I'm not talking about non-OEM straps, but has anybody done anything with their bezels, hands, etc?

Not sure how robust the mod community is with CW, but it would be interesting to see people's projects

I don't think there is much of a mod community for CW if any at all. CW is typically clear they won't provide any parts, and as I've read others who have tried, whatever is available aftermarket isn't a good fit. Or potentially is worse quality than what's already there?

I do recall seeing a few mods though. Here's an extreme case: reviews-and-articles/liquid-filled-watc ... t4960.html

And this thread shows a few mods: general-discussion/modified-c8-power-re ... %20reserve

I don't think there are many modders out there because the availability of parts is almost 0. Also the downside is greater on a watch that is $1K over a Seiko or something to fool around with. Bident does some really good work building his own watches from aftermarket parts. Greatpotfarm also does some excellent mod work.

That being said I am all for people taking watches and making them their own. I have never really understood why the watch community looks down on the practice for the most part.

I have modded my C65 Trident GMT to make the bezel bidirectional.

ajax87 wrote: ↑Tue May 02, 2023 6:24 pm I don't think there is much of a mod community for CW if any at all. CW is typically clear they won't provide any parts, and as I've read others who have tried, whatever is available aftermarket isn't a good fit. Or potentially is worse quality than what's already there?

I do recall seeing a few mods though. Here's an extreme case: reviews-and-articles/liquid-filled-watc ... t4960.html

And this thread shows a few mods: general-discussion/modified-c8-power-re ... %20reserve

I had forgotten about Clach77's C8 mod. That was a good one.

rkovars wrote: ↑Tue May 02, 2023 6:47 pm I don't think there are many modders out there because the availability of parts is almost 0. Also the downside is greater on a watch that is $1K over a Seiko or something to fool around with. Bident does some really good work building his own watches from aftermarket parts. Greatpotfarm also does some excellent mod work.

That being said I am all for people taking watches and making them their own. I have never really understood why the watch community looks down on the practice for the most part.

I have modded my C65 Trident GMT to make the bezel bidirectional.

20210126_184742662_iOS (2).jpg

20210126_184756312_iOS (2).jpg

20210126_185236297_iOS (2).jpg

That looks pretty cool! How long did that take?

As well as the watches linked to in this thread, I have a C6 Kingfisher Automatic with a white dial. That was done by swapping dials between a C6 white and a yellow C60 Kingfisher.

Ducs4rs wrote: ↑Tue May 02, 2023 6:58 pm

rkovars wrote: ↑Tue May 02, 2023 6:47 pm I don't think there are many modders out there because the availability of parts is almost 0. Also the downside is greater on a watch that is $1K over a Seiko or something to fool around with. Bident does some really good work building his own watches from aftermarket parts. Greatpotfarm also does some excellent mod work.

That being said I am all for people taking watches and making them their own. I have never really understood why the watch community looks down on the practice for the most part.

I have modded my C65 Trident GMT to make the bezel bidirectional.

20210126_184742662_iOS (2).jpg

20210126_184756312_iOS (2).jpg

20210126_185236297_iOS (2).jpg

That looks pretty cool! How long did that take?

All told it took about 20 mins. The bezel was tough getting back on. The retaining spring inside has to sit just right otherwise it just spins off. You can just see the spring in the first pic. It isn't perfect. You would really need to get a different bezel ring. There are teeth machined on the underside that are shaped like a right triangle (first pic)to make it easy to spin in one direction and catch the spring in the opposite direction. I just tented the spring to eliminate the catch. Ideally you would want the teeth shaped more like an equilateral triangle so that it moved smoothly in both directions. Mine works fine but does turn harder clockwise than counter clockwise which I would expect.

Clach77 wrote:As well as the watches linked to in this thread, I have a C6 Kingfisher Automatic with a white dial. That was done by swapping dials between a C6 white and a yellow C60 Kingfisher.

Clach77 i vaguely remember you doing a C600 tri tech mod as well with brushed case.
And wasn't there an oil filled C6 Kingfisher not sure if that was one of yours.

Sent from my TA-1012 using Tapatalk

I do have to say that most CW are very nice, well thought out and good quality straight out of the box, so most people don't see the need for more. But with that being said, I can also understand your want for personalization.
I would like to encourage you in this endeavour, but since I have no experience with modifying CWs, my words will only reflect generalities...

Both, dials and hands depend on two things: movement caliber and case size. A dial needs to be big enough to catch on the dial lip on the inside of the case. It also needs to have the feet in the right place to attach to the movement. Hands have to be a fit to the caliber in the watch and be small enough to clear the perimeter of the case.
I don't believe it would be too hard to mod a CW once you find out the necessary dimensions.
Take the thing apart, do some measuring, find out what is available in those sizes aftermarket, and be the one to start the CW modding trend!
Keep us updated with your progress...

Clach77 wrote: ↑Tue May 02, 2023 8:01 pm As well as the watches linked to in this thread, I have a C6 Kingfisher Automatic with a white dial. That was done by swapping dials between a C6 white and a yellow C60 Kingfisher.

Wow, this is really clean

Alex r wrote: ↑Tue May 02, 2023 8:52 pm

Clach77 wrote:As well as the watches linked to in this thread, I have a C6 Kingfisher Automatic with a white dial. That was done by swapping dials between a C6 white and a yellow C60 Kingfisher.

Clach77 i vaguely remember you doing a C600 tri tech mod as well with brushed case.
And wasn't there an oil filled C6 Kingfisher not sure if that was one of yours.

Sent from my TA-1012 using Tapatalk

The C600s were me, with a bead blasted case. The oil filled C6 is linked to in the thread, and was not me.

Clach77 wrote: ↑Tue May 02, 2023 8:01 pm As well as the watches linked to in this thread, I have a C6 Kingfisher Automatic with a white dial. That was done by swapping dials between a C6 white and a yellow C60 Kingfisher.

So does that mean you also have a C6 quartz with a yellow C60 dial?

tikkathree wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2023 6:51 am

Clach77 wrote: ↑Tue May 02, 2023 8:01 pm As well as the watches linked to in this thread, I have a C6 Kingfisher Automatic with a white dial. That was done by swapping dials between a C6 white and a yellow C60 Kingfisher.

So does that mean you also have a C6 quartz with a yellow C60 dial?

Yes is does. It just sits in a box in case if I ever decide to put them back to how they were.

Greatpotfarm wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2023 2:53 am I do have to say that most CW are very nice, well thought out and good quality straight out of the box, so most people don't see the need for more.

I have no objection to people doing whatever they want with their watches, though it does seem to me to be one of the more recondite activities. Two reasons for that:

• If there was a feature of a watch that I didn’t like and felt the need to replace, I probably would not have bought the watch in the first place.

• More importantly, I have a distinct lack of practical skills, and would end up turning Aphrodite into a dismembered horological Baphomet or Chimaera. Best not to try.

@Ducs4rs - as has been suggested, there's not a huge appetite for modding CWs for reasons alluded to already in earlier posts, namely;-

1. Why change an already good product, and

2. Supply of parts is restricted as CW will not sell them.

That is not to say modding doesn't happen as my unique C11 MSL goes to show.

It started life as a standard steel case version with brushed / polished finish and was acquired locally in Detroit, MI by Jay @ MotorCity WatchWorks .

Jay decided to jazz it up a bit and went to work with Black Ceracote for the case, Red Ceracote for the crown and painting the tip of the seconds hand red as well. He then put it up For Sale on eBay as spotted by @Renton and it found it's way to me.




The finish is excellent. Unlike PVD, you lose the definition of the underlying brushed or polished finish to the (original) steel case, to give it a kind of fine bead blasted, matt finish which is consistent all over. The Cerakote application is nevertheless still quite fine, not plastered on.

The additional red detail of the seconds hand tip and crown are the icing on the cake, which are brought into focus with the red on the soft touch leather strap I'm currently using.

A couple more photos for gratuitous pleasure.






Guy