Another Moonswatch metal case project

[smell]

Ordered a rep and a VK63 case from AliExpress. The rep was going for $24 including box, which is about $4 cheaper than what w77, which makes me suspicious ... but I have ordered a lot from AliExpress and never from dhg and didn't want to deal with setting up an account. So hopefully the quality is good.

 

[Karbon74]

Ordered a rep and a VK63 case from AliExpress. The rep was going for $24 including box, which is about $4 cheaper than what w77, which makes me suspicious ... but I have ordered a lot from AliExpress and never from dhg and didn't want to deal with setting up an account. So hopefully the quality is good.

Well you will tell us

 

[Karbon74]

Lightly tropicalized. i am making a 1957 Concept

 

[Alfred]

All, I finally bit the bullet and ordered all the parts, including the 3d printed spacer.

I’ll preface this with I have ZERO idea what I’m doing…

Removing the case back of the shitter moonswatch was so simple but even that I got a buzz out of - my first foray into this world.

What I am getting stuck with is the stem/crown replacement - I have the dial & movement etc. in its new steel VK63 home, however how am I meant to fit the VK63 onto a new PE50 stem?
I ordered 5 stems because I’ve read this is often something you can butcher.

Tl;dr how do I fit the VK63 crown to a stem so I can complete my first ever mod/build?

Thanks

 

[Karbon74]

Use some needle nose pliers to grab the vk63 stem and unscrew the crown

Trim the Pe50 stem then file the cut tip a bit, grab the stem with the pliers low on the thread where it won’t be used

Screw the crown tight

Test length. Repeat until good length.
Remember better to cut long than short

As a guide, look at the vk63 stem you have unscrewed. The Pe59 has to be longer than it by a few millimeters, the actual length depends on the case.

Check that the dial is well centered at all times

 

[Karbon74]

On another note
i bought the Pagani 1957 homage to make a new build

Well guys, don’t buy this

The rehaut is too small for the Moonswatch rep and more importantly, the Pagani crystal is too low. The hands touch.

I spend some time to try to figure it out but I decided to stop. The only way to progress is to swap in a superdome crystal and to find a way to secure the dial in place

 

[Karbon74]

On another note
i bought the Pagani 1957 homage to make a new build

Well guys, don’t buy this

The rehaut is too small for the Moonswatch rep and more importantly, the Pagani crystal is too low. The hands touch.

I spend some time to try to figure it out but I decided to stop. The only way to progress is to swap in a superdome crystal and to find a way to secure the dial in place

The dial has like a 0.2mm overlap with the lip. So I am pretty sure I can MacGyver it into place securely.

but that crystal is a pain. I will pull it out and look for a replacement. This is going to be a costly build

 

[Karbon74]

 

[Alfred]

Use some needle nose pliers to grab the vk63 stem and unscrew the crown

Trim the Pe50 stem then file the cut tip a bit, grab the stem with the pliers low on the thread where it won’t be used

Screw the crown tight

Test length. Repeat until good length.
Remember better to cut long than short

As a guide, look at the vk63 stem you have unscrewed. The Pe59 has to be longer than it by a few millimeters, the actual length depends on the case.

Check that the dial is well centered at all times

Amazing, thank you for the detailed how-to! Will report back when I’ve had time to pick up again, hopefully with an end result photo…

 

[Karbon74]

The dial has like a 0.2mm overlap with the lip. So I am pretty sure I can MacGyver it into place securely.

but that crystal is a pain. I will pull it out and look for a replacement. This is going to be a costly build

So the answer was so obvious that I need to sleep upon it

Change the Pagani crystal to the acrylic rep !!!
This is going to be awesome

 

[Karbon74]

Still have some debugging to do
For some reason the small seconds stops when I screw in the crown

@Caboose any idea about this? Have you even seen this?
@Pinion Minion the 2h hand is frozen with your technique. Man, i knew this movement was cheap…but I had no idea how cheap

 

[Fabian.]

What a beauty!
Can you tell us how you did it?

 

[Karbon74]

What a beauty!
Can you tell us how you did it?

By far the most challenging Moonswatch project

I took the rep apart and aged the dial using various techniques to give it that « almost tropical but still black » look

hands are NH35, modded to fit the movement
Silver subdial hands
Frozen 2h sub dial

Then I had seen that Pagani 1957 speedmaster homage. So it’s the donor

As I mentioned above, the crystal was too low, so I replaced it with the rep acrylic which I hand shaped to snap fit.

Caseback sanded to remove Pagani markings

Now, I still have an issue that baffles me. When I screw in the crown, the small seconds stops…this is driving me crazy. i am suspecting that the dial shifts a little and touches the small seconds hand.

 

[Fabian.]

Thank you!

 

[Karbon74]

Ok debugging successful
It was indeed the dial moving inside the case

Hypocemented the thing
Let’s wait 2h and rebuild

 

[Pinion Minion]

Still have some debugging to do
For some reason the small seconds stops when I screw in the crown

@Caboose any idea about this? Have you even seen this?
@Pinion Minion the 2h hand is frozen with your technique. Man, i knew this movement was cheap…but I had no idea how cheap

I have had that second hand stopping after screwing in the crown- the stem was just a hair too long.

 

[Caboose]

Still have some debugging to do
For some reason the small seconds stops when I screw in the crown

@Caboose any idea about this? Have you even seen this?
@Pinion Minion the 2h hand is frozen with your technique. Man, i knew this movement was cheap…but I had no idea how cheap

Seconds stop? Maybe stem too long?

 

[Karbon74]

i think it's a combination of the stem too long and the dial moving.
what is weird is that I held the movement outside and pushed the stem in like crazy to test , and it did not stop...

I glued the dial with hypocement, lets wait now

 

[umiz00mi]

Man,
the seller of your vk63 case lists a bracelet in the link you posted…

was looking for a jubilee bracelet in specific, forgot to mention haha

 

[umiz00mi]

Just finished up my swaps - not sure if I like the NATO or leather more on the mercury .