Critique Request Watch Design Running Leaf

EvanCharuk

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Hello Everyone! Im cutting a watch for a close friend and want to drop the design off in here for a critique. I spent some time with my pencil and paper as everyone had suggested in earlier threads. Erasers are wonderful things. I poked around and saw some advice Sam and others had given in other related threads so hopefully my designs are promising.

Ok so to start off i penciled up the sides of the watch I plan to engrave and used tape to transfer it over. from there I outlined my " engraveable space" and went to town. Initally I started on the small transfer but decided to scale up for the sake of visibility.

https://imgur.com/gallery/Xv5Lu
https://imgur.com/a/Zve80

Excuse the two seperate groupings of photos. I plan to do the leaves running up to a center peice which is probably going to be a block A. My leaves are spaced 3mm apart and the side of the watch is 6mm high for the majority, until near the band where it tapers to 4mm. I saw sams crossover ribbon tutorial but wasnt sure the best way to end my leaves and start the crossover.

On the face i planned to use the same pattern, with a small leaf stylization at the ends near the bezel. Not sure of the best terminology for these things. hopefully the drawings explain where I cannot.I didnt take a picture earlier but I also experimented with ending with a large foldover to fill near the bezel.
The watch is a swiss army black iodized stainless steel. Any good ideas for protecting the quartz face?



Thanks everyone :)
 
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EvanCharuk

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My friend also has a budget for reblacking? or it would need to be unblacked somehow- cut- and then reionized? I could tell him no but Id like to cut a watch for him and this is what he sent me
 

fegarex

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I would be more concerned about the watch. Usually watch stainless is quite hard and now it has an anodizing on it. With 35 years of engraving under my belt I would turn and run.
 

monk

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if the job goes sour, will he still be your friend ? curious minds need to know
 

Sam

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I wouldn't touch it. These are the kind of jobs that can bite you in the a$$ and end up costing you money, time, and headaches.

The movement and crystal should be removed before engraving. It's possible to engrave with the crystal in place, but not advisable.
 

EvanCharuk

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As to if my friend will be my friend if i ruin it.. I believe so! Im starting to think it might be best to have him find another watch that isnt blacked out and a ticking timebomb. I would really like to give him something I am proud of

Me and my friend apprenticed under the same jeweler and he has seen my work progress and basically wants to help support my endeavors. If i can pull this off I can afford to buy myself a power hone which would be good as I shape my gravers with a big honkin bench grinder and then sharpen by hand.

Is there any way to efficiently remove a coating like this? perhaps a bath in some hydrochloric acid? I dont think my friend is particularly attached to this watch, or the fact that its currently black! I have 2000 grit paper and could get a courser grade. I havent run this idea by him, only told him that you all are not enthused with the idea of cutting into the black.Perhaps tape off the black bezel and carefully remove the black from my engraveable space?I should add, Sam, that its currently broken down to just the frame and crystal,with the movement tucked away safely. It seems there is a gasket type seal on the crystal face and I didnt want to damage that.A friend suggested I may need a replacement seal on hand if I do indeed take the crystal face out.maybe loads and loads of painters tape with a duct tape cap to protect in the event I have to leave it in...:thinking:
 

Mike_Morgan

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A word of Caution... Black Stainless steel is usually PVD coated, not forgiving in ANY way! Additionally, it dulls tools really fast, and as others have stated, one slip and there's no fixing it. If you know how to use it properly, Harbor Freight has Watch Crystal removal presses.
 

Sam

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I know very little about those black finishes, other than they can be brutally hard as Mike said. I also don't know how to remove it other than to sand or stone it off, and I don't know how well that would work or if you could do it cleanly without it looking sloppy.

I'd sure like to see you get your power hone, but if it were me, I'd engrave a plain steel watch case.

You can tape off the crystal and should be ok if you're careful. Avoid clamping too tightly because the crystal sits in a nylon gasket that could be crushed or deformed.
 

EvanCharuk

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Good news everyone! I showed my friend some of the advice from this thread and I now have a stainless rolex clone in the mail on its way to me! So, any ideas on how to improve the design? It should carry over well enough to the new watch, but I'll be redrawing anyways
 

Marcus Hunt

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Watches are odd steels and often vary even within same models. I have no problem cutting Rolexes generally but the Daytona I'm working on at the moment has a really tough case. The bracelet, which is normally tough, cut like a dream. I think that sometimes they must work harden during manufacture. Panerai, Rolex, Patek, Audemars are all often tough but not uncuttable. The cheaper watches are often the biggest pigs to cut as they are often made of 300 series stainless which is a sod to cut. This Kindler & Thorpe prototypes I cut years ago were Hamiltons and I swore "Never again!". A Chinese fake Rolex case I was given to practice on was so soft I wouldn't have liked to have seen it after a year of wear. So a lot depends on what the 'clone' your buddy sends you is like.

PVD coating is often really hard, that's why the watch is coated in the first place. I wouldn't touch one and I'm glad to hear you're not going to attempt it.

As for your design, hmmm. That running leaf is fine for a bezel but won't look too good on a case. The case is too deep for it to look good; that design works best at 4 - 5mm width (max) in my opinion, but at the end of the day it's up to you. Personally I think that with a little more effort I think you could come up with a much better design. Watch sides generally are not regular (i.e. they taper towards the lugs) and this is where this design will really fall down, sorry.
 
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EvanCharuk

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Mar 9, 2016
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Watches are odd steels and often vary even within same models. I have no problem cutting Rolexes generally but the Daytona I'm working on at the moment has a really tough case. The bracelet, which is normally tough, cut like a dream. I think that sometimes they must work harden during manufacture. Panerai, Rolex, Patek, Audemars are all often tough but not uncuttable. The cheaper watches are often the biggest pigs to cut as they are often made of 300 series stainless which is a sod to cut. This Kindler & Thorpe prototypes I cut years ago were Hamiltons and I swore "Never again!". A Chinese fake Rolex case I was given to practice on was so soft I wouldn't have liked to have seen it after a year of wear. So a lot depends on what the 'clone' your buddy sends you is like.

PVD coating is often really hard, that's why the watch is coated in the first place. I wouldn't touch one and I'm glad to hear you're not going to attempt it.

As for your design, hmmm. That running leaf is fine for a bezel but won't look too good on a case. The case is too deep for it to look good; that design works best at 4 - 5mm width (max) in my opinion, but at the end of the day it's up to you. Personally I think that with a little more effort I think you could come up with a much better design. Watch sides generally are not regular (i.e. they taper towards the lugs) and this is where this design will really fall down, sorry.

Thank you for the detailed response. I really value the input from the more experienced engravers. I'll give this thing a good look today. Just got it in the mail and need to grab it. On my way there now :) I had visions of a adam and eve scene on the bands, hopefully I can translate that into a drawing then a good cut. Ill have some practice before I dig into this thing.
 

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