First GMT 1675 Build (s)

[Mbari 2,227]

Built my first watch in May. Looks like I'm fully into the build bug these days, lately it's been GMTs. In the last 24 hrs, I got 2 builds done with some minor tweaks left to do. It was well past midnight by the time I was done.

 

First, Long E Mark 1 dial Pepsi GMT.

 

Parts:

 

- Milk's case set w/delicious meaty Crown Guards

- Clark's Tube and Crown

- Clark's crystal

- TC hand set. Only had the small GMT Hand

- eBay Long E dial. Very flat lume.

- eBay cheapo fat font insert

- Custom movement ring.

- DG3804B slow beat Movement

- Riyi Jubilee bracelet

- Bulang and Sons GMT strap

 

Work done:

 

1. Soften case, especially the cgs. Wanted to maintain overall shape and keep as much metal as possible. Might do a Eagle Beak version with a gloss chapter ring dial later. Fitted the tube after a bit of drilling and retapping.

 

2. Fade insert, shave to fit Milk case bezel. Had to epoxy it on. Lye and bleach in low concentration with a long time seems to do the trick. I might be splurging on a fuschia insert from crown art later and fade it more. For now, I wanted a NOS ish, less is more fade.

 

3. Age dial with coffee/water/lacquer. Soaking it in water got the lume a bit grainer and puffier. Given that it's a Mark 1 dial, I wanted a bit more aging than normal eBay dials. Especially like the patina on the letterings .

 

4. Age the hands, steel wool brush followed by sale water and Apple cider bath. Relume to match the dial as much as possible. Could have done a shade darker. Just got the new pigments from Noctilumina today

 

5. First DG GMT build was tough. I snapped the second pinion off in the first movement, 2nd movement had a bad keyless on arrival. The case is gen spec and Yuki only sells eta to 15xx adapters. And I don't have a lathe or drill press. Given the DG is a hair thicker than ETA and a bit taller, I had to spend A LOT of time shaving the generic spacer to fit the case. It was fun at 12:35 am trying to bend and shave the clamp screws...phew. Mounting the dial without feet was a fun exercise as well. Dial dots didn't work because the ring was so tight and things would shift during install, date wheel would not be aligned, dial shifted etc.... Still have to do a bit of micro adjustments but I'll live with it for now.

 

2nd build was for a friend, a two tone 1675 with cartel case, gen dial, eta gmt movement and Riyi case tube . Wso bezel. It was rather simple. Shaping the CGs on a rep case is always ....fun.

 

Enough with the words. Now let's enjoy some pics.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

 

[Hamilton 1]

Wohoo amazing work Bravo!