Reply With QuoteThat looks great, nice work
Towards the end of the 1980’s, three companies, Sinn, Tutima and Precista, each released a low-profile 200m rated divers watch, all of which used essentially the same, very distinctive case housing an ETA 955.114 (latterly 955.112) quartz movement. Both the Sinn 815 and Tutima 513 versions were sold as mainstream divers watches
but the Precista version was distributed only as an issued watch to the Royal Navy between 1988 and 1989.
Photocredit: http://scubawatch.org/precista.htmlAs many of those regular members of this forum will know, a re-edition of the Precista appeared a few years ago in a Fricker made case housing either a quartz or automatic movement and sold and marketed by Timefactors. The issued Precista watches are hugely collectable and these days can fetch serious money (£ four figures) but for an order of magnitude less, you might take the approach I’ve taken on this latest little project.
We start this one with another Ebay purchase, this time described only as a ‘Divers watch case, 2 tone, black and silver’. It does not take much in the way of detective skills to notice the similarity in the case shape to the threesome above
In order to convert this from an empty vessel into a watch I would now need to source a movement, a dial and a set of hands. The movement choice is straightforward: The Royal Navy Precista would originally have been fitted with an ETA 955.114, the Sinn and Tutima probably with its successor, the 955.112. These are quite nice 7 jewel quartz movements notable in particular for very small stem height of 1mm (the distance from the dial side of the movement to the stem hole). The 955.112 is still readily available for modest cost or alternatively, and cheaper still, its lower spec 3 jewel replacement, the ETA F06.111. One other obvious option is the Ronda 715 (a bargain at less than a tenner) a variation of which was used in the quartz version of the Timefactors re-edition. For this project though, I opted to stick as closely as possible to what would originally have been fitted and so ordered a 955.112,
plus a white on black date wheel to maintain the stealthy look of the PVD case. The choice of dial was problematic, requiring some improvisation
for reasons deriving from the compact internal dimensions of the case. With the dial resized, and fitted
we need now to find some hands in keeping with the original inspiration. For ETA quartz movements, choice is severely limited if you want anything other than generic humdrum but a bit of research lead me to these beauties (any one what to hazard a guess whence they came?)
and I started to have a bit more faith that this is going to work. Fitting the movement to the case, trimming and fitting a new stem to the crown and we are there:
The final touch as always, is the strap. I gave this no thought at all because the only spare 20mm strap I had is a Phoenix military grey NATO which, as it turns out, suits the dark complexion of this one rather well:
and a wrist shot to finish
If you want to find out more about the process, particularly the dial resizing, you can find that on my blog here.
Martin
That looks great, nice work
I like your thinking, and how it turns into actions. Commendable post and a cracking watch
Gray
Indeed. A very enjoyable post and a great result. Enjoy!
That's a great read and a wonderful end result. Thanks for posting
Excellent result but I've seen another black one...
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Interesting, any more details?Originally Posted by swanbourne
Excellent result but I've seen another black one...
Eddie
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
I was pretty convinced the case I have was the same as the Tutima variant because of the narrower castellations on the bezel and so seeing this appears to confirm that. The one I have has a case back branded 'Key West' and so I imagine these PVD cases might have been made available off the shelf after Tutima released the version you've pictured below although my bezel trim is a sand blasted finish rather than the polished of the Tutima.
Martin
Only that it started life as another case off eBay.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Absolutely brilliant result Martin, the watch looks fantastic !!! Also an excellent post as usual and the dial work detailed on your blog was really interesting.
Cheers
Simon
Ralph Waldo Emerson: We ask for long life, but 'tis deep life, or noble moments that signify. Let the measure of time be spiritual, not mechanical.
Thanks Simon. Yep, the dial proved a bit of a head-scratcher but I got there in the end :)
Martin
Very well done indeed Martin
Mike
Cracking work Martin, very nice result to- superb looking watch ;)
Brilliant! Is it a useable diver i.e. are you able to seal it and WR test it?
The case was basically new, o-rings fresh and the watch rated at 200m. I greased the crown and case back gaskets when putting it back together so see no reason why it should not be as water tight as originally specified. I don't have a pressure tested but would have no hesitation in getting it wet, although would probably get it tested in the unlikely event I ever planned diving with it.
Martin
agree with worksimon, i was not aware of the blog. smart solution with the dial. congratulations for the escaped veins! would it be too difficult to match the lume on the dial? it looks like it deserves the extra effort
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