Replica dials for Gen Omega Speedie 1861

[crunchycarrot00]

Would there be any interest from Gen Speedy owners/modders in buying replica dials of popular LE models (45th Apollo 13 Anniv Silver Snoopy for example).

I’m talking with Angus from pure time to see if we can get one of our rep factories to make a batch of replica dials that will fit the gen movement/case. They already make the Apollo 11 45th, Apollo 13 45th, Speedy Tuesday, etc. for the ST19 in pretty good quality (though with obvious wrong measurements) so it shouldn’t be too difficult to get them to port over some of that know how / experience into a dial fit for a gen speedy.

I modded my first Gen Speedy with a Mitsukoshi Dial and Handset from swisslimitededitions but the pricing on these in the aftermarket has gone insane (2 or 3 years ago I bought it for like 400 gbp, now they’re 900gbp for dial alone). The process is actually quite easy for any halfway competent watchsmith so I would assume the market for this in our community would be quite large.

Angus is indicating that the minimum order quantity from the dial factories is probably like 500 so we’re definitely going to need quite a healthy showing from our community here to meet this order. Unfortunately that probably means we need to start with one variant first as I doubt the factories would consider different dial variants put together for an order of 500 kosher.

I haven’t discussed with Angus yet but I assume the handset is an area we should probably stick with Omega service parts at least at first given the manufacturing of the hands is far more sensitive than the dial (need to get fitment right for all six hands compared to basically no foreseeable complications with a dial)

In my mind the top candidates at the moment are the snoopy dials

45th Anniv Apollo 13 (Silver Snoopy)
-Black handset from omega readily available
-Silver Snoopy ST19 replica already pretty good quality (aside from dimensions so should be an “easy” port)
-This dial has not been available as new omega service part in the aftermarket

Eye’s on the Stars Snoopy Dial (Basically a regular Speedy dial with a snoopy cartoon sub dial)
-can reuse regular speedmaster hands so it’s a straight dial swap
-has been and is currently available in secondary market as new omega service part but at 1800gbp




These maybe possible down the line once we’ve proved to ourselves and the factories we can sustain enough demand to justify the change in tooling/development

45th Anniv Apollo 11
-This will require a replica handset as they’re finished in “Sedna Gold”, relative complexity is higher and genuine service parts for this are unavailable
-Dial is textured which means it’s more costly to produce

Mitsukoshi Panda Dial
-Applied Metal Indices makes price a bit higher compared to printed dials
-is currently available as new omega service part though at nearly 1200 gbp handset+dial


The New 50th Anniv Apollo 13 Silver Snoopy (the silver + blue one that just came out)
-textured dial and custom hands are more complicated

Apollo Soyuz Meteorite dial
-handset can be sourced Omega New Service Parts but applied indices & meteorite finish are more complex

50th Anniv Apollo 11
-Texture + hands issue again


Let me know what you guys think.

 

[crunchycarrot00]

Seems the hands are something the factories can figure out
On my next mod job I'm going to send in a gen speedy dial and handset so they can take measurements

​​​​​​​To get to 500 moq will take quite a bit of effort from our community. If you have a gen speedy and have interest please do reach out, this project can't taken with just a few of us involved.

 

[PAMman]

Very interested. Count me in. PM sent.

 

[k4jun]

Interesting project, given the popularity/costs of Mitsukoshi - I guess this is the best dial to start with.

 

[crunchycarrot00]

Interesting project, given the popularity/costs of Mitsukoshi - I guess this is the best dial to start with.

i actually have done probably 10-15 mitsukoshi mods in the past few years (started for myself and friends but started taking commissions after) with parts cost ranging from 500-1000gbp. There's a demand for it, and given they're still available from grey market resellers, I doubt we get THAT much traction compared to say the silver snoopy (which is completely unavailable).

I would love to be able to reduce the cost of a mitsukoshi mod for my customers, with parts pricing where it is that's one of the biggest hurdles to get people to pull the trigger.

The mitsukoshi will also be SLIGHTLY more expensive from the factories compared to the silver snoopy as the snoopy doesn't have metal indices and the dial is basically monochrome print (whereas the mitsukoshi is more two tone)

I figure doing something like the silver snoopy first would get the most traction, and if we can get some momentum maybe the factories will give us better pricing, be more patient with us for fixing issues at prototyping stage, maybe even give us shorter production runs so we can do more projects. We need to build a relationship with the dial factory first because right now they can't tell whether we're gonna be a one hit wonder or a repeat customer for years. There's always going to be SOME downtime at a factory so it's not impossible for us to be slotted into those downtimes for smaller production runs but we can't expect to be given that privilege from the get go.

 

[trailboss99]

crunchycarrot00 Here's a hint. RWI is not a resource for you to tout for customers on. Any further self promotion like this and you will find yourself no longer welcome. Ales Klar?

 

[crunchycarrot00]

Hi trailboss

sorry I’m not quite sure what rule I’m breaking here

this is effectively the same as petitioning a TD to get a rep made right?

in this case it’s simply a rep dial not a full on watch

im not sure what the problem is

we are going to be facing angus who’s a TD and agreed to be a middleman in this endeavour


im not advertising my modding service, merely bringing up that I have been doing this for some time and that is what’s feeding into my decision/opinion on what would most likely work for a first batch

 

[SamVDB]

So are there any replica dials out there that will fit? I think your idea was fantastic crunchy..