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The Glycine Incursore California 3901 is easily my most worn and favoured watch. The best thing about it is the dial and AR coated crystal. The worse thing about it is the crystal is mineral and the most easily scratched one I have ever known. I have scratched it and polished the scratches out so many times I guess I weakened it because one morning a crack appeared and spread like a windscreen chip. I contacted Glycine who told me to send it to INVICTA in Holland. I contacted INVICTA for a quote and was told the replacement crystal would be Sapphire but it would not be AR coated. The price £190 + £48 Handling + £??? Labour + Shipping......OUCH So I set about sourcing a new crystal. Not easy because it is a custom size. I managed to remove the old one without it breaking in two and spent a good hour measuring everything. Found an Optics company in China with the correct size Sapphire crystal. I had my doubts as it was only $22 including shipping, but it arrived and I noticed immediately that it felt far denser and more substantial than the old mineral. The next thing to do was to try and get the crystal AR coated. I fired off several mails to UK companies and was delighted to get a call from the MD of a company here in the UK who said he could do it. The price was so reasonable that I sent it off immediately. While the crystal was away I realised that my Bergeon 5500 set did not contain the right sizes to do a proper job. With all my measurements I decided to make a jig that was precise to limit the risk of crushing the sapphire. I have had a 3D printer for a while, I bought it to try and prototype watch designs but I have used it increasingly to make tools and jigs to do other jobs. You get a little shrinkage with 3D printing so a gasket on the base was necessary to grip the case perfectly. I used the original gasket as it was bespoke, 0.5mm thick I-Ring. I have a plan of how to print these in Hytrel in the future but it was in good condition and two weeks out of the watch it had relaxed back to its original dimensions. So the crystal came back a week later and I was very impressed. The MD confirmed it was very high quality sapphire because he had measured the refraction? So I put the watch back together having taken some time to clean the case and case back, new gaskets and silicone and the watch is done. I am only able to pressure test to 3 Bar with my Bergeon kit....but it held and is good enough for me. This did not cost anywhere near the price quoted...nothing like it!

Finally, and to mark the occasion of my big Six-Oh, I have my holy grail watch. It is the wonderful Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Grande Taille in steel - fitted to the lovely beads of rice bracelet. I have been admiring and coveting the Reverso since I got into watches while I was still at school! Superelegant and gorgeous. It’s been admired by dozens of folks already and I’ve only had it a few days. I promise to take some really decent pics but in the meantime...

Its a jlc day today

The results of yesterday's trip to Nottingham. [emoji16] Sent from my HRY-LX1 using Tapatalk

Good morning everyone. Going with this Rolex Explorer Precision today.

Seiko 6319

Happy Birthday .As it's your bithday and MINE I have this on

Good morning everyone, going with this Omega Geneve, calibre 1012, from circa 1973 today.

#speedytuesday

Major new arrival for me I've wanted one of these for years. Now I have one.

A company contacted me a few weeks ago with regards to buying the forum. They offered me a nice little bit of money but they wanted to use it to make money with advertising. They would have probably changed it too much and I would have regretted it To be honest I couldn't do it. If anyone else is reading this and is interested in purchasing the forum then please don't try to tempt me as the forum belongs to its members and is NOT for sale. Unless it's a six figure sum

#seamastersaturday Gecko says hello:

Good morning all, giving this silver cushion cased watch from 1929 a turn today.

SMP Ti Ref. 2232.80.00 Omega caliber 1120.

So it appears looking around that quite a few folks have new arrivals today - thought it might be nice to have a bit of a showcase for them. I got a real shock this morning, last box out from under the tree was this little beauty: Way beyond what I was expecting from my wonderful wife. Over the moon with it! Also this from a close colleague at work - seen it pop up a lot on here over the last little while, now I get to see inside!! ..So what has anyone else found under the tree this morning?

Been a busy few weeks particularly playing host to extended family over Christmas However this gave me the opportunity to pass the begging bowel round to fund my next timepiece, which I hoped (at the time) would be a C60 APEX available at a suitable discount in potential/imminent sale ? But, this happened to cross my tracks first (pun intended) & after a couple of email exchanges a price was agreed. 2018 Omega Seamaster AT RAILMASTER. Cal: Co-Axial 8806, 35 jewel, 15,000 Gauss. Width 40mm, Length 46mm, Lug width 20mm, Height 12mm. Supplied with unused bracelet & additional new strap... Case back is secured by Omega's "Naiad Lock" system (patent pending), this allows case back to be screwed on & centered every time. The dial is brushed & gives two very distinct appearances depending on the angle viewed... On the wrist... So far I'm delighted with my choice. Thanks for looking

Merry Christmas everyone! My Grandfather's watch today

Good morning everyone, going with this Omega, 2nd World War Air Ministry issue, 6B/159, calibre 30SCT2 today.

A very good morning to everyone. Giving this Omega Geneve Dynamic a turn today.

Having wanted a Seiko 'Dancing Hands' watch for a long while, I eventually got lucky and found the exact model I was after a week or so ago. The watch had been fairly extensively worn, then put away in a drawer (with the battery removed) about 8 years ago. The module fired up and works perfectly after I fitted a new battery, but cosmetically, the watch was in pretty poor shape. The two tone bracelet, while still showing a good amount of the plating on the intermediate links was fairly scratched up, as was the clasp. While the crystal was relatively unscathed, the cyclops was almost opaque, and of course there was the usual build up of wrist crud and DNA all over. So I set to, and had a go at bringing it back from the brink. These watches which date originally from 1988 were unusual in that they contain 4 stepper motors, and all adjustments to the hands and date are done via the two pushers on the left hand side. The crown does nothing apart from move the selector at 6 o'clock round to the various functions. The watch features normal time, chronograph, alarm, countdown timer and month indication, where all three hands point to the relevant month printed on the rehaut. Another unusual feature is that when the timer is selected and set, the hands move counterclockwise as they count down, until an alarm sounds at the given time. In demo mode it shows the famous 'dancing hands' which identify that all the motors are working. This is model 6M25-6000, the sports version of the watch with a two tone bracelet and bezel markers. There were several other versions produced. This one dates from March 1993. This is the watch as recieved. Here, I have removed the bracelet, ready for the ultrasonic m/c. Here's the bracelet in the ultrasonic, before switching on...nice clean water! ...and after a 3 minute cycle...eueeeeew! The black patches on the bottom are the dirt that's come out! First to come off is the bezel...look at the crud under there! Here, the circular bezel click spring has been removed, and there's still more crud under that! Over to the back, and here's the serial number showing a date of March 1993. Back off, and a little press on this lever with the forceps and the stem slides out... Followed by the spacer ring... ...and finally, the dial and module. Next to remove are the pushers which will have loads of muck under them. Two tiny 'C' clips secure them in the case...they just need pushing off. And here they are removed...I've stripped one of them down here, ready for the ultrasonic...the Q tip is for size comparison. Note the fluff and crud on the spring. This is the cyclops before attempting to polish out the scratches. I could have bought a new one from Cousins for a couple of quid, but the UV glue and a UV light to set it would have been over £50. These scratches are fairly deep, and I know I won't get them all out, but I'll try coarse and fine polishing compounds on a felt mop in the Dremel and see what happens. This is the final result after about 15 minutes gentle polishing. I had to keep stopping and let it cool down as I didn't want the glue to melt and lose the cyclops. It's way better, but there's one really deep pit that won't come out and a slight distortion of the numbers, but I can live with that. Reassembly time! Here're the parts after going through the ultrasonic. First, the pushers are reassembled, a tiny bit of silicone grease applied and inserted into the case.The most difficult part is getting the 'C' clips back on! The inside of the crystal is cleaned, the module replaced, followed by the spacer ring and crown. Here, I'm using a bit of Rodico (very similar to Blu Tack) to remove finger marks from the module plates, before greasing the gasket and screwing the caseback on. Over to the front, and the now pristine click spring is replaced, before pressing on the bezel. Here you can see that while now clear, there is a slight distortion on the cyclops. (2nd pic) Finally, the bracelet was carefully rubbed on some 1200, then 1500 grit wet and dry paper, followed by a scotchbrite pad to remove the worst of the scratches...I was particularly pleased with the way the clasp cleaned up with hardly any scratches noticable. ...and on the wrist! Hope some of you found that useful. I was going to make a video of the dancing hands and various other functions, but there's already a good video on Youtube...slightly different model, but mine does exactly the same.

I bet you can't wait to see my big date! (It's the only one I'll have today, unfortunately ) Enjoy yours, at least I have a couple of presents to unwrap!

Many happy returns! I am wearing my vintage Junghans Tank circa 1939

Spikey Saturday

Morning all Circa1980 BUCHERER. Cal: 6050, 21 jewel.

Feeling hench after falling on some rocks last night so DSSD it is: My injuries weren’t in vain as I got some great shots:

Just arrived. This is a very rare Russian watch - no crumby lume, flying bombs, tanks, rockets, soviet heroes, crests or flags on the dial! Just perfection. Never taking it off ... Have a great day - I will!

From 1966...

Have a happy Monday watch fans. I am wearing this vintage Seiko Sea horse circa 1966 this morning

Tag heuer Monaco Steve McQueen for me today

A 1980's heuer for me today

This is my most long standing watch and still my favourite. Have a good Friday.

Have a great Friday watch fans, I am wearing my vintage Seiko Sea horse automatic, circa 1966 this morning

Something a little sporty to mark the start of the Formula 1 season. Breitling Datora

Morning all 1974 CERTINA. Cal: 28-10, 17 jewel.

Vintage Seiko today .

Starting out with an old favourite, my Seiko 6139-6002 Pepsi from 1975.

Morning guys hope its a good one for you all!

Fascinating simplicity. Dresses "up" superbly (one of my two options for black tie), and "down" without effort. Senator "Excellence". 40mm s/s. GO Kaliber 36-01 automatic. Today's pic: And, older pics: .

Greetings watch fans, my Frederique Constant big date, dual time this morning

Giving this 9ct Longines, calibre 370, from 1970 a turn today.

Has anyone spotted my Tudor...? ( Click for Hi-Rez)

The Tudor Black Bay 41. The photos do not do the watch justice. The watch is a great example of understated elegance. Happy Christmas.

Glycine today. HAGWE TWF

As a point of interest, the type of watch you refer to I will service "Free of any charges" my way of giving something back to a profession that give so much to me, as a child. If you need my assistance, just shout.

Merry Christmas TWF. For those lucky enough to receive new watches today, how about showing us today’s new arrivals? I was lucky to get this lovely Fortis Official Cosmonauts Day Date Automatic. Cal. ETA 2836-2 , 25 jewels: Have a great Christmas all!