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The 1016: The Under Appreciated Thread

1016 lover

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Two questions bro's
Searched hard for gen spec 2mm spring Bars which go through the complete hole. Only found some in the US with heavy costs for sending. Is there a source in the EU ?
Would like to create that puffy effect on the lume. What to use ?
Thx for your help
Horotech is the aftermarket brand I ve bought...

Try this shop to see if they have them

 

johnchpark

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@Winni1611 Nice!! glad to see you trying your hand at an explorer. look fwd to seeing the results.
Yah those engravings are just that, jibberish , I prefer the sterile cases myself. Id rather have none than that. those can be sanded out if you feel inclined to do so .

@johnchpark These tropical dials have a slight metal flake that is enhanced with the clear coat finish and its what gives the color some depth . when you expose those dials to heat the clear coat deteriorates quickly and then you are left with a very flat color , the lume will age darker however but generally with a tropical dial the lume is not darkened because it is the exposure to UV that causes the tropical effects (damage to the finish) on the dial in the first place and lume generally darkens when its stored in a dark place for a period of time. so its difficult to have both,

This was my first attempt at the shoe polish and bake technique. I went sparingly with the shoe polish but you can see how the heat flattened the finish on the dial out . its not bad but not what I was after.


(gen pic for reference)


What I would suggest to @Winni1611 is to use some more of his wifes make up to dirty up the lume on the dial to reduce the new appearance . apply very lightly and dust it off with a fan brush... (the technique is called dry brushing ) that is how I achieved the aged look on my 6538 lume plots. less is more. you can always add more but its difficult to remove more when you want less.





If all goes to plan I hope to receive the prototype caramel tropical 1016 dial by the end of next week (similar to the one I posted above and I will show you guys how it looks out of the box , Ill try aging the lume a bit like I described and then I will attempt to air brush it to give it a sweet tropical look .. *fingers crossed*

my inspiration - what I hope to achieve with my air brush techniques on these new caramel tropical dials. I received my .02 needle for my airbrush so it will give me a tighter pattern which will offer me more control , hopefully allowing me to work around the lume plots so there is less overspray and less clean up afterwards.



Wow thanks for the heads up.
Ive tried coffee ground baking on the Raffles 5513 gilt dial, but not this new 1016 tropic dial. I definitely can see how the tropic dial might be a different material/finish than the 5513, and I’m glad you gave me the warning about heat exposure.

In regards to applying makeup on hands/dials- aren’t there any worries about the powder coming off over time and getting in the movement?
When i tried a leather dye method on my 5513 dial, i found that over time, fluffy flakes started appearing on my dial. I would blow them off and put it back together, just to have more fluffs appear later. I recently scrubbed the dial with 100% ethanol and it removed a lot of the dye, and hopefully will stop the flaking.
 

369mafia

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Wow thanks for the heads up.
Ive tried coffee ground baking on the Raffles 5513 gilt dial, but not this new 1016 tropic dial. I definitely can see how the tropic dial might be a different material/finish than the 5513, and I’m glad you gave me the warning about heat exposure.

In regards to applying makeup on hands/dials- aren’t there any worries about the powder coming off over time and getting in the movement?
When i tried a leather dye method on my 5513 dial, i found that over time, fluffy flakes started appearing on my dial. I would blow them off and put it back together, just to have more fluffs appear later. I recently scrubbed the dial with 100% ethanol and it removed a lot of the dye, and hopefully will stop the flaking.
Yeah it seems that the coffee bake does work well on matte dials I do like the results people have been getting with that technique.

I suppose the makeup could come off but when I dry brush parts I usually blow off any excess as a precaution but very little ever comes off handing the parts after you have dry brushed them will cause it to come off the most but being sealed in a case , it shouldn't go anywhere.
 
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johnchpark

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Yeah it seems that the coffee bake does work well on matte dials I do like the results people have been getting with that technique.

I suppose the makeup could come off but when I dry brush parts I usually blow off any excess as a precaution but very little ever comes off handing the parts after you have dry brushed them will cause it to come off the most but being sealed in a case , it shouldn't go anywhere.

Also, will any water-based acrylic paint for models (airplanes, etc) work for lume darkening? And hopefully still keep some of the lume working? I just realized i have an art store nearby where i could probably easily get water or oil based paints.
 

Winni1611

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I suppose the makeup could come off but when I dry brush parts I usually blow off any excess as a precaution but very little ever comes off handing the parts after you have dry brushed them will cause it to come off the most but being sealed in a case , it shouldn't go anywhere.
I don't think it will come off. I used creamy make up which holds very well, but you can easyly wipe it of (as women do :p ) especially from the golden or silver parts of the hands. This makes it very exact to use in my experiance.
It's further good that there are many differnt shadows of color available at any durgstore nearby at a low price.
 
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369mafia

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Also, will any water-based acrylic paint for models (airplanes, etc) work for lume darkening? And hopefully still keep some of the lume working? I just realized i have an art store nearby where i could probably easily get water or oil based paints.

Yes any paint would work , diluted and you can then do it in coats to achieve the ideal color
 
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johnchpark

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Update: I made a grave error.
These Rafflesdials tropic 1016 dials are not friendly to alcohol.
I used 100% alcohol to clean the dial, which I normally did on other watches. On other (black) Rafflesdials dials, this wasn’t an issue.
However, this tropic dial is colored brown with some paint that is soluble in acohol.
So in the process of cleaning the dial, i ended up stripping it. I’ll have to order another dial 💀

On the otherhand, i found that some artist chalk (not sure what it is) dissolved in water makes for a great lume darkener.

 

1016 lover

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Bezel update
Got them today, here some pics, I have to do some check to see if all configuration will work properly, I have little time to do some later today

Pictures that I took rapidly now

Bezel 31mm with acrylic middle case and clark t22



Bezel 30.6mm, t21 not sure this one is sternkreuz or Clark type, saphire middle case in work





For the price, it will be 20e, I have to see in a post office for the shipping

Will post more pictures when I'll time to do some check

Pm me if interested
 

369mafia

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Update: I made a grave error.
These Rafflesdials tropic 1016 dials are not friendly to alcohol.
I used 100% alcohol to clean the dial, which I normally did on other watches. On other (black) Rafflesdials dials, this wasn’t an issue.
However, this tropic dial is colored brown with some paint that is soluble in acohol.
So in the process of cleaning the dial, i ended up stripping it. I’ll have to order another dial 💀

On the otherhand, i found that some artist chalk (not sure what it is) dissolved in water makes for a great lume darkener.


Interesting

In my experiemnents of doing a tropical effects with this dial I used a diluted isopropyl , it removes the air brush paint and leaves the rest alone. however after a few attempts it did start to fade the colour and the gold print was left mainly intact.

however not all dials are created equal the same solution wiped the gold print right off it so its really a crap shoot

the effects you achieved with the ethanol were quite nice. you should have quit while you were ahead. I have one tropical dial left and I think I will age it out in a similar fashion to fade the base color , I like the darkened color of the first pic it looks quite tropical
 

1016_idiot_savant

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Update: I made a grave error.
These Rafflesdials tropic 1016 dials are not friendly to alcohol.
I used 100% alcohol to clean the dial, which I normally did on other watches. On other (black) Rafflesdials dials, this wasn’t an issue.
However, this tropic dial is colored brown with some paint that is soluble in acohol.
So in the process of cleaning the dial, i ended up stripping it. I’ll have to order another dial 💀

On the otherhand, i found that some artist chalk (not sure what it is) dissolved in water makes for a great lume darkener.

Grave errors often lead to breakthrough discoveries!

If I understand correctly, we can address one of the key issues with these dials (their uniformity of color) with alcohol to give a more varied effect closer to gen tropical dials, without removing the text or markers!

Thanks for this important information!!
 
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1016_idiot_savant

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Bezel update
Got them today, here some pics, I have to do some check to see if all configuration will work properly, I have little time to do some later today

Pictures that I took rapidly now

Bezel 31mm with acrylic middle case and clark t22



Bezel 30.6mm, t21 not sure this one is sternkreuz or Clark type, saphire middle case in work





For the price, it will be 20e, I have to see in a post office for the shipping

Will post more pictures when I'll time to do some check

Pm me if interested

Thanks so much for sharing - these look terrific! If it is possible to purchase these, I would like to put my name down for two or three!
 

Winni1611

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As @369mafia said the solution may be the mix of alcohol and water. Beginning with little alcohol in the Mixtur and slowly increasing it until the result in satisfying.
 
Last edited:

1016 lover

Active Member
4/10/22
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Bezel update
Got them today, here some pics, I have to do some check to see if all configuration will work properly, I have little time to do some later today

Pictures that I took rapidly now

Bezel 31mm with acrylic middle case and clark t22



Bezel 30.6mm, t21 not sure this one is sternkreuz or Clark type, saphire middle case in work





For the price, it will be 20e, I have to see in a post office for the shipping

Will post more pictures when I'll time to do some check

Pm me if interested
Sorry, was little busy today and I hope to have more time tomorrow after work, see you tomorrow
 
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johnchpark

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Interesting

In my experiemnents of doing a tropical effects with this dial I used a diluted isopropyl , it removes the air brush paint and leaves the rest alone. however after a few attempts it did start to fade the colour and the gold print was left mainly intact.

however not all dials are created equal the same solution wiped the gold print right off it so its really a crap shoot

the effects you achieved with the ethanol were quite nice. you should have quit while you were ahead. I have one tropical dial left and I think I will age it out in a similar fashion to fade the base color , I like the darkened color of the first pic it looks quite tropical

I also thought so too.
But i used a Q-tip, and even though the light fading was ok at first, the Q-tip left directional streak marks. I just said screw it and scrubbed the whole dial to see what would happen 😂
Surprisingly, the brown color erased, but the gold Rolex prints are really strong

I just ordered a new dial, and I probably won’t be doing any dial aging for it. Maybe just slightly the lumes. But i guess it’s an idea for anyone else who wants to try
 
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1675lover

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@1016 lover i feel the base is kinda thin compared to the picture below.
any close up shots of the side profile for the bezel?

3mWszv.md.jpg
 

1016 lover

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Yes it's thinner to me too, but I have to check on my drawing if my tolerances allow this, and see if all bezel I received are in the same state...on the t22 I tried it's seem better than on the t21
 

HSV726

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Small update

Spent more time on the case, finished brushing the lugs with a diagonal direction. I started off with a 320 grit to remove the radial machining marks then moved up to 400 grit sanding sticks for the brushing , generally happy with the result I think the ends could be a bit more uniform but I think it will do for now.

Mirror polished the case sides, there were a lot of tooling marks in the case sides and the clarity of reflections wasn’t quite there for me. Again used sanding sticks for this starting at 800 and working up to 8000, then it was some auto sol with a q tip then final finish with brasso wadding. I’d say it’s about 95% there in terms of reflection compared to my gen, I do have a stainless steel polishing set up on a rotary tool and vice but I’ve little experience of this shape so am wary of chasing that last bit and ruining the whole thing.

Bezel is coming along as well, no pics as it’s wip but will upload once complete.

I would estimate a good 4 or 5 hours into the case so far not what I was originally expecting but for me it’s really improved the feel and look of it in person

Ordered a printed dial from HR, looked at various options, Ruby was preferred choice but wasn’t confident in removing the feet, the HR works out of the box with the ETA, looking at the pics there seemed to be a good 3D profile to the 3,6,9 the only think that let it down was the clarity of the printing on the Rolex text and also the shape of the coronet, hopefully on the wrist it won’t be too noticeable Came in at around £85 posted, I’ll post some pics when it arrives

 

Feefo

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Small update

Spent more time on the case, finished brushing the lugs with a diagonal direction. I started off with a 320 grit to remove the radial machining marks then moved up to 400 grit sanding sticks for the brushing , generally happy with the result I think the ends could be a bit more uniform but I think it will do for now.

Mirror polished the case sides, there were a lot of tooling marks in the case sides and the clarity of reflections wasn’t quite there for me. Again used sanding sticks for this starting at 800 and working up to 8000, then it was some auto sol with a q tip then final finish with brasso wadding. I’d say it’s about 95% there in terms of reflection compared to my gen, I do have a stainless steel polishing set up on a rotary tool and vice but I’ve little experience of this shape so am wary of chasing that last bit and ruining the whole thing.

Bezel is coming along as well, no pics as it’s wip but will upload once complete.

I would estimate a good 4 or 5 hours into the case so far not what I was originally expecting but for me it’s really improved the feel and look of it in person

Ordered a printed dial from HR, looked at various options, Ruby was preferred choice but wasn’t confident in removing the feet, the HR works out of the box with the ETA, looking at the pics there seemed to be a good 3D profile to the 3,6,9 the only think that let it down was the clarity of the printing on the Rolex text and also the shape of the coronet, hopefully on the wrist it won’t be too noticeable Came in at around £85 posted, I’ll post some pics when it arrives

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