Just a disclamer... I KNOW this is missing items to make it a real vintage, such as the dial, hands, etc. However it is "vintage" to me and honestly don't give a crap what others think...
So, I decided to redo this watch that I had kicking around. It originally had a sterile dial, but wanted to put a Radiomir dial in. Well, a member from another forum sold me a dial, BUT, the dial was too thick. Basically i had to take a dial that was almost 1mm thick and grind it down to under 1/2 of a millimeter.
In the process of sanding the dial, I was able to age it as well. It took me 6 hours to "thin" it down.
Now, the crystal. I wanted a tall perspex just like the originals would have had. I cut a piece into a 39mm rough circle and then hand filed and ground the crystal into an almost perfect circle. It sticks up about 5mm.
Anyway, for a daily beater it turned out ok. Gets lots of attention too.
Dial on the sand paper. Wet dry 400 grit.
"Sanding block"
Ugh, still too thick, time to bring out the big guns.
Finished dial.
Monster crystal.
And another couple of views.
So, I decided to redo this watch that I had kicking around. It originally had a sterile dial, but wanted to put a Radiomir dial in. Well, a member from another forum sold me a dial, BUT, the dial was too thick. Basically i had to take a dial that was almost 1mm thick and grind it down to under 1/2 of a millimeter.
In the process of sanding the dial, I was able to age it as well. It took me 6 hours to "thin" it down.
Now, the crystal. I wanted a tall perspex just like the originals would have had. I cut a piece into a 39mm rough circle and then hand filed and ground the crystal into an almost perfect circle. It sticks up about 5mm.
Anyway, for a daily beater it turned out ok. Gets lots of attention too.
Dial on the sand paper. Wet dry 400 grit.
"Sanding block"
Ugh, still too thick, time to bring out the big guns.
Finished dial.
Monster crystal.
And another couple of views.