Zenith El Primero Ref.A386 - dial/hands improvement

abcoro
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Hello gentlemen,

Just wanted to share some pics of a little A386 project I've been working on recently...

Troublesome dial and hands...some donor indices were needed, repainting hands completely and reluming both dial and hands... IMG_0983.jpg IMG_0986.jpg IMG_0988.jpg IMG_1007.jpg IMG_1009.jpg IMG_1011.jpg IMG_1012.jpg IMG_1016.jpg IMG_1020.jpg IMG_9607.jpg IMG_9616.jpg IMG_9603.jpg

Thanks,
abel.
 
woodwkr2
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Beauty.

That's quite a nice dial holder you're working with there too. (*Tool envy!)

How did you go about attaching the new dial indices? I've tried that trick on two dials-- once with a bit of loc tite and once with friction fit--and both times I've failed miserably.
 
LouS
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Abel, The dialwork is excellent - a real resurrection. Some very fine details on the case as well - are there "before" shots ?
 
abcoro
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LouS LouS
Abel, The dialwork is excellent - a real resurrection. Some very fine details on the case as well - are there "before" shots ?

Hey Lou,

I'll need to search the pictures from the case "before" it was done some time ago. Dial and hands I did this past week...to be continued...
 
MMMD
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Thanks for sharing this. I do admire your work. Personally, I would prefer less yellow in the lume on this model, but it does look pleasant and striking. An aesthetic question: when choosing the lume color in this case, were you striving for the original appearance, an "aged" look, or just a pleasing color combination? I imagine this choice might be difficult when one is restoring the hands and case to a new or nearly new appearance.
 
abcoro
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MMMD MMMD
Thanks for sharing this. I do admire your work. Personally, I would prefer less yellow in the lume on this model, but it does look pleasant and striking. An aesthetic question: when choosing the lume color in this case, were you striving for the original appearance, an "aged" look, or just a pleasing color combination? I imagine this choice might be difficult when one is restoring the hands and case to a new or nearly new appearance.

Thank you for your compliment. Lume color is always a difficult issue, whenever I do a relume I try to match the original color, so the lume that's on the dial before I remove it. Yo can always get an idea of the original color if it didn't suffer too much form moisture and humidity during it's life by scraping off the top layer...I do get your point, this lume appears to have a little more intensity then we're used to see. I can also share that it is actually also more pronounced in the pictures...I will try to shoot a picture in daylight to show the difference. Recently I also relumed an A3817 where lume color was a bit more greenish...also there I tried to match it's initial lume color...
 
abcoro
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LouS LouS
Abel, The dialwork is excellent - a real resurrection. Some very fine details on the case as well - are there "before" shots ?

Hello Lou,

Here are two "before" pictures...and some more "after" pictures...

Best,
abel.
IMG_4505.jpg IMG_4507.jpg IMG_9601.jpg IMG_9603.jpg IMG_9604.jpg IMG_9605.jpg IMG_9608.jpg IMG_9609.jpg
 
LouS
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Thank you, Abel. It is the old predicament - the perennial push-pull between restoring definition and losing volume. This is where artistry and judgement come in. I don't see how it could have been solved better. Masterful!
 
MMMD
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Terrific work. Thanks for the insight about lume color selection.
 
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