Interesting Speedy projects with a donor 1836 I am considering.

pascs

All my Speedys, of which several are modified...............back in the day when the dials, hands etc, were more easily available and at a more normal price. The price of dials these days is just crazy

lucreative

The seller also has the matching silver hand set available as well. I bought both the dial and hands from him together.

lucreative

OMG it's like a NEW WATCH! I'm serious. I really couldn't believe it was my old 1863 Speedmaster when my watchmaker gave it back to me after installing the Apollo 11 35th Anniversary Dial mod. It's actually more of a silver/white dial that glows amazing with silver markers and silver hands.

And quite amazing that I found this dial combo so quickly for a decent price right after consulting with you all here, then I ordered the dial and hands yesterday afternoon, and it got Fed Ex to me overnight (it was a city in the same state and seller paid for it) and received this morning. Then my watchmaker was able to install it this afternoon and I just got it back tonight.

The 1863 sapphire crystal still shows a milky ring, but it's not as prominent over this silver/white dial than the regular Speedmaster black dial. Also, I found out that the Eagle Has Landed caseback is really just a sticker that covers the sapphire crystal of the regular 1863 exhibition caseback. I wonder it I could just buy the sticker...haha.

Thanks for all your help here and advice! And just think, a week ago I was about to sell my watch with a beautiful 1863 movement when I might have spent more for a Speedmaster with this dial later on.

lanckthephat

Looks amazing, really can’t believe you got it done so quickly, nice work!

ac921ol

So happy you able to revitalize the watch to what you want

ac921ol

What did you replace it with?

JetLinks

@lucreative.... Thanks for getting me to spend way more this past week than I should around the holidays as my dial & hands on now on their way to me in Central CA!! Lol!

My story mod story started in a similar fashion to you.... my first Speedy is also my "birth watch" (April 1978 per the extract) & as I wore it during the birt of my daughter I will never sell it! I also have a vintage 105.012 (the "true" moonwatch) which checks my box for traditional black dial watch hence throwing around the idead about a year ago of changing dial & hands!

With my sister's birthday also being July 20th the Apollo 35th anniversary watch has always appealed to me and I missed out on grabbing one in Japan by a day when I was out there searching for Speedies! I also tried to pick up that used dial in Switzerland when I was there, but I'm very happy I didn't now. As this watch is staying with me for good, I completely agree with @ac921ol that it's more for the enjoyment of the wearer vs. what a "purist" will think!

So long story short, your mod is going to have a brother-from-another-mother a bit further north in CA and will post pics once it's all installed. I'm curious if you got yours installed by the same watch maker I use in Pasadena?

JetLinks

FOMO is an evil thing but I'm sure I'd be kcking myself if I hadn't been given the push to get the dial I've been yearning over for >12 months (both as an original Apollo 35th 3569.31 Speedy set as well as the dial for my birth watch).

Decided to go with the all red second hand and black hour/minute hand for better legibility.... (sorry purists!)

lucreative

Looks really good! Now you can say you got a limited limited edition.

Aludic

If you do some digging, you'll find there have been other discussions around modding Speedmasters (and probably other watches too) including debaters on the ethics of those.

On the Apollo Soyuz dial; I would personally choose against that dial as an option for a mod. Main reason is that it wouldn't produce an obvious mod with its own 'personality', but something that is trying to pass off for what it isn't. Someone who's handled a real one will instantly notice yours isn't (because of the size of the pusher caps, as I am pretty sure you know). Spending such a vast amount of money to get something that isn't what it appears to be, makes a lot less sense to me than making something more original / personal.

The mod i've shown above is one that isn't like anything else, bar, you could argue, the WG ones. But even those are quite different.

Anyway, to its his/her own. 😉

JetLinks

FOMO is an evil thing but I'm sure I'd be kcking myself if I hadn't been given the push to get the dial I've been yearning over for >12 months (both as an original Apollo 35th 3569.31 Speedy set as well as the dial for my birth watch).

Decided to go with the all red second hand and black hour/minute hand for better legibility.... (sorry purists!)

lucreative

OMG it's like a NEW WATCH! I'm serious. I really couldn't believe it was my old 1863 Speedmaster when my watchmaker gave it back to me after installing the Apollo 11 35th Anniversary Dial mod. It's actually more of a silver/white dial that glows amazing with silver markers and silver hands.

And quite amazing that I found this dial combo so quickly for a decent price right after consulting with you all here, then I ordered the dial and hands yesterday afternoon, and it got Fed Ex to me overnight (it was a city in the same state and seller paid for it) and received this morning. Then my watchmaker was able to install it this afternoon and I just got it back tonight.

The 1863 sapphire crystal still shows a milky ring, but it's not as prominent over this silver/white dial than the regular Speedmaster black dial. Also, I found out that the Eagle Has Landed caseback is really just a sticker that covers the sapphire crystal of the regular 1863 exhibition caseback. I wonder it I could just buy the sticker...haha.

Thanks for all your help here and advice! And just think, a week ago I was about to sell my watch with a beautiful 1863 movement when I might have spent more for a Speedmaster with this dial later on.

JetLinks

Thanks buddy!! It's also a dual birthday watch (my sisters & mine) so it's officially a double-double!! (a joke that might be lost by 90% of the forum if they've not been to California).

Either way, I can stop looking at it! 😀