My Favourite Watch Collaboration
My Favourite Watch Collaboration
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.
She also decorated her tool box so it would stand out in the architecture studio at university.
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,
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.
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.
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.
She also decorated her tool box so it would stand out in the architecture studio at university.
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,
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.
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.
- These users thanked the author iain for the post (total 19):
- rkovars • kiter65 • Wazu • gannet • Amor Vincit Omnia • ajax87 • Bahnstormer_vRS • MistaFroggyG • Bident • nbg and 9 more users
Iain’s Law: Any discussion on the Christopher Ward forum, irrespective of the thread title or subject matter, will eventually lead to someone mentioning the Bel Canto if the thread continues for long enough.
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration
Well done all around! That is just fantastic. I would say that one is beyond price 

Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.
Jack London
Jack London
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration
Brilliant!
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- iain
Steve
Linguist; retired teacher; pilgrim; apprentice travel writer
Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. (Max Ehrmann)
Linguist; retired teacher; pilgrim; apprentice travel writer
Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. (Max Ehrmann)
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration
That's top notch, @iain
Next stop? A 3-way collaboration with @Greatpotfarm

Guy
PS> Tool Box? For Architecture? What sort of tools?
Next stop? A 3-way collaboration with @Greatpotfarm


Guy
PS> Tool Box? For Architecture? What sort of tools?
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In small proportions, we just beautie see:
And in short measures, life may perfect bee. - Ben Jonson (1572 – 1637)
Inscription on the Longitude Dial
Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 5NB, England
And in short measures, life may perfect bee. - Ben Jonson (1572 – 1637)
Inscription on the Longitude Dial
Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 5NB, England
- Bident
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration
Terrific job, Iain! I think your creation exemplifies the unique feeling of building a watch yourself. The end result can be incredibly meaningful.
Best regards,
John
John
Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration
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.Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2024 11:52 pm PS> Tool Box? For Architecture? What sort of tools?
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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- Bahnstormer_vRS
Iain’s Law: Any discussion on the Christopher Ward forum, irrespective of the thread title or subject matter, will eventually lead to someone mentioning the Bel Canto if the thread continues for long enough.
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration
Outstanding! What a treasure.
Drew
Husband👫 | Father👨👧👦 | Retired Teacher👨🏻🏫 | Traveler🛫🗺🛬 | Francophile 🇫🇷🧣🦉🐌
Husband👫 | Father👨👧👦 | Retired Teacher👨🏻🏫 | Traveler🛫🗺🛬 | Francophile 🇫🇷🧣🦉🐌
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Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration
Wow, that is beyond cool! Quite the special connection and to have it fit a very personal theme is great.
with Kung Fu grip, and life-like hair
Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration
I love all the alternative designs. The design you selected is pleasingly neutral and won't detract from actually wearing and using the watch. 

Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration
Now that’s cool.
Current collection = Omega Seamaster 2225.80.00, Omega Speedmaster 'Moonphase' 3576.50.00, Breitling Aerospace Evo, Vintage Azur, Vintage Seiko Sprtsman, Grand Seiko SBGX059, Omega SMP NTTD 210.92.42.20.01.001, Casioak Milkyway, Casioak Tiffany Sky.
Re: My Favourite Watch Collaboration
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.
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.
- These users thanked the author iain for the post (total 3):
- timepieces_and_bags • Chris375 • Bahnstormer_vRS
Iain’s Law: Any discussion on the Christopher Ward forum, irrespective of the thread title or subject matter, will eventually lead to someone mentioning the Bel Canto if the thread continues for long enough.
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