DW 7032 V2: Iteration

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This Tudor 7032 is my longest rep build. My first DW 7032 was put together in September 2010. In August 2011 I had the good fortune to compare my DW 7032 side-by-side with a friend's genuine Tudor 7149. (That friend, funnily enough, was inspired to search for a 1970s-era Tudor chronograph by my first 7032 build.) The DW acquitted itself well, but a lot of differences became apparent to me that day. I resolved to do better, and my 7032 V2 project began.

 

I contacted my friend jmb, and we set to figuring out how to improve the case. A series of delays (including a wrong order sent by DW--what a surprise) meant that I wouldn't receive the modded case until January 2012. That's when I got the bright idea that I needed even MORE work done, and sent the case on a second trip across the ocean. By the time everything was finished, I had involved guys like justasgood (caseback mods), Pbdad (dial and hands), and siesta181 (movement). But it was J who did the lion's share of the work, including a months-long headache of figuring out how to fit a genuine crystal onto the case (without resorting to glue).

 

So nine months later, and the difference between V1 and V2 ought to be like night and day, right? No, actually. Unlike the immediately obvious benefit you would get from, say, a Yuki handset or a genuine crystal, the V2's improvements are so subtle that you likely won't notice them unless you have a DW 7032 of your own. And even then, you'll probably blink a few times before it sinks in. That's my kind of project!

 

 

 

Anyone who has a DW 7032 can see how extensively the mid-case has been reshaped: Lugs were blunted, reducing total length to match measurements taken from the genuine 7149. Chamfers were widened from lug-tip to lug-tip. Lugholes were drilled out to accept Submariner-size springbars. Note the genuine 7mm Twinlock crown, with a gob of solder above the coronet. I have another 700 in much better condition, but I found that this crown better matched the condition of the rest of the watch. It would also be an oblique homage to the Triplock I crushed when I dropped V1 onto an Italian sidewalk two years ago

 

Crownguards were reshaped to match the smoother look of some genuine examples. (There are also gens with boxy CGs, so an unmodded DW case isn't necessarily wrong.) Note the chamfers that end on diagonal edges on the CGs. Also, see all the untouched dots on the bezel. J did a great job of shaving the inner diameter, but that isn't all he did on the bezel.

 

I asked for, and got, a rolled edge on the bezel, and a polished underside. As with my FAP 6239 build, I requested a worn look to the entire case. Edges are smoother throughout, including those of the inner lugs.

 

As mentioned earlier, J was only able to fit the genuine Cyclope 128 on the case after months of experimenting. The basic problem was that the C128 is significantly wider than the rehaut lip, so material had to be added to fill the gap. What ended up working was a careful application of very thin steel tape to the base of the lip. Many, many other ideas were tried without success. I admire J for his doggedness.

 

Several things to notice in the head-on view:

• Here we see the other major surgery that J performed on the 7032: The rehaut was trimmed to add more air between the steel circumference and the orange numerals on the dial. Not easy.
  
• This is my first time using Pbdad, and he did a great job luming and matting the dial. His surface treatment is subtle -almost invisibly so- but I hope to make it more obvious in subsequent shots.
  
• Dumbest mod: I bought a cheap Tudor Oysterdate dial, just so I could cannibalize its shield at 12 and transplant it onto the 7032. I CANNOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE.
  
• Yuki/CWP hands were carried over from V1. Pbdad superlumed a pair of Yuki hands, but I couldn't use these on V2. When he shortened the minute hand (per my request), its tip turned yellow.
  
• Similarly, see the partly-yellowed metal centers of the subdial hands. I asked Pbdad to strip the black paint off the circles, but that thin layer of zinc didn't survive the process.
  
• Datewheel was carried over from V1. I was able to source another 7734 datewheel in black, but its font is too wide and angular.
  
• J initially had a satin finish for the bezel surface. I found it too smooth, and asked him to give it a bit more "character". That ended up being too rough, so I went around the bezel with finer-grit sandpaper.
  

 

 

justasgood worked his Dremel magic on the shallow etchings of the caseback. Unmodified, it's the least-convincing part of the DW 7032 case. Now I'm convinced! You can also see that DW's pushers seem to be falling apart. (Did he take his Daytona pushers and fill the groove on the barrel?) These pushers were a huge headache to deal with, and would disassemble themselves at the slightest provocation. Thanks to some patient work by my watchsmith, and parts from another set of DW pushers, they seem to be holding together for now.

 

Some comparison shots ought to clarify the results of these past nine months. V1 is on the lef. It now has my Pbdad-lumed hour/minute hands, a Yuki sweep, and the newer datewheel. You can really see the difference between the rehauts and the bezels. The gap between the bezel's inner edge and the outer edge of the dial is resolved much more cleanly (and correctly) on V2. Finally, the shortened case lines up better with the endlinks and makes for a cleaner silhouette.

 

I previously mentioned Pbdad's matte surface treatment. Here are the two watches photographed under identical lighting and from similar angles. V1 is on top, and you can see the tell-tale reflection from the glossy gray field. V2 looks better under direct light. Additionally, the black areas on the V2 dial look even darker after being matted. Unfortunately, you can see also see the yellowed metal on V2's subdial hands, and on the tip of the minute hand on V1.

 

Very visible differences in profile.

 

Another look at K's awesome caseback work. I'm using Watch International/cartel 7836 bracelets on both watches. The V1 has the standard rep 358s, while V2 has period-correct genuine 282 endlinks. These are not flush against the lugs like 589s or 605s (assuming you can get those to work on a DW case), but the fitment compares well with genuine pieces. On the V2, the bracelet's final midlinks were opened up substantially. Not only did they have to take 2mm springbars, but there needed to be sufficient clearance between the endlinks and the adjacent links.

 

Evolution

 

Yech. The glue holding the shield looks very obvious in this shot. Flaws like this, the lumpy paint on the sweep hand, or the brassy metal, are far less obvious on the wrist than they are in these macros. That sounds stupidly obvious, but it's easy to get your priorities jumbled when all you look at are extreme close-ups.

 

Nevertheless, I may still attempt to fix these in the future. I'm doomed.

 

Big thanks to everyone involved in this long build!

[Dendo 93]

Simply exquisite - what a master you are. Thanks for sharing.

[KeNnY 29]

simply

[Amit 72]

WOW..just wow.

[solkryssare 109]

Great project and simply genius explanation and work description. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn something new with every post you make.....

[Mazz 62]

 

 

You want to sell me your V1 look in to the light dont resist sell me your V1 (at a good price)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome as always

[str8 0]

SOLID!!! :clap:

[LHOOQ 0]

Thanks, all! There are a lot of 7032s out there now, so I hope the V2 can act like a clearinghouse for modding ideas. Pick and choose the good ones!

 

I may be fitting the V1 with a black dial in the future. I've got a spare one lying around...

[DFH 0]

A true master class, my friend - thanks for sharing the story of this amazing piece!!! Cheers!

[UmpaHimself 223]

 

But seriously, simply amazing modification. They both look great but V2 truly has an authentic feel. It's that 1% change that makes all the difference. Very impressive

Edited June 8, 2012 by UmpaHimself

[LHOOQ 0]

UPDATE 02/03/2013

 

So what's been happening to my 7032 since last summer? Unfortunately, it remained one of my most problematic projects, made worse by a movement swap last autumn. The Valjoux 7734 from siesta181 had been running well, but I discovered late in the day that it actually contained a 30-minute counter, not a 45-minute as advertised. It was sheer stupidity on my part for not detecting it earlier, but siesta was nice enough to agree to a full refund. In hindsight, I should have kept it. The search for a new movement led me to an incredibly shitty Dufonte, which was one of the ugliest watches I've ever strapped to my wrist.

 

 

Thing is, the movement looked pretty good in the pictures, so I thought I'd be safe. Little did I know how many new headaches this dull brown chronograph would bring. Fast-forward to last month, and I finally decided to send my hapless 7032 off to The Zigmeister himself. Skip ahead a few weeks, and let me quote a few highlights from his prognosis on the movement:

• the mainspring was found to be attached to the barrel by someone having drilled a hole in the spring, and then screwing the spring to the side of the barrel, with the screw sticking out significantly from the side of the barrel and jamming into the other coils
  
• during hand removal it was noted that the subdial hands were not broached to fit the posts properly
  
• as a result, the hands were hammered on, which has resulted in irreparable damage to the 4th wheel post (running seconds)
  
• during initial assembly and testing, there was excessive friction in the motion works, the wheels were jamming up, this was the cause of the poor amplitude of the balance wheel
  
• extensive troubleshooting finally revealed that the 4th wheel upper pivot was bent and this was the cause of the friction and loss of power
  
• only solution is either a new 4th wheel, or replacement of the pivot with a new manufactured one
  

Yikes! But would you believe that I got an "Everything fixed!" email within a week? The guy is good, and so far the watch -timekeeping and chrono functions- has been running excellently. I will miss him terribly.

 

 

Aside from the movement, this 7032 also underwent a few cosmetic changes last October, courtesy of fellow Canuck and all-around good guy, janeto72. The last few months have been so busy, that I never got the chance to note them back then.

 

The first thing JT did was airbrush my chrono sweep (which was looking tatty in the earlier photos), and attach the subdial hands that a bunch of us have been sweating over.

 

Looking good! Next, he eliminated the pinched mid-edge found on the left side of DW's mid-cases. It honestly never bothered me, but JT was adamant that it had to go. Here's a shot of that edge on an unmolested DW case (top) and my modded 7032 (bottom:

 

The other part that JT modded was the outer tips of the crown guards. I had asked jmb to leave them flat, but JT correctly observed that there should be a slight convexity to them. So he went to work on subtly curving them:

 

You can see the softer look of the CGs by comparing with the shots on the first page. As a bonus, JT also plucked the gob of solder off my 700 crown.

 

Lastly, JT took a crack at deepening the engravings on the caseback. It was a fine enhancement of justasgood's work:

 

I just checked to see that my first post on my first 7032 build was all the way back in October 2010. Wow! Sometimes these things take time.

 

The 7032 has always been one of my most admired watches. It's definitely a looker. Maybe now I can also call it one of my most dependable.

 

[Mazz 62]

Another interesting write up mate