Well, I finally decided to post my little collection of goodies.
All these were built and/or modded by me over the span of a year and a half of collecting, and finally getting the courage to dismantle and assemble my own pieces.
Here is a family shot.
The first one is a PAM000 that was my first real project. This one started out as a watch ordered from DSN, but it arrived a mess, and needed lots to bring it to wearable condition. The hands were scratched upon arrival and it looked like they were touched up with a sharpie. Anyway, after some back and forth with DSN and getting analy raped by Canada Customs with a replacement watch, I decided to just take it apart, and swap out hands, clean up the dial and reasemble. It was actually my first attempt and this and it turned out pretty good and she has been my daily wearer for the last year and a bit. The movement was changed to a Swiss plane jane ETA 6497 from Ofrei. The only decoration on the movement is me filling in the "swiss made, and the 17 jewels" engraving with blue paint.
My second project was a 5218-201/A. This was pieced together from various supliers and members of the board. The dial, hands, and caseback came from different members on this fine board. The movement was also a Swiss ETA 6497 from Ofrei. The case and crownguard came from a member of one of the other boards, but the origins were DSN. The crown is just a crown I had laying around. I have been meaning to change it, but it locks up tight to the lever so I probably never will.
My third project happened shortly after Rambo IV was released. It is a 5218-202/A. I had decided to give DSN a chance again on parts, and more or less I was happy. I say more or less because the case has the notch by the crown, and the crown guard was replaced twice because it was ill fitting. I managed to get it on close, but realistically could be changed again. I have been wanting to contact DSN about the case and seeing if I could swap it for a better one, but really at this point (it has been almost eight months) I don't really know if I should burden him because I love the way it turned out. The Case, Crystal, Caseback, Crown, Crown Guard and hands are all from DSN. The movement was again a Swiss ETA 6497 from Ofrei. I really like the finish on this one.
The last one is a recent rebuild and modification. It is supposed to be 036. THe case is not titanium though. I can't wear titanium, so I decided to brush a case. The bulk of the watch is from a member from another site. I changed out the movement to, you guessed it a Swiss ETA 6497 from Ofrei. The dial was sourced from DSN and is one of his later generation brown dials. The dial was a bit scratched, so I decided to "vintage" it a bit. I beat up the hands a little, and had one of my buddies who smoke blow smoke on the dial and hands and inside of the crystal. I brushed the case with some industrial scotch brite pads, and it really has the look of Titanium. I had an old Cuoiaria Briele Toscana straps that I beat to crap by running it over with my Land Rover a few times and dragging it behind the truck. The over all look is awesome and it has come into the rotation of daily wear.
The 5210-201/A and 202/A rarely get worn. They are "safe queens." I plan on hanging on to them for a long time. They haven't even been wound in half a year.
Well that is my collection. I think I may add a couple more down the line.
Later, mates.
Pietro
All these were built and/or modded by me over the span of a year and a half of collecting, and finally getting the courage to dismantle and assemble my own pieces.
Here is a family shot.
The first one is a PAM000 that was my first real project. This one started out as a watch ordered from DSN, but it arrived a mess, and needed lots to bring it to wearable condition. The hands were scratched upon arrival and it looked like they were touched up with a sharpie. Anyway, after some back and forth with DSN and getting analy raped by Canada Customs with a replacement watch, I decided to just take it apart, and swap out hands, clean up the dial and reasemble. It was actually my first attempt and this and it turned out pretty good and she has been my daily wearer for the last year and a bit. The movement was changed to a Swiss plane jane ETA 6497 from Ofrei. The only decoration on the movement is me filling in the "swiss made, and the 17 jewels" engraving with blue paint.
My second project was a 5218-201/A. This was pieced together from various supliers and members of the board. The dial, hands, and caseback came from different members on this fine board. The movement was also a Swiss ETA 6497 from Ofrei. The case and crownguard came from a member of one of the other boards, but the origins were DSN. The crown is just a crown I had laying around. I have been meaning to change it, but it locks up tight to the lever so I probably never will.
My third project happened shortly after Rambo IV was released. It is a 5218-202/A. I had decided to give DSN a chance again on parts, and more or less I was happy. I say more or less because the case has the notch by the crown, and the crown guard was replaced twice because it was ill fitting. I managed to get it on close, but realistically could be changed again. I have been wanting to contact DSN about the case and seeing if I could swap it for a better one, but really at this point (it has been almost eight months) I don't really know if I should burden him because I love the way it turned out. The Case, Crystal, Caseback, Crown, Crown Guard and hands are all from DSN. The movement was again a Swiss ETA 6497 from Ofrei. I really like the finish on this one.
The last one is a recent rebuild and modification. It is supposed to be 036. THe case is not titanium though. I can't wear titanium, so I decided to brush a case. The bulk of the watch is from a member from another site. I changed out the movement to, you guessed it a Swiss ETA 6497 from Ofrei. The dial was sourced from DSN and is one of his later generation brown dials. The dial was a bit scratched, so I decided to "vintage" it a bit. I beat up the hands a little, and had one of my buddies who smoke blow smoke on the dial and hands and inside of the crystal. I brushed the case with some industrial scotch brite pads, and it really has the look of Titanium. I had an old Cuoiaria Briele Toscana straps that I beat to crap by running it over with my Land Rover a few times and dragging it behind the truck. The over all look is awesome and it has come into the rotation of daily wear.
The 5210-201/A and 202/A rarely get worn. They are "safe queens." I plan on hanging on to them for a long time. They haven't even been wound in half a year.
Well that is my collection. I think I may add a couple more down the line.
Later, mates.
Pietro
