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Simonix

My Vintage Pam 6154 build - Ongoing

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Daffy
18 minutes ago, pickledbeetroot said:

3601, like a 3602 but   without the centre jewel, 

I believe I have one of those in the cupboard, I will have to check.  Thanks for the heads up!

6 minutes ago, Simonix said:

I believe they aren't always compatible., from what I have read. Molnja made minor changes to the designs they bought fro Cortebert over the years.

Molnja movement still look nice either way. They can be found on the bay of E for $50 regularly.

I've picked up a few on the cheap, so I will start playing around with them.

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Edeeot
20 hours ago, Simonix said:

Dial isn’t lumed. The indices have lume behind the blackened resin, but it’s not very visible at night to be fair. 
 

For info, the original 6154 Radiomir used Radium for the lume (hence the name). This highly radioactive substance, bleached the dials to varying grades of brown/tan/cream over time, lost their luminescence, and also darkened the numbers/markers  in colour to a dark red to almost black. 

The radium in the hands also “scorched” the dial over the years, which is why you see the circular marks on the dials. 

these Homage watches are all made to portray the history above. 
 

In my opinion, all very interesting, and one of the reasons I wanted to make some of my own...

Fully understand the Radium issue, nasty stuff.  @NCRich posted a restoration vid of a military watch with the same Radium dials that were replaced with  lume of a safer version and dyed to match  the color of that era.  I love to history of watches and especially all the hard work that goes into making a great looking homage as you have provided.  I've learn a lot from your build, keep up the great work.

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Flinnt

Beautiful build. Well done. 

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Simonix
4 hours ago, Flinnt said:

Beautiful build. Well done. 

Thank you. :-)

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SCShrek

Sorry to be so late to this party @Simonix. Great looking builds.

I was looking around for 6154 builds as I am about to grab one from River or Athaya. I have Belkin doing a dial for me which is 39mm x 1mm.

What's size dials were you working with? Judging from River's EBAY post, his case is 38mm but most say it's 38.5 and is there enough room in there to squeeze a 39mm in there without sanding. I will if I have to but dont want to. I think the 39x1mm thickness works for Athaya but did you use a thicker plate or need a backplate?

And I can find a T24 anywhere. I havent physically reached out to WSO or Clarks but it's not listed in their stores.

Lots of questions and pestering...thanks!

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Simonix

@SCShrek thanks!
 

So, 39mm dial will work on the river case, but you will need some back plates and tall tube hands to make the stem hole line up to the crown tube. 

i believe the Athaya case takes 37mm, but not sure to be honest. 

The river case set comes with a very nice plexi anyway, so I would leave as is.

either way, you will need to measure up properly before ordering any plexi replacement. 
 

look up vintagewatchparts.co.uk.

he is otherwise known as “Nightwatch” and can get most of the parts you will need  

 

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SCShrek

Thanks. Exactly what I needed!

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SCShrek

@Simonix,  You mentioned @kilowattore so I started looking and he posted very informative info on HF that he probably posted here too but it's from about a year and a half ago, so it's probably still relevant. Although, if you had to use backplates for the River, it may need to be updated.

ZPOj12.jpg

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Simonix
38 minutes ago, SCShrek said:

@Simonix,  You mentioned @kilowattore so I started looking and he posted very informative info on HF that he probably posted here too but it's from about a year and a half ago, so it's probably still relevant. Although, if you had to use backplates for the River, it may need to be updated.

ZPOj12.jpg

My river 6154 watch set came with a 2mm thick dial set. Bear in mind that it also depends on what movement you are using (the thickness of the movement and stem hole placement can differ a little)  but I used a Cortebert 616, and the hole for the stem won’t line up with the crown tube unless the dial is that same 2mm thickness.

I think the above measurements are from the “old” river case?

on the river eBay listing, if the dial photos show a 3 piece set (backplate, plexi insert, and top dial), then it will be a 2mm dial. 

@SCShrek  Your best bet is to wait until you have the dial and case set, before you order hands. In case you need tall tube hands, etc. 

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SCShrek
4 minutes ago, Simonix said:

My river 6154 watch set came with a 2mm thick dial set. Bear in mind that it also depends on what movement you are using (the thickness of the movement and stem hole placement can differ a little)  but I used a Cortebert 616, and the hole for the stem won’t line up with the crown tube unless the dial is that same 2mm thickness.

I think the above measurements are from the “old” river case?

on the river eBay listing, if the dial photos show a 3 piece set (backplate, plexi insert, and top dial), then it will be a 2mm dial. 

@SCShrek  Your best bet is to wait until you have the dial and case set, before you order hands. In case you need tall tube hands, etc. 

I think I'll go with the Athaya anyway since they offer it in bronze but I do what I need to to make things work ;)

 

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kilowattore

@SCShrek @Simonix

I am not sure about newest river 6154 case set dial size. I am only sure they are 2 mm thick.

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SCShrek

@kilowattore @Simonix

I emailed River and asked about a 39x1mm dial and all I got back was "39mm should be ok". LOL OK. The case is in SanFran customs now so I can update soon. I'll probably post the build process anyways. I assume I'll need to use the backplate for spacing.

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Simonix

@kilowattore

my river 6164 was bought in summer 2020, it took a 2mm x 39mm dial. 
 

obviously there is always a chance that dimensions could have changed again....

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kilowattore

Imho dial size will not change until a new case set version is released, if there will ever be a new one that is ;)

 

@SCShrek I'll be really interested in seeing this project advance

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Simonix
32 minutes ago, kilowattore said:

 

@SCShrek I'll be really interested in seeing this project advance

Same here. 
 

by the way @kilowattore, your projects are amazing and are what inspired me to have a go at making mine. Love your work. 

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SCShrek
50 minutes ago, kilowattore said:

Imho dial size will not change until a new case set version is released, if there will ever be a new one that is ;)

 

@SCShrek I'll be really interested in seeing this project advance

Will do...pretty straight forward unless I want to take a dremel to the case. I just have to decide on the "locked in a safe for 70 years" look or the "run over by a monster truck" look. :) I may replace the seconds wheel with a non pinion one rather than clipping but since its a 6497 cheapie, I'll probably just remove the gear and clip it. If I like what I have, I'll trade out for something else. A moly comes to mind but lets make sure I dont butcher this one first :D.....unless anyone has a Cortbert they want to donate to the cause :rofl:.

 

 

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tribefan

@SCShrek I've got a generic Swiss 6498 I could be persuaded to part with cheap or in trade.

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SCShrek
1 hour ago, tribefan said:

@SCShrek I've got a generic Swiss 6498 I could be persuaded to part with cheap or in trade.

I may take you up on that once I magle the 6497.

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tribefan
25 minutes ago, SCShrek said:

I may take you up on that once I magle the 6497.

I've got one of those too that I rebuilt, had working fine, then "practiced" oiling the balance staff. It's now a parts movement if you need something. :D

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Mbari

Holy cow! One if these days I'm gonna need your help. Building a Panerai. Boiled eggs aging and everything.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

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Simonix
9 hours ago, Mbari said:

Holy cow! One if these days I'm gonna need your help. Building a Panerai. Boiled eggs aging and everything.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

I'll be giving you a call soon to help me with my 1655...... haha!

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SCShrek
On 26/02/2021 at 14:27, kilowattore said:

Imho dial size will not change until a new case set version is released, if there will ever be a new one that is ;)

 

@SCShrek I'll be really interested in seeing this project advance

I finished them and you may have already seen this on HR, but just in case. Adding you too @Simonix

 

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