edgematic 0 Posted March 2, 2014 Hey guys, This thread is something that some of you were waiting for. A thread about my ultimate franken. I feel I have taken this franken to a much higher level compared to the current existing frankens on the forums that we know off. Basically the story starts in June-July 2012, I wanted to build my own franken so I started looking for parts. Sourcing a dial was easy, in fact I bought several dials, being a blue classic baton dial, grey dial, black rubberclad dial, safari dial, white rubberclad dial, black themes dial. All of them except the safari and white rubberclad dial were sold to nice members here. I even assisted two of them with their build. After studying the current frankens I was not pleased with them. They look close but in fact they are not that close. All of them have the flaw of the mid case that is too thick. Next to that, all of the frankens around have thinned rubber gaskets between the bezel and the midcase, which is wrong too! The replica rubber gasket is 1:1 as per gen, believe it or not, both on front and on the back of the case. So I wanted to keep this correct. Above you see an example of a current existing franken compared with a gen on top, notice the differences?! To me these are huge differences, but I’m a nitpicker. Offcourse I knew this would make the project more difficult but it’s an adventure and I’m a perfectionist so I wanted to find out how to. I was able to buy a gen rubberclad bezel with gen screws, then I also bought a gen crystal and crystal gasket set as well as genuine rubber gaskets (not really necessary). The gen bezel cannot use rep screws. It also needs a gen crystal. Here you see why: (gen on the left, rep on the right) (gen on the left, rep on the right) The gen screws are smaller at the head and have a thicker head as well. Another important thing about a rubberclad bezel is the fact that AP uses a stainless steel bezel with a rubber coating on top. The rep rubber bezel is pure rubber and plastic. The difference in quality is big imo. Here you see some comparison shots: (gen on bottom, rep above) (rep) (gen) (rep on top, gen on bottom) Also, on the forums there is a lot of whining about the gen crystal having AR etc. Well, I have a gen crystal and it does not have any AR!!! So AR’ing your crystal might look nice and does look nice imo but I don’t like it as the AR hue makes it a huge tell. If you however decide to AR your crystal, get a proper coating on the inside of the crystal. Some pics of gen vs rep crystal: (gen on the right) (gen on the right) (gen on the right) (gen on the right) I also bought a gen set of pushers and a crown, but I decided not to use these as the pushers sit too deep in the case which makes it less gen like. As you can see the gen and rep screws are slightly different: I started off by milling my mid-case to the correct height as per gen. Therefor I used a gen piece and measured everything side by side. A cool feature is that there is a slight difference in height on the mid case, this on the outside of the gasket channel and the inside of the gasket channel. So, after the milling the midcases got blasted a second time and there I had my 1:1 thickness midcase. The cyclops I bought from Uwe 2 years or 3 years ago (with purplish blue AR, closer to gen!). Since I was building a white rubberclad my datewheel window had to be matte black as per gen. So I disassembled the Dubois Depraz 2000 module from the ETA2892 movement, pushed out the window, sanded it, painted it and installed it back. (on the photo above the incorrect datewheel is visible. It’s quite good but not close enough to me) In the meanwhile I was able to install my gen spec datewheel as well. This datewheel is also part of my project and to help other members with their build. Everyone was using the LWO datewheel which is always wrong. I wanted mine to be correct as per gen, what is the point of making a franken? So I did the datewheel production, which was a success. After installing mine I was even more pleased with the project. I was able to install the hands, datewheel, cyclopse and dial on my own. The tachyring was easy to install as well. But for the drilling of the case, to replace the crown tube I needed a competent watchmaker. Therefor I contacted a German watchmaker (not Domi ) to do the work. He is the watchmaker of a watch customizing company. He agreed to do the work as it was a very nice project. I also asked him if he was able to change the caseback engraving, he said he would take care of it. He also suggested to make a custom movement ring as he felt this watch needs it. Imo it does need it. The gen piece also uses a movement ring. So, after a while he finished the job of the assembly and I received my watch. The only thing I have to do now is blast the caseback, brush the caseback with the circular finish and then it’s completely done! I can attest that my AP White rubberclad has a thickness of 14.52mm, gen is 14.50mm in height. I did not shave any rubber gaskets, only caseback and midcase. Which makes my piece amazingly close to gen. Specs: - Gen bezel - Gen gaskets (all of them) - Gen screws - Gen crystal + gasket - Gen hands (all of them) - Gen dial and tachyring - Rep crown and pushers (closer to gen dimension wise) - Rep midcase with my own milling mod + sandblasting - Rep caseback with custom engraving - Rep rubber strap (no need to go gen, I sold my gen rubber strap) - Sead’s deployant. Imo the best one available as it has the proper stamps - LWO 283 movt. NOS with custom Edge datewheel Total cost is about €3250 - €3500 (USD 4.485 - 4.850), but the joy I got with this build is priceless! That’s about it. I hope you guys enjoyed it and I hope it was a helpful read. Any questions, just shoot. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edgematic 0 Posted March 2, 2014 - - - Updated - - - Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rolexwatchman 0 Posted March 2, 2014 Nice! Where did you source the parts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeAlmighty 0 Posted March 2, 2014 WOW! Pricey. I suppose you will keep this until the end of your days? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Corv99 2 Posted March 2, 2014 Nice interesting thread, great project...thanks for sharing.. It's funny on the AR topic, gen like or not it does look great with AR, and as for it being a tell, whose to say a gen owner wouldn't get it done either Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edgematic 0 Posted March 2, 2014 Thanks for the appreciation guys, I forgot a lume shot: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dumspiro 0 Posted March 2, 2014 Great read and and great dedication in getting this close to a gen. Stunning watch. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duzza 182 Posted March 2, 2014 Great attention detail. Amazing really but let me get this right, I pay serious money for a gen AP ROO and I have to tilt it to read the time in most lighting conditions? Unbelievable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slaughterer 0 Posted March 4, 2014 Great thread Edge. All of your observations are spot on and match perfectly with my observations concerning the differences between gen and rep parts. Congratulations on the lovely Franken too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N.Rico 1 Posted March 4, 2014 thats an awesome job ,thanks for sharing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DG335 0 Posted March 4, 2014 very interesting read and **** me what a lot of effort, but what a nice result. well done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Warfordd 0 Posted March 4, 2014 Awesome job but WAAAAAY to expensive for me :( Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Piccolo 674 Posted March 5, 2014 Looks great, amazing effort gone into this, impressive. Great to get something right that you worked so hard on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pseudonym 0 Posted March 5, 2014 This is dedication and I appreciate the effort that went into it, and the end result. Good job!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edgematic 0 Posted March 6, 2014 Guys, I really appreciate your comments a lot! Many thanks for that. This piece is built with so much love that it's hard to say if I love this more than the gens. Great thread Edge. All of your observations are spot on and match perfectly with my observations concerning the differences between gen and rep parts. Congratulations on the lovely Franken too. Somehow I was awaiting your feedback on this piece Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mmaibl2011 0 Posted March 19, 2014 Wow. Absolutely stunning job. Masterfully done Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nobigdeal2010 0 Posted March 20, 2014 amazing work. well done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
time_keeper 0 Posted March 28, 2014 That is an incredible watch! I wish I had the skills to do something half as good as that myself. How much did this build cost in total? Where did you source your gen parts from? So many questions I could ask about this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
twofake 0 Posted March 28, 2014 I don't have an AP but I can see why you love yours and put so much effort in. I wonder how you got to borrow a gen to get the comparison measurements. Nice work and dedication. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
twofake 0 Posted March 28, 2014 That is an incredible watch! I wish I had the skills to do something half as good as that myself. How much did this build cost in total? Where did you source your gen parts from? So many questions I could ask about this Total cost is about €3250 - €3500 (USD 4.485 - 4.850), but the joy I got with this build is priceless! I pasted that there to save OP some time as he doesn't nee to write it twice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhillyRock 0 Posted March 28, 2014 Saying what you did is "awesome" or "amazing" is a huge understatement. What you did was you captured your patience and passion within a physical wearable object that turned out to be beautiful. Your final product is a manifestation of all the love and desire you injected into this project that couldn't be duplicated by anyone else other than yourself. Your personality and character was poured into what ultimately turned out to be a thing of magnificence and purely stunning. I'm sure that I'm not alone in saying that "I would be the first in line to buy a copy of what you did". It's THAT breath taking. Exquisite, simple exquisite!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nyckid 0 Posted March 28, 2014 Now this surpasses all gen acquisition, any amount you can pay for it. This (I could be wrong)j is not about it looking more like gen, is the end result that makes you love it and feel like you own a special piece. Which, based on all the effort, it really is. Congrats and thanks for sharing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
964boy 54 Posted March 28, 2014 Incredible, I'm jealous Enjoy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnPilot 1 Posted March 28, 2014 Great work, good pics Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
