Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

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Nellipj
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by Nellipj » Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:46 pm

Wow, you 2 are pioneers. Very well done!

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raf42
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by raf42 » Wed Apr 11, 2018 6:41 pm

dinexus wrote:
Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:45 pm
Goddamned glorious.
Indeed. Thanks!

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raf42
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by raf42 » Wed Apr 11, 2018 6:42 pm

Nellipj wrote:
Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:46 pm
Wow, you 2 are pioneers. Very well done!
Nick's the pioneer, I'm just the fortunate follower ;)

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nweash
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by nweash » Wed Apr 11, 2018 7:10 pm

Damn Rob! Looks perfect. Looove the hole location this time around. I find myself wearing mine on NATO mostly these days because the lug gap is just a tad much. Still 100% better than only having the OEM option.

I’ll say it until my last breath, Steve is the man.

Glad it worked out for you!

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toxicavenger
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by toxicavenger » Wed Apr 11, 2018 7:14 pm

raf42 wrote:
Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:34 pm
Just got mine back from Steve. He was extremely hesitant to do it, took a lot of prodding and perseverance, but he finally agreed and did a fabulous job! I think this really stresses him out as he usually works on watches that are considerably less expensive.

Had him move the holes more upward and inward than Nick's, and I'd consider it almost perfect. You can still see the indentation in the case where the OEM straps "lock in", but it's a non-issue, not really visible when wearing, and looks more like a case detail than anything else. Only trying one strap today, one of my favorites from Art.

Steve also supplied me with a set of very robust and high quality feeling 22mm fat spring bars. They are the ones in use in the pics. They would be too fat for a Nato/Zulu I think (not enough room between them and the case), but I'll know more when I try more straps in the coming days. With them, the canvas is literally up against the case, maybe even too close - though it looks perfect when looking at it while wearing.

Lastly, a huge shout out to Nick, who was the pioneer in the effort to go down this dangerous road. Truly a courageous effort, and expands the versatility of this watch immensely.

Nick, I can't thank you enough!!! :salute: :cheers:

Pic of where the holes are placed:
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And on the wrist.
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Dang that looks great! Steve is a great guy also. Congrats on it. :thumbsup:

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5661nicholas
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by 5661nicholas » Wed Apr 11, 2018 7:26 pm

Love mods, this one took balls, and turned out awesome. Very well done, and congratulations

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dinexus
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by dinexus » Wed Apr 11, 2018 8:29 pm

nweash wrote:
Wed Apr 11, 2018 7:10 pm
Damn Rob! Looks perfect. Looove the hole location this time around. I find myself wearing mine on NATO mostly these days because the lug gap is just a tad much. Still 100% better than only having the OEM option.
I ended up doing this with my 3290, after clipping those bars. Agree that it's far better than the singular alternative.

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hoppyjr
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by hoppyjr » Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:12 pm

It’s one thing to drill an SKX case, but it takes giant balls to drill one of these.

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raf42
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by raf42 » Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:53 am

toxicavenger wrote:
Wed Apr 11, 2018 7:14 pm
Dang that looks great! Steve is a great guy also. Congrats on it. :thumbsup:
Thanks Terry. When we were discussing spring bars, strangely, he said the same thing about you ;)
dinexus wrote:
Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:45 pm
Goddamned glorious.

I ended up doing this with my 3290, after clipping those bars. Agree that it's far better than the singular alternative.
Thanks. They certainly improved the system with the following generation, but the fact you did the same thing... They should have used a removable spring bar then the system would be fine.
5661nicholas wrote:
Wed Apr 11, 2018 7:26 pm
Love mods, this one took balls, and turned out awesome. Very well done, and congratulations
Thanks much!
hoppyjr wrote:
Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:12 pm
It’s one thing to drill an SKX case, but it takes giant balls to drill one of these.
Yeah, he said it took a long time, as it wasn't measure twice drill once, but more like measure 4 times, double check every time, then drill.

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raf42
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by raf42 » Thu Apr 12, 2018 6:00 am

nweash wrote:
Wed Apr 11, 2018 7:10 pm
Damn Rob! Looks perfect. Looove the hole location this time around. I find myself wearing mine on NATO mostly these days because the lug gap is just a tad much. Still 100% better than only having the OEM option.

I’ll say it until my last breath, Steve is the man.

Glad it worked out for you!
Mucho thanks Nick. Yes, thanks to you, the hole location is close to the best possible. I'll get a better feel for how good it really is in the coming days, but based on this one strap so far, it's a winner.

Yeah, Steve is a great guy. Lot's of feedback along the way and he was very communicative. Stand up guy for sure.

One interesting thing, he said the holder he machined for you did not exactly fit my AT - off by a just a hair. He was able to adjust for it with a little work. Maybe they made some minor production changes along the runs, or maybe just a fluke. More a curiosity than anything.

Thanks again Nick!

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raf42
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by raf42 » Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:11 am

Threw on a few straps to test, some shitty quick pics.

Very comfortable on the ISO. Nice on the Perlon. Last three are neutered Toxic's (two ROO's and a Shiznit), also very comfortable. Had to use regular spring bars, fat ones are a no go for pass through straps. Fat ones work on Art's canvas because they are so soft and subtle (none pictured here as they are still on other watches queued up for wearing), but I think regular bars will probably be the ticket for pretty much everything.

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JP Chestnut
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by JP Chestnut » Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:16 am

That’s a really attractive watch.

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raf42
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by raf42 » Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:27 am

JP Chestnut wrote:
Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:16 am
That’s a really attractive watch.
Thanks, I agree. Built well, legibility and lume are exceptional, and my sample is extremely accurate.

Pretty much the opposite of this (picture from an email I just got from Massdrop): :shock:

Image

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nweash
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by nweash » Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:22 am

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I really like it on toxic jungle and gray if you have them.

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Great combos nonetheless.

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raf42
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by raf42 » Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:34 am

nweash wrote:
Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:22 am

I really like it on toxic jungle and gray if you have them.

Great combos nonetheless.
Those both look great, Nick. I do have a Toxic grey, I'll have to try it out. Been meaning to pick up a jungle, may have to do that soon. :cheers:

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spring-diver
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by spring-diver » Thu Apr 12, 2018 1:06 pm

Damn!!! That looks killer


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dinexus
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by dinexus » Mon Apr 23, 2018 9:36 am

ISO and Toxic Jungle for the win here.

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raf42
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by raf42 » Mon Apr 23, 2018 10:00 am

Yeah, ISO wears super nice on it and I just received a Toxic Jungle which I look forward to trying out.

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watchingyou
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by watchingyou » Thu Apr 26, 2018 5:40 am

I have a black/white 3568 aquatimer on rubber and I would love the opportunity to wear non-OEM straps but I think I would be hesitant to have someone drill holes into it. Although checking the work done on these 2 I might reconsider!

I might be the sole dissenter here , and I love Art's canvas - I have 2 on my Alpina Startimers, but I don't like the canvas look on a pure diver watch like the AT.
Ed -

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nweash
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Re: Aquatimer drilled springbar holes

Post by nweash » Thu Apr 26, 2018 1:23 pm

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