# Fairwater Take 2



## solex (May 31, 2013)

Here is my latest rendition of Fairwater, the circles and 12'oclock markers will be painted by hand with luminous paint.

Comments welcomed and appreciated.

I'm going to make my own dial blank out of galvanized steel, this is what I have lying around, is there any reason why I should not just go out an buy some sheet brass?


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## dspt (Apr 18, 2014)

I like what I see a lot! really great combo of long minute dashes and circles. Not 100% sure about the 12 o'clock markers. They don't look exactly in proportion with the rest of the dial
also "FairWater" and "Automatic" could use some letter kerning.


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## KJRye (Jul 28, 2014)

I think if you distinguish the markers at 3-6-9 a little from the rest of the circles, it would help the dial "pop" a little more.

Maybe oblong/oval them out, or increase the size slightly...not really sure, but something to differentiate them would look good in my opinion!


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## CJVvermont (Nov 25, 2016)

Round the edges off at the 12 o'clock marker just slightly more. Otherwise it's a great design.


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## dimman (Feb 10, 2013)

Negatives: It could become magnetized and end up magnetizing the movement. Slight rust chance.

Positives: Free.


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

Thank you for the comments.

Here are a few more drawings. On the tooth I made the 3-6-9 slightly bigger.


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## dspt (Apr 18, 2014)

Would you mind me asking why don't you just use the logo-blossom-flower as the 12o'clock marker?


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

I was thinking about it, my only reservation is that it would be very difficult to paint by hand with luminous paint


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

I think we have a winner


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## Hirwill (Sep 10, 2016)

A neat design Solex! I like your decision to put the flower as the 12 o clock marker. I also like the chosen font for Fairwater, it really gives me a diving feel.

For my own taste I would reduce and compress the text to about half the size.

Will be interesting to see your dial in a case. What kind of case will you choos for this one?


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## heb (Feb 24, 2006)

The long & short chapters are visually distracting. I give you credit for NOT putting in those 4 subchapters between each minute chapter; it is, afterall, not a chronograph.

Good luck with your design.

heb


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## dspt (Apr 18, 2014)

if you worry about painting the flower, you can try making it even bigger. I think the design will allow this, covering about +20 degrees


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

Hirwill said:


> A neat design Solex! I like your decision to put the flower as the 12 o clock marker. I also like the chosen font for Fairwater, it really gives me a diving feel.
> 
> For my own taste I would reduce and compress the text to about half the size.
> 
> Will be interesting to see your dial in a case. What kind of case will you choos for this one?


Thank you, I will be using a Planet Ocean type case


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

dspt said:


> if you worry about painting the flower, you can try making it even bigger. I think the design will allow this, covering about +20 degrees


When I print it out I will see if my oiler will allow me to paint


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## Time is an excuse (Jun 5, 2016)

Great work! I really get the diver feel with a twist.
I would loose the small minute markers before and after the 3-6-9-12 markers. 

Just to give it a bit more air!

Good luck


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

Thank you again, here is another rendering


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## dspt (Apr 18, 2014)

my personal favorite would look like this
but on this stage it's nice to see the hands. What hands do you plan to use here?


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

dspt said:


> my personal favorite would look like this
> but on this stage it's nice to see the hands. What hands do you plan to use here?


I plan on using Polunger hands, I put back the longer indices because I thought the dial was looking sparse. I will post pictures soon, I just printed the dial and will need to apply some clear.

Thank you


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

After 3 tries to get the dial right I'm finally finished and pleased with the results. Here is the procedure I followed:

The Dial


Fabricated a 31 mm blank dial from sheet brass 0.015" thick and installed dial feet
Painted the dial white and wet sanded with 3000 grit
Printed the dial on white water-slide decal on a 1200 dpi printer. The decal was painted with several coats of clear prior cutting or affixing to the dial, I left a white border so the black boundary would be crisp. There is a white border near the chapter ring which I did not plan on but looks good IMHO
All paint was dried for 2 days prior to handling
Note spray painting needs to be done in light layers spread a few minutes apart also once you are done spraying you cannot spray again for at least 48 hours. If the printed procedures are not followed the underlying white paint and the decal will lift. This is the reason it took me three tries.
Because it is relatively cold now I heated the spray can in hot water prior to painting
Painting the decal prior to applying yielded the best results because the black laser printer ink can become blotchy when in water and handling when applying to the dial. This is not a major issue but it does require touch up with a Sharpe prior to painting with clear
I really need to setup some sort of a spray boot to minimize the dust

After fitting the decal and letting it dry for 24 hours, I sealed the edges of the decal with matte clear coat (hand painted)
The circle indexes were painted with two coats of luminous paint

The Bezel

Purchased a matte ceramic bezel insert
Mixed orange using Testors yellow, red and white. Note: yellow is the based color, use red a little at a time to get the correct shade and a little white to brighten the final orange
The insert was hand painted with an oiler making sure the paint was thin enough to flow and let it dry over night under heat. An X-ACTO knife was used at a shallow angle to remove excess paint after it was completely dry
There is a little excess paint that will come off naturally with use

The insert did not exactly fit the bezel and I really wanted and interference fit (press in).
I made the jig picture to remove a few thousands of an inch using a pointed file and finished with several grits of sand paper from 320 to 2000
The click spring was shortened by 1/2 to remove slop and also tighten up the bezel action

Finished off with a custom made elephant hide strap and stainless thumb nail buckle

Thank you again for your input on the dial design.


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## dspt (Apr 18, 2014)

impressive!
I didn't really get what was the issue with the bezel - the insert was too thick?


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

dspt said:


> I didn't really get what was the issue with the bezel - the insert was too thick?


The insert had a slightly larger diameter by a few thousands so I had to open up the bezel diameter for the insert to fit


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## ZIPPER79 (Jan 23, 2008)

If you do this the logo should be larger to balance the dial otherwise the dial is unimpressive.....




solex said:


> I think we have a winner


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## ZIPPER79 (Jan 23, 2008)

The watch looks good except the lugs.....They would look better curved so the strap doesn't stick out. In other words the case looks too straight. IMHO




solex said:


> After 3 tries to get the dial right I'm finally finished and pleased with the results. Here is the procedure I followed:
> 
> The Dial
> 
> ...


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

ZIPPER79 said:


> The watch looks good except the lugs.....They would look better curved so the strap doesn't stick out. In other words the case looks too straight. IMHO


On it I have another case on the way that I will be modifying and will be working on a matte dial


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## watchcrazy007 (Aug 8, 2016)

I like what I see so far. I look forward to seeing the rest of the watch design.


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

Here is the latest completed version of the dial. 
-New submariner style case with triple lock crown
-Ceramic Bezel and minute hand were color matched
-Different hands were installed from the prior verion
-Dial was painted flat
-New gold tone ETA-2824-2 movement installed


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## dspt (Apr 18, 2014)

As always, impressed with your work.

You inspire me to try working with decal paper. Can you point me to some proper guides or tutorials?


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

dspt said:


> As always, impressed with your work.
> 
> You inspire me to try working with decal paper. Can you point me to some proper guides or tutorials?


Take a look in earlier posts I give the high level process. If you are interested in more details ask away there was no HOW-TO when I embarked on this project trial and error but perhaps I can help minimize some of your error if you wish to proceed


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

A better picture:


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

I filed down and reshaped the lugs on Version 1 as they were too long to fit any bracelet, re-polished all of the edges.

The watch has been sold; this would make #2 of my custom dials that have sold


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## solex (May 31, 2013)

I three goals with my latest redo:

(1) I was not completely happy with the second watch as it need a bit more "white" space between the dial graphics and the chapter ring so I shrunk down the graphics and re-did the dial.

(2) Also I made new dial feet as the telephone wire post I used were too small in diameter. The perfect diameter is 0.7 mm which I milled from brass rods I had for pocket watch stakes.

(3) I wanted the dial to have a flatter finish.

The differences are subtle but I'm happy

BEFORE










AFTER


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