Franken’s for dummies.

[Mat_w]

Hi, all. Initially I joined this forum with the intention of purchasing a rep or clone of some description- a panerai to be more specific.

Lots of reading took me down the rabbit hole to perhaps also scratch my itch of getting a SMP300.

I wanted to dip my toe in the water and thought I could find something local to me in Australia, or even perhaps Sydney thinking that a members purchase would negate some perceived risk- although I now believe that a TD will most probably be a safe, smooth transaction.

It took lots of trawling through posts to give me a clearer picture of the process and I’ve now pretty much made up my mind of where I’d like to get my first piece from.

Along the lines though I’ve seen many awesome Franken watches and this has really piqued my interest. I have a modest collection of gen watches with a gen omega, Tudor, jungans and some cool discontinued seiko’s. I’ve been into watches for a fair while now and one of the things I love most about them is the precision and processes involved in creating them.

So I’d like to have a crack at making one myself and I’m wondering if there are any resources in here to have a look at and work out which way I’d like to go about it, if at all.

Bit of a long winded story but we got there in the end.

Cheers.

 

[trustytime]

Hi buddy

I think you can probably look at the Modder's corner if you are planning to get a Omega SMP and modding it with parts or whatsoever to make it better. Not sure which kind of Franken mods you are going to do but there are lots of sharing and experts in here.

Cheers.

 

[Mat_w]

Hi buddy

I think you can probably look at the Modder's corner if you are planning to get a Omega SMP and modding it with parts or whatsoever to make it better. Not sure which kind of Franken mods you are going to do but there are lots of sharing and experts in here.

Cheers.

Thanks a lot. I’m quite new and still working out where all different areas are.

Appreciate the help.

 

[Jackster]

Hi, I am in Australia and was in the same position as you, I spent quite a bit of money investing in watchmaking tools (they are expensive!) And for a while I enjoyed working/practicing on cheap eBay finds and stripping and re-building and I enjoyed it immensely. The down side was… 1. My eyes, the hours spent with a loupe didn’t help my mid 50’s eyes at all and 2. It’s a very insular hobby and I felt it disconnected me from my wife more than is reasonable so I ultimately decided to give it away. I miss it and maybe when I retire I’ll get back into it? Believe me though it is not an easy hobby to pursue, those damn click springs fly off and are never to be seen again… good luck!

 

[Reaps]

Omega SMP not worth frankening because quite frankly it may just be more cost effective to buy the real.

I.e lets say it costs $2500 (talking out of my ass here, i dont know how much Omega parts cost) to get a gen dial and bezel insert, and hands. Not to mention shipping and installation costs.

Well if you can afford that just pay $5000 for a real SMP. Why pay 50% of the cost of a real for a fake that you'll have trouble reselling down the line?

 

[Mat_w]

Hi, I am in Australia and was in the same position as you, I spent quite a bit of money investing in watchmaking tools (they are expensive!) And for a while I enjoyed working/practicing on cheap eBay finds and stripping and re-building and I enjoyed it immensely. The down side was… 1. My eyes, the hours spent with a loupe didn’t help my mid 50’s eyes at all and 2. It’s a very insular hobby and I felt it disconnected me from my wife more than is reasonable so I ultimately decided to give it away. I miss it and maybe when I retire I’ll get back into it? Believe me though it is not an easy hobby to pursue, those damn click springs fly off and are never to be seen again… good luck!

That’s a really interesting perspective and I appreciate the input.

I feel the biggest setback for me would be that we’re so isolated from the rest of the world.

I see chaps breaking down the price of their builds- hands $20, date disk $25, gen fluted bezel $120 and I just know that’ll be hard to get here.

Then there’s the cost of labour for a watchmaker doing any machining.

I’m in Sydney, I once paid $13 for a cappuccino at the Westin, so I reckon that’ll be expensive too.

 

[Mat_w]

Omega SMP not worth frankening because quite frankly it may just be more cost effective to buy the real.

I.e lets say it costs $2500 (talking out of my ass here, i dont know how much Omega parts cost) to get a gen dial and bezel insert, and hands. Not to mention shipping and installation costs.

Well if you can afford that just pay $5000 for a real SMP. Why pay 50% of the cost of a real for a fake that you'll have trouble reselling down the line?

I wouldn’t do that with a SM, I still plan on buying a rep in that regard.

But a DJ or OP would be the type of thing I could see myself doing.

 

[Reaps]

I wouldn’t do that with a SM, I still plan on buying a rep in that regard.

But a DJ or OP would be the type of thing I could see myself doing.

There are many opinions on what you need to change. This is my opinion in order :

Datejust :
Dial
Crystal
Hands

If you have money or going smooth bezel not fluted :
Gen Fluted Bezel

If no money :
Xing Bezel
Smooth Gen Bezel

In order of importance
Generally, dial, crystal, hands

 

[Mat_w]

There are many opinions on what you need to change. This is my opinion in order :

Datejust :
Dial
Crystal
Hands

If you have money or going smooth bezel not fluted :
Gen Fluted Bezel

If no money :
Xing Bezel
Smooth Gen Bezel

In order of importance
Generally, dial, crystal, hands

Cheers mate. I’m also entertaining the idea of getting a gen case, something older like a 16014

 

[Mat_w]

Cheers mate. I’m also entertaining the idea of getting a gen case, something older like a 16014

Didn’t actually realise I’d posted that until I came back to finish. Just sort of getting the feelers out at the moment on which way I’d like to go. I’d prefer to go down the vintage line, anything 80’s/90’s as far as DJ/OP.

I’ve been trawling eBay and Chrono24 to see what the common bits and shits are.

Found a 1500 case for what I feel is a decent price.

Just getting a list together to see how much it’ll end up stinging me for. My biggest consideration besides the actual gear is finding a watchmaker that can help.

There’s a good little independent guy nearby but I haven’t actually had the conversation with him- I’m not sure if these things are taboo or not in the watchmakers circle.