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116610LN - Custom Building the Ultimate Ceramic Sub
- Thread starter DarthAlex
- Start date
Having never lumed anything I'm not real familiar with the process, but it's the lume powder mixed with a binder/epoxy of some sort, right? Can't you make the exact shape of the lume as a blank that has the slight gap around it, and then make a mold of that and cast the lume out of it? Seems having a mold to get it the exact shape so it won't bleed out to the edge would make it easier. Is optically clear epoxy the same as this little sapphire lens? Couldn't you cast these little lenses as well? Awesome work by the way.
that is really, really incredible... I do not think i could tell the differences from a gen.
You willing to do any pearl mods, i have a BK Shark that desperately needs one!
You willing to do any pearl mods, i have a BK Shark that desperately needs one!
There is Lume powder, a binder (clear acrylic varnish) and then some thinner.
You mix the binder and lume powder into a paste but it starts to dry fairly fast so the thinner is used to keep it at a given consistency. Needs to be thicker or thinner depending on what you are luming. Hands need it a little thicker so it doesn't bleed through for example.
If you let it dry and get more paste like you can shape it. I have tried this method with an epoxy mod over it. The problem is you can go through a lot of lume trying to get it just right and that stuff isn't cheap. Originally I was going to make a silicone mold for the epoxy to fab a lens, but you could use a small ball bearing or some rounded instrument to make a depression on rodico putty or silicone rubber and use that to mold the lume in. Leave it in until it dries then pop it out and glue it in. It would have a flat base so setting it inside the metal base would be easy. The trick is making it just the right size. And keeping the lume from getting contaminated by foreign mater.
I am like the Thomas Edison of pearls...except I have not quite yet reached his record of 1000 ways NOT to make a pearl. Ok I exaggerated a bit: More like Heinz 57. I have ripped out more than one and started over. I had a really good epoxy one going on this LN and my Deep Sea before I came up with the WM idea... I ripped both out not because the others were bad but because this worked so much better!
The epoxy is not as clear as the sapphire lens and it doesnt have the right surface reflection, though it is better than the stock pearl by a long shot. Some epoxy will yellow over time, but it an effective mod.
Working on it... I have a gen head coming and will make a mold from the gen bezel. Stay tuned.
+1, really impressive work. this just took modding to a completely different level. I must say i would probably be much prouder wearing that watch over a gen any day just knowing how much research, work and ingenuity actually went into it. congrats darthalex, awesome job.
+1 I couldn't agree more Joe.
There is a certain satisfaction in wearing a watch you built yourself, and there is a certain point when (in my mind) a rep is more than good enough. And you really nail the issue on the head.
I have three Favs I wear most:
1) My subasaurus (BK TW 16610LV with WM9 dial and insert with WM Pearl)
2) This Ceramic Sub featured here
3) My newly acquired WM9 two tone blue dial 16613 with a WM pearl
I was shopping for a used gen 16610 LV some time ago but I am so happy with the TW based build that I satisfied the need.
So I started actively shopping for a used Gen 116613 but it looks like this project, which is a trial run for my 116613 build, may scratch that it as well. Time will tell.
I have a Gen head for a 16613 coming and will use the coin bezel to make a mold to cast 18kt parts. It is likely the WM9 with 18kt gold parts will be enough to do it for me too. Currently I have a NOS crown tube, and NOS 18kt crown for it and the bezel will complete the head along with a gen insert. Then all I have to do is make the center links and SEL centers.
A Soap Box moment:
I have spent some time with Rolex on the phone lately, they want $600 to service the 16613 that is coming. I honestly don't care for Rolex that much. They will not validate a used watch via serial before you buy it but instead remind you that if you send it in they will check authenticity and if the watch shows up on their list as stolen (whether it is or isn't) they hold it until the rightful owner is notified along with law enforcement and will continue to "keep it custody" until the courts determine who really owns the thing. Of course after they inform you of this they point out your best bet is to go straight to an AD to guarantee authenticity. I understand they want to sell me a new watch, that is the business they are in. But the whole Rolex experience smacks of control and monopoly to me and I really don't want any company I buy product from to have that much control over me or my life. Am I alone in this? I just don't seem to be able to swallow the cool aide, you know? It pisses me off to no end that if you travel with more than one gen Rolex that any of them. except the one on your wrist, is subject to confiscation due to trademark import violations (depends on the country). That and the cost of membership, $600 every five years for service. It is more like you rent a Rolex or lease a Rolex but you do not really "own" a Rolex. Must be the non conformist rebel in me but that just rubs me the wrong way. The odd thing is that every time I consider buying a genuine watch they have talked me out of it. Makes no sense to me from a business stand point but hey, they sell every watch they make right?
A killer Franken with a ETA 2892 which functionally is the same, easier to service, and something that I can work on really appeals to me on many levels.
For now Rolex has saved me nine grand. (I really want a 116613 with a black dial)
If the build doesn't satisfy me I can always go visit an AD.
End of Rant.
I could not say it better about the way Rolex tries to control the market. I been thinking about getting a gen but just can't agree with the way they do business. I end up with a Grand Seiko instead........
I have been on the boards for quite sometime. I have been less active, and just lurking mostly the last couple of years as not much originality in modding have come up since BK's classics.
Your new approaches definitely marks a new era for super-mod reps.
Congrats on the build, and sign me up if you ever think about offering these services.
Your new approaches definitely marks a new era for super-mod reps.
Congrats on the build, and sign me up if you ever think about offering these services.
what a spectacular write up.
totally mad modding skills. a true craftsman.
maybe you can go over to Guangzhou and hold a few clinics.
totally mad modding skills. a true craftsman.
maybe you can go over to Guangzhou and hold a few clinics.