BP TT bezel paint mod the hard way

[Ruprekt]

I've been trying to find somebody to do the pvd gold process on my BP ceramic bezel insert, but no luck. Most likely it would have been stratospherically costly anyway. So the closest I came up with is this paint mod using top grade Golden paint and my airbrush. The paint when applied is almost exactly the rich sparkly color of the gen pvd process. I sealed it with 3 coats of flat lacquer for durability. The bezel was scraped clean of the excess paint with a fresh #11 X-acto blade. Looks like my black and gold ceramic Sub is up next for paint.

Gen close up shot

Paints

Gold mixed and airbrush ready

Iwata HP/C Hiline

Stripped bezel

Sad looking watch

Close up of the numbers

Done

 

[ProDivers]

Wow you did a great job !! Helpful review also, I plan to apply platinum paint on my BP sub no date.

 

[rsh]

holy crap, that looks awesome

 

[sanankid]

Nice did you wipe clean the bezel after each spray?

 

[live1]

how long before it starts to rub off,or is it permanent

 

[Ruprekt]

An airbrush atomizes paint much finer than a spray can does so the gold paint is very thin. I put on several coats and never filled up the engraving. I sealed with flat laquer applied by brush so it's pretty thick. No wear as of yet. I didn't scrape until all the paint was dry.

 

[ianm]

I have a gen 116613 insert and I can tell you did a very nice job. The time and effort on that watch is really paying off!

 

[Ruprekt]

Where'd you snag a gen insert? I'd kill for one of those things!

 

[pilworx]

spectacular job but i just can't hack the Chinese ceramic inserts anymore.
I still have hope for the v3, if it sucks, I may be in for a gen sub.

ssshhhh, don't tell my wife though.

 

[Ruprekt]

spectacular job but i just can't hack the Chinese ceramic inserts anymore.
I still have hope for the v3, if it sucks, I may be in for a gen sub.

ssshhhh, don't tell my wife though.

Yeah the Chinese inserts are definately the weak link. A gen insert would be a great addition, if I could find one.