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NCRich

6204 Vintage - modded

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NCRich

So I think I'm done playing with the 6204. I've done the following:

 

New Tropic 21 plexi

faded the bezel

aged the dial and hands

brassed the bezel with torch

Drilled the lugs added 2mm bars

Reshaped and polished case

 

So on to the pics.

 

BGM6xZR.jpg?1

 

1xDQHHR.jpg?2

 

6ehHBBe.jpg?2

 

IxlrCoc.jpg

 

JRqOoHm.jpg?1

 

cLqBvyL.jpg?1

 

ynI7IRa.jpg?2

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BM284

Very nice - I like the white face, nicely aged, not OTT - great job :thumbsup2:

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jmshen

As always, your jobs look great!

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GC

You nailed it... Perfect aging!

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Member X

+1 to the above - looks nicely natural rather than a forced patina :)

 

I'm guessing this is repping some ultra-rare Gen??

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GC
+1 to the above - looks nicely natural rather than a forced patina :)

 

I'm guessing this is repping some ultra-rare Gen??

 

Yeah, there are circa 4 in the world, or something similar.

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NCRich

+1 to the above - looks nicely natural rather than a forced patina :)

 

I'm guessing this is repping some ultra-rare Gen??

 

Thank you guys. Yes this an ultra rare early rolex. More than likely a prototype rather than production. Only one or two known to exist.

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Moondustesp

Looks great love the dial well done ;)

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MAJ75

Lovely job mate, see the real "Oreo Cookie" below for comparison.......

 

OREO.jpg

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fatarms

Very nice job there. Did you fade the bezel by sanding or bleach? Mine arrived a few days ago and I haven't gotten around to it yet.

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NCRich

Very nice job there. Did you fade the bezel by sanding or bleach? Mine arrived a few days ago and I haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

I faded it with bleach, in direct sunlight for 30 minutes, checking every 10 minutes. The sunlight is necessary. Then evened out the patina by scuffing lightly with a scotchbrite pad.

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Member X

I'm guessing you won't be too worried about being 'called out,' Rich :lol: lol

 

 

I have to say that I'm not a fan of white dial watches generally but this does looks sweet :)

 

 

 

EDIT: Am I correct in thinking the Gen in the picture above (thanks for posting it, MAJ!) has the seconds hand with the circle on the very end, rather than the standard Mercedes handset?

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NCRich

I'm guessing you won't be too worried about being 'called out,' Rich :lol: lol

 

 

I have to say that I'm not a fan of white dial watches generally but this does looks sweet :)

 

 

 

EDIT: Am I correct in thinking the Gen in the picture above (thanks for posting it, MAJ!) has the seconds hand with the circle on the very end, rather than the standard Mercedes handset?

 

Yes, another pic. I was using this as a template.

 

9vzVB2M.jpg

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jd1566

Very nice job on the watch! Curious about the dial aging.. Baked in an oven perhaps? Can you give your secret formula, time and temperature? Dial really looks good, am mightily impressed!

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Simms

Knocked it out of the park! Congrats

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NCRich

Very nice job on the watch! Curious about the dial aging.. Baked in an oven perhaps? Can you give your secret formula, time and temperature? Dial really looks good, am mightily impressed!

 

I'm not a fan of aging things in a oven. I'm not really a fan of anything that you can't do over. I believe this dial has a mylar/vinyl sort of covering on the dial. It isn't really painted white. I think if you put this in the oven you would end up with a goopy mess.

 

For this I got the dial absolutely level on some rodico. I work under a hot halogen light so things dry fast. I applied a coating of very strong coffee to the dial and let it dry. This won't look all that great at first since it will tend to concentrate the color on the edges. They make these pointy q-tips that women use in manicures. I dip those in a little water and try to remove what I don't like or move the color around a bit. This is also great on a black sub dial to give you just a little aging. If it dries too dark on the lume or the writing you can lightly remove some tint with the q-tip. So much better than an oven.

 

In this case its just one color. If you want more complicated I also have a rather inexpensive set of watercolors ($10) and an assortment of brushes. These are good because not only do they give you color they give you texture. You can apply that color thinly, let dry, then remove/move it around with the q-tip. It really is a bit trial and error and really less is more. Those tiny little pinpoint brushes give you a lot of control. You can even apply a little more coffee to certain areas to enhance the darkening.

 

If you are working with say a black sub dial you can use the watercolors to create whatever color lume you want. It can also give you the effect of puffy lume. If you want more puff you can mix in some baby powder with the watercolor. Its great because the vintage really isn't supposed to have working lume. So watercolors are great.

 

The key point is that up to this now you can take the dial and stick it under the faucet and BAM it is like new again. You haven't ruined it. This is really important in giving you the control you need. (especially if this is your first try at aging a dial of a certain type).

 

If you want to set it permanently then you can put a coat of waterbased satin spray poly on it and it is permanent. The satin poly can also be used to give it some texture if that is what you are after. I didn't set the colors with this white dial. Nothing is going to change it under the crystal.

 

Hope this helps. Aging watches is a lot like coloring books for adults.

 

Edit: I got this watch from Marvellous Replica. He wanted to see the finished product so I showed him this thread. His comment:

 

Hi Rich,

Got a question. Is that watch from me?

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fatarms
:lol: I guess you did a pretty good job then. That's actually pretty funny.

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Piccolo

Another great build! Nice one!

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551three

Very nice job there. Did you fade the bezel by sanding or bleach? Mine arrived a few days ago and I haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

I faded it with bleach, in direct sunlight for 30 minutes, checking every 10 minutes. The sunlight is necessary. Then evened out the patina by scuffing lightly with a scotchbrite pad.

 

Nice detailed explanation, interesting ideas and techniques .

Does the uv exposure change the color of the fade? Intensity? When bleaching ?

 

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