

Another question. Does someone know which DWO I can use for mij 34mm date with the Eta 2824???
Saw that there is a lot of discussion for 36/41mm datejusts but not for the 34mm? I saw on the interwebs that a lot of people had done this mod, but still i cant find a clear answer for this.

If someone knows, i appreciate it alot!

a raffles dw should work does the dial window line up with the eta dw?
 

Voo-doo

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22/7/19
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369mafia Thanks for the reply!!
I was waiting for an open 6/9 DW but I never got it unfortunately :( that really gives it the vintage look

I hae
does the dial window line up with the eta dw?
Tbh I haven't checked yet, I was waiting for the open 6/9 dw to start my journey, but I think I will order one with Raflles. Also bought the other parts for raffles. Will need to be patient but there is no way around it... Will check first if it aligns with the ETA DW, would be surprised if that is the case, but if so I will definitely keep it like that!!

Anyone any advice on how to glue the dial to the movement. Dial dots or is there a better way.

Kind regards!
 

Voo-doo

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Tried hovering the dial above the ETA as accurate as possible (im a bit shaky so sorry). Havent clipped the dial feet yet so.. but this doesn't seem allright.
Will try to order the Raffles dial DW and hope that it will solve this problem ...
 

369mafia

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definitely need a dwo
as far as attaching the dial clipping the feet and using dial dots is the easiest method. You could glue on replacement feet into the eta position . I have seen people make templates for this but I have also seen NCRICH put thedial feet in the movement...adda drop of glue to the foot and then position the dial in place on the movement. this insures proper fit over the dwo
 

Voo-doo

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22/7/19
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Ah that's really smart ! Haven't thought about that, will sure check if that's a possibility. Offcourse I need to be able to cut the feet straight and precise ! Will give it a go

Also ordered a dwo at raffles! Now the waiting game begins ( again lol)
 

Voo-doo

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22/7/19
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Darn, had some time to work on the date wheel this morning. Had the raffles dw for a while now so tried to put it in. Unfortunately the fit is exactly the same as the original datewheel. After 20 min or so I finally got the new dW on the movement, but when I put the dial on, you could still see a bit of the movement, total bummer.

I actually have no clue where to get a proper datewheel overlay now?! Stuck at step one :p
 

Voo-doo

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mmm im dumb as *** ... I ordered the date wheel disc instead of the date wheel overlay ... pffffffffffff
 

Trowt

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Really interested in this project - I think I’m after doing the same as I love the 34 size. Will you use the same bezel?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Voo-doo

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RolETA2824 the ETA 2824 date disc. It's exactly the same as the original.Trowt Yes, I received the case in one piece. The bezel attached to the case with the crystal.
 

Voo-doo

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22/7/19
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Have finally received everything so I can start to bring this frankenwatch alive :)

The DWO is in. I fitted the dial above the overlay and it looks much better now! The numbers seem to align with the date window on the dial.
I see that the overlay is a bit smaller as I can still see the corners of the old overlay on the movement. What also happens is that the inner side of the overlay touches the movement.
My thought in this was that I could glue it to the existing overlay but on the outer corner so that it won't stick to the movement.

Anybody thoughts on this theory? Or is it smarter to fasten it with dial dots?
 

bc1221

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You might have some trouble with a 2824 unless you got the H4 pinion set. The overlay makes the dial sit higher so if you don’t have a H4 pinion set, your seconds hand might sit too low. Unless the stem height is not lining up, I would go with a 2836. A lot more room for an overlay.


I’ve been slowly gathering parts for a datejust build as well but with a Mickey and mini dial (Ruby’s) for my daughter. She’s too young for a watch but she’s definitely fascinated by them so I figured why not.

My build would be:
Gen 1500 case.
Mikey and Mini dial
Eta 2836
Overlay



Hopefully it will end up looking like this, minus that ugly strap.

026f8d2d78df58760f42b61f1dd5cd02.jpg


Good luck with your build! Can’t wait to see the results.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Voo-doo

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So ! After months I had some time yesterday to put the parts together. And boy... that trouble -_- Shouldn't have started this in the first place :p

So after an hour of fighting with the overlay I just glued it on top of the other one ... I tried to separate it with a Stanley knife and with six other knives, but that didn't work out... bit of a noob move I guess ... but it worked out.

I used dial dots to attach the dial to the movement. Wasn't my primary choice but this seemed to be the only way ...
So the hands was another 30m of fighting ... I ordered. ETA hands but the hour hand was WAY too big ... what I found out eventually was that the ETA hour disc came separate and I needed to put it on first ... after I did that, the hands were oke.

So, everything on the front seemed ok. Now on to the back.

I used a raffles movement ring for the 2824. The problem I seem to have Is that the movement is very loose in the case. I can't wear it like this. Is this because I need movement clamps, and will they secure the movement that tight?

Another problem is that the crown and tube are too small. I ordered these from raffles for a 34mm rolex case but they don't seem to fit? They were for the time being but maybe I need to look for an original.

So this is it so far.

From here I probably need:
- Case clamps (any feedback if this is the solution?)
- and a correct crown tube set so that it will fit as it needs to.


Thanks for reading and I appreciate the feedback
 
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Voo-doo

Active Member
22/7/19
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bc1221 Looks like a cool build :) will try a Datejust one day. but I need to say that the journey isn't that smooth like I hoped to :p im applying a lot of noobish solutions so I hope the end result will be good eventually.

The 2824 doesn't seem to cause trouble with the hands so far. all hands are on the movement, with the overlay glued onto the original overlay and the date seems to change well also. So hope it will stay that way :p

my biggest concern now is securing the movement + ring on to the case. I can't afford the movement to move inside the case i.e. when I turn the crown or set the date. Hope someone has some experience on that!

good luck with your build, have you already started and do you have a topic where I can follow your work?
 

Specter1000

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Sometimes there is not enough clearance for those tabs to catch in the case...if that happens you need to modify the movement ring (file notches so the tabs can grab)

Also be careful, once you get the movement tight in the case, the dial and movement will be compressed together a lot more...if the clearance is small already for the DWO, it may rub on the bottom of the dial. I have had that happen on my 1675 GMT build and the date would not "flip" properly. I ended up using a taller dial spacer. Just food for thought....
 

Voo-doo

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deadpan Thanks, will read the entire thread later. Where can I get them and are they movement specific or general parts?
Specter1000 that's like one of my biggest fears :p but it sounds logical. I hope that doesn't happen. Is dial spacer the same as a movement ring? And if not, how can I get one for this movement case combination? Do I just need to measure it?