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2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Discussion area for watches, clocks and all other timekeepers.
PetWatch
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2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by PetWatch »

We have some very good watch modders here, and no doubt other folks who send their watches out for modification, so it's only fair that you have a place to showcase your creative ideas and talent in a friendly competition.

State whether you modified it yourself or sent it out to another party for modification.

Mod must have be completed in 2019.

One watch per post. Post as many as you like.

Votes will be counted by likes received. Vote for as many as you like.

Votes will be tallied second Sunday of January.

There will no tie braker unless requested.

Before and after pictures would be helpful. Feel free to provide some insight into the process.

I don't mod myself, even though I've already purchased a few tools of the trade, maybe one day.

Good luck to everyone.
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Sporkboy
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2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by Sporkboy »

OK, I can enter this one. I have lots of mods for the year, but most have been taken apart so that another dial could be tested as I have become more skilled in making them. The home-brew full lume dials would have to be my personal mod of the year. I am still developing the process, but it is coming along. The MoT full lume in green might be my favorite. I will need to pull some pictures when I get to a computer.

A lot went into this mod...

Edit: I am putting my watches in posts below. I initially just wanted to say that this was a great idea.
Last edited by Sporkboy on Mon Dec 09, 2019 5:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Dub Rubb
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Re: 2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by Dub Rubb »

Looks like my favorite mod was done in November 2018, so ineligible. I am working on two currently, just waiting for a dial that should be here this week. Time will tell if it is my new favorite, but I am feeling good about this one!

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Re: 2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by Sussa »

Fun idea! My favorite mod of the year turned into one of my most-worn watches of the year. I posted about this on WUS and will mostly copy and paste the text here.

Base watch: Seiko SNXA21
Mods: Brush case/remove scratches, replace dial, replace crystal, replace hands
Work done by: Me

Original:
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.01.05 PM.png
I won the watch in a contest held by a very generous WUS forum regular and wanted to make it something special, something that would fill a gap in my collection. I browsed 7s26 dials from Dagaz and Yobokies, but nothing looked really exciting. I’d been drooling over the Sinn 556 black mother of pearl dial for awhile, so I started searching for MoP dials. I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted and looked into making my own dials. After falling deep down the rabbit hole of MoP sheets, applied indices, and wondering if indices etched into the crystal would look good, I decided a DIY dial was way over my skill level and I should settle for ready made. Enter Dragon Shrouds & Mods with their MoP dials for Seiko divers.

By the time I finalized the design in Photoshop, the watch arrived. The dials and hands shipped ridiculously fast from Dragon Shrouds in the Philippines. I took out the movement and removed the crystal. Unfortunately, I accidentally removed the crystal in lots of little pieces. On my sofa. Oh well. At least there was a piece large enough to measure the thickness. The crystal is 30mm x 1mm for anyone who's curious. One quick vacuuming of the sofa and I was back in business, placing an order for a sapphire crystal, replacement gaskets, and new hand setting tool on Esslinger.

With the watch disassembled, I started on the case. First up, a Cape Cod polishing cloth. As expected, didn’t do much to remove the scratches. Next was wet sanding with 1500 and 1800 grit sanding pads. That mostly did the trick, giving me a nicely brushed case. I used a scratch remover pen to brush the lugs and bezel. To make sure all the metal dust was gone, I scrubbed the case with a soft toothbrush and dish soap.
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.01.42 PM.png
Pop in the new crystal, and realize the dies that came with my cheap crystal press aren't the right size for this job. The unevenness was fixed after new dies arrived.
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.12.26 PM.png
Now for the fun stuff - dial and hands. I lay out all my tools on my workstation and get to work. In my excitement to get a cool dial, I didn’t really think about 3 o’clock dials vs. 4 o’clock dials. This is a 4 o’clock dial. With the help of flush cut snips and dial dots, we’re back in business.
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.02.12 PM.png
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.02.32 PM.png
The new hand press was a great buy. Made hand installation so much easier. Not one-shot perfect, but much faster than using a handheld tool. Faulty hand installation has been the downfall of previous mods, so I thoroughly checked the clearance of the hour and minute hands before declaring victory.
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.02.47 PM.png
And here it is, exactly as I imagined if not better. The mother of pearl is mesmerizing and the big, round indices give the watch a Unimatic-inspired vibe. I debated flat crystal vs. curved, but think the curve really makes it.
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.03.21 PM.png
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.16.44 PM.png
PetWatch
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Re: 2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by PetWatch »

Dub Rubb wrote:Looks like my favorite mod was done in November 2018, so ineligible. I am working on two currently, just waiting for a dial that should be here this week. Time will tell if it is my new favorite, but I am feeling good about this one!

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Doesn't have to be a favorite, show any completed in 2019 for some well earned recognition from your peers. I'm sure we can all acknowledge the effort that goes into it. Most mods I've seen are actually pretty good, adding a personal touch to an original often improving it in some way.

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PetWatch
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Re: 2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by PetWatch »

Sussa wrote:Fun idea! My favorite mod of the year turned into one of my most-worn watches of the year. I posted about this on WUS and will mostly copy and paste the text here.

Base watch: Seiko SNXA21
Mods: Brush case/remove scratches, replace dial, replace crystal, replace hands
Work done by: Me

Original:
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.01.05 PM.png
I won the watch in a contest held by a very generous WUS forum regular and wanted to make it something special, something that would fill a gap in my collection. I browsed 7s26 dials from Dagaz and Yobokies, but nothing looked really exciting. I’d been drooling over the Sinn 556 black mother of pearl dial for awhile, so I started searching for MoP dials. I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted and looked into making my own dials. After falling deep down the rabbit hole of MoP sheets, applied indices, and wondering if indices etched into the crystal would look good, I decided a DIY dial was way over my skill level and I should settle for ready made. Enter Dragon Shrouds & Mods with their MoP dials for Seiko divers.

By the time I finalized the design in Photoshop, the watch arrived. The dials and hands shipped ridiculously fast from Dragon Shrouds in the Philippines. I took out the movement and removed the crystal. Unfortunately, I accidentally removed the crystal in lots of little pieces. On my sofa. Oh well. At least there was a piece large enough to measure the thickness. The crystal is 30mm x 1mm for anyone who's curious. One quick vacuuming of the sofa and I was back in business, placing an order for a sapphire crystal, replacement gaskets, and new hand setting tool on Esslinger.

With the watch disassembled, I started on the case. First up, a Cape Cod polishing cloth. As expected, didn’t do much to remove the scratches. Next was wet sanding with 1500 and 1800 grit sanding pads. That mostly did the trick, giving me a nicely brushed case. I used a scratch remover pen to brush the lugs and bezel. To make sure all the metal dust was gone, I scrubbed the case with a soft toothbrush and dish soap.
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.01.42 PM.png
Pop in the new crystal, and realize the dies that came with my cheap crystal press aren't the right size for this job. The unevenness was fixed after new dies arrived.
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.12.26 PM.png
Now for the fun stuff - dial and hands. I lay out all my tools on my workstation and get to work. In my excitement to get a cool dial, I didn’t really think about 3 o’clock dials vs. 4 o’clock dials. This is a 4 o’clock dial. With the help of flush cut snips and dial dots, we’re back in business.
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.02.12 PM.png
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.02.32 PM.png
The new hand press was a great buy. Made hand installation so much easier. Not one-shot perfect, but much faster than using a handheld tool. Faulty hand installation has been the downfall of previous mods, so I thoroughly checked the clearance of the hour and minute hands before declaring victory.
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.02.47 PM.png
And here it is, exactly as I imagined if not better. The mother of pearl is mesmerizing and the big, round indices give the watch a Unimatic-inspired vibe. I debated flat crystal vs. curved, but think the curve really makes it.
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.03.21 PM.png
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.16.44 PM.png
Wow! That's quite a transformation. Your hard work paid off in spades. Looks great.

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Dub Rubb
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Re: 2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by Dub Rubb »

Mod 1, Well more of a build.

-Alpha Explorer I 36 case

-ETA 2824-2 movement

-BSH 10th anniversary gilt relief dial

-wild ass hour and minute hands, technically for Seiko from One Second Closer (the fit inside one another like Russian nesting dolls)

- random ebay seconds hand

- jubilee from Esslinger

* custom gilt relief "window" (aka, a spec of paint came off of the dial when cleaning with Rodico)

These dials are IMPOSSIBLE to capture in pictures. ImageImage

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Image
Last edited by Dub Rubb on Mon Dec 09, 2019 9:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by Dub Rubb »

Mod 2, the SARBro:

Not much info on modding SARBs. Most people think they are perfect. I thought it would be a great home for a rhodium relief dial! Everyone using these dials was going with 36mm explorer type cases or 40mm sub cases. A 39 explorer was out of the question since the dial was too small.

I realized the 38mm SARB had a chapter ring, so I could get closer to that 39mm Mark. Little did I know, the chapter ring and dial came out as one piece! It is literally mounted on the dial with 4 feet. Carefully removed the chapter ring, filed the feet off and used dial dots to fasten it to the new dial.

While just a dial swap, this mod proved far more difficult than expected, but I love it.

Before and after:
ImageImage

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Re: 2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by Dub Rubb »

Not sure if this one counts. I did the mod, but gave it to my FIL as a father's day present, so it's not mine any more.

Mod 3:

-Invicta 8926 base (engraving removed from case, and then case sanded and re-polished)

-Dagaz FFF dial and sword hand set

-Esslinger yellow seconds hand

-random etsy bezel insert

-also removed Cyclops from crystal

Before and after


ImageImage

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Dub Rubb
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Re: 2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by Dub Rubb »

Same situation as #3, but this was a gift for my dad for father's day.

-Invicta 8926 base (engraving removed from case, and sanded and re-polished)

-Dagaz dial and hand set (painted the tail of the seconds hamd white and the tip red)

-ebay bezel insert

-cyclops removed from crystal
51w8CyDbZWL._UY550_.jpg
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Image
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Sporkboy
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Re: 2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by Sporkboy »

Yellow Pie Antiques 25 Years Commemorative Watch )1 of 4 unique watches.
Image
This is my personal watch. A franken Citizen from India by way of another WIS that dumped a few watches on eBay recently.

These watches have their own thread.

No lume on this one, but I did the dial design with help from forum members. The dial was primed and a water slide decal was applied. The yellow was applied by hand, which explains why it is sloppy. The case and hands are stock. 18mm Barton Gator Leather makes this polished case look great. I don’t even like leather straps. Maybe I just needed the right watch.

Image

I would like to lume the dial and the hands, but I have other irons in the fire ATM. Minimally, I would replace the current lume with white paint to better match the dial as is looks a bit off to me.
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Re: 2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by Sporkboy »

Yellow Pie Antiques 25 Years Commemorative Watch )1 of 4 unique watches.
Image

This one is going to my mother. A Nixon MOD watch is the base. This may be my favorite design that I have done to date. With help from you guys, this came out nicely. The yellow arc from noon to the 35 minute mark represents the 25 years that YPA has been in business. Around the 6, there is the first initial of each of the 4 family members. The outer ring also notes the date of establishment.

Image

In printing In color I found that the black was more solid, so only one decal is needed for non-lumed dials. The decal process was further refined when making this dial.
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Sporkboy
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Re: 2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by Sporkboy »

MoT Full Lume Dial in BlueImage
Invicta 8926 with a Murphy Mfg Bezel. Yellow decal was removed from the rotor. Still working on full lume dials here, but this one is quite nice. It is all blue so only charged in sunlight or another UV source. I need to get a new handset for this poor watch.

Image

This was prior to the advent of a more mild/brighter blue dial that I have made since...
Image
The color is the result of mixing blue and green lume powder at a 4:1 ratio (again, this is thanks to a forum comment).

Blue lume powder, resin and a cool UV curing lamp were funded by a generous donation from Yinzburgher, so this was the first major outing for this lume mix.
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Re: 2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by Sporkboy »

I am not sure why edits are popping up as quotes. Sorry about that.
Sporkboy wrote:Yellow Pie Antiques 25 Years Commemorative Watch )1 of 4 unique watches.
Image
This is my personal watch. A franken Citizen from India by way of another WIS that dumped a few watches on eBay recently.

These watches have their own thread.

No lume on this one, but I did the dial design with help from forum members. The dial was primed and a water slide decal was applied. The yellow was applied by hand, which explains why it is sloppy. The case and hands are stock. 18mm Barton Gator Leather makes this polished case look great. I don’t even like leather straps. Maybe I just needed the right watch.

Image
This watch was designed to scratch the itch for something Kon Tiki/Oris 65-esque, and I think it does the job for me for a lot less money. The base watch was $5 (I got 3 decent watches for $15 and only destroyed the movement of one of them).

I would like to lume the dial and the hands, but I have other irons in the fire ATM. Minimally, I would replace the current lume with white paint to better match the dial as is looks a bit off to me.
Last edited by Sporkboy on Tue Dec 10, 2019 9:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Sporkboy
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Re: 2019 Watch Mod of the Year

Post by Sporkboy »

Sussa wrote:
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.03.21 PM.png
Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 6.16.44 PM.png
That turned out great. I love the story behind it and the quest to make/find the right MoP dial. Very good looking watch you have there.
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