Originally posted July 19, 2015
During my long browsing and reading sessions I stumbled upon a few builds that were referred to as "slim jims". Needless to say I had to try myself with one of these so here's the results.
The biggest thanks goes to Davdew whose 6154 reshaping pics (HERE) I used as inspiration and reference for my work, but many others helped along the way so thank you all.
When I started this project, the initial plan was to use a low domed sternkreuz plexi which grants a very thin profile and a clear and beautiful view of the dial.
Of course, when it was too late, I discovered that it is impossible to install such plexi on a River's 2 piece bezel because the inner bezel remains visible under the cristal
I then went with plan B: the inner bezel was ground down to about 1 mm thickness, and the same I did on River's plexi, in order to lower as much as possible its profile. The result is looking good to me, but that sternkreuz would have really been the icing on the cake. I'll leave that for another build
Here are a few pics of the case before the final tweaks and polishing.
River's case OOB:
Reshaped:
My biggest concern was to lose the simmetry of the case during the reshaping, but I think I did an acceptable job in this regard. Anyway, as you can see there's still room for improvement, shape is nice but I managed to cut through the lugs while shaping the corners and I couldn't repair the damage completely without thinning the lugs too much.
Also, hand sanding form 180 to 5000 grit took a LONG time and obviously when I was finished I realized some marks had not been completely removed. I decided to call it a day anyway, I was softening the crease on the side of the case too much, and another round of sanding would have probably erased them.
In any case, I like to live and learn so I consider myself happy with the result, here's the completed build:
Dial is from Bigwaved, it's a beautiful cream dial with some red/orange accents that become visible only under warm lights. Bigwaved was kind enough to send me a 37 mm dial mounted on a 39 mm brass plated in order to leave a gap between dial and rehaut. The chipping on the edge of the dial at 11 is all my guilt
Notice the beautiful indices:
And the grainy lume:
Hands are Athaya's tall tube, aged by me. I wanted a clean and polished look of the case, but a very worn look for the hands so these babies went through a lot of stuff before becoming as you see them. A steel wire tall faux CP was added. Also, the hands were not tight enough on the 3601 CP, so I had to crimp them a bit and, incredibly, the first try went fine without me breaking anything!
Case back is also Athaya's thin closed CB, it comes very nicely shaped and mirror polished. It fits perectly River's case.
Inside is a molly 3601 that's not working perfectly fine and will be replaced soon.
Last but not least, as a known strap hoarder, I checked my straps closet and found this unworn Greenstraps I got almost a year ago in a deal. G. is a very talented strap maker and a true gentleman, dealing with him is highly recommended
Great stitching, beautiful grain, very soft leather that is already developing some patina even without wearing it. I think he calls it camel strap.
A few more pics for those who made it this far, notice how the dial changes color under different lights/lamps:
That's all, hope you enjoyed the pics and found something helpful in my build experience. Any opinion, advice or question is more than welcome.
To the next build!
My 6154 cream dial
During my long browsing and reading sessions I stumbled upon a few builds that were referred to as "slim jims". Needless to say I had to try myself with one of these so here's the results.
The biggest thanks goes to Davdew whose 6154 reshaping pics (HERE) I used as inspiration and reference for my work, but many others helped along the way so thank you all.
When I started this project, the initial plan was to use a low domed sternkreuz plexi which grants a very thin profile and a clear and beautiful view of the dial.
Of course, when it was too late, I discovered that it is impossible to install such plexi on a River's 2 piece bezel because the inner bezel remains visible under the cristal
I then went with plan B: the inner bezel was ground down to about 1 mm thickness, and the same I did on River's plexi, in order to lower as much as possible its profile. The result is looking good to me, but that sternkreuz would have really been the icing on the cake. I'll leave that for another build
Here are a few pics of the case before the final tweaks and polishing.
River's case OOB:
Reshaped:
My biggest concern was to lose the simmetry of the case during the reshaping, but I think I did an acceptable job in this regard. Anyway, as you can see there's still room for improvement, shape is nice but I managed to cut through the lugs while shaping the corners and I couldn't repair the damage completely without thinning the lugs too much.
Also, hand sanding form 180 to 5000 grit took a LONG time and obviously when I was finished I realized some marks had not been completely removed. I decided to call it a day anyway, I was softening the crease on the side of the case too much, and another round of sanding would have probably erased them.
In any case, I like to live and learn so I consider myself happy with the result, here's the completed build:
Dial is from Bigwaved, it's a beautiful cream dial with some red/orange accents that become visible only under warm lights. Bigwaved was kind enough to send me a 37 mm dial mounted on a 39 mm brass plated in order to leave a gap between dial and rehaut. The chipping on the edge of the dial at 11 is all my guilt
Notice the beautiful indices:
And the grainy lume:
Hands are Athaya's tall tube, aged by me. I wanted a clean and polished look of the case, but a very worn look for the hands so these babies went through a lot of stuff before becoming as you see them. A steel wire tall faux CP was added. Also, the hands were not tight enough on the 3601 CP, so I had to crimp them a bit and, incredibly, the first try went fine without me breaking anything!
Case back is also Athaya's thin closed CB, it comes very nicely shaped and mirror polished. It fits perectly River's case.
Inside is a molly 3601 that's not working perfectly fine and will be replaced soon.
Last but not least, as a known strap hoarder, I checked my straps closet and found this unworn Greenstraps I got almost a year ago in a deal. G. is a very talented strap maker and a true gentleman, dealing with him is highly recommended
Great stitching, beautiful grain, very soft leather that is already developing some patina even without wearing it. I think he calls it camel strap.
A few more pics for those who made it this far, notice how the dial changes color under different lights/lamps:
That's all, hope you enjoyed the pics and found something helpful in my build experience. Any opinion, advice or question is more than welcome.
To the next build!
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