Extensive Modifications ...

[Ikemi]

Things are a bit slow at work at the moment (at least that is my excuse for creating this topic), and when things get slow at work, my mind wanders. I'm just putting this out there to mull over the responses, but not necessarily scrambling for my credit card

Basically, this idea was spurred on by the various posts on the £50 watch thread. I thought it might be fun to take the textured dial Parnis Power Reserve (as below) and give it the 'phantom' treatment. So, the watch in question:



I'm thinking:

-PVD/DLC coat the case
-Replace existing crown with a 'flat end' crown
-Remove second hand
-PVD the 'bridge' across the open heart, as well as the rotating 'bit'
-Black lume on all hands
-Do something with the hour markers ... Black lume?
-Remove 'automatic' script and add 'phantom' ... I dunno?

So, would Bry be the best person to talk to, or do you know of any others who could do the above? Also, how much do you think it would cost to carry out? It's a £50 watch, so I could probably spend another £350 or so. I think it would look quite cool, in a 'piece unique' sort of way. I wish I had good photoshop skills ...

[CardShark]

What about the white minute, date and power markers?

I used Jay at MCWW for my Seiko mod. He doesn't do PVD but does use cerakote, a ceramic based paint, that's applied and then oven baked to cure and harden. I don't wear my mod too much TBH so can't comment through first had experience as to how durable it is but ceroke finishing is used on firemarms and supposed to be very tough, it also has a satin type of finish to it. He's a friendly chap who'd give you a quote I'm sure. Your budget sounds about right (for cerakote and the other work), I found that the PVD quotes I got were bloody horrendous, though I didn't get one from Bry. The downer with Jay though is that he's *very* busy and only does watch work part time on top of his FT job, my mod took around 10-12 weeks IIRC.

I think it'd look pretty

And what line of work are you in?

ETA that it's actually a fine looking watch in it's own right...

Edited by CardShark on Thursday 5th April 13:25

[RichTT]

Why on earth would you want to spend £350+ modifying a £50 Tao watch?? Why not at least start with a decent watch?

[CardShark]

My mod cost a quite a sizeable chunk on top of the base watch itself, literally everything was modded except for the movement, but a bit like cars there's no way you'd make your money back on the modifications themselves.

I was prepared to do it once as I wanted to create my own, quite possibly *completely* unique, watch and while I have no regrets it's not something that I'd do again, to that extent anyway.

[Ikemi]

CardShark said:

What about the white minute, date and power markers?

I used Jay at MCWW for my Seiko mod. He doesn't do PVD but does use cerakote, a ceramic based paint, that's applied and then oven baked to cure and harden. I don't wear my mod too much TBH so can't comment through first had experience as to how durable it is but ceroke finishing is used on firemarms and supposed to be very tough, it also has a satin type of finish to it. He's a friendly chap who'd give you a quote I'm sure. Your budget sounds about right (for cerakote and the other work), I found that the PVD quotes I got were bloody horrendous, though I didn't get one from Bry. The downer with Jay though is that he's *very* busy and only does watch work part time on top of his FT job, my mod took around 10-12 weeks IIRC.

I think it'd look pretty

ETA that it's actually a fine looking watch in it's own right...

Cheers for the link to MCWW! I've never heard of Jay before, but it looks his work is spot on and exactly what I'd need if I went ahead with this idea. Interesting to see there are various colours of cerakote too

It's not a bad looking watch from the offset, but just a little too shiny for me. Perhaps a satin finish on the case alone might do the trick! I'm liking the idea of white minute hand and date/pr hands though ... It would give a nice contrast against a mostly black watch

CardShark said:

And what line of work are you in?

IT ... I could probably find something to do, but I'm feeling a little ... meh!

[Ikemi]

RichTT said:

Why on earth would you want to spend £350+ modifying a £50 Tao watch?? Why not at least start with a decent watch?

As CardShark says, it's a bit of fun and the end result is a unique piece personalised to your own tastes. Although once complete, if I did ever sell it, the watch would never return what I paid for it. It's the reason why I wouldn't modify any of my decent watches ... You're more likely to devalue them by doing so!



ETA: Actually, a satin finish across the entire case, a crown change, and a new strap might be just the ticket

Edited by Ikemi on Thursday 5th April 14:04

[CardShark]

No worries

Think I may have to pick out my own mod from the watch box today...

Edited by CardShark on Thursday 5th April 14:16