The Fat lady (ST case observation)

[Perpetual]

lawlessflyer Thanks@alfonso

ive priced out doing a ST build

175 case
130 wso bezel and insert
20 Clark’s crystal
110 JF bracelet
??? 100 ??? rep dial and hands
200 for Vr 3135 160 for ah 3135

so it was like 735 for a build that may not have been better than a JF 16610 with SH3135.

I really like the idea of building the watch but I was hoping that by putting in the effort I’d end up with something better than a no rehaut JF.

is my math super wrong?

will a reshaped ST look much better than a JF because JF has short and sometimes wokky rehaut?

pardon my ignorance if the facts are well known.

I think it comes down to personal preference in cases sets JF vs ST because they have there own flaws.

I will say this, building a watch from scratch most always comes out more expensive then just buying (lets say) the JF submariner (in my case anyways lol) You have to figure in shipping, and other small detail parts like the click spring, tension ring, bezel gasket, crystal gasket, caseback gasket ect. It all adds up becoming more expensive than a purchased sub complete with shipping.

Now on the other hand, building a watch is more satisfying knowing you did the work and all the detail that went into the build. It stays with you and after it's done and on your wrist you have a bond between you and the watch (maybe it's just me) I enjoy wearing the ones that were built rather than the reps that were bought. And that goes for a build done by someone else as well.

 

[chubbychaser911]

lawlessflyer I get that feeling. I just built a 1675 and love looking at it. But mostly that’s because it is superior in case shape to any cartel watch. I really love what you did with the lugs because that to me is what sets Rolex apart. But crown guards are also huge for me. I’d be so much happier if ST JF etc left the crown guards oversized. I can file that away. Adding material is not an option for me at the moment

 

[Perpetual]

lawlessflyer I get that feeling. I just built a 1675 and love looking at it. But mostly that’s because it is superior in case shape to any cartel watch. I really love what you did with the lugs because that to me is what sets Rolex apart. But crown guards are also huge for me. I’d be so much happier if ST JF etc left the crown guards oversized. I can file that away. Adding material is not an option for me at the moment

Thank you!

yes I have to totally agree with you about the cases should have been oversized everywhere rather not enough, I too have no option with adding material..

I'll have to take a look at your 1675 build please share! I almost bought the "milk" case just lastnight but reframed myself, .. got enough going as is and cant seem to find the time to finish them!

 

[Perpetual]

Okay here we go! Not much explanation to post I'll let the pictures do the talking.
ps: keep in mind this is a (non professional) setup another words a (DIY) "do it yourself" you can do right at home for your beginning stages of modding.
enjoy!

also note, "The Jig" I've made up is leveled on the backside of the dremel tool insuring equally leveled milled flanks. All your basically doing is moving the dremel side to side shaving metal off a bit at a time.
_______________________________________________
Also some at home handy tools were made for the "touching up" and getting the case ready for final polishing stage.

some double side 3M tape and wooden clothes pins worked great for this! Oh and don't forget the flat wooden stick, that was used for brushing the lugs
I've also marked the different grit clothes pins for easier recognition.
I've used these grits of paper in the order they are for preparing the final polish of the wheel.
100/
220/
400/
600/
1500/
2000/
2500/
and a sneak peek of the out come

 

[alfonzo]

Outstanding! Thank you!

 

[chubbychaser911]

Thank you!

yes I have to totally agree with you about the cases should have been oversized everywhere rather not enough, I too have no option with adding material..

I'll have to take a look at your 1675 build please share! I almost bought the "milk" case just lastnight but reframed myself, .. got enough going as is and cant seem to find the time to finish them!

I am active on the RWI Raffle Win build thread. I posted some pictures there. I haven't posted my complete build yet but will soon. The Milk case is a thing of beauty in my eyes. I think I personally like it better than Vietnam cases. The Vietnam cases seem to have overly dramatic side profile on the lugs. They are too much of a birds beak in my view. When looking at the case when upside down the curve of the lugs is quite nice just like your lugs after you shaped them. I just look at it and it looks like an airplane to me. After looking at your case reshaping I honestly think it's the best looking 16610 besides genuine. I'd love to see it side by side with a JF case and see how the lugs compare. My guess is that the JF case won't be a 116610->16610 love child as much as teh ST case. But probably not as purely 16610 as your case lugs are.

 

[alfonzo]

Are you going to shape the CG's at all? Not in the sense of adding material like we were talking about but shaping the underside to be more even and parallel if you will with the other side? Are you going to have the case laser engraved? Serial and model?

I am making mine a complete hyper franken. The only rep parts will be the ST case and back. I built a franken movement but scored a bunch of gen parts and in the parts was a main plate so I am ground up'ing a 3135.

 

[alfonzo]

Also on the lugs, did you only remove material from the crown side or did you do the same on the other side as well?

 

[chubbychaser911]

lawlessflyer I can see that he picked a point on the circle for the lugs to intersect. For sure he did both lugs.

 

[Perpetual]

lawlessflyer I can see that he picked a point on the circle for the lugs to intersect. For sure he did both lugs.

Correct both lugs were slimmed absolutely

 

[Perpetual]

Are you going to shape the CG's at all? Not in the sense of adding material like we were talking about but shaping the underside to be more even and parallel if you will with the other side? Are you going to have the case laser engraved? Serial and model?

I am making mine a complete hyper franken. The only rep parts will be the ST case and back. I built a franken movement but scored a bunch of gen parts and in the parts was a main plate so I am ground up'ing a 3135.

Im not sure what you mean about the crown gaurds, I did do some work to them on the under side of the case, nothing on the tops of them, and I will not, because I don't want to remove any more metal from the crown gaurds as they are already short.

I will not be putting any engravings on this case because it's just for me to enjoy it's not going to be anything period correct .


I'm excited for you and your upcoming ST build and especially that it will have a hybrid/gen 3135 that's awesome! And since you have the main plate you could install a Genuine balance bridge and wheel!

good luck!

 

[Perpetual]

Also on the lugs, did you only remove material from the crown side or did you do the same on the other side as well?

Both sides ofcourse. It wouldn't look proportional if both sides had not been done.

 

[Perpetual]

I am active on the RWI Raffle Win build thread. I posted some pictures there. I haven't posted my complete build yet but will soon. The Milk case is a thing of beauty in my eyes. I think I personally like it better than Vietnam cases. The Vietnam cases seem to have overly dramatic side profile on the lugs. They are too much of a birds beak in my view. When looking at the case when upside down the curve of the lugs is quite nice just like your lugs after you shaped them. I just look at it and it looks like an airplane to me. After looking at your case reshaping I honestly think it's the best looking 16610 besides genuine. I'd love to see it side by side with a JF case and see how the lugs compare. My guess is that the JF case won't be a 116610->16610 love child as much as teh ST case. But probably not as purely 16610 as your case lugs are.

I thank you for all your kind words! I really don't know how close it'll look vs gen but in my reshaping I am using a gen example (photo) for the slimming.

I'd like to do a jf comparison to this case that would be fun to see!

 

[chubbychaser911]

lawlessflyer

I do believe that yours are more correct than JF. If I look at JF lugs they look like they do not have a straight line from where they leave the circular area of the case. Instead they leave the circle at approximately the same point but then they come out too wide. Then JF curves back towards the lug tip to make the lug tip thickness the same. Which results in a less elegant look.

There's a build thread on the forum which shows their JF build versus a gen Kermit.

 

[chubbychaser911]

https://forum.replica-watch.info/fo...72-how-i-built-my-franken-submariner-16610-jf

 

[alfonzo]

My bad. If I want a more specific answer I should ask a more specific question.I hate to assume anything.

In making sure the symmetry of the watch is maintained throughout the reshaping process, how do you treat each surface? I will elaborate, your dremel technique on the concave side will be different on the radius side. Did you focus on the shaping the whole radius side at the same time or did you focus on one lug at a time? I would assume that you have to bleed the shaping over the whole radius as to not have a depression or bump start to build up as you remove material? Didi you happen to take any measurements or do you have an idea of the amount of metal removed?

I am thinking of just using my Mill and a rotary table to machine the case rather than a dremel or file. Although a dremel would be way faster. I referenced your thread in my build thread I thought it would make a good cross reference. https://forum.replica-watch.info/for...iffany-5-digit

I really appreciate your work and the time you are taking in the this thread to answer my questions!

Thanks again!

 

[p0pperini]

This thread is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo useful, for those of us planning to embark on our own amateur case shaping adventures! Thanks for documenting your work so thoroughly lawlessflyer (also following alfonzo's Tiffany too!).

 

[alfonzo]

Im not sure what you mean about the crown gaurds, I did do some work to them on the under side of the case, nothing on the tops of them, and I will not, because I don't want to remove any more metal from the crown gaurds as they are already short.

I will not be putting any engravings on this case because it's just for me to enjoy it's not going to be anything period correct .


I'm excited for you and your upcoming ST build and especially that it will have a hybrid/gen 3135 that's awesome! And since you have the main plate you could install a Genuine balance bridge and wheel!

good luck!

I will take a pic of the CG's and point out what I was referring to, will post that later.

I do indeed have a Gen complete balance so it will be a ground up Gen.

This hobby is just amazing in that it can be expanded to even machining ones own case like old TC LOL! (not quite ready for the CNC investment LOL)

 

[Perpetual]

My bad. If I want a more specific answer I should ask a more specific question.I hate to assume anything.
In making sure the symmetry of the watch is maintained throughout the reshaping process, how do you treat each surface? I will elaborate, your dremel technique on the concave side will be different on the radius side. Did you focus on the shaping the whole radius side at the same time or did you focus on one lug at a time? I would assume that you have to bleed the shaping over the whole radius as to not have a depression or bump start to build up as you remove material? Didi you happen to take any measurements or do you have an idea of the amount of metal removed?
I am thinking of just using my Mill and a rotary table to machine the case rather than a dremel or file. Although a dremel would be way faster. I referenced your thread in my build thread I thought it would make a good cross reference. https://forum.replica-watch.info/for...iffany-5-digit
I really appreciate your work and the time you are taking in the this thread to answer my questions!
Thanks again!

Oh okay I understand now I think.
First I attached the bezel crystal tension ring, tracing the outter edge (to insure how far I can bring the lugs in) making sure not going over my traced bezel line.
I did the crown gaurds side of the case first, each lug one at a time, before the case went into the vise I have measured out the lines as to how far I want to shave the metal off I did this for each lug. Keeping in mind (not going farther then my traced bezel line)
for the other side of the case (opposite crown gaurd side) the concept is exactly the same. Yes doing one lug at a time not exceeding the peek of the case (dead center of case in line with crown)

I do run over the peek of the case now and again because that part of the case gets the least amount of metal shaved off

 

[alfonzo]

Excellent, I understand.

Makes sense and thanks again this was just what I was looking for.