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ATG 
Posts:3193
Bristol, London, Liverpool - UK
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| 21-08-2007 12:25:08 PM |
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Mod 1 Mk1 Alphatime “Sawfish” - AKA Tudorfish
The only reason I presumed to describe a divewatch on this vintage
chrono site, was to introduce the modifications I’ve had made to that
same watch. The Alphatime 1000m diver’s build quality, value, and
Dreadnought tie-in were ample excuse to spend hard earned dollars.
Even so, I felt it’s aesthetics had room for improvement. While
I’ve come to enjoy wearing larger watches, one of my all time favorites
is the MN Tudor like this example from Alistair.
Within the divewatch community Kent Parks, the driving force behind
Everest Watchworks (everestwatchworks.com) is the name that first
springs to mind when custom dials are considered. Private individuals
and manufacturer alike are fortunate when he chooses to take on their
project. Time constraints force Kent to turn away more work than
he accepts. This is an example of some prototype dials Everest
created for the fledgling Orsa watch co.
When I stumbled across an old set of Tudor “Snowflake” hands from classicwatchparts.com I felt the tumblers fall into alignment.
When Fricker GmbH confirmed that blue bezel inserts were available, the die was cast.
In April of this year I sent my ideas, along with an example of the
even earlier Mil Tudor font I preferred, to Kent at Everest and awaited
his decision.
As Kent checked his backlog to see if he could squeeze in yet another,
I doodled a rough idea for dial art, combining traits of the Tudor
shield with the Kampfschwimmer insignia original to the watch.
Once Kent accepted the job the hard part began... the waiting!
Leaping forward a few months brings us to Kent’s concept dial.
After some tiny details were hammered out (date? placement? yes? no?..)
We decided upon the “cleaner” no-date look, and a vintage “aged” lume.
When Kent emailed me photos of the nearly completed job, yet another
question was answered. I’d been wondering for months how this
handset would fit this dial. Fate was smiling though, the
slightly undersized dial I’d mentioned when initially assessing the
watch turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Tudor snowflakes
were designed when smaller watches were in vogue. The Sawfish is
a massively larger watch. I feared I’d be left with a watch who’s hands
vaguely pointed in the general direction of the minute track. But,
given the slightly undersized Alphatime dial, the vintage hands fit
flawlessly.
In addition, Kent is “the man” when a relume is required. His dials and lume glow like Chernobyl!
Needless to say, I could not have been more pleased when my watch was
returned. As you may notice I’ve done some “polishing up” to the case
and bracelet. Handwork only, no machine polishing, but I’m a
compulsive polisher. Usually start just to clean things up a bit,
then don’t know when to quit.
So.. I started out here....
...and ended up here.
Hope you like it.
Cheers, Danny S
;o)
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Regards
Alistair |
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