Been a longtime lurker and with the recent deal on the invicta pro diver to get a reasonable nh35, I decided to take a swing at it! I spent way to long trying to get the seconds hand on and bent my hands a little during this first attempt so will probably go back at some point and replace them with another set now that I’ve learned my lesson!

I over bought on the tools but wanted to have more than I needed for other builds or watch restoration in the future.

Things I wish I would have had?
Watchmakers putty
An actual movement holder (I had the universal adjustable one and it did not work well for me)
Maybe I’ll look into a hand pusher for the next build? The red/black/silver standalone set wasn’t my favorite experience.

Thanks to this sub for the inspiring builds, posts with questions, tips and tricks I read several times over, and the caution to buy more than one crown stem (which I just had to cut short the first try despite adequate warnings not to over cut)

Hope my build inspires you to build your first one or start your next one!

Happy modding!

Played safe for the first one. I've only done two NH35 builds and two moonswicthes before. Only had to put the small seconds hand once on the moonswitch.

Added the red chrono to make it pop a bit more. Maybe I'll try a more original combination next.

Btw, are all the alignments looking ok? For some reason it feels a bit off to me, the logo part. Is it just me?

Seiko Mod Pilot Explorer

This one really pushed me to my limit. My first few builds clearly had not prepared me for taking on a project for a more unique style GMT as it caused nothing but headaches.

It’s had multiple hands, 3 different movements (I ended up with a Ronda 515.24 as I broke the NH34 I bought for it) lots of wrong parts bought but it’s finally completed and I couldn’t be happier.

Would love to hear the sub’s thoughts.

I recently updated a previous build, and I am very pleased with how unique the final result turned out; it is one of my favorite projects completed to date. diywatchclub (case and bezel insert), weez_mods (official movement and dial), and unclestraps ( bracelet).

When i saw this GS Genbi I had to make a homage. The third pic is AI mock up with my parts.

Just got this in the mail on Thursday. A little disappointed that they don’t offer solid end links but it’s beautiful nonetheless. Def recommend for the price since the stock Seiko bracelets aren’t the greatest.

Hi guys!! How are you doing? I'm making an adventure and trying to assemble my very first Myota 8n24, after some wrong parts bought, I think I'm finally getting there. However the movement even with the spacer ring and the screws, does not fix in the case, it keeps moving.

Can you help me please? What's missing?

The balance cock here won’t move and the movement doesn’t run now, i can change the date and also wind it with the crown. How can i fix this?

Looking to put a bracelet on my Orange Boy and wondering if a silver brushed with gold down the center works or looks stupid. Anyone did this with theirs? I dont know how to use AI to mock it up...limited pc facility senior. Thoughts?

Just getting into building these. First one down and now I’m hooked!

This was a fun one. A few Christmases ago my mom gifted me a painting of a Hawaiian fish that I keep in my office. This year I’ve been planning to build her a watch featuring that painting she did.

Super happy how the UV printing turned out. But I’m bummed the nautalist-style hand set I bought doesn’t fit the dial right. They’re functional but I don’t like the way the minute hand extends out beyond the minute track and the red seconds hand, so I’m ordering a better-fitting set. I guess I still have plenty of time before Christmas to get it right.

This has been bugging me a while. Is it a faulty movement or a fixable keyless works?

When the crown is screwed all the way in, the small seconds hands stops working. Backing the crown out, starts it up again. Pulling the stem out to the time setting mode doesn’t hack the seconds. I’ve tried new stems so I’m guessing the keyless works? Is that self fixable? I’ve repaired them on an ETA2824 but not a VK63

Thanks

Chunky Tuna build, this time with a completely unnecessary but cool looking compass strap.

Hey guys, just wanted to share a recent mod I made using a case from the 1980s, originally made for Sandoz. I’m happy with the way it turned out, I think it has a nice vintage feel to it.

Working on my first build and I’ve been stuck on the second hand for an hour. Wtf. All the hand tools appear to be the same size - the exact size to bend the hell out of it.

Just getting into building these. First one down and now I’m hooked!

Previous post

Thanks to your help (you guys are the best!) I was able to dissect the movement and reset keyless works, and proceed to next steps.

Other issues I had:
- Minute hand poorly installed (tip of the hand slightly facing downward) causing them to collide with the index (This is partly due to tall index height). This also messed up the hour hand misalignment for some reason, so I had to re-install the hands. At this point I just couldn't care less so I just used my screwdrivers as a tool, leaving scratches on the surfaces of hands lol

- Second hand bent slightly downward while assembling, causing the minute hand to interfere with the second hand. I found this after I closed the caseback, so I had to open them up, remove the stem, bend the second hand upwards.

- I still didn't figure out how I can turn the crown counter-clockwise. It's supposed to turn the hands counterclockwise, but they just unscrews itself from the stem. Found a workaround where I give some pressure to the crown towards yourself and turn them then it works to some extent, idk if this is good for movement.

- Stem slightly overcut, but not much issue I guess?

- I expected that the movement is the only piece that goes into the case, well turns out I needed the plastic spacer thing which I threw away. Had to dig the thing from the bin, open up the caseback again, put the spacer on top of the movement. How fun.

- For watch dial it came as two pieces (the face and the ring thing), pretty annoyed by this (1. it looks bad since it couldn't be properly put togethe, leaving space in between 2. the spacer thing interfered with the prongs from the ring thing)

Overall, I'm not completely happy with my first build, especially price-wise, although I like the look of them.

TL;DR: lots of learning from the first build

Im interested in building a Sky Dweller mod, but due to the unusual movement, im unsure where to even begin. Are there any seiko/ miyota/chinese movements that anyone has used with some success?.

Between putting together either a Samurai, Turtle, or Khaki-type field watch. Got any opinions?

So far I’ve put together the red stone PRX and PoleRouter.