Been a member here for mainly purchasing some sweet reps. Thought it's time I share my first vintage build and possibly contribute to the awesome horology community.
As context, I am not very good with tools, barely know how to open a caseback and change straps. 30 days or so ago, the #buildbug bit me. I am slowly going all gen so donor rep watches were just lying around. I figure, why not give building a go. Then started the devouring of tutorials, eBay tool hunting, Amazon orders..more reading. You know ....the bug.
I'll caveat this by stating that there are many things wrong with this build and I don't intent to wear it in public or post Instagram shots etc. I just wanna enjoy my handiwork and pay tribute to the awesome builders who helped me get there. People like Boneysey, Killowatore, Mymanmatt, Pbdad, Stonep (excuse the typos) ...this list goes on and on.
First the watch, a cheapo cartel dg2813 powered 6538 I think. Bought from a member 5 years ago on a whim. It was possibly the laziest and shoddiest build ever. The crystal came off after 1 week, the dial was just sprayed with some matte spray, nothing aged..a true horor.
What I did:
- Less is more when it comes to aging.
- Having the right tools makes life 100x easier
- Wear cots before handing the movement, dial or anything.
-The second hand is more fragile than a teenager's mind
- Document every step, take picture of the setup before disassembling anything.
- Rodico and mini screws are best friends
- Respect the keyless and keep the stem in as much as possible.
- Have a backup dial/hand set and movement of possible.
- Be patient with the process, take breaks and enjoy the mini successes, learn from the failures.
Now that I got one done, I'm off to Yuki and Raffles to get some parts and start building a 1665 DRSD (already messed up a great white dial)
Lastly, thank you to everyone who shared their art in details and to the Tudor Blackbay Rep that was killed during this experiment.
Let's get to the pictures now
As context, I am not very good with tools, barely know how to open a caseback and change straps. 30 days or so ago, the #buildbug bit me. I am slowly going all gen so donor rep watches were just lying around. I figure, why not give building a go. Then started the devouring of tutorials, eBay tool hunting, Amazon orders..more reading. You know ....the bug.
I'll caveat this by stating that there are many things wrong with this build and I don't intent to wear it in public or post Instagram shots etc. I just wanna enjoy my handiwork and pay tribute to the awesome builders who helped me get there. People like Boneysey, Killowatore, Mymanmatt, Pbdad, Stonep (excuse the typos) ...this list goes on and on.
First the watch, a cheapo cartel dg2813 powered 6538 I think. Bought from a member 5 years ago on a whim. It was possibly the laziest and shoddiest build ever. The crystal came off after 1 week, the dial was just sprayed with some matte spray, nothing aged..a true horor.
What I did:
- Aged the dial, I mean heavy aged. Colored it, baked it, soaked it and put some lacquer on it. The baking got the flat numbers raised a bit. Next time I'll relume the dial too.
- Aged the hands as much as I could, the second hand is completely wrong for this reference. I used vinegar, salt and then salt + hydrogen peroxide soak to get some rust on it.
- Bleached the bezel, you know run the of the mill stuff and then used GS Hypo to pop the crystal back in place. Finally used a bit of polywatch to get the scratches off.
- Less is more when it comes to aging.
- Having the right tools makes life 100x easier
- Wear cots before handing the movement, dial or anything.
-The second hand is more fragile than a teenager's mind
- Document every step, take picture of the setup before disassembling anything.
- Rodico and mini screws are best friends
- Respect the keyless and keep the stem in as much as possible.
- Have a backup dial/hand set and movement of possible.
- Be patient with the process, take breaks and enjoy the mini successes, learn from the failures.
Now that I got one done, I'm off to Yuki and Raffles to get some parts and start building a 1665 DRSD (already messed up a great white dial)
Lastly, thank you to everyone who shared their art in details and to the Tudor Blackbay Rep that was killed during this experiment.
Let's get to the pictures now
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