Vintage Speedy Quartz Tutorial - Completed

[aitcharGMT 0]

Amazing! Now that i fixed the chronograph this is next! Thank you for this!

On 2018-03-15 at 17:01, NCRich said:

I have a sapphire on the handwind so I left it alone.  I like it.  The mineral glass crystal on the quartz was a funky shape and just doesn't look right on a vintage watch.  A plexi is $4 from Cousins so its an easy thing to do and should look much better.

Would you mind sharing the link to cousins (I'd hate to end up on a scam site)? And do they ship worldwide?

Edited March 23, 2018 by aitcharGMT

[NCRich 13,746]

3 minutes ago, aitcharGMT said:

Amazing! Now that i fixed the chronograph this is next! Thank you for this!

Would you mind sharing the link to cousins (I'd hate to end up on a scan site)? And do they ship worldwide?

https://www.cousinsuk.com/

Ship everywhere.

[aitcharGMT 0]

12 hours ago, NCRich said:

https://www.cousinsuk.com/

Ship everywhere.

Thank you, again! (--Now, where is my rule and the hypo!... )

[Theviking 197]

How about this one at $70

https://m.dhgate.com/product/luxury-brand-professional-quartz-moon-watches/398852530.html#s1-17-1;searl|2562651408

Worth a pop

[LightGeek 25]

How about this one at $70
https://m.dhgate.com/product/luxury-brand-professional-quartz-moon-watches/398852530.html#s1-17-1;searl|2562651408
Worth a pop

My Pi-hole is blocking that link for some reason.

[stormtooper4 8]

Great Job and a cracking post. Thank you

 

[Theviking 197]

4 hours ago, LightGeek said:

 

My Pi-hole is blocking that link for some reason.

 

It's sold by 'bestwatch666' 

[GingerApple 7,285]

AGGGGGGHHHHHHHH.

I fucked it up didn't I.

It was all going so well (for an utter noob, barely-even-taken-the-caseback-off-a-watch-before type of guy), I was close to giving myself a healthy 7 out of 10 - until one total fuck up that means I now give myself a 2 out of 10. Oh well.

The reason I'm writing is to warn people about the aging of the bezel by bleaching. Rich says this:

'I need to fade it using bleach.  I heat up the bleach for 30 secs in the microwave and pop it in.  Never, ever walk away when you do this.  Almost immediately paint starts to float off.  I just wanted to take the shine off.  2 minutes and I've removed the shine and more of the color than I had intended.'

Well, I heated the bleach up (it only took about 20 seconds, it would have boiled over if I left it any longer), put the bezel in and IMMEDIATELY the paint just dissolved totally away. It took me a few seconds to fish it out, maybe 5 seconds max, but in those few seconds, I was left with a ghost bezel. That's being generous - it's basically just a stainless steel bezel. It was crazy! Imagine having a large glass of clean water, and dropping in a single drop of ink - immediately it would just dissipate in the water leaving you with the faintest hint it ever existed. Yep, that's my bezel.

So I don't know what I could have done differently. Bleach and my bezel clearly didn't mix. Perhaps I should have just tried sandpaper? Certainly that's what I'd try in hindsight. So if you try this tutorial, use bleach at your peril.

So in sum, this is a great tutorial (thanks Rich) and I enjoyed a fun couple of hours doing this, I learnt a load and almost came out of it with a half decent watch. Cheers!

[Luxuracer 14]

6 minutes ago, GingerBlubba said:

I fucked it up didn't I.

Don't you deny us ... pictures! 

[NCRich 13,746]

10 minutes ago, GingerBlubba said:

AGGGGGGHHHHHHHH.

I fucked it up didn't I.

It was all going so well (for an utter noob, barely-even-taken-the-caseback-off-a-watch-before type of guy), I was close to giving myself a healthy 7 out of 10 - until one total fuck up that means I now give myself a 2 out of 10. Oh well.

The reason I'm writing is to warn people about the aging of the bezel by bleaching. Rich says this:

'I need to fade it using bleach.  I heat up the bleach for 30 secs in the microwave and pop it in.  Never, ever walk away when you do this.  Almost immediately paint starts to float off.  I just wanted to take the shine off.  2 minutes and I've removed the shine and more of the color than I had intended.'

Well, I heated the bleach up (it only took about 20 seconds, it would have boiled over if I left it any longer), put the bezel in and IMMEDIATELY the paint just dissolved totally away. It took me a few seconds to fish it out, maybe 5 seconds max, but in those few seconds, I was left with a ghost bezel. That's being generous - it's basically just a stainless steel bezel. It was crazy! Imagine having a large glass of clean water, and dropping in a single drop of ink - immediately it would just dissipate in the water leaving you with the faintest hint it ever existed. Yep, that's my bezel.

So I don't know what I could have done differently. Bleach and my bezel clearly didn't mix. Perhaps I should have just tried sandpaper? Certainly that's what I'd try in hindsight. So if you try this tutorial, use bleach at your peril.

So in sum, this is a great tutorial (thanks Rich) and I enjoyed a fun couple of hours doing this, I learnt a load and almost came out of it with a half decent watch. Cheers!

Love it mate.  You can always buy a bezel insert.  Remember that nothing is really permanent.  Glad you had fun.

[GingerApple 7,285]

7 minutes ago, Luxuracer said:

Don't you deny us ... pictures! 

Fuck off.

5 minutes ago, NCRich said:

Love it mate.  You can always buy a bezel insert.  Remember that nothing is really permanent.  Glad you had fun.

I really did! Cheers!

[NCRich 13,746]

Just now, GingerBlubba said:

Fuck off.

I really did! Cheers!

Congratulations.  You have to remember that we all start with knowing absofuckingly nothing.  Without the community there would be nothing. 

[GingerApple 7,285]

Fuck it. Consider this your birthday present and Christmas present Lux:

Start:

The weird 'ghost'bezel

Finished article (post a bodge job attempt to get some black back on the bezel)

 

Edit - I should have just lied and said I was aiming for a ghost bezel - apparently ghost speedy pros are a thing! Who knew! Gen:

[Luxuracer 14]

8 minutes ago, GingerBlubba said:

Fuck it. Consider this your birthday present and Christmas present Lux:

Thank you for the early presents .... fuckweasel.

Not bad ... not that bad ....I think that's how vintage Speedy should look like ... especially for someone work in ... a meth lab.  

[GenTLe 1,501]

Never heat alcaline or acid compound... They become VERY aggressive!!!

[BlackjackWQ 32]

Wow, really, really pretty!

[GingerApple 7,285]

1 hour ago, Luxuracer said:

Thank you for the early presents .... fuckweasel.

Not bad ... not that bad ....I think that's how vintage Speedy should look like ... especially for someone work in ... a meth lab.  

Mate, are you going soft in your old age? I'd have been WAY harsher on you had you dished up that shite!

15 minutes ago, GenTLe said:

Never heat alcaline or acid compound... They become VERY aggressive!!!

Yeah..... you didn't think to mention that when Rich put that in his initial instructions!!!! 

5 minutes ago, BlackjackWQ said:

Wow, really, really pretty!

You're obviously talking to Rich, not me. But yeah, his is nice!

[fetasigma 0]

Here is what my vintage gen looks like circa1969, one of my favorites in my collection. Of someone wanted another pic to help replicate that vintage vibe.



Had it on a old rep bracelet for a while


Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[Glaude 1,615]

Order another bezel because you did a very good job on the rest of the build !

It's a learning experience on an inexpensive toy watch, you have officially modded a watch ! 

But one question remains ..... what happened to the Hulk in your sales post ? 

[Xpletiv 16]

How about using a cotton swab just lightly moistened and rub around it until you get the desired effect? 

[GingerApple 7,285]

7 hours ago, Glaude said:

Order another bezel because you did a very good job on the rest of the build !

I don't think I can be arsed. I wouldn't have worn it even if it had turned out perfectly due to my hated of the dreaded quartz tick. The whole point was learning how to do the hands and dial modding really - and of course the process of removing said hands and dial etc. So in that respect, it was a moderate success.

I think I'll go down the route taken by @fetasigma one day and go Gen - such a lovely watch, thanks for sharing!

[GingerApple 7,285]

6 hours ago, Xpletiv said:

How about using a cotton swab just lightly moistened and rub around it until you get the desired effect? 

There's nothing to rub. The bleach took it back to stainless steel basically. I just used a black marker thereafter to hide the steel just for the sake of it. Using a moistened cotton swap would probably be the watch equivalent of polishing a turd.

[ruddz 0]

NEver thought I would see a nice Speedmaster rep but this is pretty cool, nice job!

[GenTLe 1,501]

Mate, I was missing this thread! Lovely job!
Lume is something I always found VERY hard to do. I don't know if it is because of the lume fronte AliExpress which is too grainy or what else, but I find that job very very difficult :(

[NCRich 13,746]

On 15/07/2018 at 04:44, GingerBlubba said:

There's nothing to rub. The bleach took it back to stainless steel basically. I just used a black marker thereafter to hide the steel just for the sake of it. Using a moistened cotton swap would probably be the watch equivalent of polishing a turd.

I figured out what went wrong.  Household bleach in your country comes in a higher concentration than the US.  You should not have heated it.

 

Of course you know that now.