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First Watch Build, Feedback Appreciated

Tom32

By Tom32
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Tom32 Member

Tom32

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Hi all,

This is my first watch build. I started it in January 2020 with no previous experience of watches or watchmakers tools and it's been quite a learning curve but hugely enjoyable.

It runs on a Miyota 8215 movement that appears to be working well (after a few issues with hands getting stuck).

Total Cost of materials was £115.

I've never owned an automatic watch before so am enjoying wearing this, but I think the dial looks pretty bland without some form of personalisation.

I'd appreciate any thoughts on how it looks now or how others think it could be improved. I've had a great time on this project and am happy with the cost, but would be interested to hear what others think of the total cost of the build, does it seem worth it?

Cheers,

Tom

Watch 1.jpg

Watch 2.jpg

Watch 3.jpg

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watchweasol Distinguished Member

watchweasol

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A nice job very tidy. As far as "was it worth it", In my estimation YES you started knowing very little and now have a better understanding of watch anatomy. In terms of self satisfaction and accomplishment well worth it and you should rightly be proud of your achievement so a resounding   WELL DONE:Bravo:       You want your name printing on the dial where the normal logo goes as this is a first.

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Tom32 Member

Tom32

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1 hour ago, watchweasol said:

WELL DONE:Bravo:       You want your name printing on the dial where the normal logo goes as this is a first.

Thank you very much.

That would be ideal, do you have any recommendations on printing options? I've seen a few tutorials on water transfer prints that looked good.

 

 

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Tom32 Member

Tom32

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3 minutes ago, JerseyMo said:

it is not so much the cost but more of the reward to know 'you did it'.  of course now you will want to built another and another 

Exactly that, I thought I had finished it a few times in the last two months but it turned out had missed something and needed to order a new part. So to get it finished today and have it actually work was fantastic.

I have the parts for a watch suitable for use in my job on the way which I'm looking forward to putting together. Assuming that goes well, it would be a challenge to try stripping and rebuilding a movement. 

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AndyHull Distinguished Member

AndyHull

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45 minutes ago, Tom32 said:

That would be ideal, do you have any recommendations on printing options? I've seen a few tutorials on water transfer prints that looked good.

The interesting bit is trying to print white on a black dial.
Most modern print methods rely on using dark pigments on a white background (white paper).
There are some options which would allow white, gold, silver etc to be printed on a clear waterslide background, but you would need to do some experiments to see how to do this in practice.
I would suggest you look at laser toner printing and heat transfer films which bond a pigment on to the toner using heat.
There are a couple of dial printing threads on this forum that you might like to explore.

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Tom32 Member

Tom32

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9 hours ago, AndyHull said:

There are a couple of dial printing threads on this forum that you might like to explore.

I think the word 'interesting' here means challenging! I'll have to track down those threads and see what I need to give it a try, and find out what the heat could do to the dial as it is now.

Thanks Andy.

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AndyHull Distinguished Member

AndyHull

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2 hours ago, Tom32 said:

and find out what the heat could do to the dial as it is now.

That is not how the process works.

It is more akin to this.
1) Print dial designs on to clear decal slide toner paper with a laser printer, in black toner.

2) Pass said designs, still on the sheet, along with a piece of the metalised or white/coloured heat transfer film through a pouch laminating machine.  This fuses the transfer foil material to the decal paper and you should end up with a decal that has white, gold, bronze or whatever, in the places where your black toner is. 

3) You use the water slide decal in the normal way.

You can use the laser printer to do the heating, if you don't have a pouch laminator, using tape, but this is risky as you may end up with glue from the tape on your laser printer fuser rollers.

Here is one of many guides from the interwebz that shows the process done that way.

https://cedarcanyontextiles.com/outrageous-idea-transfer-foil-to-paper-with-a-laser-printer/

Note, your design is limited by the resolution of the laser printer, and these are typically around 600dpi. Inkjet printers will produce finer detail, but they cannot be used with heat transfer foils, and generally can't print white, unless you go for some very specialised and expensive printers and inks.

 

 

 

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Tom32 Member

Tom32

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6 hours ago, AndyHull said:

That is not how the process works.

Ah I see, thank you for the link.

I'll need to decide on the design (and then find the software to create it), but I think this option definitely has legs.

I've ordered a few spare dials so I'll have these to practice on. I'll be sure to post the results.

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Tom32 Member

Tom32

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4 hours ago, Watchtime said:

really nice project you have completed here. And that without any experience..wow:thumbsu:

Thanks very much, I did have a lot of help from this forum and spent plenty of time trawling the internet for guidance. It's been a hugely satisfying endeavour.

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Tom32 Member

Tom32

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19 minutes ago, AndyHull said:

Also worth a read is this thread.

Thank you. This is exactly the thread I was looking for. I read it in January but lost the bookmark.

I appreciate the software recommendations as well, looks like a productive weekend ahead!

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