Hey everyone , firstly I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday!
Jumping straight into it, I wanted to share this incredible 5402 Franken project. This is something really special to me, it has taken roughly 2 years to complete. Will let the pictures speak for itself:
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The base watch used is an XF 15202 running the modified Miyota 9015, which functions in the same way as the gen 5402. You need to backtrack the hands and then advance them again past midnight in order to set the date. The DW transitions in the same direction as gen as well.
The dial is a genuine 5402 C-Serial from roughly early to mid 1980's
The hands are the original XF hands that have been relumed to match the dial indices.
The bracelet is an older style MBW (14790) that I sourced here on RWI, the clasp is not correct for a 5402 however it is still much closer to the genuine bracelet than the original XF, which was designed of course after a 15202.
The case was aged, and the bezel screws were reshaped to give them the same rounded appearance as seen in gen.
Lastly and arguably one of the most important details (aside from the dial) is the datewheel. The 5402 has a very unique and signature font, and in my opinion adds a huge amount of character to this reference. In order to achieve this, I took it upon myself to custom make an overlay in the correct font as gen.
Huge credit and thanks to MajWilliams for taking the original scans of the genuine 5402 date disc which he had in his possession. Without these scans it would have been near impossible to get the level of accuracy needed to create an overlay.
The gen datewheel scans were traced (painstakingly by yours truly, in Ai) , and then rendered in CAD. A local supplier helped tweak the scale of it in order for printing.
Overall, I couldn't be happier with the way it has turned out. Some progress pics of the work to create the overlay:
.
.
Hope you guys have enjoyed the details of this project. It's taken a lot of time and energy but the results make the whole process worth it. I think this is an excellent build to close out the year, and while I can't say with certainty, I think it appropriate that this may also be the final "big project franken" that I see myself working on.
There is still one detail missing however, I was just too excited to wait and share. Currently in the making is a custom solid case back, which will be engraved to the correct style and serial as gen. Currently the XF original exhibition case back is fitted, and this is an inaccuracy that will soon be replaced.
The base for the solid case back was provided by Spongebob. The engraving renders were hand drawn by myself and submitted with a local CNC factory who will do the final work. This should be a tremendous improvement not only to hide the movement, as well as give the correct appearance of gen case back, but I believe it should also help shave a few millimeters off the overall thickness. Some pics of the renderings :
.
.
Measuring now, the XF case clocks in at 8.3mm , where the genuine 5402 measures an impressively thin 7mm. I have no expectations to meet 7mm thickness but if I can get it under 8mm would be exceptional in itself.
Will be sure to update the post with the final results of the solid case back with custom engravings.
Thanks for everyone who took the time to read through this post. Wishing you all a great new year!
Jumping straight into it, I wanted to share this incredible 5402 Franken project. This is something really special to me, it has taken roughly 2 years to complete. Will let the pictures speak for itself:
.
.
.
The base watch used is an XF 15202 running the modified Miyota 9015, which functions in the same way as the gen 5402. You need to backtrack the hands and then advance them again past midnight in order to set the date. The DW transitions in the same direction as gen as well.
The dial is a genuine 5402 C-Serial from roughly early to mid 1980's
The hands are the original XF hands that have been relumed to match the dial indices.
The bracelet is an older style MBW (14790) that I sourced here on RWI, the clasp is not correct for a 5402 however it is still much closer to the genuine bracelet than the original XF, which was designed of course after a 15202.
The case was aged, and the bezel screws were reshaped to give them the same rounded appearance as seen in gen.
Lastly and arguably one of the most important details (aside from the dial) is the datewheel. The 5402 has a very unique and signature font, and in my opinion adds a huge amount of character to this reference. In order to achieve this, I took it upon myself to custom make an overlay in the correct font as gen.
Huge credit and thanks to MajWilliams for taking the original scans of the genuine 5402 date disc which he had in his possession. Without these scans it would have been near impossible to get the level of accuracy needed to create an overlay.
The gen datewheel scans were traced (painstakingly by yours truly, in Ai) , and then rendered in CAD. A local supplier helped tweak the scale of it in order for printing.
Overall, I couldn't be happier with the way it has turned out. Some progress pics of the work to create the overlay:
.
.
Hope you guys have enjoyed the details of this project. It's taken a lot of time and energy but the results make the whole process worth it. I think this is an excellent build to close out the year, and while I can't say with certainty, I think it appropriate that this may also be the final "big project franken" that I see myself working on.
There is still one detail missing however, I was just too excited to wait and share. Currently in the making is a custom solid case back, which will be engraved to the correct style and serial as gen. Currently the XF original exhibition case back is fitted, and this is an inaccuracy that will soon be replaced.
The base for the solid case back was provided by Spongebob. The engraving renders were hand drawn by myself and submitted with a local CNC factory who will do the final work. This should be a tremendous improvement not only to hide the movement, as well as give the correct appearance of gen case back, but I believe it should also help shave a few millimeters off the overall thickness. Some pics of the renderings :
.
.
Measuring now, the XF case clocks in at 8.3mm , where the genuine 5402 measures an impressively thin 7mm. I have no expectations to meet 7mm thickness but if I can get it under 8mm would be exceptional in itself.
Will be sure to update the post with the final results of the solid case back with custom engravings.
Thanks for everyone who took the time to read through this post. Wishing you all a great new year!
