My 1680 so far

[bc1221]

Received thick spring bars yesterday. Cut the end links’ rings so they would allow the spring bars through. Can’t see it from the outside and has no way to pop off once it’s installed with the bracelet so why not.


Currently on hold. Waiting for dial feet to arrive and having keyless works issues that does not seem to want me to fix it. It’s driving me crazy so shipping that off to be fixed. Ugh!


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[Malaka]

Awesome work! May I ask a noob question because I did not get it: What base watch did you use?

 

[bc1221]

Awesome work! May I ask a noob question because I did not get it: What base watch did you use?

Cartel (JKF) 1680. They’re about the only ones that you can mod out of the box but it takes a quite a bit of work to try to get the lug holes to move a tiny bit away from the edge.

That’s what makes it fun tho. The challenges.


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[Malaka]

They’re about the only ones that you can mod out of the box

What do you mean with that? Other 1680 reps are better or worse than the Cartel?

 

[bc1221]

What do you mean with that? Other 1680 reps are better or worse than the Cartel?

Im pretty sure there are only 2 factories that make 1680s (complete ones anyway), Silix and Cartel. Cartel ones, you can just mod out of the box. The crown guards are a lot taller now so you can mod those. The lug holes still suck bc theyre close to the edges but thats about the only downside aside from the cases for 1680 not being correct (they should be 26.5mm but theyre 26mm) if you were building a 5513, its perfect bc that is the corect size for the dials. Cartel cases also take Atheya tubes out of the box. No need to re-tap the tube hole. Silix has very ugly dials imo. Their lug holes are better than cartel but their dials suck and I dont think theyre anything close to gen spec.

The other options are to build from scratch from using a vietnam or ST case and modding it from there. That is not cheap at all.

 

[Malaka]

Thanks for the explanation! Will keep an eye on the M2M section ;-)

 

[bc1221]

For fux sake!
There’s still a bit more work to do on it but I’m just ready to wear the damn thing. Note to self, don’t buy a gen spec dial for a cartel case. Shaving the dial fucks up a few things. Major one being (aside from having to shave a beautiful dial), YOU CANT GET ALL THE DATES CENTERED!! ARGH!!!

Had to use dial dots for the moment bc I can’t seem to get dial feet without buying a pack of them but it works. *shrug*

I guess I’ll just live with it for now. I’ve been ready to wear it for months and I finally had enough to be ok with it.

And the divers trinity. (Hoping to expand with a 16800 and a 5513 soon)

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[Malaka]

LOVELY!

 

[bc1221]

LOVELY!

Thanks!

I’m now gonna work on an overlay slightly bigger so it gets centered. Thank god, the vintage datewheels are not raised numbers.

Not sure what type of paper I should use tho. Just regular 28lb paper would be too thick I think and just photo paper may be too glossy. May try both and see which one works out better.

Tracing those numbers in illustrator is not fun though. lol.




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[itgoes211]

Thanks!

I’m now gonna work on an overlay slightly bigger so it gets centered. Thank god, the vintage datewheels are not raised numbers.

Not sure what type of paper I should use tho. Just regular 28lb paper would be too thick I think and just photo paper may be too glossy. May try both and see which one works out better.

Tracing those numbers in illustrator is not fun though. lol.




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Nice trinity!
I just ran across the same issue with a gen dial and a cartel case today. Totally bummed me out - argh.
But I do have a way to shave the dials evenly - basically use a dremmel as a lathe and attach the dial to the dremmel bit through the dial hole. Issue is to protect the dial face around the dial hole from the dremmel bit. But it works.

For the DWO, I’ve photo copied gen DWs and it works well if the paper doesn’t bleed. I’ve also used DW files printed on photo paper and they turn out good with no gloss if right photo paper is used. The challenge there is the thickness of the photo paper, but it’s doable. I could share the DWO files if you want them.

 

[bc1221]

Nice trinity!
I just ran across the same issue with a gen dial and a cartel case today. Totally bummed me out - argh.
But I do have a way to shave the dials evenly - basically use a dremmel as a lathe and attach the dial to the dremmel bit through the dial hole. Issue is to protect the dial face around the dial hole from the dremmel bit. But it works.

For the DWO, I’ve photo copied gen DWs and it works well if the paper doesn’t bleed. I’ve also used DW files printed on photo paper and they turn out good with no gloss if right photo paper is used. The challenge there is the thickness of the photo paper, but it’s doable. I could share the DWO files if you want them.

Hell yea man. Send it over!
So the gen datewheels fit that window with a shaved dial?


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[Solution6]

Well. After finally accepting the fact that I can’t use this dial for a 16800 build, I shaved it. Looks ok imo. May need to shave the top down a little bit so the tiny marker shows under the T>25 but looking at a lot of gems, they all seem to either barely show or none at all so it’s not stressing me out too much.

Messed up the dates a bit from 23-27. It has a bit of the 2 missing. Haven’t decided if I want to get a new overlay or just use this one since it does look like it’s been well used.

Test fitting the dial and the datewheel overlay.

Some macro shots of this amazing dial.

I’ll just have to accept the fact that I’ll have to use a Yuki dial does my 16800 build. Not as good as I want it to be but will do the trick. I asked this same guy if he could make me a 16800 dial. He quoted me about $600 because it would be a custom order.

Worked the case a bit more to get the lug holes a bit further away from the edges.

Lugs had to get a lot more thinner. Damn these cartel cases!

Just waiting for the movement to get back to me and the thick springbars and I’ll be done and ready to wear!

I’ll prob end up selling it once I get my 16800 built. Lol. The journey is better than the destination.

Let me know what you guys think!

Wow, super neat dial shave!


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[bc1221]

Thanks bro. It took forever and I still couldn’t get the little marker at the bottom to show but fuck it. They barely show up on gens anyway. I’m ok with just the T

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[FearOfGod]

I just feel like overall you need another bezel insert, it looks abit over faded to me unless you go full ghost. Just my opinion


Either he’s dead or my watch has stopped.

 

[bc1221]

The one thing that sucks about the good looking, puffy, crumbly looking lume.... they crumble off.

Finished the build last night and the second hand was getting stuck. Took it out to fix that and 11 o clock marker crumbles off. Fixed that as best as I could. Then the 12 marker. Then the 1 marker.

I think I matched it close enough but now I have 3 markers that glow and the rest that doesn’t.

I may just have to re-lume the entire thing. Ugh

Put the faded insert on there for now to see how that looked.

Whatcha think?

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[itgoes211]

The one thing that sucks about the good looking, puffy, crumbly looking lume.... they crumble off.

Finished the build last night and the second hand was getting stuck. Took it out to fix that and 11 o clock marker crumbles off. Fixed that as best as I could. Then the 12 marker. Then the 1 marker.

I think I matched it close enough but now I have 3 markers that glow and the rest that doesn’t.

I may just have to re-lume the entire thing. Ugh

Put the faded insert on there for now to see how that looked.

Whatcha think?

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Looks good! Great work. The lume decay actually matches well with the bezel. Shows some character like a family piece that went to war with grandpa. Nice!

 

[bc1221]

Looks good! Great work. The lume decay actually matches well with the bezel. Shows some character like a family piece that went to war with grandpa. Nice!

Thanks!

I may touch up the lume a little bit. At least add a bit more binder so the rest doesn’t crumble apart (you can see a chunk crumbled off on the 9 marker). That would be better than having lume flakes all over the movement but this has been my daily since I completed the build. Def one of my fav builds so far.

Next up will be a 16800 if I can ever find a dial that I love and can afford. So far the best (non gen) one I’ve seen is about $500 shipped from MQ. It’s a beautiful dial but damn. I already have about $700 in the 16610 build and still need to get the lug holes drilled, chamfer the lugs and get a datewheel. The WSO datewheel is junk. Half the dates look like they’re either too high or too low. This is just by looking at the numbers on the teeth. I’ll prob just end up going with a modern gen DW. Those seem to be the only one that fits perfectly. It won’t be period correct but it could be a “Rolex serviced it and put a modern datewheel in it” type of thing.

Then the next project I’m planning on is a 5513 with a richview dial. That one should be fairly easy to build since the cartel case for a 5513 would be the same spec as the dial.

Modding is way too fun of a hobby that just sucks money out of your bank account.


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[itgoes211]

“ I may touch up the lume a little bit. At least add a bit more binder so the rest doesn’t crumble apart (you can see a chunk crumbled off on the 9 marker). That would be better than having lume flakes all over the movement but this has been my daily since I completed the build. Def one of my fav builds so far.”
> I tried some UV fly-tying glue, which works great b/c it doesn’t set for days unless I hit it with the UV light. But so far, the final texture is too smooth for a vintage look, just the opposite of your crumbles. Would be perfect for a modern lume job. I’m still testing different mixtures to get a more vintage texture. Just throwing it out there in case it helps.

“Next up will be a 16800 if I can ever find a dial that I love and can afford. “
> What’s case are you are using as a base? I’ve been looking for a good 16610. Silix has a bunch of inexpensive subs that might work, but I’m hesitant to try them all out - same thought as your quote below. I tried the blue $40 Silix special just to see. Turns out to be a great deal and good beater for price, but the case would require significant time to rework, especially the lug holes. The closest 16610/16800 I and my TDs found/can get is the JF $410.

“... of a hobby that just sucks money out of your bank account.”
> Yup, totally agreed. I thought I’d save money by building... wrong as usual. But I enjoy the journey and building anything, so that’s how I rationalize myself into more...

 

[bootlegboy]

Thanks!

I may touch up the lume a little bit. At least add a bit more binder so the rest doesn’t crumble apart (you can see a chunk crumbled off on the 9 marker). That would be better than having lume flakes all over the movement but this has been my daily since I completed the build. Def one of my fav builds so far.

Next up will be a 16800 if I can ever find a dial that I love and can afford. So far the best (non gen) one I’ve seen is about $500 shipped from MQ. It’s a beautiful dial but damn. I already have about $700 in the 16610 build and still need to get the lug holes drilled, chamfer the lugs and get a datewheel. The WSO datewheel is junk. Half the dates look like they’re either too high or too low. This is just by looking at the numbers on the teeth. I’ll prob just end up going with a modern gen DW. Those seem to be the only one that fits perfectly. It won’t be period correct but it could be a “Rolex serviced it and put a modern datewheel in it” type of thing.

Then the next project I’m planning on is a 5513 with a richview dial. That one should be fairly easy to build since the cartel case for a 5513 would be the same spec as the dial.

Modding is way too fun of a hobby that just sucks money out of your bank account.


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Here's a stupid idea I just came up with. Why don't you intentionally fade the modern era datewheels so the 6 and 9s "coincidentally" faded away :c

 

[ReWriteMyStory]

Looking good ! But somehow the inserts looks a little too much fade for me!

I think the best is to find a gen on Instagram and try to build towards it !


Your best teacher is your last mistake.