• Tired of adverts on RWI? - Subscribe by clicking HERE and PMing Trailboss for instructions and they will magically go away!

Explorer Gilt Dial 6350

Bubbe Back1

You're Saying I Can Sell?
14/1/15
46
16
8
Hi everyone, here is my attempt at a budget 6350 reference Explorer. I was originally planning on doing something completely different, but got distracted… and then realised I could probably do an early Explorer, with the exception of the case, using parts I had already got lying around. And the case itself was not expensive – about £35.

That was the plan, inevitably it has worked out (quite a bit) more expensive but still definitely at the budget end. I had planned on using a DG2813 I had spare as the movement, in fact I had got everything in place when, during final assembly, the movement slipped and put the minute hand out of position; I had to take out the movement – and that’s when the trouble started. The little button to remove the winding stem had jammed, so I could not remove the stem – therefore the whole thing was stuck in. I ended up sawing off the crown end of the stem so I could manoeuvre the movement out with the stem stub still in place. I have now upgraded the movement to a Seiko NH35 – still a low beat movement which is good, and not massively expensive, bought mine from Cousins UK for about £35.

The change in movement also necessitated new minute and seconds hands – I may have been able to get away with the 2813 seconds hand but the replacement was so inexpensive, even for my budget it wasn’t a problem.

Here are the specs:

- Case – ‘Vintage Explorer’ from Raffles Dials
- Crystal – T21 from Sternkreuz
- ‘Syringe’ minute hand, hour hand – from Welwyn Watch Parts – Seconds hand from Cousins
- Crown – originally was going to use the “_” crown which came with the case set, but with the change to NH35 movement it was difficult to get the stem long enough without the crown not winding onto the tube correctly; I’ve switched to a Raffles Dials “+” 6mm crown which I already had and which fits the tube; it is a little too thick/chunky to be honest but it works better than the one the case came with
- Dial – an old dial blank (minus feet) which I’ve had kicking around for a while, the dial itself is a waterslide decal which I made and lumed myself
- Movement – NH35

Given the modest spend on this project, I’m happy with the results. There are of course a number of compromises which I will have to live with:

- Dial:
o My waterslide decal dial-making skills are not the best, ditto luming skills, so any close-ups do not do me any favours! But from most distances including on the wrist, it is acceptable.
o Many of the 6350s you see had the textured ‘honeycomb’ dial (it was the last Explorer to offer the honeycomb dial as an option). It was definitely available with the standard non-textured dial, although the vast majority I have seen have been with the textured dial. But I guess you’d need to buy a Vietnam dial for £300+ to get that.
- Case – biggest compromise – in many respects it is far from gen:
o The bezel on the 6350 (and its predecessor 6150) was quite tall, giving the watch a slightly unusual profile (compared to what we know of Explorers now). As mine is basically a copy of a 1016, it cannot come close in this respect
o Lug holes – too small on mine, but I don’t have the kit to drill them out further
o General profile shape – not that correct. I know a lot of people get this corrected; I’ve also read a few posts along the lines that there were differences in cases particularly in the 50s and 60s – so I am not going to get too hung up on that
o Caseback is flat like later models, however the original was gently rounded in the style of the later bubblebacks. It is probably possible to round off the edges to create something more bubbleback-like, but beyond my skills/equipment at the moment.
o Inscriptions. Barely worth commenting really, they are awful if anyone cares to look i.e. completely wrong between the lugs, in the case back ‘Switzerland’ is mis-spelt, etc.
- Hands – I’m happy with the Syringe Minute hand in particular – it could be a bit longer but I really can’t complain for the cost, and the seconds hand is OK too. The hour hand on Gen 6350s - in this configuration - was really quite long and I have not seen anything like this as an aftermarket replacement. This one is fine for the moment but if I do find one of those really long-stemmed Mercedes hour hands I may swap it.
- Crown – as above, I’ve installed a “+” crown, which fits the tube but I don’t know if it is possible to slim it down to a more gen-like shape

I really wanted to do an Explorer with the Syringe hands, which is why I ended up doing this version of the 6350. I also have a soft spot for the slightly fatter indeces and the equilateral triangle at 12 O’Clock on the dial – this is also seen on the 5504, the earliest 5500 Gilt dial Explorers, and the predecessor 6150. I have seen 6350s with both this format, plus the slimmer indeces/longer triangle format; I am guessing that the earlier versions of the 6350 had the ‘fat indeces’ plus Syringe minute hand/Mercedes hour hand, carried over from the 6150, and these were changed later in the 6350 run to the slimmer indeces/longer triangle format also seen on later models like 6610 onwards, with the Syringe Minute/Mercedes combination being replaced by the Pencil hands (for a time) - similar to the contemporary 6204 Sub hands - before reverting back to the Mercedes hands seen on 6610s onwards. But that’s only a guess, and the Rolex dial and hand combinations at that time don’t seem to have that much consistency, as they were experimenting with these new models at the time, so who knows.

Currently the movement is running slightly fast – gaining 7-8 seconds per day – and I am pretty happy with that. I had a problem with the NH35 movement shortly after installing everything – basically everything stopped and would not start again. I bought a new movement – and the same happened. I still don’t know for sure what the issue was but my best guess is that the pinion for the seconds hand was jammed up against the crystal and this caused a terminal breakage in the movement. Either that or I’m a little clumsy and/or unlucky. So - third time lucky – I installed a slightly taller crystal, but also gave it a little step up by installing a plastic gasket (0.6mm ‘i-form’), which the crystal now ‘stands on’, giving it a little more clearance from the seconds hand. I have no idea if this really was a solution to the problem but so far everything seems to be working OK.
 

369mafia

Resident Explorer Expert
Patron
Certified
7/7/15
2,844
4,129
113
Canada
Nice work! Welcome to the 6350 club. Its an elite club with less than a dozen or so members around the globe.

For a first attempt you did great! I have not attempted a decal dial myself but I think yours turned out great it does give the appearance of a 70 year old watch

I think its interesting that you spaced out your crystal for my clearance. would like to know more about that...on how thick the gasket you used .

I sourced my case set from jmb We went with the taller bezel, proper engravings on the mid case and case back and rounded off the cashback for me.

Its as close as you can get to gen and to my knowledge there is no other viet rep option for this ref.


jZp5cD.jpg
jZpLYs.jpg
jZpewY.jpg
jZpWik.jpg


I went with a MQ dial , eta clone , raffles hands I will say that I was impressed with my dial but then by the 3rd year the lume had started to fall off the dial, for no apparent reason so I had attempted to relume the dial . I did a passable job but it was not as nice as what was originally... I also faded the dials glossy finish with isopropyl alcohol to knock down the sheen and give it a more aged look which I think its quite accurate and representative of an 1950s era watch..


jZpaCo.jpg



I think JMB is still on at his summer home but when he returns you could probably get a bezel and caseback done from him .

cheers
 
Last edited:

manodeoro

Section Moderator
Supporter
Section Moderator
Certified
13/10/16
3,830
2,141
113
Guys ... I don't know if I must hate or like you all ;)

I hate you because your 6350 pics made me need one of those now :(

I like you because it forced me to push my skill limits further and try something I had never dared to ... make my own honeycomb negative-gilt dial
I know that sounds crazy but, after some sleepless nights looking for a way to do it ... I actually did it
It's just a first test and I still need to imprvoe the method I used BUT ... I'm already happy with result and quite half certain I can improve it :p




 

kilowattore

Sales Moderator / Section Moderator
Staff member
Moderator Sales
Section Moderator
Certified
11/5/13
13,574
5,679
113
Italy
Holy cow that's a great result already!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: KJ2020

369mafia

Resident Explorer Expert
Patron
Certified
7/7/15
2,844
4,129
113
Canada
Guys ... I don't know if I must hate or like you all ;)

I hate you because your 6350 pics made me need one of those now :(

I like you because it forced me to push my skill limits further and try something I had never dared to ... make my own honeycomb negative-gilt dial
I know that sounds crazy but, after some sleepless nights looking for a way to do it ... I actually did it
It's just a first test and I still need to imprvoe the method I used BUT ... I'm already happy with result and quite half certain I can improve it :p






NEED~~ !! SO GITLY GOOD
 

manodeoro

Section Moderator
Supporter
Section Moderator
Certified
13/10/16
3,830
2,141
113
NEED~~ !! SO GITLY GOOD

Thanks my friend ...
Unfortunately this year family problems are just pilling one over the other so I had to postpone many ideas and projetcs ... including making a perfect honeycomb 6350 dial
Maybe this summer ... if fate decides to leave me alone for a while