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Cigarlvr313

My First Watch Build

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Cigarlvr313

Hi all........Just a quick intro.......I'm "almost" a total newbie to the "Rep Watch" hobby but my interest is growing quickly. My focus for now anyhow is on Rolex Watches, I purchased a genuine "No Date Oyster Perpetual" for my wife quite a few years ago for her birthday and that kind of lit the fire in me..........unfortunately the cost of putting out that fire has gone up considerably. I stumbled across the "Rep Watch" hobby while surfing around and looking for a good inexpensive used genuine Rolex. My first purchase was a Daytona by ARF with an A7750 movement, the next was a Noob Sea Dweller with a 3135 Asian Super Clone and my last was an inexpensive "6205 Look" Submariner with a 2836 Asian Automatic.

My interest now is in trying to build my own watch. Some of the Reps I've looked at on here are beautiful and I would like to learn to build them too. My thoughts are that I can't be the only member here that has this interest but is unsure of how to proceed. I'm curious if there is enough interest for me to start a step by step build thread where I can show in pics what I am doing and if i get "stuck", or if others have questions, we can post them and hopefully get the answers we need as we  go through the build "together"? As a "background" on my preparation I have of course been reading on the forums here as well as "Rep Geek" & RWI. I've watched the 24 chapter YouTube video series on watch-building by Rick Bell  and read the suggested book "Beginner Watchmaking" by Tim Swike.

I have purchased what I believe are the necessary tools to do the job and the watch that I intend to build is the Rolex GMT Master 1675 Casekit from Yuki  https://www.yukiwatch.com/catalog/item/9060661/10345806.htm

I also purchased the suggested Guangzhou DG 3804B movement so I believe that I am about ready to start.

Please let me know if there is any interest and I will start documenting the build. Thanks...........Paul

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GingerApple

Yes please!!! Sounds awesome, I'm in.

Before you get going though, how did you find the Swike book, worth a buy?

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Cigarlvr313
2 minutes ago, TheGingerFerret said:

Yes please!!! Sounds awesome, I'm in.

Before you get going though, how did your find the Swike book, worth a buy?

Welcome aboard! I found my copy on eBay and it was very reasonably priced..........I'm not much of a book critic but it was worth the investment to me. Not a lot of reading, it's pic "heavy"

Edited by Cigarlvr313
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GingerApple

It's only a tenner on Amazon. I think I might grab it for a toilet read.

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RussP

I'm definitely interested in the build, Paul.

I'd never build a watch, but always interested in appreciating the blood, sweat and tears that get invested in constructing one.

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Nikosaldente

Looking forward to seeing your build Paul!

Welcome and Good luck!

Cheers!

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Cigarlvr313

Thanks guys lets hope that its an easy 1st build. I want to try to see if I can figure out how to post pics.........here we go......

KUqej.jpg KUmS1.jpg KUiCv.jpg

 

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Cigarlvr313

Looks like I can post now all I need to do is to learn how to take a better pic!!

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Nikosaldente

You'll get there;)

This is my first watch build:

20190808-100905.jpg

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semperfi55
2 hours ago, Cigarlvr313 said:

I have purchased what I believe are the necessary tools to do the job and the watch that I intend to build is the Rolex GMT Master 1675 Casekit from Yuki  https://www.yukiwatch.com/catalog/item/9060661/10345806.htm

Interesting. I always pass off the Yuki site as I think it is way over my budget for parts, but this looks reasonable.

Good luck with the build!

 

3 minutes ago, Nikosaldente said:

This is my first watch build:

20190808-100905.jpg

Oh my..... mind sharing the build specs? Good lighting too.

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Dr Fun Socks

Good luck to you sir! Looking forward to seeing the results. Best things i ever learnt up for watch making are:

brass tweezers, you cannot scratch steel parts with brass tweezers so get a cheap aa pair from ebay or something and you’ll never scratch your hands. 
 

finger condoms (i forget the real name). DO NOT under any circumstances touch a glossy dial unless you have those beasties on or you’ll spend hours trying to get it perfectly glossy again. 
 

Best of luck with the project man!

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Theviking

Finger condoms :lol:. Finger cots are very useful.

Excellent idea, build and share and I send you my love.

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Nikosaldente
13 hours ago, semperfi55 said:

 

Oh my..... mind sharing the build specs? Good lighting too.

There you go mate;)

 

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BC1221
Good luck to you sir! Looking forward to seeing the results. Best things i ever learnt up for watch making are:
brass tweezers, you cannot scratch steel parts with brass tweezers so get a cheap aa pair from ebay or something and you’ll never scratch your hands. 
 
finger condoms (i forget the real name). DO NOT under any circumstances touch a glossy dial unless you have those beasties on or you’ll spend hours trying to get it perfectly glossy again. 
 
Best of luck with the project man!


Amazon has brass tweezers for $10-$20. GREAT deal. Most other brass tweezers I found were $$$$

Brass tweezers are a must imo. You can use rodco for setting hands without scratching them but tweezers work better for me. :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
There you go mate
 


For a first build, that’s damn good work! Hats off to you sir. Those overlays are a pain in the ass.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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BC1221
Hi all........Just a quick intro.......I'm "almost" a total newbie to the "Rep Watch" hobby but my interest is growing quickly. My focus for now anyhow is on Rolex Watches, I purchased a genuine "No Date Oyster Perpetual" for my wife quite a few years ago for her birthday and that kind of lit the fire in me..........unfortunately the cost of putting out that fire has gone up considerably. I stumbled across the "Rep Watch" hobby while surfing around and looking for a good inexpensive used genuine Rolex. My first purchase was a Daytona by ARF with an A7750 movement, the next was a Noob Sea Dweller with a 3135 Asian Super Clone and my last was an inexpensive "6205 Look" Submariner with a 2836 Asian Automatic.
My interest now is in trying to build my own watch. Some of the Reps I've looked at on here are beautiful and I would like to learn to build them too. My thoughts are that I can't be the only member here that has this interest but is unsure of how to proceed. I'm curious if there is enough interest for me to start a step by step build thread where I can show in pics what I am doing and if i get "stuck", or if others have questions, we can post them and hopefully get the answers we need as we  go through the build "together"? As a "background" on my preparation I have of course been reading on the forums here as well as "Rep Geek" & RWI. I've watched the 24 chapter YouTube video series on watch-building by Rick Bell  and read the suggested book "Beginner Watchmaking" by Tim Swike.
I have purchased what I believe are the necessary tools to do the job and the watch that I intend to build is the Rolex GMT Master 1675 Casekit from Yuki  https://www.yukiwatch.com/catalog/item/9060661/10345806.htm
I also purchased the suggested Guangzhou DG 3804B movement so I believe that I am about ready to start.
Please let me know if there is any interest and I will start documenting the build. Thanks...........Paul


Good kit but I would go with a ruby dial and raffles GMT hand. Yuki has good stuff but as far as dials go, Ruby is prob the best these days.

Good luck to you! Can’t wait to see the end result


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Cigarlvr313
23 hours ago, Nikosaldente said:

You'll get there;)

This is my first watch build:

20190808-100905.jpg

Wow! I hope that mine turns out that good. We are getting some unseasonably good WX here in the Pac NW so I might be a bit slow getting started. This was going to be a rainy day project..............

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Cigarlvr313

The sun is still shining but I'm getting anxious to start my build. I pulled out some of my parts this morning and layed them out so I can start thinking about my first steps in the assembly.

KBiTo.jpg

 

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Cigarlvr313

I believe that my first action will be to install the dial face. When I opened the movement box there was a small plastic bag that contained a small brass "gear" and a  "wavy" washer......I'm already stumped........can anyone tell me if I need them?

KB7RE.jpg

 

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GenTLe
On 06/11/2019 at 07:38, Drfunsocks said:

finger condoms (i forget the real name). DO NOT under any circumstances touch a glossy dial unless you have those beasties on or you’ll spend hours trying to get it perfectly glossy again. 

I prefer full (non-powdered) latex gloves (I hate the nitrile ones) to the finger condoms. I have decently sized fingers and those stop my circulation...

About the glossy dial: rodico will remove all the fingerprints without much trouble :)

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GenTLe
2 hours ago, Cigarlvr313 said:

I believe that my first action will be to install the dial face. When I opened the movement box there was a small plastic bag that contained a small brass "gear" and a  "wavy" washer......I'm already stumped........can anyone tell me if I need them?

KB7RE.jpg

 

Normally the washer sits between the dial and the movement, placed like in this 2824:

DSC_0216_edited__89637.1530546023.jpg?c=

But I'm not sure you need it on that movement (unless something is free to move like the hour wheel of the mentioned 2824, which is not kept in place by anything and that can move on its post if the movement is placed upside down).

The other gear: no idea! 

Important: are you sure you don't also need a date wheel overlay? Try to put the dial on the movement. Are the date numbers aligned with the date window on the dial? Are them of the correct Rolex font?

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Cigarlvr313

There is nothing free to move so I will just attempt to set the dial face. Thanks for the help. I think the font on my numbers is correct by comparing them to other GMT pics I have.

KQRGj.jpg

 

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GingerApple
9 hours ago, Cigarlvr313 said:

I think the font on my numbers is correct by comparing them to other GMT pics I have.

Gentle doesn't just mean that though (I think) - he's asking if the numbers are in the right place  compared to the date window in the dial. Put the dial loosely on top - are the numbers in the date wheel window, nice and centred - or are they a few mm in the wrong place sideways?

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BadPickle
3 minutes ago, TheGingerFerret said:

Gentle doesn't just mean that though (I think) - he's asking if the numbers are in the right place  compared to the date window in the dial. Put the dial loosely on top - are the numbers in the date wheel window, nice and centred - or are they a few mm in the wrong place sideways?

:lmao: 

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GingerApple
2 minutes ago, pickledbeetroot said:

:lmao: 

I'm assuming I'm wrong. Again. Care to help OP (and me)?

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GenTLe
3 hours ago, TheGingerFerret said:

I'm assuming I'm wrong. Again. Care to help OP (and me)?

No, you were right. I'm not familiar with low-end movement based Rolexes, so I think it is a good idea to check if the numbers are centered in the date window in the dial before to move on. They probably are fine but better to check anyway while at the beginning of the build.

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