Skip to main content

My Watch Making Journey: Part 2 - The Movement and Dial

 The plan was relatively simple. I had outlined the process I was suppose to do in my head as follow.

  1. Attach the dial to the movement. 
  2. Attach the hands to the movement. 
  3. Put the assembled unit (movement, dial, hands) into the case. 
  4. Trim the winding stem to size and attach the crown and screw on the case back.
All was set. I readied my 5x loupe, set my tools, wore my gloves, and started with the movement and dial.

It was relatively easy to attach the dial to the movement. The dial had pins that would fit through gaps on the movement edge and would firmly attach using screws that would pinch the dial pins against the movement. The movement was supplied with a small spacer so that the dial will not foul up the date complication. On some movements, this spacer is not needed, but for this type, it is definitely a must. This was a relatively easy install. I got a bit more confident after this.

Loosening one of the screws that hold the dial pins.
Movement: Seagull 2813.

Since there are a lot of makers of this type of movement, it is quite hard to say for sure if the movement was really made by Seagull. Other makers are DG and Mingzhu. Since the online seller has Seagull in his posting, I will consider this a Seagull movement.

The Dial.

Sterile white dial that is clearly inspired by Rolex. I opted for the sterile dial (no branding or lettering), because my build would become a replica/fake if there was any sort of branding on the dial. It would effectively make my project illegal. While the design copies heavily on a popular brand, the lack of any branding makes the watch a homage rather than a counterfeit. Some may be uncomfortable with homage watches which is understandable. I on the other hand, am not. Personally, as long as a watch is not a replica (complete with branding and all), I don't have anything against it.

It's been said many times, but allow me to make it clear.

"REPLICA WATCHES ARE ILLEGAL! DO NOT BUY OR EVEN ATTEMPT TO MAKE THEM!!!"

With that out of the way, let's move on.

Dial Spacer. Cutouts on the spacer correspond to the dial pins.

The dial spacer is needed to lift the dial from the movement ever so slightly so as not to touch the calendar wheel. Without this spacer, the calendar wheel will not be able to advance potentially ruining the movement.

Spacer installed on the dial.



Dial installed on the movement. Here I'm advancing the time until the date changes which signify 12 Midnight. You will see the importance of that in a future post.

Step one done! I told myself that the rest would be relatively easy after this.

To be continued...

Enjoy!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Watch Review: Citizen Eagle 7

While Seiko has the "5", Citizen has the "7". Also called the Eagle 7, this must be Citizen's answer to the popular Seiko 5 line. Though, I'm uncertain if the Eagle 7 lineup is as extensive as the Seiko 5's, the watches I have seen are quite good looking. And like the Seiko 5's, it has a myriad of different flavors and styles. I got this one from the used market earlier this year (2018). It was an accidental purchase because I was not counting on it being gold. The posted photos looked silver to me and there was no mention of it being gold. I was uncomfortably surprised when I saw the watch in person and by then it was too late to cancel the deal. Here it is, my Citizen Eagle 7. It came with a metal bracelet, but it was missing the end link. I scrapped the bracelet and got a black leather strap for this. It has a black dial with stripes, a day & date complication. It has that iconic eagle badge with a red shield. In the middle of the shiel
2 comments
Read more

Watch Review: 1974 Citizen Automatic Calibre 6501

My father gave me this watch sometime in 1993. I was in grade school and back then all of my classmates had those really colorful digital watches. I didn't mind though. I reveled in the thought that my watch didn't need any batteries. My classmates would look at me in confusion as I tried to explain that my watch didn't need batteries because it was an automatic. Of course back then, I didn't care about brands or movements or what "jewels" meant for a watch. It was just cool to brag about a watch with no batteries. I don't know where my father got this watch. He also couldn't remember how this came into his possession. It was obviously pre-owned since there was some name engraved on the clasp. By the time I was given this watch, it was already pretty scuffed. Of course in the years that followed, I also added to those dings and scratches. I've tried searching the internet for a similar one, but so far I have not found any. There is also no spec
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch Review: 2016 Winner Skeleton Mechanical Watch

Before I share to you my highly opinionated and very personal review, let me get a few things out of the way. I am not a watch critic. I am a watch enthusiast. I have little experience in reviewing watches and what I write in this post is not the "law". I have little technical knowledge about watches. If I happen to mention or mislabel some parts in the watch, please be kind. I am not recommending any brands nor is this blog backed by any watch brand or manufacturer. Let's start. I purchased a watch online back in March, 2018. It's a mechanical dress watch that is made in, you guessed it, China. A very affordable, manual wind, mechanical watch that caught my eye mostly because it didn't look half bad, with the skeleton movement and display back, and mainly because it was a manual wind and not an automatic. This one was not my first choice, but it turned out to be for the best since I now realize my first choice was not very coherent in terms of its colo
1 comment
Read more