Franken Tudor Black Bay.

[santre22]

Hi all!

Today I made something else, not the usual Omega frankes I use to do. I really like the Tudor Black Bay so I decided to franken one.

So I got the parts:
Gen Tudor 2824-2 movement with a nice screw regulator.
Gen Black Bay bezel insert
Gen Black Bay Crown and tube
Genuine Tudor Nato
Genuine Black Bay vintage leather strap.

Then the mods:
First I disassemble the watch complicatedly. Re-brush the case with correct grain size. Soften the lugs and took away all sharp edges and over all made a nice surface finish. Drilled and threaded the case to fit the gen tube.
Polished all the bezel teeth and adjusted the springs and greased the teeth for smooth turning. Gen bezel insert snapped in place perfect without any adhesive. Took out the sapphire crystal put it in a lathe and rounded/polished the side with diamond polishing paper leaving only a thin line of the rough surface for the gasket to hold the crystal in place.
Serviced the gen movement regulated to +2,4 sek/day. Put the caseback in the lathe to make the round finish and take away all sharp edges then a straight line on a sandpaper by hand for the last finish.

Put everything together and grease the gaskets with silicon grease.

What do you guys think?

 

[cnwh]

Beautiful!! Now you need gen hands !


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[Nikoteen]

Stunning......my favourite watch.....truly looks beautiful.

 

[MarkMarky]

How much is this costing you? Since this used watch is little over $2K.

 

[santre22]

About the half price of a gen somewhere between 1100-1200$ without the fabric strap as I will use that on the Pelagos instead. The fabric strap on the Pelagos is unbelievable nice and light. I will put a gen movement in the Pelagos too.

 

[jelliottz]

Nicely done!

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[Vexian]

Awesome!

 

[mrbrown0916]

Where did you acquire the gen parts?

 

[light94]

Not really a fan of the leather strap but otherwise love it! Really prefer the tudor nato on the red bay.

Also curious as to where you picked up the gen parts. Are they easily attainable or did you hunt for a few months?

 

[Sain]

Thats a really impressive mod list. Turning the crystal sounds crazy awesome.

 

[santre22]

I got most of the gen parts from an AD I have very good relation with, still the crown was pre-owned and left from a customer service but in 95% condition. Bezel insert brand new also both gen straps brand new. Insert and straps I think most AD can sell if you have a good relation to them, the crown or other part where you have to do more dismantling of the case/watch they can only order if they have the watch in for service and let the AD do the job which won't work with a rep. So here only used parts will be available. The movement was a lucky find on Ebay and after a service it was as good as new. They are also very hard to get. The V1 engraved movement is still very nice. And its a closed caseback but I wanted to go all the way.

The crystal is correct domed on the inside it just have to have a rounder outer edge and sapphire can only be shaped with diamond abrasive and a lot of time. took nearly 1 hour before I saw any result and about 3 hours before I was afraid I would mess it up if I go further.

And I wasn't a big fan or the leather strap at the beginning either, but it have grown on to me and I actually like it better than the bracelet now. Still the Tudor Nato is the nicest combo but they wear out so fast. And are very expensive so I use mine gently and not so oft to give it some lifetime.

 

[sunnydale]

Wow R, nice work! I would like to see a Franken Pelagos too

 

[Arko]

Wow R, nice work! I would like to see a Franken Pelagos too

i'm in progress of doing that using the ZF Pelagos as base (more accudate case) ... only located a gen tudor modified eta 2824, have no idea how to get dial, hands, bezels

 

[spensertracy]

It looks great. You must have spent a lot on it...

 

[silvershark]

OMG that watch is sexy!!!!!

 

[Matt748]

Nice work

 

[Capt. Obvious]

Good work!!!!

 

[FC615]

i'm in progress of doing that using the ZF Pelagos as base (more accudate case) ... only located a gen tudor modified eta 2824, have no idea how to get dial, hands, bezels

Is the ZF Pelagos a better base for a franken?

 

[santre22]

ZF is much better build quality and uses better grade titanium than other makers. The crown guard shape is from the first Pelagos rounded and I like it more than the new pointy CG.

to find gen parts is very hard. I'm looking for a bezel now. But otherwise the ZF is really good as it is.

 

[FC615]

ZF is much better build quality and uses better grade titanium than other makers. The crown guard shape is from the first Pelagos rounded and I like it more than the new pointy CG.

to find gen parts is very hard. I'm looking for a bezel now. But otherwise the ZF is really good as it is.

Thanks. it's just a pity about the number spacing on the bezel.