Leaderboard

In addition to repairing a few watches (Sekonda alarm and Poljot chrono), I've taken an interested in modding watches too. So far I've made an Omega X-33 homage (out of a Pulsar), a Tudor Black Bay homage (out of an Invicta), and now my latest, an homage to both the Rolex Milsub and Rolex Explorer built from an Orient Chicane. I call it the Adventurer, and have been wearing it since I completed it on Sunday. I first put it on a brown RIOS alligator pattern strap I had on hand. This looked good on the original Chicane with its burgundy dial, but not so good on the Adventurer. I'm considering sourcing a black strap for it, either alligator patterned or smooth. Next I transferred it to the stock folded-link Orient bracelet, which I had brushed to get rid of the shiny narrow parts of the links. Looks okay, but a bit busy, and the bracelet is terrible. Here's a close-up of the dial. Unlike my Black Bay homage, which used a pre-made dial, this dial is completely home-made. One of my goals with this watch was to make it easily legible both day and night, even to my 50 year old eyes without my reading glasses on. As such, it has very high contrast, and killer lume (on the indices - I wanted to get better hands for it). The dial is patterned directly after that of a Rolex Submariner, but because this 39mm Explorer-style watch case has such a thin bezel, the dial is much bigger (and thus easier to see) than the one on a 40mm Sub.

I use the Dremel carefully on stainless steel, cotton mop & polish on the shiny bits, scotchbrite type attachment for the brushed bits. Results are good.

The problem you may run into is matching the grain you currently have. The watch would originally have been finished with an abrasive wheel mounted on a motor and spinning at quite a speed. And this will be quite difficult to emulate with some emery paper, not impossible, but difficult. Geo gave good advise regarding a practice piece. But when it comes to this watch I would think carefully as it will be easy to make it look worse as getting straight lines takes a lot of practice. Therefore, as mentioned, test piece is essential. I would also be careful with the glass as the abrasive you use can actually scratch the glass as well. Nice watch by the way :)