Bead Blasted Super Ocean

[BruceS]

I love the results, although it's not as dramatic a difference as the other two watches I had done, since the SO was already brushed. Bry did a great job :-!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/SOblasted.jpg
Cheers,
Bruce

[SnapIT]

I love the results, although it's not as dramatic a difference as the other two watches I had done, since the SO was already brushed. Bry did a great job :-!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/SOblasted.jpg
Cheers,
Bruce

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh!!!! :gold

[XTrooper]

A very unique SuperOcean, Bruce! B-)

[googoo]

mixed feelings here. it definitely focuses more attention on the face itself, which is a a definite plus, but from the pic the watch as a whole looks cheaper. i think you should send it to me, so i can do a closer inspection. things always look much more different in person.

[Cinq]

Hi Bruce,

That's a great looking watch you have. The bead-blast really worked out well, respect for the blasters and for you to have so much confidence in them :-!

Kind regards,

Cinq

[O2AFAC67]

myself by saying I LIKE IT! All my watches are polished (my preference by far) but your SO just looks "right" with that finish. Great job and thanks for sharing. :-! :gold
Cheers,
Ron

[BruceS]

Thanks guys. I just think it looks like a real tool watch now :-)
Cheers,
Bruce

[davey vermaak]

Hi Bruce!!!

Yep that looks very good indeed.....still think you were either remarkably brave...or just plain insane to risk it!!!

Nice result....whew....and I bet you were relieved too!!! :-D

Davey

[Eagle]

Talking of customisations, I have a hankering (when a service is due) for Breitling to add a little silver metal logo to my CA. B-)

Would they do this? Would it cost a mint?

[JohnT]

Nice result Bruce, and well done Bry :-!

[Alex**]

looks awesome bruce, id def be interested to get a ball park price on that sort of treatment if you dont mind?

[BIG CHRONO]

Yes, Bruce, you can officially
use this watch to shuck oysters!
Plus, it has a titanium appearance,
an added bonus. May you never tire
of it, & perhaps your son will enjoy
BORROWING it in the future. :-!

Truly,
Bruce

[BruceS]

£35. Not bad eh :-!

[BruceS]

Yes, Bruce, you can officially
use this watch to shuck oysters!
Plus, it has a titanium appearance,
an added bonus. May you never tire
of it, & perhaps your son will enjoy
BORROWING it in the future. :-!

Truly,
Bruce
LOL well I moved from Annapolis where there was a lot of oyster shucking going on :-D Thanks Bruce!

[BruceS]

Hi Bruce!!!

Yep that looks very good indeed.....still think you were either remarkably brave...or just plain insane to risk it!!!

Nice result....whew....and I bet you were relieved too!!! :-D

Davey
I knew it'd be OK Davey :-)

[Eagle]

£35. Not bad eh :-!
£35? from where? I thought it'd be megabux!

I might get all my hideous SS bracelets 'titaniumized'! B-)

[BruceS]

£35? from where? I thought it'd be megabux!

I might get all my hideous SS bracelets 'titaniumized'! B-)
Bry Hibbins. He's a member here on WUS now: Bry1975. You can also find him on TZ-UK. Go for it!
Cheers,
Bruce

[Simon]

Its magnificent

I once had a Headwind Brushed which was better than the BLING, but this Beadblasting has produced an outstanding finish to one of my most loved watches - 1st class

si

[Francois Boucher]

Bruce,

that is incredibly beautiful! Congratulations!

Bry did a fantastic job indeed.

[Broker]

Bruce,

I thought you were drinking heavily when you mentioned doing this. I never thought it would look right. Boy how wrong was I?? I think it turned out great. I am astonished really. Thanks for being the leader on what I am sure will be a trend with some of the folks here.

Todd

[BruceS]

Bruce,

that is incredibly beautiful! Congratulations!

Bry did a fantastic job indeed.
Thanks Francois. Yes Bry really did a fantastic job, on all three watches!

[BruceS]

Like I said to Davey, I knew it'd be Ok. I'm really surprised you guys have never heard of anyone doing this to a SO. I remember hearing of at least two guys, probably on TZ, who did it.

I think maybe the only "ify" bit was whether it'd look right with a blue dial. It does look good, but as usual, I'm second guessing whether I should've bought the black dial model, but then I just like black dials :-)
Cheers,
Bruce

[Danne]

The SuperOcean is a vary vary nice watch indeed and this one is truely incredibly.

/Danne

[BruceS]

Thanks Danne!

[Marc-B1]

Ahum, supid question: what is bead blasting ? ( I speak dutch :-S )

I understand it's a kind of process to "unbling" your Breitling....
And when i go to babelfish, he translate "bead" as a sort of pearl....

Anyway I must say the result is :-!

I understand that titanium is very easyly scratched, but now you have real-steel and the titanium-look ! :-D

[Eagle]

Talking of customisations, I have a hankering (when a service is due) for Breitling to add a little silver metal logo to my CA. B-)

Would they do this? Would it cost a mint?
Anyone know? :)

[googoo]

Anyone know? :)

don't think they would do it, since they don't have a CA dial that has one on it.

[Eagle]

Fair one, but if I'm paying to add a little 'uniqueness', I see no reason why not. :)

[googoo]

Fair one, but if I'm paying to add a little 'uniqueness', I see no reason why not. :)

you'd have to find someone else other than breitling to add the wings, then.

[Eagle]

Do you know for a fact they'll not do customisation? Has anyone else had customisation done at Breitling? :)

[T Bone]

:-D ....I think maybe the only "ify" bit was whether it'd look right with a blue dial. It does look good, but as usual, I'm second guessing whether I should've bought the black dial model, but then I just like black dials :-)
Cheers,
Bruce

The one reason I still do not own a Superocean.... never been able to decide between blue and black! Got ready to buy one once two years ago. Ended up with a Navitimer! Was ready again this year. Still couldn't decide. Bought the Doxa (which I love).

Wonder what I'll end up with next time I decide to buy the Suoerocean? :-D

[BruceS]

:-D

The one reason I still do not own a Superocean.... never been able to decide between blue and black! Got ready to buy one once two years ago. Ended up with a Navitimer! Was ready again this year. Still couldn't decide. Bought the Doxa (which I love).

Wonder what I'll end up with next time I decide to buy the Suoerocean? :-D LOL I know exactly what you mean T Bone! I had already owned a black dial SO, a couple of years before I bought the blue one. It was just another day browsing through the AD, trying on everything. This one just grabed me that day. I guess after owning a bunch of Rollies and letting them go, I missed my Breitling.

Sometimes, time has to pass and other watches have to go through your hands before your remember how good the one you let go was. I DON'T like Breitling bling! That'll be an unpopular thing to say on a Breitling forum. But I LOVE Breitling build. It's easy to fix the bling part, as I just did. You can't fix a bad build :-)

There are things about my SO that aren't consistent with what I like now. I like dials that are vast and wide open. Just pure simple dials. The dial on the SO is anything but. If I objectively look at it I'll admit it's clutterd. Yet, I also find it beautiful and well executed. It's a dichotomy that I can't explain. The hands are too bloody thin and the dial has too much crap on it, but I love it. Go figure.
Cheers,
Bruce

[Francois Boucher]

Ahum, supid question: what is bead balsting ? ( I speak dutch :-S )Beadblasting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bead_blasting) is refinishing a surface by air-blowing ("blasting") tiny beads of glass or metal on the surface.

Could it be translated to "parel het vernietigen" "parel het oppoetsen" in Dutch?

It makes shiny metal surfaces matte.

[Marc-B1]

Ok, I understand, so it's done by tiny particles of glass or metal.

One can take off the bracelet from the watch, but how do they bead blast the case itself, i mean without damaging the sapphire glass ?

[BruceS]

Ok, I understand, so it's done by tiny particles of glass or metal.

One can take off the bracelet from the watch, but how do they bead blast the case itself, i mean without damaging the sapphire glass ?
Bry said that he sometimes takes the crystal off along with the hands. He didn't want to do that on the SO, so he just masked the crystal. He also explained that the hardness of the beads isn't as great as the hardness of the crystal so, theoretically, one could blast the crystal without damaging it. He's never wanted to test that theory, however :-D

There wasn't a mark on the crystal when I got it back.
Cheers,
Bruce

[altro]

Bruce,

Your SO looks superb - in fact IMHO it looks better than the original and I wish Breitling would move away from the bling factor towards the tool watch look.

I would love to be brave enough to have my Aviastar case matte-finished but I am a bit of a stickler for originality... hence I live in a perpetual quandry O|

Hats off to you :gold

[Marc-B1]

Bruce,

Your SO looks superb - in fact IMHO it looks better than the original and I wish Breitling would move away from the bling factor towards the tool watch look.

I would love to be brave enough to have my Aviastar case matte-finished but I am a bit of a stickler for originality... hence I live in a perpetual quandry O|

Hats off to you :gold

I agree - why can't he contact Breitling ? Let's give it a try !

I see that they soon will make a steel Aerospace Advantage. So that model will also come available in a bling and a non-bling version !

Bry can become Breitlings first ABB ! ( Authorized Bead Blaster ! :-D )

@ Bruce: It would be nice to post a "before" and "after" pic .

[BruceS]

Thanks Altro! I believe Bry said this was the first Breitling he had done. If you look closely at the pics, you can see just a tad around a couple of rider tabs that was missed, but I can't see it by eye.

Here are some before and afters:
Before
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/so1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/so2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/so3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/sorubber4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/soliberty2.jpg

After
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/SOblasted.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/SOgrey1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/SOgrey2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/SOcarbon2.jpg

How's that :-) Unfortunately I can't recreate the studio environment the before pics were taken in since I no longer have the lights.
Cheers,
Bruce

[publandlord]

Bruce,

Your SO looks superb - in fact IMHO it looks better than the original and I wish Breitling would move away from the bling factor towards the tool watch look.

Owners of various Aerospaces, Avengers and Aeromarines would probably beg to disagree - they are no more "bling" than yer average Tag, and with less shiny surfaces than many Omegas.

Personally I would like to see Breitling continuing to offer a range of polished and brushed finishes, without making the decision for me, although granted it's probably too much to offer brushed and polished finishes for *every* watch.

[altro]

That SO looks fantastic BEFORE as well as AFTER.... :gold :gold

However, I still would like my Aviastar more if it were matte; after all, it is meant to be a pilot's watch - and being worn on the left wrist by most pilots would find itself in the sun quite often. In the gliders I usually fly, the sun bombards me from left, right and above and shiny watches are even more prone to annoy at times than in a powered aircraft.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e398/altro/Breitling%20AVI%20Co-Pilot%20Aviastar/Aviastar-800.jpg

It's funny how when Breitling brought out the SO Professional some years ago they made it matte, saying shiny watches could attract agressive fish... yet now they make shiny SuperOceans again :think:

Cheers,

[BruceS]

Thanks Alan. Your Avistar is soooo nice! I know what you mean about the sun bombarding you in a glider cockpit, and it's quite the same in TA-4s and TA-7s I used to get to bop around in.

I think it's too bad that Breitling has strayed away from the tool watch look with most of their lines. The watches are so well built. Really a cut above some of the now popular tool watch makers, but a lot of the hard core tool watch guys stay away from Breitling due to the bling. I just loved the SO and figured from the get go that I could fix the bling.

I really do love this watch. I was telling my wife the other day that as much as I love brands x, y and z (I'll not mention them), there really is a quality difference up the price scale, where Breitling resides. I can see it. I can feel it, and I can even hear it when winding the watch.
Cheers,
Bruce

[number6]

Beautiful!!

I've had my eye on the SO for quite a while but every time I got close I would try it on and think "If it just wasn't so shiny".

You have found the solution.

Sadly I'm in the states and unaccustomed to all of this international shipping of watches intrigue.

[Cinq]

Hi altro,It's funny how when Breitling brought out the SO Professional some years ago they made it matte, saying shiny watches could attract agressive fish... yet now they make shiny SuperOceans again :think: When I look at the TV commercials from Greenpeace, the oceans are almost empty now. No need to be afraid of fish anymore :-(

Kind regards,

Cinq

[bry1975]

Alreet GuysB-)

Its Bry at Satintime.

Bruce about the rider tabs, its possible the bezel has water stains from the rinsing, which is easily removed. All the work is done by eye, and inspected by eye, I could inspect with a 20x loupe if required.


Cheers

Bry

[Eagle]

Hello Bry

Do you carry out brushing of stainless steel as well as blasting?

Mark :)

[bry1975]

Hi Mark,

Yes I sometimes brush cases and bracelets. Do alsorts of work tbh pressure test, dial relumes, glass replacement etc etc

Regs

Bry

Hello Bry

Do you carry out brushing of stainless steel as well as blasting?

Mark :)

[karmatooburn]

Hello,
Bruce do you think you coud re-post the pics of your SO. I want to show my wife. TIA

[BruceS]

Hello,
Bruce do you think you coud re-post the pics of your SO. I want to show my wife. TIA
You could just scroll up in this thread and see just about every pic I ever took of it :-)

[BruceS]

Alreet GuysB-)

Its Bry at Satintime.

Bruce about the rider tabs, its possible the bezel has water stains from the rinsing, which is easily removed. All the work is done by eye, and inspected by eye, I could inspect with a 20x loupe if required.


Cheers

Bry
Ahhhh that makes sense Bry. I'll give it a go. BTW, it doesn't bother me one bit. I can't see it except through a loupe or macro lens. I think you did a spectacular job on the SO, and on all 3 you did! Funny, I remember you saying that blasting MADE the PRS-14. Man, you were so right. I love that watch now!!
Cheers,
Bruce

[karmatooburn]

You could just scroll up in this thread and see just about every pic I ever took of it :-)

Thanks... and yeah I would do just that however your pics are not showing up, or at least not on my end or I would'nt have ask.

[BruceS]

Thanks... and yeah I would do just that however your pics are not showing up, or at least not on my end or I would'nt have ask.
Hmmmm. That's odd. I just read the entire thread again myself, and the pics are there for me :-S Can you not see the before and afters?

[karmatooburn]

Hmmmm. That's odd. I just read the entire thread again myself, and the pics are there for me :-S Can you not see the before and afters?
No they are missing on my end,I can see other posters pics and sig files etc but not yours? No worries I can google something I am sure. Hell your SO
has caused such a stir I bet its already on a server somewhere. :)

[BruceS]

No they are missing on my end,I can see other posters pics and sig files etc but not yours? No worries I can google something I am sure. Hell your SO
has caused such a stir I bet its already on a server somewhere. :)
I wish I had it on my website, but I've been so preoccupied with life that I've not updated it. So here's a couple of pics for ya
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/SObond.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/SOgrey3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/scubacowboy/Bruce2/SOgrey2.jpg

Sorry this took so long, but I've been trying to moderate too :-)

[bmwbruce]

Bruce, just curious why you didn't look for Superocean Professional???

[BruceS]

Bruce, just curious why you didn't look for Superocean Professional???

I dunno. I guess the thought never occurred to me :-D