..... The dial will make or break the watch .... the original KM dials were porcelain, which is simply not doable anymore (too fragile, generally speaking, and unrepairable). However, I think you can get some of the depth that the porcelain dials were famous for (depth in the sense that there was a 3-D effect to the dial) by specifying the following: standard brass dial with date at 6, silver plating, no base coat, then 3 layers of flat white paint, but NOT with a white pigment (this would absorb too much light), then a layer of white paint mixed with a small amount of mother-of-pearl, than a finishing coat. The dial numbers and the railroad-track chapter markings should be printed using some sort of rubber compound to hold the shape during the painting process and then removed to leave sharply defined indents, which would then be filled with black pigment before the final fishing coat. This could re-create the visual effect and feel of porcelain, but without the ensuing costs. Creating an etched-like effect for the numbers and railroad track would allow you to have a very flat dial, but with a 3-D effect ..... Alternatively, if this is too difficult to do (and it is!), then a solid silver dial, date at 6, with a white non-pigment layer, print the 1-12 and railroad tracks in flat black, then put a gloss finish coat on that. The non-covering white would allow light to penetrate down to and then reflect off the silver.
Hands: blued steel, but with a different design than the Laco KM hands. Black lume (i.e. lume that looks black in the daylight, but shows a moderately subdued lume at night.
..... the ultimate quality of a watch IS determined by the movement - and think of what can be done with that movement ..... First of all, we have a classic amongst the mass of the post-war ebauché movements: a Durowe ...... Let's consider this: having the screws and some additional parts black-polished and then thermic-blued (the only real bluing a watchmaker wants to see, none of that chemical bluing!). The flat planes of the movement bridges do not. unfortunately, lend themselves to geneva striping, but I think that they could be beautifully frosted and red-gold plated; perlage then on the base plate. Think frosted red-gold and blued screws, in combination with a modest case size, but one that provides water resistance to 100m ......
