[Auroch]

In red, it'd have a hint of communist china (red china!). Maybe a star?

sure, lets have some fun.

View attachment 790890 View attachment 790892

 

[linsook]

In red, it'd have a hint of communist china (red china!). Maybe a star?

got any specifics?

lume?

 

[tmr5555]

Linsook's render deserves better hands İMO. But i'm not shure what kind. İt looks like a braun alarm clock with those

Reagding a red star and all, i find that a too literate influence, if you know what i mean.

İ would also vote for domed sapphire.

 

[AlbertaTime]

Am I in a minority for *not* wanting an acrylic crystal?

I'd prefer domed sapphire but I prefer _anything_ over mineral glass including hardlex.

Sapphire doesn't scratch and acrylic can be polished. With mineral glass, a scratch is forever. And domed sapphire or acrylic look good but even flat sapphire over mineral.

 

[miroman]

sure, lets have some fun.

View attachment 790890 View attachment 790892

Nice, I like the color.

But I maintain that the bezel should be thinner. Now the whole watch is a bezel, almost no dial

The bezel should be used accidentally, it should be as 'support' of the main dial.

With bigger dial there will be place for the triangles at 3, 6, 9 and 12.

Regards, Miro.

 

[CCCP]

sure, lets have some fun.

View attachment 790890 View attachment 790892

Very nice and original... I like it! :-!

 

[Auroch]

Linsook's render deserves better hands İMO. But i'm not shure what kind. İt looks like a braun alarm clock with those

Reagding a red star and all, i find that a too literate influence, if you know what i mean.

İ would also vote for domed sapphire.

I was thinking the star would be a reference to the 1963 re-issue, and just about every other tianjin watch I see on the 'bay.

 

[ColinW]

Regarding the crystal, the problem with "domed" sapphire is that it generally isn't very domed. I think a more accurate description would be "not completely flat" sapphire. :-d My guess is a generous doming costs more to manufacture.

Although this recent Longines pic shows a nice compromise:

I'm pretty sure it's sapphire and it looks more domed than most domed sapphire. I don't know if it really is (in which case it probably costs more and may not even be available to us) or if the bezel holding it in place is just thinner of something like that.

I think this look requires acrylic or Hardlex (and I'm not sure Hardlex is available to us either):

Of course, there's always Corum:

:-d

 

[skywatch]

I suspect you are correct regarding the domed materials. We need to remember that the over-all thickness of the watch will already increase with the internal bezel. If we put a tall plastic bubble on top of that then we'll end up with another 15mm thick hockey puck like our moon-watch last year. It's one thing if that thickness is topped with something tough like sapphire. However, adding 2-3mm of soft plastic on top makes a big scratch magnet that also doesn't fit under long sleeves. I strongly prefer a thinner watch.

Sea-Gull often fits their watches with a very nice lightly domed sapphire, such as on the 816.351. In most of my photos it vanishes, so I'll try to get one that shows the dome sometime soon when I get a chance.

Regarding the crystal, the problem with "domed" sapphire is that it generally isn't very domed. ....(snip)....

I think this look requires acrylic or Hardlex (and I'm not sure Hardlex is available to us either):

 

[MHe225]

Although this recent Longines pic shows a nice compromise:

Colin, I have asked it before and will do so once again: can you please stop posting pics of the LLD? :-d It's temptation flying in my face over and over again; more than once did I come close to buying one ..... If I would do so now, I have to bow out of this project as it will send my watch fund in the red. We can't have that.

More on topic: I haven't made up my mind on plexi versus sapphire. I like high-domed plexi's but they're also more "vulnerable" and they tend to become brittle as they age. None of that with sapphire - but these don't have the nice "high" domes. I see some more discussions with Thomas and yet another poll in our future.

edit: skywatch raises a very good point about the total thickness of the watch if we also add a high domed plexi crystal (and even thicker if the 42 mm case size wins). Domed sapphire is probably the way to go. Looking forward to photos of the lightly domed sapphire on your 816.351.

RonB

 

[ColinW]

I assumed the thickness of the last project was because of the movement with its moonphase and big-date complications. I wouldn't think a 2824 clone would be that thick... :think:

 

[CCCP]

About thickness, the thinnest of my 2824 (with flat crystal) is 8mm thick. Many chinese movements are thicker due to complications, as Colin pointed out. Obviously if we choice a high-domed (whatever material) crystal, it should go with a case that have no bezel.... usually flat and slightly domed crystals are mounted on cases that have a high bezel to give clearance for the hands. High domed crystals, other than looking so good allow for slimmer (and IMHO *much* nicer) cases.

P.S. It's quite out of my budget but I risk to end up buying the LLD too LOL

 

[skywatch]

So I took some time this morning to try to photograph some different crystals. Sorry, I'm only so-so with photography. Here are many attempts at showing 1) slightly domed sapphire; 2) flat sapphire on an internal bezel watch; 3) tall plexi on a vintage Sea-Gull; 4) domed plexi on Raketa internal bezel. Please excuse the bandwidth burn.

First off, Sea-Gull 816.351. Slight dome, 40mm watch, 10mm thick including the crystal. Notice that Stainless surface of watch has a few swirlies from frequent wear, but crystal is still flawless. Also, crystal is very transparent, quite hard to get in the photo.









Next is Hamilton Khaki Navy GMT, 42mm x 12mm thick, flat sapphire crystal with internal bezel. If this crystal were domed, it would add a fair amount of height. It's already about as big as I can pull off comfortably.







Next is vintage NOS Sea-Gull with angled-edge raised plexi. Looks pretty good, a bit plastic-y though.



This Raketa 24 hour NOS hand-wind has the most domed plexi of any of my watches. 40mm x 12mm thick including the crystal, which is 3mm tall. It scratches quite easily, as you can see, but looks pretty good when it doesn't reflect the light. (The marks on the crystal have occurred only from rubbing against clothing, it has never hit a hard surface, and I have only owned it for 6 months.)







Hopefully this helps a bit in the conversation.

 

[CCCP]

I think the images posted by Skywatch are clear: high domed crystals should go with slimmer cases and slightly domed crystals are for thicker cases... I agree a highly domed on a thick case would not look good.

 

[arktika1148]

Many thanks for the pictures & comments Skywatch, they clarify a few thoughts and show just how easy the 'newness' can be lost on a polished case.

Nice as the forum moon is I have trouble wearing with long sleeves and would prefer as slim as possible, 10mm would be ideal but not practical (or would it ...), 13mm with a chamfered case would be fine, but 15 with a straight sided case ends up as a weekend watch.....been there , done that.

Suspect that there are different quality levels for plastic as my Vostok's are fine (so far) but ST5 and Shanghai mark just by looking at them. The same goes for mineral, some are fine some scratch. So flat or slightly domed sapphire gets my vote too.

 

[Humanloop]

Very nice pics, skywatch! The raketa being that scratched off of just your clothes....dude, what do you wear, sandpaper?! Lol. I have a few plexi, and have no issues. Different for everyone I guess.
The draw of a compressor style, or 'homage' for me is that they have such unique character. For example, the LLD...which is a grail for soooo many people, or the JLC Polaris which I can't even afford to Think about. The high dome acrylic gives the watch it's unique character. Don't get me wrong, I agree that saphire is much more durable, but it or any flat crystal just makes a compressor watch look like all the billions of other watches out there. We can get those anywhere, at almost any price.....but such a unique style like the compressor, with that prominant dome is not common OR anywhere near as attainable. I think it's great that we get to help design a unique watch in such a unique style.
Just my opinion of course.
On a side note, the red is rather unique, but how about a more vintage/aged style...orange or khaki on black. The pic on page one, with the black dial with the wavy style with vintage markers and hands. Im kind of a purist, and a huge fan of the early compressors. These of which, oddly enough, garner so much attention that Longines and JLC did their own remakes/homages.
Sorry for the soapbox post

 

[skywatch]

Very nice pics, skywatch! The raketa being that scratched off of just your clothes....dude, what do you wear, sandpaper?! Lol.

Yeah, maybe I shouldn't wear so much chain mail. :-d




(and no, that isn't a picture of me... if it were I wouldn't be gripping my sword by the blade...)

Seriously, though, the Raketa's not *that* scratched; but like any plexi, if you put it in reflective light you can see tiny scuffs even after a few dozen wearings.

Don't get me wrong, I love vintage watches and I have more than my fair share of them. I'm even the original owner of some of them, so I'm familiar with wear and tear! (Yeah, I'm feeling old these days.)

 

[Citizen V]

On the subject of domed acrylic, here are some pics of the crystal of the compressor kit on eBay:






It's a great look but definitely makes it thick.

Also, here's a picture of foroderelojes's (a spanish watch forum) compressor project that I came across:

I hope our final result looks as nice .

 

[Auroch]

That foroderelojes compressor project is coming in at 400-500 euros, fyi.

Proyecto Pleamar para el Foro de Relojes | independent watch projects

 

[Citizen V]

Yes that is true, but its specs and custom parts probably make up for the difference.