Building a watch from scratch

after drooling over the Mido yesterday



It got me thinking could I build a watch from scratch ? I think I have the skillset to put all the requirements together but where would I start ? I would require the following parts and all these parts would need to be compatible with each other

Dial
Hands
Movement ( Quartz or Auto )
Case
Strap / Bracelet

where would one start with a project like this ? Do I stick with my current style of a diver watch or do I go military like the Mido ? I think I will start by looking at dials and find a dial that I like .
I plan of staying away from Seiko as I think there will be more choice of dials and cases etc

I quite like the style and colouring of this dial



The description states it is suitable for a Miyota 8205/8215,Mingzhu DG2813/3804  

I will keep looking though I still have an urge to build a blue watch ie blue dial and bezel insert I have had this urge since I modded my Invicta

The good thing with this little project is if I do continue it and follow it through to the end I do not need to rush with any of it and I will not be buying any parts until the begining of next year as the christmas shopping is already underway and that takes priority

I think that is a great idea John.

I have been thinking along the same lines myself, it's just finding suppliers for parts and making sure that they are compatible.

For me the hardest part may be deciding what style, colours, etc, etc

Best of luck, I watch this with great interest

firstly i think you are wrong to assume there will be more aftermarket dials that the Seiko ones.......... sorry there isnt..trust me

what you will be looking at are asian made dials and cases etc, the dials and cases are limited in styles so it is really down to hand set styles to change things up a bit

here are some available.
very much a Tudor style, but you can chop and change dials and handsets.........there are almost limitless handsets out there


i like this one, you could go down the vintage look with this one

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fit-2824-2836-movement-43mm-black-ceramic-bezel-sapphire-glass-watch-case-83/322236590674?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D22ad4bee417c4a71a84f1c304b130092%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D331860409099&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

its worth noting that if you go down this self build route it ius unlickly you will find an aftermarket case that will house a Seiko movement, 99.9% will take a DG2813, Miyota 8*** series or ETA 2824 and their clones, sadly i dont think any can take the lovely Miyota 9015 yet, but i live in hope for the future

you can buy swiss case sets, but they carry Swiss price tags like this one


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/case-and-bracelet-stainless-steel-Diver-set-for-movement-2824-2-ETA/182148098700?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

and if you wanted to keep it 100% swiss adding a movement would take the build north of £300

domecurb wrote:firstly i think you are wrong to assume there will be more aftermarket dials thatn the Seiko ones..........there isnt..trust me

I think I may have worded it wrong what I meant was I thought it would be easier to get a case for an after market dial rather than being restricted to just Seiko cases

edited my first post as i posted too quick

Funny that you should show this as I have a few blue dials currntly in my Ebay watch list







I like how the Insert on the case you showed looks old/vintage .

I could possibly put a dial in the oven for a bit I have read that this ages a dial slightly and then spray over it with matt lacquer to take away the gloss shine

you need to watch if you get a sandwich dial as any movement you get will need a longer cannon pinion to cope with the extra thickness or you wont be able to fit you hour hand .....which wouldnt be good [ unless you are one of the strange people that like one handed watches ]

domecurb wrote:you need to watch if you get a sandwich dial as any movement you get will need a longer cannon pinion to cope with the extra thickness or you wont be able to fit you hour hand .....which wouldnt be good [ unless you are one of the strange people that like one handed watches ]

I quite liked the Sandwich dial but will scrap it as I am not messing about with movements.

I have found one from Tiger Concepts that I quite like

That sandwich dial is very James Bond

I have again been looking at this Idea and after being pointed out to me that it may be better to buy a pre built watch that has already passed a QC check and is know that all is working as it should so maybe a complete fresh build is not the way to go plus by the time all the parts are purchased it could end up being quite pricey .
The idea now is to buy a pre built watch and change the dial hands and bezel insert . I think the best candidate for this project is another Invicta 8926OB I reaally like my current Invicta especially after all the facelifts it has had they are a great watch for the price especially if a preowned one can be bought they run a good seiko nh35a movement and come with diplay case back which I like .

Here is what I am thinking and yes it is going to be blue as I seem to still be going through my blue dial phase

Invicta 8926OB



A blue dial probably one of these two





White snowflake hands



finally a blue bezel insert



On the Invicta case they have engraved the Invicta name and I have seen people polish this out so that may be a possibility also debrand the crown

Daz wrote:That sandwich dial is very James Bond

the good thing about the invicta is the amount of dials and handsets available.
my only word of caution is the is the removal of the INVICTA engraving, it is very deep and involves removing a huge amount of metal from the case which will leave it lopsided plus its very difficult to do succesfully .....IMO the only practical method is to get the engraving filled by Tig welding and ground down to case level
obviously the case will have to be fully dismantled before hand, the other method WILL damage the case beyond repair