My first watch assembly! ETA 2824-2 goodness

[pbankey]

Hey everyone!

I decided a while back that I really wanted to build my own watch from parts. I suppose I was in that stage of not really finding a watch that I liked aesthetically and not being able to afford any watch I did like. Through the help of various posters in this forum, I took the plunge and decided to do my own assembly.

Parts:
Movement -- Eta 2824-2, sweeping seconds 3h small date
Hands -- Brageut style, polished to silver (from the original blue they came as)
Dial -- Numerals with 3h date; cream/silver
Case -- Otto Frei Case style 1 with Sapphire & Push crown
Strap -- Black, hirsch mariner 18mm

It was a VERY fun experience, though I did goof up the keyless works and had to rebuild it at one point (always insert the stem correctly, folks!). I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I've got a DeBeer Jubilee-Style solid link bracelet in the mail as well to see how it looks. Also considering engraving the rotor, but not exactly sure how to do that or where to do it....


Full album: Watch Build - Imgur

[dbostedo]

Looks great! Although couldn't you have just ordered silver hands? (And I'd have left them blue!!)

[Okapi001]

Parts:
Movement -- Eta 2824-2, sweeping seconds 3h small date
Hands -- Brageut style, polished to silver (from the original blue they came as)
Dial -- Numerals with 3h date; cream/silver
Case -- Otto Frei Case style 1 with Sapphire & Push crown
Strap -- Black, hirsch mariner 18mm

Can you tell us how much did all these parts cost?

[Enrico81]

It looks really nice! Well done! You must be very proud of your new watch :)

[pbankey]

Looks great! Although couldn't you have just ordered silver hands? (And I'd have left them blue!!)

Thanks! I actually got the hands from Otto frei. Though, they had a little but of paint scraped off of them probably from rubbing against another hand during shipment. I originally left it blue but just didn't have the love for it like I did for flame-blued hands. I think this combined with the slight paint scrap pushed me over the edge to strip off the paint :)

[Nokie]

Very nice.

[dbostedo]

Thanks! I actually got the hands from Otto frei. Though, they had a little but of paint scraped off of them probably from rubbing against another hand during shipment. I originally left it blue but just didn't have the love for it like I did for flame-blued hands. I think this combined with the slight paint scrap pushed me over the edge to strip off the paint :)

Did you consider flame bluing them? Here's an example : Gunsmithing - How to Flame Blue Small Gun Parts for a Beautiful Finish - YouTube

Not sure if small watch hands would hold up to that or not...