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Mbari

A Comex 5514 Grail Build, somewhat budget friendly.

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Mbari

Hqmilton is a bad bad place. One day I was browsing to find inspiration for a build and I ran into this:

 

https://www.hqmilton.com/timepieces/p0vl8doq/1977-rolex-submariner-5514-comex-with-henry-hudson-letter-7878

 

The thinner case, the blue bezel insert, the dial , the hev ....it was all I wanted. So I made one! Came pretty close. Put a lot of effort in getting a 1665 jkf case to the correct shape, especially lugs require serious attention to detail, because all stock cases have terrible  lugs with a big fat & wrong bulge. 

 

Parts

- Cartel 1665 Donor Watch case, custom vietnam caseback with deep engraving. Aged and softened to match the case.

 

- Minh Quy / MQ Rolex 5514 Comex Dial with Singer Stamp on the backside (custom made dial from Vietnam) 

 

- SWISS ETA 2842 low-beat movement

- Athaya 702 Crown and tube

- Clark's t19 Acrylic Crystal

- slightly faded/aged blue hue insert w custom Pip

- Date Disc Overlay with Open 6 & 9 and Flat Top 3's

- WSO 93150 Bracelet (modded)

- Rep 580 Endlinks (modded)

- 2mm Gen-spec fat spring bars

 

Mods: 

 

Case Work - mid-case thinning, shaping + polishing side profile, re-shaping the crown-guards, re-shaping of lugs (from top and sides), refinishing of the lugs top and sides, aging/vintagizing with several rounds of polishing in-between

 

-Lug holes drilled to accept Gen-Spec 2mm Fat spring bars -

 

-Bezel ring vintagized, slightly slimmed & tightened on retaining ring -

 

-Bezel Insert slightly aged, dulled & re-coated with after ageing

 

- Vintage Lume on Dial & Hands + Slight Aging of Hands

 

- Re-Drilled Tube Hole & Tapped new threads for the tube hole - Drilled a countersink for the tube into the case & installed the new tube

 

- New Movement Stem + Stem Adjustment  for the Gen Rolex 703 Crown

 

- Tropic 19 installed and sealed

-

- Slightly re-chamfered the lugs (vintage style, not crisp)

 

- Vintagized between the lugs to mimic ~50 years of wear & make the laser engraving look more Gen-like (so you can wear the watch with a leather bracelet as well)

 

- Bracelet Vintagized, links greased buttery smooth & sharp edges softened

 

- 580 Endlinks shape adjusted for slimmer lugs 

 

-Aged/Vintagized the case & bracelet, softened all edges and polished several times to mimic a ~45 year old watch

 

Thank you for reading.

 

 

 

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Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

 

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nunu78

Love it

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NCRich

Very nice work!

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fatarms

Holy crap.  This might be your best one yet.  That perfectly matches the gen example. 

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als86

Delightful! Very nice work :D @Mbari

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Intresting

stunning work as usual bro. :) 

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rm65453

Bravo!

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Diplomatico

WOW! Well fucking done mate

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k3rm87

Holt shit, excellent work my friend

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Theory1611

Wow, I wish I could build something like this. Looks amazing.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

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Aramis2288
On 03/05/2021 at 02:40, Mbari said:

...it was all I wanted. So I made one!

I've just noticed this post even though it was posted quite a while ago... 

Piece of art, a thing of beauty. Although my knowledge about the realism of vintage pieces is limited and I may be unable to assess the accuracy of all the details, the end effect is IMO really impressive. Not too little of the aging and not too much.  Congrats.

Edited by Aramis2288
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Piccolo

Nice work, love the end result... hope you’re enjoying wearing it :D

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