I'm excited so I'm starting a post early on to detail this build. It all started when I saw a reasonably priced nipple dial(refinished) on the bay. I'm not much into gold watches however after seeing the dial and researching I think this will be interesting.
There are only 2 or 3 documented builds that I saw on RWI for nipple dials.
Below are the parts ordered. Mostly from ebay.
Base watch a BP "vintagized" 1675 as it already has the champagne datewheel
Burgundy "tropical" nipple dial
Wso solid gold bezel
plated gold 1675 crown with tube
wso plated two tone steril jubilee bacelet (i have a rep clasp)
wso burgundy bezel insert and retaining ring
Wso gold handset(just using the minute and hour hands)
long pinion seconds hand rafflestime
2mm all gold gmt hand rafflestime
Dial feet assortment
I'm sticking with 2836 and just praying I don't have gmt hand clearance issues as the nips on the dial rise a bit off the dial base. Hopefully datewheel lines up nicely. Research shows the bp gmt dial is nearly identical to gen with regards to their diameters.
I'm also nervous about gluing dial feet, im very good with loctite SG and very small amout will go a long way. Will be doing the gluing with dial on a junked 2836 so as to not let the glue run into movement however I know better than to use that amount of glue. Better safe than sorry. Im worried about getting it aligned perfectly and the wide base of the burgeon feet adding mms to overall height of dial + movement. I suppose they could be sanded if the foot's base is an issue. I dont want to use dial dots. I'm also considering cutting out the center of a scrap gmt dial and gluing it to back of gen dial thus utilizing its feet.
If case shaping needs done I'll do that too. The hands will need some aged lume applied aswell.
If I really dig it and it goes well maybe I'll try to find a reasonable gen crown and jubilee? The reasonable part sounds unlikely though.
There are only 2 or 3 documented builds that I saw on RWI for nipple dials.
Below are the parts ordered. Mostly from ebay.
Base watch a BP "vintagized" 1675 as it already has the champagne datewheel
Burgundy "tropical" nipple dial
Wso solid gold bezel
plated gold 1675 crown with tube
wso plated two tone steril jubilee bacelet (i have a rep clasp)
wso burgundy bezel insert and retaining ring
Wso gold handset(just using the minute and hour hands)
long pinion seconds hand rafflestime
2mm all gold gmt hand rafflestime
Dial feet assortment
I'm sticking with 2836 and just praying I don't have gmt hand clearance issues as the nips on the dial rise a bit off the dial base. Hopefully datewheel lines up nicely. Research shows the bp gmt dial is nearly identical to gen with regards to their diameters.
I'm also nervous about gluing dial feet, im very good with loctite SG and very small amout will go a long way. Will be doing the gluing with dial on a junked 2836 so as to not let the glue run into movement however I know better than to use that amount of glue. Better safe than sorry. Im worried about getting it aligned perfectly and the wide base of the burgeon feet adding mms to overall height of dial + movement. I suppose they could be sanded if the foot's base is an issue. I dont want to use dial dots. I'm also considering cutting out the center of a scrap gmt dial and gluing it to back of gen dial thus utilizing its feet.
If case shaping needs done I'll do that too. The hands will need some aged lume applied aswell.
If I really dig it and it goes well maybe I'll try to find a reasonable gen crown and jubilee? The reasonable part sounds unlikely though.
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