Heavily modded 16610 cheapie ... or "minutes of a shitinerand plastic surgery"

[manodeoro]

About a month ago I spent a 4 days vacation in the South of France. so we paid a visit to my father in law (he's a nice guy ... and has a nice terrace just in front of the sea).
I had my 6538 SYL on the wrist and when he saw it he immediatly felt in love with it and we begun to talk watches.
He talked to me about an old (and not working) 16610 Rep he had and asked if I could have a look at it, try to fix it and give it a better look.
I should have dodged that issue but ... I said "why not" !!!
So he searched his drawers and show up the "thing" I'll see below, definitely a cheapie among the cheapies.
But a "why not" is really close to a "yes" and my father in law is, as I already said, a really nice guy, so ... "challenge accepted".

I put the "watch" in my luggage and took it home and decided to forget about it for a few days.
But I had alost made a promise so I had a first close look at it, opened the case and wiped some.
Then I begun what was supposed to be just a refurbishment but finished being what I would call a real plastic surgery.

So here's the story and I hope you'll like it ... and sorry if I'm too chatty



EDIT :
1 - after posting everything in 1 post I think it's better to make multiple posts than only one
2 - if somebody can explain me how I can make my pics "a little less" big ... fell free
3 - I have resized most of the pics ... High PICs will be for the finished watch

 

[manodeoro]

01 - FIRST DAY - FIRST LOOK :

Technically :
- the movement seems to work ... when I shake it the seconds hand already begins walking round
- the O-rings on the crown are dead and the caseback ring is probably dead too
- the stem seems "loosy" fixed on the crown and the watch cant be set
- the SELs stay loosy on the case ... and they are ugly (but that's an esthetical remark)
Alltogether that watch needs some work but it's not that bad

Esthetically :
Wow !!! I really dont know if I can save it.
- the polished parts look tooooo shiny and more like chrome than polished SS
- the "brushed" parts just look mate and "sad"
- the crownguards are stubby as bulldog jaws
- the dials is ... "something" ... the polices not that bad but the indexes stubby too (but still not big indexes)
- the bracelet looks very cheap and has ugly SELs





















Then I open the case and here is a "nice surpise".

The caseback wears some weird engravings :

MONARCHPOLFY S.A.
GELENA
SHITINERAND
STAINLESS STEEL
12600

I had already heard and read about those crazy casebacks but I had never seen one in real.
A proof, IMHO, that Rep makers can act funny sometimes.

Then I look at the case and movement and ... "Sh.t In Your Hand" they said ???
Definitely sh.t in that watch and I'd better beware of rats and cockcroaches cause I could find some there.

And as I remove the stem I see what's going weird.
The crown is damaged and "falls in parts" And the stem is sealed in one of those ... I'l try to fix that later

 

[manodeoro]

02 - CLEAN TEST :

That watch is so durty that I fist want to know if it really can be cleaned with the only tools I have, lukewarm water, dish-washing liquid and C-oil.
And it works ... there's no more s..t in that Shitinerand caseback and ugly buckle.

 

[manodeoro]

03 - BRACELET :

As I already said the bracelet looks very cheap :
- the brushed parts are not brushed but just mate and sad looking.
- the link's sides, that should be polished (if I'm true), are just "rough and ready"
- the SELs are ... ugly
My first idea is to through that thing in the garbage can ... but the wach is not mine and I "accepted the challenge".

So I fist put that bracelet in myd "red grease" for 48 hours, washed it and dried it.
Then I have reworked it completely with some sandpaper sheets (grade 600 to 1200), my dremel-like, some red compound and of course a good amount of elbow grease.

Below you can look at it, from the first pics "before" to the last "final result" wich is, IMHO, unexpected.
At the end I really sort of liked that bracelet and though it's completely wearable.
So I wrapped it in some greaseproof paper so it can wait for the rest of the watch.

 

[manodeoro]

04 - CASE :

What's the difference within an antilop and a bull ?
Same difference within the crownguards of a nice 16610 and those on my father-in-law's watch.



I think I cant say better.
And it's not about modding here ... it's more about sculpture because that case needs some real plastic surgery.

So once again I've had to use sandpaper sheets, dremel, compound and elbow grease, plus a complete set of diamond files.
I reworked the case with the bezel on because it's a paperclip construction so I didn't take no risk and prefered to just protect it with some painter's tape.

Feel free to post you comments but I'm REALLY happy with the result and I think all the efforts and time spent was definitely worthy.
Below are the pics, again from "before" to "after" and some taken along the process ... on the final pics the watch I reworked is the one without insert.

 

[manodeoro]

05 - CROWN :

I tried to save the crown and repair it with a tiny bit of copper wire ... I like to pretend being MacGyver.
It worked but I wasn't 100% certain everything would stay in place so I prefered to change for a crwon and stem I had in my drawer.
I'll work again ion that crown later ... just for the fun of it.
And if I succeed I'll create a specific thread.

 

[manodeoro]

06 - CRYSTAL :

The crystal is good enough (samel quality level as the watch) but it has some scratches on the cyclop.
One can see them only on macro pics but it bothered me so I dedided to do my best to fix that thing.
A good friend of mine told me I should use Cerium Oxide.
So I bought some (that's really cheap) and tried that method.
All you need is :
- Cerium Oxide
- small amount of water
- some make-up remover pads
- elbow grease (wrist grease in fact)
Just mix some oxide with water to make a thick paste, moist you pads (unless they will abosrb all the water from the paste), take some of the paste with a pad and rub the crystal, again and again.
I did that for minutes, and hours, while watching the news or a movie on TV, listening some cool music, having a sunbath on my terrace, etc ...
It's a very looooooong process but ... it works.
The scratches didn't disappeared but it's really better ... IMHO
I'm not certain that was worthy or usefull but I'm happy.









EDITED 2017/07/04 :

Just a reworked a little more the cyclop today and it's a little better.
I won't go further cause If I want to get a perfect result I would have to sand the cyclop 800/1200/2000 then repolish with Cerium Oxide.
I would be a very long process and I'm not quite certain that the difference would be visible without a magnifying glass.
So here is the last close pic of the crystal before I wrapped it in greaseproof paper ... waiting to put it back on the case.

 

[manodeoro]

07 - MOVEMENT :

The movement seemed to work good and with the new stem/crown assembly it can be set without problem and the date changes between 11PM and 1AM, so everything is OK.
Except the date wheel.
The police was ... "exotic" could be the right word.
So I decided to make a DIY overlay wich could look some more accurate :
- designed the DWO on Illustrator/Photoshop
- printed it on a very thin photo paper
- cut it and fixed it on the datewheel with some double-sided tape
- add a "wedge" made from the same photo paper between the dial and the dial spacer fixed with double-sided tape)
That's all.
Now the police looks less "strange" and the date still changes well between 11PM and 1AM.

And here are some pics of the process

 

[manodeoro]

08 - DIAL :

OMG ... that dial really bothered me
The printings were no that bad and "could look" like some 2006 dials but the indexes ... OMG !!!



Looking at the indexes I first thought about swapping the minutes hand for a thicker one and the insert for a green one, so that the watch could look like a 50th anniversary LV.
But it wouldnt work, the indexes are not even "big iNdexes" and the printings would not be accurate.
Then I searched my drawers and found a 16610 dial that "could have" work ... but I had already modded it for an ongoing 16800 Comex project.
So I have created a thread here, a WTB asking for a "cheap but decent" 16610 dial.
If I get a fair offer I will buy it but only if it's a cheap one, because although all the ork I have done on it that watch is still a cheapie.
So here I am, waiting for an hypothetical 16610 dial.

 

[manodeoro]

09 - FINISHED ... or not :

Here should be some pics of the watch recovering from plastic surgery or sunbathing on my wrist while waiting to go to its original owner.
But I still have to :
- decide if I keep that weird dial or swap for another one
- clean everything
- put all the parts together

so ...

TO BE CONTINUED​

 

[crsteen]

Nice start to a interesting project. keep us posted.

 

[Nivka]

I hope this gets you into his good books for many years to come! A lovely gesture

 

[UDTMIKE]

Awesome job, and for your father in law? Your a good man Hope they appreciate all the work your putting into it.

 

[DreadPirateRobert]

Wow, this is fantastic work. I wish you the best of luck in your search! I'm subscribing to this.

 

[Rx4Time]

Very good work! I did not think it would look as good as it turned out in the finished pictures. Have you shared any of this with your father in law yet, or are you going to surprise him?

 

[JohnnyBe]

This was so good to read man..waiting for the result..really nice gesture i must admit

 

[MonsieurMax]

Wow! thats an amazing gesture. I can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[mascob1]

Really nice work!
I'm a big fan!:biggrin:

 

[mascob1]

Really nice work!
I'm a big fan!:biggrin:

 

[mascob1]

Really nice work!
I'm a big fan!:biggrin: