The Ladies' Rolex thread...a guide to assembling a nice Franken (thread will be updated periodically)

[McDuck888]

So creative!
I think my traditional watch dial dots were too gummy and slidey for the job really. I need a sticky dot that holds much more firmly to make it solid. Even the sticky dots I used to put christmas decorations up were better quality. So I'll be hunting for more. Hopefully I can finish this watch in the coming couple of days.

 

[dpd3672]

So creative!
I think my traditional watch dial dots were too gummy and slidey for the job really. I need a sticky dot that holds much more firmly to make it solid. Even the sticky dots I used to put christmas decorations up were better quality. So I'll be hunting for more. Hopefully I can finish this watch in the coming couple of days.

Ideally, you could solder dial feet onto the dial, but this is very difficult to do with precision.

 

[McDuck888]

My dial's all gooooooooood I made a lip in the movement holder I bought, so that the dial slips right on the movement holder and clips into place nicely. The movement holder for 2671 was plastic, so I just made an indent around the top using my dremel. My problem was the datewheel overlay was sliding about a bit so I need firmer dial dots to put between the ETA stock datewheel and gen datewheel used as an overlay is all. Thank you man

 

[McDuck888]

Bostik extra strong glu dots. That's what I need to order to apply my overlay. Much stronger than traditional watch dial dots. I shall get to it...!

 

[McDuck888]

Today I was supposed to put everything together. There's just no way I can make a datewheel overlay work. I gave up in the end and cut a number out with scissors and placed a dummy fake number that always stays the same to be placed behind the date window I don't mind at all.
I finished the watch in this way. But I need to take everything out ideally and use a movement with no date mechanism ..? I will go back and read the beginning of this thread but did you use nh05 movements in your 24mm OP builds with no date please DPD?

 

[McDuck888]

I have great trouble with the datewheel raising the height of the dial up and trying to get hands on too. A mini nightmare. I've never experienced a tricky watch build before tbh. Haha. I'm persisting because I really enjoy the quality of the dials I have so I'd like to house them.

 

[HulkyGalore]

Well, the date fixing is actually a great idea! In my case I built a 31mm raffles watch and decided to put a quartz movement in it, and was very proud to have got the overlay perfectly centered on it.
It was only when I later set the time and date that I realised the date on the quartz goes in the opposite direction! Which is why your method was probably better, at least its not going backwards Should have checked it first...

 

[McDuck888]

I’ve just killed the 2671 hells bells!

 

[McDuck888]

@HulkyGalore You sir, Just gave me all the giggles and made my costly mini disaster over here feel a whole lot fresher. Tomorrow, we go again...!

 

[dpd3672]

Today I was supposed to put everything together. There's just no way I can make a datewheel overlay work. I gave up in the end and cut a number out with scissors and placed a dummy fake number that always stays the same to be placed behind the date window I don't mind at all.
I finished the watch in this way. But I need to take everything out ideally and use a movement with no date mechanism ..? I will go back and read the beginning of this thread but did you use nh05 movements in your 24mm OP builds with no date please DPD?

Yes, all the ones I've built were NH05. They're almost too cheap not to use, lol.

 

[McDuck888]

Yes, all the ones I've built were NH05. They're almost too cheap not to use, lol.

They'd be so wonderful to try out on your recommendation!

The only reason I didn't try using an nh05 is because I knew that I could find a 'perfect' set of watch hands (accurate length and non lumed for my diamond dial etc). I love watch hands to look correct. Of course this counts for nothing if the whole darn watch doesn't work........ ha!

I wonder if my datewheel being compromised by me having a cut out piece of datewheel in its way brought the whole ETA to a crashing halt.
I'll try a cheaper asian 2761 (I broke a cartier one, oops) And then i'll move onto nh05

 

[McDuck888]

@dpd3672 You've done this so well all along. I went way off piste with my 2671. I just saw all of your builds again, and I'm totally jealous of your skills! amazing.

 

[fnfalguy]

I have great trouble with the datewheel raising the height of the dial up and trying to get hands on too. A mini nightmare. I've never experienced a tricky watch build before tbh. Haha. I'm persisting because I really enjoy the quality of the dials I have so I'd like to house them.

I had a 2671 build that was nothing but issue after issue. The watch finally got running, but the date wouldn't consistently change. Finally gave up and explained to my wife that she would have to set the date manually which isn't that big of a deal as I don't think I've ever seen her wear a specific watch more than one day in a row.

I do need to find a decent solution as I'm sitting on a few dials and unfortunately a few 2671 movements as I had rather grandiose ideas on builds for her.

TLDR - good luck Godspeed

 

[HulkyGalore]

I have an NH05 and a nice gen dial, do you all think this will be any good. Or can you suggest better options? Thanks!

26MM Lady Watch Case Fit NH05 HN06 Movement Jubilee Bracelet Sapphire Solid Back | eBay

Glass :sapphire glass;. Feed back -Fit 13mm width strap;. -5ATM water resistance;. -Case Material :316L stainless steel ;. -Fit dial size :19.3mm - 21.1mm.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[McDuck888]

I wonder if an NH05 will fit in my 2671 plastic (adaptable) movement holder. If I go down the nh05 route, expect to see some really funky hands. If they're gonna have to be a little wrong, I'm gonna choose a set that are full on CWAZY LOOKIN'. Gold with funny shapes haha.

 

[dpd3672]

I have an NH05 and a nice gen dial, do you all think this will be any good. Or can you suggest better options? Thanks!

26MM Lady Watch Case Fit NH05 HN06 Movement Jubilee Bracelet Sapphire Solid Back | eBay

Glass :sapphire glass;. Feed back -Fit 13mm width strap;. -5ATM water resistance;. -Case Material :316L stainless steel ;. -Fit dial size :19.3mm - 21.1mm.

www.ebay.co.uk

That looks like the same case set I linked early on in the thread. If you're using that case, instead of a gen, it should be a lot easier to put together, with no movement ring required.

IIRC, I put together a couple like that just to test fit the parts. It works great with a gen dial.

 

[McDuck888]

@dpd3672 Is adding a datewheel overlay to the nh05 movement a PITA? or just a reasonably tricky task please? I'm not sure if I've seen you bother with overlays yet?

 

[HulkyGalore]

That looks like the same case set I linked early on in the thread. If you're using that case, instead of a gen, it should be a lot easier to put together, with no movement ring required.

IIRC, I put together a couple like that just to test fit the parts. It works great with a gen dial.

Great to hear. Thanks for starting this thread its a good one. And a welcome change to mess around with something a little different and nice. I will get one of those cases and report back. Cheers!

 

[dpd3672]

@dpd3672 Is adding a datewheel overlay to the nh05 movement a PITA? or just a reasonably tricky task please? I'm not sure if I've seen you bother with overlays yet?

It's a PITA on EVERY watch, lol, but I don't think it's much worse on the NH than anything else. That said, it can be skipped, in my opinion, since the date wheel lines up reasonably well with the dial, and it's all so damn small that it's not glaringly obvious like it would be on a 41mm Sub.

If using an overlay, make sure it rotates the same way as the movement, not the gen DW, since the rotation is opposite. Otherwise, as long as it's thin enough, it's not too bad.

I'm also using gen crystals, which are a bit beat up, so the date isn't in crystal clear focus like it would be on a newer gen in a larger case/dial.

 

[McDuck888]

There's a gen datewheel that goes the wrong way, but also a gen for 26mm datewheel that goes the correct way I discovered, having bought one.
I regret using the DWO at all though because the cartier 2671 font was ok for being so small and was a little wider than the standard asian datewheel, so the cartier one showed no gaps either side of the datewheel. It would have suited me just fine, but i got greedy and wanted rlx fonts lol. Damn.