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Have you had success with dial dots?


phydaux

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For my first build I want to turn a 6497 movement into a pocket watch.  I've sourced all the parts, but I can't find a pocket watch dial for the 6497 movement.  That means the watch I end up with will be a sidewinder.  

Then I was doing some reading and was introduced to the idea of Dial Dots.  I could use the dial I want to use, cut off the dial feat, and adhere the dial to the movement with dial dots.  Far better than the Gorilla Glue stories I see on here so often.

Has anyone used Dial Dots before, and have you had good success?

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I have used them many years ago. Just make sure you place the dial right in the center of the hour wheel and cannon pinion. With a skeleton movement you need to find a good place so the dots do not interfere with the working movement. 

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I have used them once. I had  quartz watch which has a hologram on the glass which I bought in the late 1990s.

I found it a year ago and the cheap quartz movement in it no longer ticked so I bought a replacement movement and when I pulled the watch apart discovered the dial had no dial feet and had been held on with dial dots.

I fitted new dial dots and it has been fine. Not to mention the old dial dots held the dial in place with no issues for 20 years.

They would be my last resort, but if applied properly they do work.

Good luck with your project.

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7 hours ago, rogart63 said:

There is a few dials for the unitas 6497 but not in the style you are after? 

All the dials for 6497 that I have been able to find have the stem at 3 and the second hand at 9.  That's fine for a "sidewinder" pocket watch, but historically sidewinders had hunter cases, and I want an open face with a display back, and usually those were made with the stem at 12.

If I put a 6498 dial on a 6497 movement than it would have the stem at 12 and the minute hand at 6, which is what I want.  But the dial feet wouldn't line up.  So I'm thinking I could clip off the dial feet and use dial dots.  If you look at the movement above it looks like the holes for the dial feet are at 3-ish and 6-ish.  There also looks like another nice spot at 9-ish.

Although I'm thinking that, if I use the case from above, I might be better off going with no dial at all.  I ALSO think I'd be better off with a gold skeletonized & engraved movement.  And some nice black hands.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi

 

I use double sided tape that I cut to the shape needed for the particular application. It is strong enough to hold down a dial but with the tape cut into thin strips it allows for easy removal of the dial again when required thus avoiding damaging the dial.

 

Hope this helps.

Andy

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  • 2 weeks later...


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