Tudor 9401 build

[Singapore9]

I'm surprised the Chad printing wasn't so good; they seem to sell the dial in the pics, and provide good macros, but that's not to doubt you as I have also noticed errors on some of the dials pictured on ebay and just waited for the next one to appear before buying. It's still a reasonably budget offering but I'd say a different class to Bivintage (no offence intended to BV, it's a different price bracket), with the BV a difficult fit to my GEN movement (might have been the first to order repositioned dial fit), whereas the Chad and MQ slip on like butter.

Would be interested in more pics of the Phong dial in natural light!

If people are looking for a blue dial, the colours can vary dramatically. I find the BV is very true blue, the Chad is much darker and has a hint of green and the MQ is very dark, easily mistaken for black, unless it is next to something black. Your Phong, at least in that lighting and on my screen, has a hint of purple.

Difficult to match a GEN as the colours seemed to change regularly, with many original, early 'dark' dials suffering dry rot and being replaced with later, lighter blue dials. In some ways, if you're going for a good REP, it sort of doesn't matter what colour/hue/tone you go for, so pick something you like that matches/contrasts your insert, to your preference.

For me, I like a dark blue dial and dark blue insert... sometimes a light blue insert. But a light blue dial with a dark insert is not my preference.

 

[est4129]

On the 9401 dial I received from Chad the PRINCE OYSTERDATE was to close to the TUDOR and the letters were uneven. Also the end of the "m" was not well formed. This last is more of a nitpicking thing since you have to really look at it to see it but the spacing issue could easily be seen.

 

[est4129]

Wanted to add, the 9401 dial Chad has up on ebay right now looks much better.

 

[aphmars13]

Wanted to add, the 9401 dial Chad has up on ebay right now looks much better.

I didn't know Chad as a seller, I just found him on eBay. He actually has some very nice pieces thanks

 

[Singapore9]

Here is a quick and dirty pic of a Chad 9411 (top right), MQ in the middle/left (missing some lume) and BV at the bottom right.

Should take some macros so you get a better idea but it'll give you an idea of the colours (others are available, of course, especially from MQ).

Obviously working on the assumption that their 9401 offerings use pretty much the same colour palette and printing, etc.

 

[Singapore9]

On the 9401 dial I received from Chad the PRINCE OYSTERDATE was to close to the TUDOR and the letters were uneven. Also the end of the "m" was not well formed. This last is more of a nitpicking thing since you have to really look at it to see it but the spacing issue could easily be seen.

Interesting; if you look at my pics; your Chad printing looks a lot more like my (early) BV.

 

[aphmars13]

Voici une photo rapide et sale d'un Chad 9411 (en haut à droite), MQ au milieu/gauche (manque un peu de lume) et BV en bas à droite.

Il faudrait prendre quelques macros pour avoir une meilleure idée mais cela vous donnera une idée des couleurs (d'autres sont disponibles, bien sûr, notamment chez MQ).

Travailler évidemment sur l'hypothèse que leurs offres 9401 utilisent à peu près la même palette de couleurs et la même impression,

Monsieur is a collector, I see

 

[Singapore9]

Monsieur is a collector, I see

Oui, oui mon copain! I also have a black BV, a black GEN lumi service dial (pics on Pom's 9411 thread) and two tritium GEN dials... albeit they're in GEN watches

 

[extermin8tor]

I can't get too excited about casebacks to be honest - no one will ever see them, realistically. The HR lugs are awful, the crown guards aren't great but at least the weird tube takes a GEN/Athaya 702 crown. Swap the bezel straight out for a Clark or GEN and it's at least GEN spec internally. I have a GEN (25-125) plexi, bezel, insert and crown on mine and it all fit nicely. However, if Milk sorts the crystal neck, I'll be trying one of those.

Definitely interested in a review and some detailed pics of the BV case but it doesn't seem like a night and day improvement over the others, perhaps?

So I have been living with the BV case for a few months now,
Here are my thoughts:
The crown included is shit, I replaced it with an Athaya as described earlier - the Athaya works flawlessly and even though I've had to wind the watch twice a week when I don't wear it, It hasn't disintegrated like a lot of chinese crap. Also he doesnt fit a seal between the tube and the case. The Ataya crown/tube sorts this out.

The crystal he sends is okay, its not the ideal flat top, but the Clark style replacement I sourced from Labanda in Australia doesn't fit, the outer edge is too thick for the retaining ring to mount on it. Haven't tried gen as its too expensive for this project.

The bezel washer he supplies cannot be replaced with genuine/service part - then the bezel becomes too stiff.... I managed to adjust the bezel and washer enough that my bezel spins perfectly right with minimal tight/loose spots.

The lug holes on one side are drilled wrong - you can't notice it, but still. Slightly too close to the top of the lug. Also an issue for fitting Gen-like later oyster bracelet from a 16110 sub - I had to do some work on chamfering my rolex style spring bars so they fit just right.

The serial number he engraved doesn't match 9401 production years at all, it is like 10 years later. WTF lol.

Overall - it is the best watch I have owned, and I have had a $40k+ collection of vintage seiko/omega/tudor - the amount of smiles for the dollar is amazing. I constantly find myself staring at the dial/hands/bezel.

The blue bezel he sends though is so stupidly bright blue, it definately needs bleaching to make it look good!

 

[Singapore9]

That post is a conundrum! the BV sounds really disappointing by your first few paragraphs... but then you love it!

Honestly; that's probably the nail in the coffin for me, for a BV. I think Kuared is probably the way forward, even if more expensive.

It's certainly a bright blue! Can you take a pic with the hands at 10:10, so we can see the printing better?

 

[est4129]

Kuared dials are much better but I have heard their cases are not that much of an improvement.

 

[extermin8tor]

That post is a conundrum! the BV sounds really disappointing by your first few paragraphs... but then you love it!

Honestly; that's probably the nail in the coffin for me, for a BV. I think Kuared is probably the way forward, even if more expensive.

It's certainly a bright blue! Can you take a pic with the hands at 10:10, so we can see the printing better?

Haha yeah my storytelling isn't the best. I guess I tried to outline the things that were good and bad.
At the end of the day, for the money I paid, and the accessibility (bought by whatsapp but found BV from ebay) it was easy.
Other cases are secret squirrel business, where you have to DM forum members etc - bit tricky!

I still wear it every day now even though I have a safe full of Seiko 6105's, Seamaster chronograph 176.007, etc.

I'll have to look into this Kua_red guy!

 

[est4129]

Regarding the bivintage cases - here is an example of a gen case polished to a very similar shape.

 

[drvintage]

Regarding the bivintage cases - here is an example of a gen case polished to a very similar shape.

Wow these looking 100% the same