The watches that you modded / worked on personally

[APjumbo]

Just dropped some Gen hands in.

Gen dial, hands, crown, insert,date
JF bezel
EBay case
VRF sub bracelet
Stupid gmt bi direction click spring was always soft and mushy feeling, even tried bending it a little, so went with a sub spring and much happier.

 

[Karbon74]

Just dropped some Gen hands in.

Gen dial, hands, crown, insert,date
JF bezel
EBay case
VRF sub bracelet
Stupid gmt bi direction click spring was always soft and mushy feeling, even tried bending it a little, so went with a sub spring and much happier.

this looks fantastic.
I am still too timid to touch gen parts yet

 

[Geonor]

I did a couple of things to this one

 

[1016_idiot_savant]

 

[KJ2020]

A recent spray mod. This came out great, the most uniform and even fill I've done. Excess paint was removed by hand with thinner on a taut soft cloth. Special attention given to the triangle with a razor blade. It's challenging but not impossible to prevent ANY contact of the thinner cloth with the fill inside the cutouts, especially at the triangle. Thinner contact will dull the fill and ruin the effort. Though it is usually possible to redo just a damaged cutout by taping off everything else.

I repainted and relumed the hands on this one too as they were off a shade.

 

[KJ2020]

 

[KJ2020]

 

[KJ2020]

 

[KJ2020]

 

[KJ2020]

I really liked the first one of these San Martins I modded so I did another one. San Martins are amazing quality for the price.

The second dial came with some crooked 12 and 6 markers (arghh) but I reset them. I tried some different hands on the second one but didn't like any so I used the same ones.

 

[KJ2020]

 

[KJ2020]

 

[KJ2020]

 

[Karbon74]

 

[KJ2020]

The DSSD Rolex should have made as a farewell model instead of just splitting the models apart.

DSSD 43 with no cyclops

 

[KJ2020]

I had tried to do this 4 years ago with a Noob dial but it was just slightly too small.

So the dial ended up in an SD4K case, which was very good but I missed the original dial.

So I finally got an ARF dial, which was a larger diameter and tried again. It had to be shaved a little bit.

Test fit in the case

It's a 3135 dial going in a 2836 case so the feet had to be clipped and new ones glued on. I rely heavily on pics for alignment needs. That's a VS3135 DW with teeth grinded off used a DWO. Also note the use of a GMT hour wheel over the normal hour post. This greatly helps keep the dial in position for gluing the feet on.

After all the shaving and gluing the dial gets a bath and a blow dry. This leaves it pristine.

After the bezel is reinstalled and the tape ring in place, I put a toothpick under the insert so it won't stick off-center. Again using pics to get proper alignment.

I just love these dials but I can't manage the 44mm case.

Cyclops was removed by heating under a lighter for 3-4 minutes and it scraped right off with a razor blade.

Finally, the one I wanted for so long!

 

[Karbon74]

Thanks for the glue on dial feet tip.
I did not think that could hold

 

[KJ2020]

Thanks for the glue on dial feet tip.
I did not think that could hold

JB Weld epoxy is best for feet. You can also epoxy the dial to the spacer with a thin bead all the way around the spacer before placement. For this method I use BSI epoxy, it is more viscous. Then, even if the spacer is snug I add 3 rectangle blobs of GS Hypo on the seam between the spacer and the movement to keep it from being able to rotate.

 

[cotti-rottie]

I had tried to do this 4 years ago with a Noob dial but it was just slightly too small.

So the dial ended up in an SD4K case, which was very good but I missed the original dial.

So I finally got an ARF dial, which was a larger diameter and tried again. It had to be shaved a little bit.

Test fit in the case

It's a 3135 dial going in a 2836 case so the feet had to be clipped and new ones glued on. I rely heavily on pics for alignment needs. That's a VS3135 DW with teeth grinded off used a DWO. Also note the use of a GMT hour wheel over the normal hour post. This greatly helps keep the dial in position for gluing the feet on.

After all the shaving and gluing the dial gets a bath and a blow dry. This leaves it pristine.

After the bezel is reinstalled and the tape ring in place, I put a toothpick under the insert so it won't stick off-center. Again using pics to get proper alignment.

I just love these dials but I can't manage the 44mm case.

Cyclops was removed by heating under a lighter for 3-4 minutes and it scraped right off with a razor blade.

Finally, the one I wanted for so long!

very nice result....you have some serious skill

 

[KJ2020]

very nice result....you have some serious skill

Thanks bro, it just takes time, repetition and a willingness to re-do your work after mistakes.