DSN 5218-202/A. What to upgrade?

[Yellobird]

My new to me DSN 202A just landed.


I am pleasantly surprised with the quality of the case, CG and crown, as well as how the pencil lead PVD looks like.

However, the dial lacks 3D effect of the markers and I think the caseback is way too thin.

Since I have been pretty much out of PAM game for YEARS doing mostly franken Daytonas over the last few years, what are the most current best options for making it a nicer 202?

FGD is gone. Where do I get a dial then? Belkin? Any other options? How about a decent caseback? Jacob is gone too I believe?

Please let me know your thoughts!

Thank you!

 

[KOT1917]

Hello.

You can contact Jacob at the Homage Forum. I don't communicate with him, but those who contacted not long ago said that he was in the game.

As for the dial, I think you said it right: only @ belkin12 cherishes this for you today from those whom I know, everything else will have to be bought only second-hand.
Maybe someone who knows can clarify if Rolli made the 202A dial, but I'm not sure what I saw.

 

[mellons]

Dan case colour looks good- i cant recall but are dsn lugs correct pre-v screw in type?

 

[KOT1917]

Yes, of course the correct DSN PRE-V will always be with screws on 2 sides and a female pipe in the middle.

 

[Yellobird]

Dan case colour looks good- i cant recall but are dsn lugs correct pre-v screw in type?

Yes, correct 2 sided lug screws.

I will have to remove pvd coating from the CG pin though, any tips on that?

 

[kilowattore]

Yes, correct 2 sided lug screws.

I will have to remove pvd coating from the CG pin though, any tips on that?

You have to push the pin out and brush it. Press and twist onto sandpaper in order to give it circular brushed finish

Belkin12 can help with the dial and also CB I think.

 

[superspark69]

Hello.

You can contact Jacob at the Homage Forum. I don't communicate with him, but those who contacted not long ago said that he was in the game.

As for the dial, I think you said it right: only @ belkin12 cherishes this for you today from those whom I know, everything else will have to be bought only second-hand.
Maybe someone who knows can clarify if Rolli made the 202A dial, but I'm not sure what I saw.

Rolli did make the 202a will be almost impossible to find one.

 

[Yellobird]

You have to push the pin out and brush it. Press and twist onto sandpaper in order to give it circular brushed finish

Belkin12 can help with the dial and also CB I think.

Thanks for the tip! Any idea on what grit would give best gen looking result? Also - is it me or some gens seem to have shiny polished CG pin?

And one more thing, I remember it was popular to go over pvd with cape cod. What do you guys think about it?

 

[superspark69]

Thanks for the tip! Any idea on what grit would give best gen looking result? Also - is it me or some gens seem to have shiny polished CG pin?

And one more thing, I remember it was popular to go over pvd with cape cod. What do you guys think about it?

no need to go over DSN with cape cod as it is light enough already, the Cape cod trick was to lighten pad/dlc that was too dark. The CG pin was never polished but radially brushed which meant the PVD was not showing however it is also not unusual (as rare as they are) to see one that has not been radially brushed and showing PVD, the trend seemed to follow suit more on the 203a

 

[kilowattore]

According to my research some of the pins were first radial brushed then pvd'ed.
I replicate the effect on my 203/A using a time consuming process I dug up on the web which included heat and linseed oil:

Despite DSN case being pencil grey already I did make a few light passes with sanding pads over areas i thought were more exposed to wear

 

[Yellobird]

Checked dial diameter today as Belkin said some DSN cases came with 36 mm dials. Mine is 34.5 so hopefully this watch will receive a Belkin 202a matching dial soon!

CG pin brushing coming later today, gotta go get some sandpaper

 

[superspark69]

ive brushed mine - here it is (rollie dial)

 

[Yellobird]

Beautiful! It is a shame FGD dials are gone but I think Belkin’s will look great too!

Here is mine in a current state:

 

[Yellobird]

Pin is done! Much better now!

 

[superspark69]

True both FGD and Southy, made some great PRE-V dials and Belkin is picking up the torch now. His fonts are great but I think they are engraved rather than printed like gen. Unfortunately I don't think we will ever see anyone produce dials like Rolli (in collaboration with FGD) in the near future. His dials were basically gen in the way they were produced, materials used, processes and finish.

RIP Rolli!.

Im alway on the look out for his dials now.......

 

[Yellobird]

RIP Rolli!.

......

I wasn’t aware that he passed away, what a shame!

Makes his dials even more special now.

Yeah, Belkin’s dials have engraved text, I cannot imagine why, if someone asked me I’d probably guess that it is easier to print the dial than to have it engraved and then filled but maybe I am wrong. I asked Belkin if there is a chance that he would consider printing but he said he won’t do it. Oh well, his hour markers are nice, I hope the engravings won’t be that noticeable under the crystal.

In the meantime, some additional pics of the 202 as it is now:

 

[kilowattore]

Pad printing seems to be a very difficult matter to be done right. I recall Steph_Dexter's second batch went almost down the drain due to font problems occured during the pad printing phase. No one has done it since Rolli's afaik.
Belkin12 has deveoped a way to fill in the engraved text in a way that makes it very difficult to spot it, I'll try to take some pics of the dial I have here.

 

[fan_pam]

Here is my 202a with DSN case and Belkin dial. Between this picture when it was taken and present time, I installed H3 CP\HW to make more room between hour hand and the dial.

 

[Yellobird]

Here is my 202a with DSN case and Belkin dial. Between this picture when it was taken and present time, I installed H3 CP\HW to make more room between hour hand and the dial.

Beautiful, your dial makes me think whether I should do matching dial as initially planned or non-matching like yours… Decisions!

And it looks like your CG is a bit bigger / fatter. Even better for a 202a than mine.

 

[jibuti]

you people are just provoking me to raid your homes while asleep!