GMT 116710BLNR - Batman - where to get a gen or gen like bezel ?

[bonco]

Then... what in the best aftermarket insert for Gmt BLNR?



1. https://www.ebay.it/itm/Rolex-Lunet...209414?hash=item467f8628c6:g:CxMAAOSwk4RbNRpL

2. https://www.ebay.it/itm/BLACK-BLUE-...8?pageci=18586901-aaaa-4831-88e3-c3ea5916967d

3. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/38m...lgo_pvid=2ef9f47d-396b-40ed-a2e0-86726820ab01


4. Or the version sold by prawnboy

 

[KJ2020]

Just got mine in the mail from here

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BLACK-BLUE-...=1530540905003

Pro
Blue color is good
No transition lines

Con
Cutouts are shallow
Markers are white
White paint in markers has trash in it

None of the cons will matter if I can remove the white and replace with either silver paint or plating.

Ruprekt Marco1937

 

[Ruprekt]

Don’t worry about getting the white paint out of the numbers. I’d use some 0000 steel wool to scuff the surface and get the crap out of the numbers. Whatever these guys are using for paint is resistant to laquer thinner and even acetone. If you can get an even flat surface to try your paint on that’s all you need. When mine comes in the mail I’m going to send it straight off to USD plating and let them have a go at it.

 

[rcom440]

Good color but the numbers are way-way too shallow.
it almost look like numbers are painted straight on the surface. It doesn’t look like there is any depth.
I think paint mod will look flat.

 

[KJ2020]

Don’t worry about getting the white paint out of the numbers. I’d use some 0000 steel wool to scuff the surface and get the crap out of the numbers. Whatever these guys are using for paint is resistant to laquer thinner and even acetone. If you can get an even flat surface to try your paint on that’s all you need. When mine comes in the mail I’m going to send it straight off to USD plating and let them have a go at it.

Steel wool won't mar up the ceramic at all?

There is some depth to the cutouts, enough for a couple coats of Molotow or airbrush.

I very interested to know how an airbrush or plat mod would look, the marker color is the only remaining challenge to solve. The color and transitions are great on this insert.

 

[Ruprekt]

Steel wool won’t hurt it. Airbrush mod is coming up, ran out of paint. It’s on order.... The ceramic is super hard. When I did my 116613 paint mod I cleaned the surface with a razor blade. You’re safe with steel wool for sure.

 

[Vvvlllooo]

Can’t wait to see the outcome guys, great job

 

[KJ2020]

Steel wool won’t hurt it. Airbrush mod is coming up, ran out of paint. It’s on order.... The ceramic is super hard. When I did my 116613 paint mod I cleaned the surface with a razor blade. You’re safe with steel wool for sure.

Cool, thanks bro. Our standards are so much higher than all these factories, it doesn't take that much effort to keep trash out of your paint job, Geez.

 

[prawnboy]

Then... what in the best aftermarket insert for Gmt BLNR?



1. https://www.ebay.it/itm/Rolex-Lunet...209414?hash=item467f8628c6:g:CxMAAOSwk4RbNRpL

2. https://www.ebay.it/itm/BLACK-BLUE-...8?pageci=18586901-aaaa-4831-88e3-c3ea5916967d

3. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/38m...lgo_pvid=2ef9f47d-396b-40ed-a2e0-86726820ab01


4. Or the version sold by prawnboy

Buy all 3 and compare with Gen
This is the only way to find out which is the best.
From picture no way you can tell

 

[KJ2020]

I took some steel wool to my new insert to get rid of trash on the white paint and the steel wool had a little bit of oil in it. I had to rub pretty hard to get into the cutouts and pretty soon I noticed some of the white paint was coming off. So I said screw it. I'm just going to remove it all and I scraped it out of several cutouts with some sharp tweezers.

You can see the cutouts are actually plenty deep. You can also see there is a visible transition bulge line, albeit less pronounced than the Noob. I did a quick 3 coat Molotow paint mod on the few scraped cutouts. Here are my thoughts.

I'm not sorry I scraped out the white, although at ~5 minutes a cutout I have a couple hours of work left just to finish that. The silver looks much better, why don't they just do that?

The factory filled the cutouts almost level, which masked the rough (and transition lined) cutout bottoms. These cutouts will need fill, not layers to restore a smooth looking finish, although not as much as they had. We can end up smooth with a deeper looking marker.

I may try a method I saw pilworx use in an older post where he used Testor's enamel mixed with thinner to fill cutouts. The thinner then evaporates away leaving a smooth fill.

The saga continues.

​​​​​​​

 

[Ruprekt]

So the white paint is basically a filler to hide the uneven engraved surface.

 

[mrxciter]

i bought mine on ebay, the sets not as expensive as for the submariner

 

[georgiworld2]

Opinions on this

Ebay seller in NY


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[georgiworld2]

He also sells this one for twice the price

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[KJ2020]

He also sells this one for twice the price

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Color is better on the first one, second one looks thicker. Both fonts are OK. Neither one has the color transition in the right place. Inset 6 should be split dead center insert 18 split 20% into the 8. Look at a gen pic in this thread.

 

[georgiworld2]

Color is better on the first one, second one looks thicker. Both fonts are OK. Neither one has the color transition in the right place. Inset 6 should be split dead center insert 18 split 20% into the 8. Look at a gen pic in this thread.

Color I see fine and agree
As to fonts, thickness and serif, I’m spatially dyslexic

Is the first one worth the 35$ versus the the others in this thread?




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[georgiworld2]

BTW
I have a ceramic pepsi that had the red area around the 18 peel off
Low and behold, it’s blue

Was thinking about removing all the red to make a blueberry insert


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[KJ2020]

Color I see fine and agree
As to fonts, thickness and serif, I’m spatially dyslexic

Is the first one worth the 35$ versus the the others in this thread?




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You have to decide if the position of the color change is acceptable to you. Look at it carefully and you will see it is noticeably off. If you're going to buy a replacement insert, why not buy one without this obvious flaw?

 

[KJ2020]

georgiworld2 Look where the color changes occur on the Noob and my aftermarket

 

[KJ2020]

BTW
I have a ceramic pepsi that had the red area around the 18 peel off
Low and behold, it’s blue

Was thinking about removing all the red to make a blueberry insert


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is it the same color blue as the top half? I would definitely try making it all blue then, that would be good.