My Favourite Watch Collaboration

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iain
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My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by iain »

Not too long ago I shared my watch building story, warts and all, when I put together my orange Seiko SKX. I said at the time I might tackle something else at some point and I’d been thinking long and hard about what to do.

A couple of forum watches have inspired my latest build. Bjorn has his reverso that JLC engraved with a drawing made by his daughter. Dan has been making watches with pictured dials as part of his GPF range as well so I decided to have a go at something along similar lines.

My daughter has always been quite arty from a very young age. Arts and craft materials, coloured pens, paints, and drawing paper were regular Christmas and birthday presents for as long as I can remember. She is now at university studying architecture and I thought it would be good for us to combine our efforts and make something special that I’d treasure for years to come.

She has developed something of a signature with the use of plants in a lot of her work. She embroidered her jeans with leaves.

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She also decorated her tool box so it would stand out in the architecture studio at university.

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So we decided a leaf design would be good for a watch dial. I drew round a dial blank to give her an idea of scale and she tried some designs to see what worked and what didn’t,

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When we finalised the concept she took a dial blank and painted a green ombré finish and then added the plant design. The stem of the plant is at 6 with the tips of the larger leaves pointing to 3, 9, and 12.

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The rest of the watch I bought from Namoki mods in Singapore and went for their Nautilus inspired case. It is sized to fit all Seiko SKX parts so the stainless chapter ring, flat sapphire crystal, crown, stem, caseback and NH35 movement are all basic Seiko after market parts.

Here is the finished product and while it is probably my cheapest watch, it is my most valuable and one I’ll treasure.

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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by rkovars »

Well done all around! That is just fantastic. I would say that one is beyond price :thumbup:
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by gannet »

That a great watch for many reasons, love it :thumbsup:
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

Brilliant!
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

That's top notch, @iain

Next stop? A 3-way collaboration with @Greatpotfarm :wink: :wink:

Guy

PS> Tool Box? For Architecture? What sort of tools?
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by Bident »

Terrific job, Iain! I think your creation exemplifies the unique feeling of building a watch yourself. The end result can be incredibly meaningful.
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by iain »

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Sun Jun 23, 2024 11:52 pm PS> Tool Box? For Architecture? What sort of tools?
Model making. A large part of the design process is building scale models. She didn’t need a toolbox that size, but the instructions said it had to be lockable as they are left in the university which limited our choices. Almost every student bought the exact same box which is why she needed to make hers stand out.

It’s mostly measuring, cutting, and drawing implements but there’s a few more practical tools not needed for her course that are just useful to have.
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by jkbarnes »

Outstanding! What a treasure.
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by Andyshall »

Excellent stuff and better than Bamford !
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by thomcat00 »

Wow, that is beyond cool! Quite the special connection and to have it fit a very personal theme is great.
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by JAFO »

I love all the alternative designs. The design you selected is pleasingly neutral and won't detract from actually wearing and using the watch. :D
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by nbg »

A very clever design Iain. :thumbup:

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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by golfjunky »

Now that’s cool.
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by angusbon »

Just fantastic Iain, thanks for sharing.
Can she do one for me


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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration

Post by iain »

I’ve been struggling with this watch and deciding what strap/bracelet to wear it on.

Namoki who sell the case offer two bracelet options and I bought the oyster version but didn’t get on with the cheap Seiko style pressed clasp.

I tried a fitted rubber off eBay and it didn’t match the case very well but did come with a nice quality Rolex copy clasp without any branding. It even has the same glidelock mechanism but isn’t a well finished as the real article. However overall quality wise it was better than I was expecting and something I was more than happy with.

Now if only there was a way I could marry up the Namoki oyster bracelet with this clasp. Sadly while the links matched, the holes and screws are different sizes so it wasn’t possible……..

Or was it?

The screws enter one side of the clasp and screw into the opposite side. The mid part where it joins the next link it only has to pass through. A quick eBay purchase of a 1.8mm hardened drill bit and I was ready to tackle it.

I drilled through the centre of two of the links so the wider screw from the clasp would pass through without catching. This took longer than expected as the drill bits heated up and I had no coolant at home to assist. Stainless steel is quite a hard material to drill through.

Eventually I got through and fitted the clasp on to each end of the bracelet and here is the final result. I’m really happy with this now and it’s starting to get a lot more wear now I’ve found the perfect bracelet/clasp combo. I did brush out the bracelet as it had a polished centre section that didn’t match the bracelet.

Here are a few photos and if you look carefully at the one taken of the bracelet side you can see the screws differing in size. I know I scratched the side when doing this and I will sort that at some point but right now I’m just happy wearing the watch.


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