May 21, 2024
Final assembly today! Turned out better than expected…
May 18, 2024
Engraving day today! Fine line etching on the leading edge of the propeller followed by silvering the exposed brass. Next, fine line etching the trailing edge of the propeller and a thin gilt ring on the inner circumference of the ring dial, both left as raw brass. Next, applying the lume in the through holes of the radially brushed indices… I like the result of filling in holes that go all the way through the dial with lume… that’s 0.4 mm of lume!!!
May 15, 2024
Another couple months have gone by… Time to implement the design I came up with in February. Sometimes waiting so long between steps helps me solidify a design, giving me the opportunity to consider slight modifications or sometimes even major changes. This time I’m quite content, and have followed through with most of the cutting and shaping today.
February 12, 2024
I’ve been busy with other projects, but finally got back to the Airman… I’m thinking of the following design… It’s kind of a take on a pilots watch theme, a way of depicting a WWII fighter plane from the front… the movement as the engine, ring dial as the cowling around the engine, with an engraved propeller (part of the dial) that acts as an hours wheel keeper (which is necessary for this particular movement)…
November 17, 2023
As partial reimbursement for work done for a customer, I have ended up with a Glycene Airman Worldtimer. I decided to modify the dial to something unique, and started on the project today… a few hours later… Hand engraved minutes track and tiny logo at 6 o’clock… I used a 2.78 mm screwhead recessing bit to remove the paint and a very small amount of brass from around the indices holes, adding a bit of a radial brush effect to each marker. I plan to fill in the indices through holes with lume eventually… pretty sure I’ll end up somehow cutting up the dial to expose the Sellita SW300 underneath…
