- 5/11/22
- 191
- 275
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Hi all,
If you've been following the Moonswatch metal mod from @Eddio thread here then then there was a question on if this was possible with the new Blancpain X Swatch Fifty Fathoms...
Rather than going off topic on that thread I had a go and thought I'd post up what I found out - a couple of things to point out:
1. Look away if you are in any way sensitive to uneducated people with zero skill having a go
2. I don't have the required tools to make measurements, but hopefully this gives some people insight into what is possible
So here's how I got on - I purchased a couple of things - a rep BP Swatch from Ali Express and this rep metal case here:
The metal case I chose was in blue, actually much nicer than the pictures with white lettering that match my chosen bp swatch
The case back of the bp swatch just pop's off with a case tool - there's a couple of parts to it - the fake auto wider comes out as a unit leaving a rather small Sunon movement - I tried to read the movement type, looked like ST35 but a google doesn't show anything
Test fitting the movement I dropped the unit straight into the metal case and immediately hit a snag... the BP X Swatch is smaller than the rep case that I have... so that means the dial drops in, and in my situation, is perfectly sized to snag and pop off when prying it back out, taking the hands with it!
in the end I realised that the dial just isn't suited due to size and will require attaching to the movement and being suspended, rather than resting against a ring/rehault and securing the movement in place, as with the much easier Moonswatch, so proceeded to take a Dremel and reduce the size of the movement so it fit within the supplied movement holder - I snipped the posts on the dial and proceeded to use take to glue the movement to the ring and the dial to the movement (I told you it would be offensive to anyone with any sense of professionalism )
Once this was done I reassembled to get an idea of what it would look like if successfully executed!
As the case is better suited for a Miyota movement perhaps in the future an 8245 could be used with the swatch face... either that or an NH35 - I'm just not sure how to get around the fact that the two are different sizes (unlike the moonswatch which seem to be 1:1) - note the case sizes side to side comparision
So all in an interesting start and worth the money for entertainment factor alone - hopefully this is of use to our more experienced (and competent!) members and they can suggest if worth trying one of the mechanical movements and how to approach the dial and hand attachment
If you've been following the Moonswatch metal mod from @Eddio thread here then then there was a question on if this was possible with the new Blancpain X Swatch Fifty Fathoms...
Rather than going off topic on that thread I had a go and thought I'd post up what I found out - a couple of things to point out:
1. Look away if you are in any way sensitive to uneducated people with zero skill having a go
2. I don't have the required tools to make measurements, but hopefully this gives some people insight into what is possible
So here's how I got on - I purchased a couple of things - a rep BP Swatch from Ali Express and this rep metal case here:
The metal case I chose was in blue, actually much nicer than the pictures with white lettering that match my chosen bp swatch
The case back of the bp swatch just pop's off with a case tool - there's a couple of parts to it - the fake auto wider comes out as a unit leaving a rather small Sunon movement - I tried to read the movement type, looked like ST35 but a google doesn't show anything
Test fitting the movement I dropped the unit straight into the metal case and immediately hit a snag... the BP X Swatch is smaller than the rep case that I have... so that means the dial drops in, and in my situation, is perfectly sized to snag and pop off when prying it back out, taking the hands with it!
in the end I realised that the dial just isn't suited due to size and will require attaching to the movement and being suspended, rather than resting against a ring/rehault and securing the movement in place, as with the much easier Moonswatch, so proceeded to take a Dremel and reduce the size of the movement so it fit within the supplied movement holder - I snipped the posts on the dial and proceeded to use take to glue the movement to the ring and the dial to the movement (I told you it would be offensive to anyone with any sense of professionalism
)
Once this was done I reassembled to get an idea of what it would look like if successfully executed!
As the case is better suited for a Miyota movement perhaps in the future an 8245 could be used with the swatch face... either that or an NH35 - I'm just not sure how to get around the fact that the two are different sizes (unlike the moonswatch which seem to be 1:1) - note the case sizes side to side comparision
So all in an interesting start and worth the money for entertainment factor alone - hopefully this is of use to our more experienced (and competent!) members and they can suggest if worth trying one of the mechanical movements and how to approach the dial and hand attachment
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