[rsh2]

Let me introduce myself. I go by RSH and I am a modder. I love modding watches. I recently picked up a 8926. I dont know much except it resembles a 16610 in size and overall look.
It arrived today and like most of my time pieces it is already apart.


Here are pics, she is a virgin at this point

Here is what I plan to do:

Swap a sapphire crystal
Swap an LV style green insert
Replace the dial markers with better larger ones - I must say the lume on the markers are decent
Ditch the cyclops

Here it is as of tonight just a few hours after arriving here

Insert was a bit hard to remove, I have no patience, I tore it off the bezel assembly

So follow this thread as I update it and lets see how it ends up

Thanks for looking and having me

 

[rsh2]

Couple of challenges.....the stock crystal is only about 29.5 mm and the insert is larger than a regular sub insert in the inner diameter.



If I can get the sapphire crystal that is 30.5 to fit, the narrower LV insert will fit and there wont be a huge gap between it and the crystal.


Stay posted

 

[patsbosoxfan]

Wow what a great project!!! Thanks for posting its progress.

 

[rsh2]

Ok so here are progress pics





Dial markers swapped ....this is the most time consuming part.....markers donated from a "homage" rolex watch

Trimmed the inner aspect of the top of the bezel, this is so my insert sits as low and flush as possible. Stock crystal is fairly thick and the sapphire is tad thinner at 2mm

Making sure it sits flush

Time to clean the case well, clean the threads on the crown, lube crown seals, etc - blow dust off case

Final look for smudges on dial - then attach to movement and attach hands

Crystal is cleaned well, I lubed the crystal gasket with silicone and wiped off all excess
Blow dust after cleaning with streak free cleaner and micorfiber

Get the octogon spring in the groove and snap onto case (note the clicking assembly is placed on the case first)

Attach the insert using a tad of epoxy on the bezel - not too much - I aligned the top of the ridge at 12 and then placed the bezel, dries in 5 mins.

Assembled pics.....daylight will show this much nicer

No charge lume shot

 

[HogWldFLTR]

Looks very nice; thanks for sharing your work.

 

[smalltime3]

Looks very nice; thanks for sharing your work.

Great Work and nice to have you here of the forum.

 

[rsh2]

Needed a cyclops I think, looked a bit naked

 

[HogWldFLTR]

I agree with you on the cyclops; looks better with it than without. Nice job of making it your own. Thanks for the photos (again?).

 

[Rygen]

Wow, that looks exceptional!

 

[rsh2]

Wow, that looks exceptional!

Thank you, it is quite a lot of work for such a cheap watch, but that is the fun of modding. Beauty is, you can drop in a new movement in this thing for $25.

 

[raijin]

excellent work. u got me hooked, I replaced the hands on my F0068. it's a pro diver that came all blacked out. it looks cool however kinda hard to see the hands. so i got some new hands with nice lume and replaced them. now I can tell the time LOL. I saw ur post and picked up an 8927 and 8926. planning on replacing the bezel sorta the green that u put on. one thing where can I get bigger dial markers and I saw the bezels on ebay do u think those would work. they say its for the rolez submariner. and also a place to maybe get a clean dial what do u think. cause that watch of urs is smoking.

 

[rsh2]

excellent work. u got me hooked, I replaced the hands on my F0068. it's a pro diver that came all blacked out. it looks cool however kinda hard to see the hands. so i got some new hands with nice lume and replaced them. now I can tell the time LOL. I saw ur post and picked up an 8927 and 8926. planning on replacing the bezel sorta the green that u put on. one thing where can I get bigger dial markers and I saw the bezels on ebay do u think those would work. they say its for the rolez submariner. and also a place to maybe get a clean dial what do u think. cause that watch of urs is smoking.

Ask this guy for the green insert, its shape makes it easy to install on the 8926.

Red - Bezel Insert for Rolex Submariner 16613, 16618 | eBay

I am not sure where to find large dial markers. I should have taken pics of the dial markers swap, it is a bit of work and can be a bit challenging

thanks for the kind words

 

[aladin sane]

Couple of challenges.....the stock crystal is only about 29.5 mm and the insert is larger than a regular sub insert in the inner diameter.



If I can get the sapphire crystal that is 30.5 to fit, the narrower LV insert will fit and there wont be a huge gap between it and the crystal.


Stay posted

I am curious as to how you fit a crystal that is a full mm wider than the stock one.

 

[rsh2]

I am curious as to how you fit a crystal that is a full mm wider than the stock one.

Great question, so the crystal I used came off some homage watch. It is shaped sort of like a real rolex crystal where the bottom of the crystal is about 29.2 and the top is 30.5. This is because the gasket only hugs the bottom of the crystal. So it fit on and is firm in place. but the top is 1mm wider. In this case, I had to use a narrower insert which is perfect because those "rolex 16610" inserts on ebay are narrower than the original Omega style insert that was on there.


here is a quick illustration of what I am talking about


BTW the original mineral crystal is shaped like the "cheaper crystal" illustrated here

 

[aladin sane]

I understand now. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Rags]

That looks fantastic.. What kind of movement can you get to replace the japan movt. Invicta will NOT supply parts to watchmakers to fix their watches.

 

[rsh2]

That looks fantastic.. What kind of movement can you get to replace the japan movt. Invicta will NOT supply parts to watchmakers to fix their watches.

Well, the miyota 8215 is identical to a dg-2813, which can be had here for 21.50
I cant say the miyota movement is pretty, neither is the dg2813 .....who cares really I guess.

Importanly, the hands and the dial will fit perfectly.

Chinese Made Mechanical Watch Movements

 

[rsh2]

last upgradE, swapped the dumb second hand for something I like better, relumed all 3 as they had a green tint to them

Also I thought I would share a couple pics of a sterile diver I made

 

[vaderdaman]

Nice. Thanks for the pics and walk through.
What is the best/easiest way to get the bezel off a watch? Figure you probably had some practice at it so thought I'd ask.
Thanks

 

[patsbosoxfan]

What a great project and great photos. Thanks for sharing.

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