3646 Cali homage

[unregistered]

Guys, this is nothing like what VdB and the rest of you lot do. But it's been a while since I built a piece and ever since seeing projectologist's 3646 Cali and the rest of the members, I've been obsessing about doing a sandwich dial lume job on a Cali.

So what started out as this:

is now this:

I've lumed the top plate directly so that it's in line with the rest, and going by photos of gen 3646s and even current 249s, it looks to be similar, whereby there is some sandwich action going on;

I haven't reshaped the case nor stamped the crown yet, I may or may not do so, cause unfortunately, in the past weeks as some have noted, I've lost some spark for watches, but I am glad I've finally completed this piece. Furthermore, Nightwatches fantastic thick casebacks don't fit this case at all, a bit too large. So that may be going up for sale soon, unless I decide to get a DSN caseset, which at $170 is a little steep.

Anyhow, more pics for everyone;

With its brothers;

Lume action baby!

 

[acharria]

Mmm...


"I've lost some spark for watches"

This is the last thing we want to heard from someone like you, I really enjoy every single post you share about PAMs, the reviews and all your knowledge is a beacon for noobs like me.
Tks.

This Cali dial is a Beautiful work, this disign has somenthing special in it that make me want one.
As usual great pics, i love the one above the Panerai Box.
Tks for share.

 

[COLDI]

How did you do it, bake it?

 

[unregistered]

Which part?

To make the railroad tracks go from white to golden brown, I did bake the top dial.

For the lume, I lumed directly to the top plate on the underside, much like how you lume hands. First try I used a piece of sticky tape on the dial side just in case there was any overflow. To get the surface less pimply (as pictured) I gave the dial a spray of clear glossy coat, and then a matte clear coat.

For the hands, I tinted the lume with food dye and added 2 coats directly to the top of the hands to give it a more textured surface plus roughed them up a little with some sandpaper.

 

[COLDI]

Looks awesome man. The vintage stuff is slowly growing on me

Love this piece too! Looks great with out the cost of a vdb

 

[goin6633]

I'm still waitting for mine from Getat .
And I'm thinking about relume as a vintage too .
You got a good job , and can feel you do love this baby .
Thanks for share .

 

[nielsen]

This is probably a stupid question, but is the crystal plexi or the real thing. The reason I ask is because I love that domed glass and recently built a 3646 Deco Bezel franken, the case coming from Davidsen. Does this mean I could add a genuine domed crystal to that watch instead of the plexi? Here's hoping.....

I love your watch. What a beautiful job!

 

[unregistered]

nielsen: Sorry mate, this is a plexi from Getat. It's slightly different from the DSN plexi though, I slightly prefer this style. Thanks for the compliments

goin6633: After having had this watch for sometime, I would rather go with the Silix version as it's slightly larger, though more expensive, plus the add-ons like Nightwatch casebacks fit Silix cases, not Getat/JacksonTse etc.

COLDI: Sadly, not a single contemporary PAM gets a second look from me these days. They've lost all their charm for me. I still love the vintages though, through and through.

acharria: Sorry mate, I've just been in it for so long, and I've been getting a little disillusioned. I mean, I've got 14 watches now, but 2 hands! I kept buying and buying and I thought finally, this is enough. Plus the dramas on the forums, people are getting greedy and a general lack of respect for others has led me to withdraw. We'll see what happens, but a couple of gems from my collection plus parts box will be going on sale in a while.

 

[alvinado]

f, this is a nice mod... hope to meet up real soon