- 5/6/08
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Well, lets be honest, if you want to call yourself an omega fan, you have to have a moonie in your collection. Gen or rep. That is out of the question.
The problem was that i didn't have one...
We all know the rep have some issues, major ones are the subdial spacing and in case you get an open caseback model, well one look is enough to get you called out as the rep movement isn't even close to the real deal...
What i decided to do? Make a franken one, thats what i do...
What you need to make a franken moonwatch?
• Gen case
• Lemania 1873/873 movement (omega 861 is based on that movement)
• The appropriate movement holder
If you have these parts dial and hands fits without a problem and you are basically done.
To the story now...
It was a little after i finished my franken chronomat evolutuon when i spotted a gen case for sale at ebay and without second thought i bid and got it. 175.022 case set from 1974. The problem was that it was badly beat up, lot of scratches that needed care.
Next step was to find a lemania 1873 movement. Be very very careful with this movement, there are two versions of it, an 24h and 12h one. If you get the first one (used in some breitlings etc) its pretty much useless... Also try to find one without missing or broken parts, they are pretty expensive to buy and you will end up spending a lot of money on a franken, almost the same getting a gen and that's not the spirit of frankening...
My case is kind of different and weird, i didn't get a 24h but i got lemania 1883 one! This is basically the same movement but it has an extra moonphase function. When i realized it, it was too late and the worst part was that there parts missing from movement and of course it didn't work at all. Really bad d situation to get yourself in... I was pretty lucky as the seller after pointing this out to him, returned me half of the money i paid, and i used them to source the missing parts and make the conversion from 1883 to a 1873 one! Pretty cool and as far as i know none had done it. Many thanks to Michael for that!!! Great guy he is!!!!
As a result i got a fully working movement but there were some issues with the chronograph function. So movement needed further fixing and a whole year had passed after getting the case... I though it thoroughly, i did the math and i was close to 1300$ spent at that point, so i took the big decision, spent a few more on a 861 movement and made it an all gen parts and thats what i did! I had already bought the dial and hands from cousinsuk so it was only assembly left and project done!
Ingredients of the project:
• Gen 175.022 case from year 1974
• Gen dial
• Gen hands
• Gen leather strap ref. 98000239 with gen deployment
• Gen 861 movement
I wanted the watch to keep a vintage look, so besides the fully brush and polish of the case, i didn't change the pushers (one of them has a ding) , nor the bezel, nor the plexi (this old one has no omega symbol on it)
Enough with the talks, pics and a few details with them of course...
Here it is how the case looked when i got it, a big mess!
Then i got the movement which already was partially converted but parts were missing and it didn't run at all...
Case after polishing and brushing. Really good work done here by watchpolisher, you can find him at rwg.
And here is the lemania 1873 movement after getting a service and being converted.
And here is the main problem. The gear with the red arrow was sitting higher than the one with the blue arrow and the chrono didn't engage...
At first i thought to do the installation by myself!!! Not a good idea though, i stopped when it was time to install the hands, it was out of my capability lol. But i shot a few shots so here you go...
Dial is out
You just unscrew these two side screws there as to install the dial
As you can see the dial fits the lemania 873 movement perfect.
Hands were next in line
And here is where i stopped and let it to the pros lol
Package was sent to my buddy Matej, whom i troubled making a few shots during the assembly. Many thanks buddy for the photos and your overall effort in this project!!!
All parts in line!
During the installation Matej noticed the problem with the lemania 1873 and i decided to switch to the 861 movement instead... Here is the baby!
This gear needed a little cleaning
Dial and hands installed
Checking the lume
A check at the back
Into the case they go
Regulating the movement
Antimagnetic cover on
Caseback
An attempt to paint it. The engraving was shallow though, and got even more shallow after the polishing and brushing.
Well kind of expected result but it suits the whole vintage look!
Almost there!
Plexi was polished also. Too many scratches all those years...
Glowing!!!!!
And here is a couple of shots i took, in the next days i will post some more with the bracelet on. I having a hard time fitting the 633 links and i don't know why they wont fit... If anyone has a tip for me please contact me!
I hope you enjoyed the thread, because i had a great time building it. Although you all know how much i love franken projects, be really careful if you decide to build one like this, estimate the cost before buying the parts, you can go close and even more the price of a gen and it will be too late when you understand it... I have to admit i was very lucky not making a bad invest with this project, so be sure you will find the parts in very low prices else it doesn't worth the trouble...
See you in the next project!!!
The problem was that i didn't have one...
We all know the rep have some issues, major ones are the subdial spacing and in case you get an open caseback model, well one look is enough to get you called out as the rep movement isn't even close to the real deal...
What i decided to do? Make a franken one, thats what i do...
What you need to make a franken moonwatch?
• Gen case
• Lemania 1873/873 movement (omega 861 is based on that movement)
• The appropriate movement holder
If you have these parts dial and hands fits without a problem and you are basically done.
To the story now...
It was a little after i finished my franken chronomat evolutuon when i spotted a gen case for sale at ebay and without second thought i bid and got it. 175.022 case set from 1974. The problem was that it was badly beat up, lot of scratches that needed care.
Next step was to find a lemania 1873 movement. Be very very careful with this movement, there are two versions of it, an 24h and 12h one. If you get the first one (used in some breitlings etc) its pretty much useless... Also try to find one without missing or broken parts, they are pretty expensive to buy and you will end up spending a lot of money on a franken, almost the same getting a gen and that's not the spirit of frankening...
My case is kind of different and weird, i didn't get a 24h but i got lemania 1883 one! This is basically the same movement but it has an extra moonphase function. When i realized it, it was too late and the worst part was that there parts missing from movement and of course it didn't work at all. Really bad d situation to get yourself in... I was pretty lucky as the seller after pointing this out to him, returned me half of the money i paid, and i used them to source the missing parts and make the conversion from 1883 to a 1873 one! Pretty cool and as far as i know none had done it. Many thanks to Michael for that!!! Great guy he is!!!!
As a result i got a fully working movement but there were some issues with the chronograph function. So movement needed further fixing and a whole year had passed after getting the case... I though it thoroughly, i did the math and i was close to 1300$ spent at that point, so i took the big decision, spent a few more on a 861 movement and made it an all gen parts and thats what i did! I had already bought the dial and hands from cousinsuk so it was only assembly left and project done!
Ingredients of the project:
• Gen 175.022 case from year 1974
• Gen dial
• Gen hands
• Gen leather strap ref. 98000239 with gen deployment
• Gen 861 movement
I wanted the watch to keep a vintage look, so besides the fully brush and polish of the case, i didn't change the pushers (one of them has a ding) , nor the bezel, nor the plexi (this old one has no omega symbol on it)
Enough with the talks, pics and a few details with them of course...
Here it is how the case looked when i got it, a big mess!
Then i got the movement which already was partially converted but parts were missing and it didn't run at all...
Case after polishing and brushing. Really good work done here by watchpolisher, you can find him at rwg.
And here is the lemania 1873 movement after getting a service and being converted.
And here is the main problem. The gear with the red arrow was sitting higher than the one with the blue arrow and the chrono didn't engage...
At first i thought to do the installation by myself!!! Not a good idea though, i stopped when it was time to install the hands, it was out of my capability lol. But i shot a few shots so here you go...
Dial is out
You just unscrew these two side screws there as to install the dial
As you can see the dial fits the lemania 873 movement perfect.
Hands were next in line
And here is where i stopped and let it to the pros lol
Package was sent to my buddy Matej, whom i troubled making a few shots during the assembly. Many thanks buddy for the photos and your overall effort in this project!!!
All parts in line!
During the installation Matej noticed the problem with the lemania 1873 and i decided to switch to the 861 movement instead... Here is the baby!
This gear needed a little cleaning
Dial and hands installed
Checking the lume
A check at the back
Into the case they go
Regulating the movement
Antimagnetic cover on
Caseback
An attempt to paint it. The engraving was shallow though, and got even more shallow after the polishing and brushing.
Well kind of expected result but it suits the whole vintage look!
Almost there!
Plexi was polished also. Too many scratches all those years...
Glowing!!!!!
And here is a couple of shots i took, in the next days i will post some more with the bracelet on. I having a hard time fitting the 633 links and i don't know why they wont fit... If anyone has a tip for me please contact me!
I hope you enjoyed the thread, because i had a great time building it. Although you all know how much i love franken projects, be really careful if you decide to build one like this, estimate the cost before buying the parts, you can go close and even more the price of a gen and it will be too late when you understand it... I have to admit i was very lucky not making a bad invest with this project, so be sure you will find the parts in very low prices else it doesn't worth the trouble...
See you in the next project!!!
