The 1016: The Under Appreciated Thread

[dpd3672]

I love it.
Other threads go on arguing amongst themselves about who out there makes the best dial for their watch in question.

We, however, on the 1016 Under-Appreciated-Thread just get the bloody tools out and get down to work and bloody well make our own.

If we gotta get our knuckles bloody forging our own cases out of melted down kitchen utensils and old car parts, we damn sure will.

 

[Karbon74]

If we gotta get our knuckles bloody forging our own cases out of melted down kitchen utensils and old car parts, we damn sure will.

I have not bought a ready to wear rep ever since I read the 5513 thread and this one

 

[316lad]

I humbly admit that I will stick to Raffles for the time being
The wife can't take much more...because I will try the saltwater etching

Have you been stealing her makeup again for dial patina effects?

 

[Karbon74]

Have you been stealing her makeup again for dial patina effects?

I stole my kid's water colors

 

[316lad]

I stole my kid's water colors

In my experience - that would do it.

 

[dpd3672]

I have not bought a ready to wear rep ever since I read the 5513 thread and this one

I've complained more than once that I feel Rolex (and to a lesser extent, Omega, and many others) have lost their way, and suffered from mission drift away from their original purpose.

They built a reputation as some of the best tool watches made, and now they're more and more becoming fashion statements and jewelry watches.
They come from an era when tools defined the men who used them, now they're just accessories worn by tools, lol.

Most vintage 5513s have been scuba diving, many vintage 1016s have accompanied true explorers on hikes, climbs, safaris, and adventures. A vintage GMT was a pilot's watch, now they're mostly worn by soft around the middle, first class passengers, headed to all-inclusive resorts.

But the folks in this thread get it. We not only adore tool watches, we have the tools to make them, fix them, and improve them.

We're putting the "tool" back in tool watches, lol.

 

[Karbon74]

I've complained more than once that I feel Rolex (and to a lesser extent, Omega, and many others) have lost their way, and suffered from mission drift away from their original purpose.

They built a reputation as some of the best tool watches made, and now they're more and more becoming fashion statements and jewelry watches.
They come from an era when tools defined the men who used them, now they're just accessories worn by tools, lol.

Most vintage 5513s have been scuba diving, many vintage 1016s have accompanied true explorers on hikes, climbs, safaris, and adventures. A vintage GMT was a pilot's watch, now they're mostly worn by soft around the middle, first class passengers, headed to all-inclusive resorts.

But the folks in this thread get it. We not only adore tool watches, we have the tools to make them, fix them, and improve them.

We're putting the "tool" back in tool watches, lol.

I am pretty sure that original Rolex owners used to tinker with them too. They were relatively cheaper adjusted for cost of living at that time. So yeah, we are the true inheritors of that spirit

 

[369mafia]

 

[316lad]

Now that, is what we're all about on this thread.

 

[Karbon74]

About tools.

I am still using cheapo 5€ set AliX hand pressers, and I am starting to feel that they are holding me back. When I press the hands, I always struggle to get them level at first try.

Is this just related to the way hand presses are? or is there a qualitative leap in using higher grade? I am hesitating between a Augusta set for 30€ or a Bergeon/Horotec set...Obviously there is a 2.5x difference.

 

[Caboose]

Did you start with a tropical Raffle dial and then air brush one part black?

 

[316lad]

About tools.

I am still using cheapo 5€ set AliX hand pressers, and I am starting to feel that they are holding me back. When I press the hands, I always struggle to get them level at first try.

Is this just related to the way hand presses are? or is there a qualitative leap in using higher grade? I am hesitating between a Augusta set for 30€ or a Bergeon/Horotec set...Obviously there is a 2.5x difference.

George Daniels used to set hands using just a flat piece of old pith wood - and his apprentince Roger Smith - does the same - to this day.
Setting hands is not so much about the tools but more about your eye-line. Getting lined up. Seeing where they will land before gently pressing them home.

 

[dpd3672]

George Daniels used to set hands using just a flat piece of old pith wood - and his apprentince Roger Smith - does the same - to this day.
Setting hands is not so much about the tools but more about your eye-line. Getting lined up. Seeing where they will land before gently pressing them home.

I've experimented with a few different tools, and personally, find this works best for me.

The Hour and minute hand I set with a hand tool, but the seconds hand gets pushed on with the flat side of pith wood. The hand tools have been prone to bending the seconds hands for me.

Until I find something that works better.

 

[316lad]

Get your eye right down to meet the meet them as they arrive where you want them on the hour or minute or second wheel shafts.
There's no better tool then your own eyes.
How you press them home - and with what - well, it could anything.

 

[316lad]

Apart from a mackerel.
They are really rubbish and too easily distracted, etc . . .
Absolutely useless as a hand-setting tool.
Pretty much anything else works quite adequately.

 

[Karbon74]

Get your eye right down to meet the meet them as they arrive where you want them on the hour or minute or second wheel shafts.
There's no better tool then your own eyes.
How you press them home - and with what - well, it could anything.

that's the issue then. My work area, aka my homeworking desk...

I press with my eye on top.

 

[316lad]

that's the issue then. My work area, aka my homeworking desk...

I press with my eye on top.

Yeah, don't do that.
Raise your desk height and lower your chair so you are straight on to the work at the bench. Eyes level and with a slight rise , slightly above the work.
It makes a world of difference.
I'm an old engineer but I find myself returning to early learning which, in this case, states that the less tool between you and the work you're doing then the less things can go wrong.
Hand setting should be done through your best loupe with eyes fully on Twist, Landing Point and Balance as you revolve the crown through the hours of a day.
It's the final job beofre you re-case and enjoy the fruits of your hard work.
Take your time. . .
Setting hands on the pinions is one of the moments where we get to hand-make our creations. Don't sub-contract it out to a tool.

 

[316lad]

Stuff I use to set hands.

 

[Karbon74]

I always manage to get it right. But seemingly never on the first press.

Only on eta clones though, NH is easy

 

[316lad]

First press for me is envariably too hard and I have to back it off a bit.
I put that down to cheaper metallurgy of the clones.

Oh well, it's what we signed up for.