I would have been proud to have worn the franken Omega, especially if I had built it. No different from guys who build street rods or custom guns. You do great work!
It’s a fake as opposed to building an original. Why try to pass it off as something that it’s not? Because you care about what others think more than how it makes you feel. It’s like some dude “packing” to make it look like he has a bigger penis. But no doubt there are many who do and it makes them feel good about themselves.
I'm doing something similar soon. But need to find a movement that'll work wirh the other bits. Seiko nautilus case mod and bracelet in 2 tone pvd. Tiffany dial. Day and date complication but a non seiko movement. Want something fairly high end movement wise. Dial is gonna likely need to be custom or modded. Might use an old rolex movement. Seiko wave themed rotor if I can make it work. But gonna do it 2 tone as well. Black but with the raised sections in gold or silver.
Holy cow! As an Aqua Terra owner, I am in love with the fact that you put a cal 2500 to a custom watch! That to me, is the coolest of the cool. I'm all about what's under the hood, not what's on the bumper! Over the past months, you have inspired me to pursue watch repair and I promise to tithe your site if ever I make any money at this (not likely)! Thank you, Mark and please keep up the great work!
Mark, you really are an inspiration! I am a 67 year old retired Master Mariner living in Gibraltar. It is 04:49 in the morning yet I am sat here glued to your production! Anyhow well done and keep up the good work- You will become a Horological Legend!
I have been “lurking” on watch videos for a little over a year now and recently started doing my own watch repairs. I’ve viewed tons of videos from many creators and this is easily one of my favorites. I was awestruck with the final results. Very cool. Thank you for the video and inspiration!
I have stumbled upon a nice little hobbyist solution to creating great looking custom watch dials. Film Free Decal Products used in this video - TYPE A: ebay.to/2JA95hm or amzn.to/2W0RCp4 I did not use the glue in this video. Canon Laser Printer Used in this video: ebay.to/2LttiIq or amzn.to/2YsI4Ay or choose an alternative color laser but the highest resolution you can afford. e.g. 1200dpi
Quite a viable solution you did find here: the only real limit would be to use it on dark dials as others are hinting too. A white toner doesn't exist so I believe that will be impossible, but what about some very light shades of any other printable colours? I assume the Laser printer can mix the toners to get close to that light shades but will also use the white paper to get there; I also see from your print the blacks have some proper thickness and I'm not sure you can get it with some e.g. very light grey. Maybe it's worth some more tests...
I just noticed the "IIII and not IV" in the dial, it made me google it, and a step into a nice horology history lesson, having seen roman numerals on dials before and never noticing it till now, you can never stop learning!! great video!! i think we all dreamed once about printing our own dial, now we know how, thanks for that! greetings from Uruguay!
Well this is now one of my favorite videos. What a stunning watch you have created. Kick ass movement, assembled by you, and with a custom dial. I hope one day I have the expertise and skill to do this myself.
Good effort. The printing technique is a revelation to me, with excellent results. I got the impression that the dial maker used a similar technique, though in a mass production environment....
To bypass the heating/melting step: Prep the surface with clear gloss lacquer. The smoother your mounting surface, the less and less the silvering will be apparent. Apply the decal using Micro Sol and Micro Set to help "melt" the decal on to the surface and reduce the slivering effect from decals. After that you can cover with a clear gloss, matte, or satin lacquer to get the achieved look.
I think what you have created is outstanding, the unique yet very simple use of a printer to create a dial to one's own taste is brilliant. I as I'm sure a far number of your subs like to create personalised watches have finally been given a great way of making dails. Thank you for the enlightenment.
This is so clever and brilliantly done. The video, instructions, speech, editing everything is top notch and this trick of watch dial printing is so so innovatively useful. Cant thank you enough.
Love it, can’t wait to try myself. I’ve contacted a few custom dial manufacturers and have had no luck for one-off dials. Look like a great option for the couple watches I assemble a year. Thanks and always look forward to your vids.
I think is a well worthy piece of treasure there.... You spend the time in it..so it's totally yours... No other watch will have your personal touch...i love this.video...
I will DEFINITELY get around to trying this out when I do my next build. I've found some great blank dials on eBay I thought were gorgeous, but too plain, or "empty", so I passed on them. Now I believe I'll give this a try. Thanks a million!
I've used toner transfer method for making printed circuit boards and always struggled to get a good transfer (gave up and use photoresist film). But this method is radically different from the traditional toner transfer methods and looks perfect for many applications. I have to try it, not just for watch dials but etching metals as well. Thanks for the video and tip.
Thankyou, yet another great video. I have been searching for a particular dial for the watch you inspired me to make from eBay parts, but couldn’t find the design I liked in the correct size. I’ll now have my perfect watch, and the joy of building it.
This is an excellent video, I love teh way you applied the print, and I am sure going to try this method just as soon as I can. Thank you for this video.
The possibilities are endless with this! Classic car and you want to restore the gauges or you want the speedometer in metric instead? Just print a new gauge! You can repurpose any old analog gauge to indicate whatever you want with this! This is so cool!
I used this method as described (i.e. omitting the glue included with the decal paper) and had poor results. I repeated the process on an identical dial but this time used the glue included with the decal paper and otherwise followed the manufacturer's instructions exactly, including a final "bake" after removing the film to strengthen the ink. This time, my results were absolutely flawless. I would suggest getting at least 2 dials and trying both methods out. Results may simply vary based on the nature of the dial paint. Plus if you follow the method above, you eliminate the danger of glue spills.
My favorite channel. Miss you Mark and hope you're well. I have a Valjoux 92 watch that really needs a dial refinish. I serviced and it's ready sans the dial. This might be a great project solution.
Brilliant video and an aspect of watchmaking I had previously thought was not achievable as a mere hobbyist. I may well give this a go and create some custom dials of my own! Thanks!
I have used the ink jet transfer paper for custom dash panels in cars but you can always see the clear paper edges. This is very cool because your only transferring the text or printed parts. No edges. game changer. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
I have been watching your videos for some time now, they have inspired me to begin watch repairing as more than a hobby. I think it's great that you found an alternative to pad printing. I look forward to using this method to attempt to refinish a more worn dial on one of my practice watch. Thanks for all you do to inspire others.
I doubt that it will do gold coloring very well, and it can't do raised markers, but for flat lettering in several colors this looks like an excellent solution. And as someone else remarked this also looks like an excellent solution for dial modification in general, not just for watches. Thank you for showing this!
Nice solution. And I realized that even if one doesn't have a colour laser printer at home, the local print shop certainly does. So the whole process is very much feasible. Thank you.
Mark, it is great that you posted this. I have been researching this process for some time and have myself used the inkjet water transfer film with ok success in the past. I have also had the lettering sand engraved and then paint filled it. This seems very promising. The limitation being the need for a new printer, and the inability to print white. thank you!
You can make white details, I've done so by printing one as a mask on standard white paper, and coarsely cut out the places that need to be white. Then lay on top of the blank dial, and spray paint it. Then when dry, spray paint it all in a hard polishable (enamel, PU or epoxy, not acrylic) paint, and after that dried scuff and polish until fully flat. Then lay the decal on top with all the needed colors and details. It's a matter of knowing how to layer paint, which I learned long ago by painting model racing car bodies made of transparent lexan from the inside out.
I did something similar to create a custom dial. Instead of decal paper, I used circuit board etching techniques. You can get "toner transfer" paper that gets laminated onto a circuit board as a mask. I used this, with a custom jig I made to clamp and heat the paper onto a dial. Because I made a dark dial and very few laser printers can print white, I used toner reactive foil to color the toner white. This is where it was tricky because I had to experiment a bunch to find the exact temperature and pressure required to adhere the foil completely without ending up with it melting and covering the whole dial. Then I created a stencil using a cricut plotter cutter. Using the stencil and some copper foil, I copper electroformed dial markers. They required some polishing and cleanup but it worked pretty well.
This is fantastic and a method I was unaware of despite using decal paper as a model kit builder. I am certainly wanting to try this though I would have been scared to 'bake' a nice sterile dial I'd bought. This is hands down the best method next to pad printing I've seen. Now if only we had printers with white ink again!
@@WatchRepairChannel After sharing your video on a couple of Facebook watch groups someone linked a printer setup which has a white toner. I can find the link and send it to you if you wish to investigate further. I'm a fan of black or generally dark dials so I'd love to be able to print white lettering.
Fantastic video I am buying a printer along with airbrushing paint gun to paint the base metal of the dial and print the numbers and other details of the dial using your technique, after the initial cost of the above equipment of around £250 my dials will cost me about £2 each and a few hours of my time rather than £95 each and 4 weeks of waiting. Thank you so very much, I owe you a pint 🍻
Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge. I have been thinking about building my own watch and also have thought of how I can personalize it. This is a great idea.
Well done, not a bad solution. If you're someone who already has the patience to work with all the fiddly bits inside a watch, it seems a fine way to create a dial.
I thought that you forgot about this. I've been waiting on this video ever since you mentioned you would show how to print a watch face. Obviously a fan of your channel. You make it look easy. Thanks for the videos. Keep it up, after a stressful day at work it really melos me out.
Very good , model makers use two solutions with decals , one for pulling down the decal tight to the surface and set for fixing it, might be worth testing with these as well
This could be extremely useful for image transfer when engraving. The finished watch in this case looks way better than the “dive watch” it started as. Bringing that movement back to life and slapping your own logo on the dial is epic!
That's what I was looking for. Thank you very much. I'm planning to build watches for our 15yrs wedding anniversary next year. Thanks to you I know now how to build the automatic watches (i have practised a lot on my vostok amphibia, lol) but I wouldn't like to use just the blank dials. This problem you now solved. The last and yet big problem for me is to find a pleace where I can get the parts for smaller watch for my wife.
Brilliant solution! To get production quality, I believe a refurbished photo quality 2400 x 1200 dpi color laser printer would be better than reproduction dial clarity.
Another good method is to create a dry transfer rub off design. you can order them online- just do your design in a good graphics program and send it out. Im doing this for a type II field watch design. i got a sheet for 30 dollars that has enough to do a dozen dials or more. just paint your dial, apply the transfer and seal it. I also created a nice little logo so i can brand my own dials should i choose. very happy with the results.
I think the result really speaks for itself. When you have to get out a magnifier to see any different you've already past the first impression test. It certainly has to be worth a go.
I stumbled upon your channel this morning and I’m LOVING it. I ordered watchmaking tools on-line this week and I can’t wait to begin my own experiments
Oh yea, I am building my first watch here soon and this video has gotten me even more intrigued about the personalizing possibilities of my nameless dial/ watch !!!!
Great idea, it would be good if there were many sellers offering these custom prints retail for those of us that can't afford any kind of printer, and may only ever want one single custom dial.
Looks great. I want to build a few watches and use my late father's signature on the dial, going to give it a try. His name was very unique, won't be another one like it, that's a near certainly.
When you inevitably come across orphaned movements that would otherwise sit in a tin or be picked for parts, and those movements turn out to be quite serviceable - well, to not make a frankenwatch would be quite the waste.
I think the results are great and you can do it without purchasing a bunch of equipment you will probably only use the one time. Great video thank you.
The idea is great and the result looks very good. Just keep some limitations in mind: • Most (all?) printers can't print white. Remember that when your dial is black/dark. • No luminous marking. • No raised/3D letters/logos. • Clean the surface with IPA - make sure existing print is not dissolved by IPA • To get air bubble out you can use a small airtight box and a vacuum cleaner to create under-pressure • There is inkjet decal transfer paper - make sure your ink is waterproof!
Funny, I just bought some film free laser decal paper tonight before I found this. I started off looking at pad printing but figured out it was a step too far for me at this very early stage. Yes I think it (filmless decal paper) is a viable method of printing dials. Laser printer toner is actually ideal since it's a solid pigment, and this process bonds it very strongly with the substrate or painted surfaces. Protecting it with a clear polyurethane will further blend it with the painted dial by giving it the same reflectivity. One of the main problems may be that it might not work so well on a dark face. Since it's an additive process and no domestic laser printers can print white, printing numerals on a purely dark face would not be possible. One solution comes to mind (apart from applying silver numerals) and that would be to print the entire dial, background colour and all. It certainly has some possibilities. Once I've finished learning with my ST36 movement I intend to put it in a case (already on the way) but I really hated all of the 35mm dials I saw for that case, and in fact that was what started me down this path. I'm thinking a classic white painted dial with black Breguet numerals and ticks, tick marks only for small seconds, and maybe a splash of colour for the logo (burgundy?) and maybe "17 jewels" in royal blue. Lume is also an option, so I will probably fill the first sheet with variations on the dials then figure out which one I like the best. I'll have to add some dial feet to my next cousins order...
An Omega movement is always worth to bring it back to life and let it work in a case. I also build a Frankenwatch with OEM parts. Why not? I have an original one and the second is a „look like“ - same design as the original one. Thank you for the idea in one of your first videos. Now I‘m addicted to build watches.
Thank you. I am thinking of making a watch based on the Seiko NH34 and none of the dials, that I was able to find, were quite what I wanted. You have given me the impetus to give it a shot.
I think I will use this method for a old dial from a Danish watchmaker from the 50's (I'm Danish myself) which is impossible to find a new one off now, but would love to get the old partly water damaged dial shining again 🙂 So thank you for this tip 🙏
Thank you thank you thank you! I've been searching for an economical way to customize watch dials on some Seiko "modded" skx divers I've done! This looks to be a great solution. Keep up the great content! Your movement Maintenance videos helped me kick start my hobby of watch repair starting with the 7s26 I'm now working on a pair of cal. 6139 column wheel chronographs and never would have taken the leap if it wasn't for content like yours!
Thank you Mark, another great video . I have been scratching my head over dial manufacture for a long time and have tried various methods in the past . Results have been acceptable but they have all suffered from fading after some time . Even those coated with UV resistant lacquer. However , I will try your method with a Laser printer and heat cured and we will see the results. Thanks again mark.
Thank you so much for this sir, i have been looking for a video explaining this in such a concise way for a long time, you are a legend. Greetings from a young man from Belgrade who recently started working with watches!
Great tutorial of your very successful "experiment"! I went through similar thinking about the pad printing route, which really doesn't make sense for maybe two or three dials. This method looks like a great alternative. I have a couple of designs for watches I want to build... one is built, but waiting for a new dial. I don't have a laser printer, but now I will pick one up. BTW: I was a diamond setter many years ago, and had worked in NYC's diamond district. When I moved upstate there was little work in this field, and I didn't want to commute to the City. I answered an ad for stone setting in Croton, NY... the Croton Watch company! The plan was that I would set the cases and dials in my apartment, being paid piece work. I was hired, but then got a call that Croton's insurance agency nixed the idea that valuable stones and watch parts would be carried by me back and forth to the shop. I offered to insure myself, but they declined. Instead they offered me the job in house... but I didn't want to work in the shop there, so that was that. But in the process I had a few tours of the Croton Watch factory. One thing that impressed me was the pad printing... I had no idea what it was called, but would watch with interest the woman printing the dials. She explained the whole process to me This was long before the internet, but years later I did look up the process. There was not much info on the web twenty years ago, but now there are many sites explaining it. And I also thought about building my own machine, but also never got around to it. BTW, I have often wished I did take the job at Croton, even if for only a couple of years. They did shut down not long after I applied. But it would have been a great experience, and I missed it. I doubt I would have been setting stones all day, and probably would have been involved in many other operations there... and learned a lot. It would have been an historic opportunity, too.
Love it! I've been wanting to put together a watch for my dad for Father's day, but wanted it to be a little more special than a plain dial. Definitely going to give this a go!
I love this idea! I have been looking for a while for a way to reprint damaged dials. This is a viable option. I would still like to see your 3-D printed dial printer as well. I am into vintage and antique watches, so doing “1 Off” dials would be the norm. I am looking into another method similar to this video. Thanks, Mark!
Im glad that You like your Frankenwatch! Every watch shines when is worn with happines. I just bought used yellow swatch and its like my companion in work - light and ready for day together.. Im tired of guys wearing their g-shocks and others just to tell you how much they payed ....
I've worked out how to do custom shaping on face blanks to my satisfaction but never thought I would be able to print (without some equipment) a decent face. This video has given me hope that my ideas can be realized! Thank you so much for this video. I hope to contribute to the RU-vid Horology content soon!
I love the idea of repurposing that movement into a more personalized watch. If I had the skills and abilities to do that I would appreciate that watch WAY more than any off-the-shelf mass production piece.
This is so freaking cool! I barely just fixed a dinky old quartz watch myself so I'm nowhere near making my own watch faces just yet. That said, I also just bought my first mechanical so, unsurprisingly, I'm hooked. I'm hoping to work up to something like this.
Use sublimation Watch Dials, Sublimation Printer, Ink & Paper, a Press I love watches as my father could repair any watch that I bought to him, I will look in to it , I am glad I found your channel, it helps me a lot, I just used to do basic stuff, now I can look in to building the Guy Normas Watch 😎👍🏻
This is your third video I watched and it gets only better and better. I like your style - accurate tidy work, steady hand, high skills and calm presentation. Yes, definitely going to try this printing method. Thank you for the hint! (I think a lower part of the "9" came loose in your final print 😪)
Hey there. I think the result you got from the paper and method was fantastic. Like you said, maybe not the same quality of printed dials of watch manufacturers, but you are just one person. I'm sure those you show will also be impressed. I've been in the testing mode of dial ideas and I will use this one for sure. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Hi, Nice video! I like the way You personalized the dial, very useful for other whatches whith damage on this part. Once I made a Frankenstein watch, on a chinese case, with a chinese dial, from an electronic machine I put a Citizen automatic machine (luckily, ir fitted), and for personalize the dial I just printed a simple sheet of paper, and put the symbol I likes, then after many months of working, the colors printed desapeared, so I changed the dial again. Greetings from Peru.
This is a great idea. The application has many other possibilities such as clock dials and even silkscreening glass similar to the process seen on American antique cottage kitchen clocks. Thanks for sharing.
Mark, sorry for my poor English but I am French :) You did a very good job with this printing method. I will try to do the same on a 6497 based watch dial. I can understand that holding a franken watch is not really comfortable. Your last concept is much better and it is your baby.
Hi Mark, Very Helpful and detailed video especially since not everyone will be churning out batches of watch faces which will require expensive equipment, for us doing it as a hobby and/or limited budget can be very useful.
