Hate to toot my own horn here but I've finally completed a wristwatch that I have been working on for over a year now. I designed it from the ground up, using the fashionable Unitas 6497. The dial is rose-engine turned...

Another view...

Dial at 20x magnification. The brass colors are reflections. The dial is fine silver...

Lindell,

Yes, you could/can do rose-engine turning on old "grungy" wheels. The only impediments are:

1. You have to have one of these machines (20k min. for a good working one).
2. You have to make a chuck for each different diameter size of wheel (you can do two different diameter sizes/chuck, but each chuck still costs ~$100).
3. Need someone highly skilled!

Actually you can do simpler designs/patterns using a straight-line machine and you can play that game for under 3k, you still need reqs. two and three though.

Best regards,

Frank "407" Kusumoto

Frank,

Sometimes you just have to hoot your own horn!

A very unique looking watch dial. What inspired you to tackle such a project?

Frank,
Very nice! Congratulations,
Pete B.

Phil,

Besides being a watchmaker I'm also a watch producer/manufacturer (i.e., I have my own line of watches). I got a special order for this type of dial and found out it wasn't much more to have ten made than it was one, so I ordered them, all in slightly different patterns. This is the one I'm keeping for myself.

I deleted the "bad" pic of the movement. Here's a better pic of the movement uncased with slightly different patterns on the wheels...

...just magnificent Frank!...magnificent!...Bravo!!!

Frank thats a great looking watch,you go ahead and toot your horn you have something to be proud of..

Glyn,

Someday I'll tell the whole story. I already did at my local chapter meeting last month. There's a synopsis if you want to look in the April Bulletin under Chapter 21 in Colorado.

I gotta tell you guys, this watch is a chick magnet! Hey, no offense to the gals. Stop reading now...

Today the teenage girl at the drive-up at McDonalds saw my watch when I was paying and told me she got off at 9:00 P.M. and to come pick her up so she could look at the watch up close!

Then... the bank teller saw the watch, gasped, and asked to try it on (had to go get some money to pay off Ed). She asked how much it cost, gasped again, then asked if there was anything she could do to get a "discount". I told her I only make them, she would have to talk to the distributor about the discount.

Well, I'm a happy married man, but for you single guys that are having trouble getting dates...

Frank "407" Kusumoto

P.S.- Thanks for all the other kind words above.
Next up is having the movement engraved to match the dial.

Serial numbers are on the side of the case. The silver engraved dialed watches will be #7, #14, #21, #28. The one that I'm wearing is similiar to #7.

Best Regards,

Frank "407" Kusumoto

Extraordinary

Thank you so much for starting this tread, and sharing this art.

I make a sensational Ceasar Salad, but.....

....a watch?! This is really fantasitc.

Frank, maybe you should visit your lawyer or doctor, or, well, the Miss USA Pageant--see if the watch works bigtime.

Even if you're happily married, it could be a selling point. (Not that your spectacular watch needs one.)

Congratulations.

Jessica

Congrats on your new watch Frank! Really cool and stunning. Are these offered commercially yet?

Yep Ed, they are offered commercially. Next up is to make a dial for the the 992B in rose-engine turned silver. Now wouldn't that blow someones mind!

Frank "407" Kusumoto