Thunderball Geiger Watch Build Thread
66cooper
Posts: 71MI6 Agent
Well, the time has come to FINALLY have a reproduction of this amazing Q Branch toy. After years of thinking about it, sketching ideas, trying to find anyone who could actually do this (without costing an arm and a leg) and coming up with some basic schematics, I think I have finally gotten somewhere...
Taking a page from Bill over at MKII Watches and the Kingston project, I am thinking that before any production begins on this, why not turn to the pros and see what they think. This started as a solo project but I am thinking that if we can producing something truly great, that maybe other fellow Bond junkies might be interested as well.
I guess thats the best place to start really. Is anyone interested in a Geiger case for their Breitling Top Time? If so, then let the ideas start flowing!!! I will provide my VERY rough sketches of what I think the watch looked like. From there I would love to get peoples comments on improvements, construction process and all that good stuff. Just so you know, this will be produced on a CNC machine.
What do you all think?
Taking a page from Bill over at MKII Watches and the Kingston project, I am thinking that before any production begins on this, why not turn to the pros and see what they think. This started as a solo project but I am thinking that if we can producing something truly great, that maybe other fellow Bond junkies might be interested as well.
I guess thats the best place to start really. Is anyone interested in a Geiger case for their Breitling Top Time? If so, then let the ideas start flowing!!! I will provide my VERY rough sketches of what I think the watch looked like. From there I would love to get peoples comments on improvements, construction process and all that good stuff. Just so you know, this will be produced on a CNC machine.
What do you all think?
Comments
If anyone is really interested AND happens to have TT ref 2002 AND is good at getting specs, that would be huge. If anyone is very knowledgeable on the TT, and the the Venus 175 (or seagull 1901) Please chime in.
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pffft, CNC's for girls
as a thought on your project, why not divide the work up between a group of you, then you all get the end product for free?
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The idea was taken to a watch case fabricator and was going to be costly and entailed putting the movement, dial and hands into a new case. However, I suspect that in real life the whole watch head was put into a faux outer case because the pushers are missing. I think a real watch maker would have made provisions for the pushers. Furthermore, it was probably easier to do it that way, by the prop department, rather than going to a watch maker. It was most likely a one off outer case machined by the prop department. Not proof of course, but that's the most expedient method.
If that's what your after, a faux case for a Breitling Top Time, than I am interested. It's certainly do-able, but price is probably the overiding factor.
If you're talking about a homage, that's interesting too, but maybe equally hard to do because there may not be enough interest to justify it. Also, how would you operate the chronograph function?
DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
The nice thing here is that I have a guy that is willing to do this that is NOT a specialized watch case builder...yet. He wanted to start his own watch designs and I happen to catch his attention with this idea. The price would be as cheap as we can get it. I also am not really in this for anything other then the end result. I figure that if we can make one, he can make a few more if anyone was interested.
So, lets start with the main problem and overall design. For those that are interested, would you like this to be an over-case design (if no crown access or pushers) or would you want to instead have the movement installed into the watch?
Over-case option: One thing that confuses me on this is that this option would then leave the watch with two crystals. The one on the outer case and the original TT crystal. That doesnt seem right, no? Do you think that the prop dept took the TT crystal out first?
I'm interested in an "over-case" design. Only the original watch crystal is required as I see it with perhaps a gasket or O-ring between the crystal and "over-case". Second crystal is not required. I think the crystal in the movie prop resides below the bezel.
DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
If this is the case, that is a whole lot easier. Still, if I was designing this as a homage I think I would go with the crystal on the top. Maybe I will do a one-off of that:-)
Well my thinking on this is along the lines of what a prop maker would do with his skill set as apposed to what a watch maker would do with his skill set. Nevertheless, you would want to replicate what the real prop had. Going off memory, I'm pretty certain the crystal top resides about where the faux bezel meets the faux case. But, if I were attempting it I would certainly "go to the videotape", as they used to say, and make certain.
DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
I think that's a good idea. Now you may make me brake out my Tball DVD again.
DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
Looks good! If you use the whole watch head though, you have to shape the inside of the faux case accordingly. But nice work!
DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
Obviously, if we go with an over-case design, the back would look totally different. You can see where the problem comes in for the stem and pushers though when looking at the side views. The movement (or case) sits too high to allow for then to protrude from the flat sides. Again, the over-case would be a simple operation though, wind and set and install for the day. The pushers would not be operable per the movie.
Yep, that's right!
DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
I would think the inside of the faux case would match the out side profile of the Breitling almost exactly. That means the lugs, the crown and pushers. The inside prrofile would look "H" shaped because of the lugs. With CNC, you could probably get an exact fit. The real prop was probably a bit more crude inside because it probably used old school machining techniques. But yes, a tight fit. As for water tightness, it would depend on the gaskets and the type of case-back used. Not sure you could get away with a round case-back becuase of the Top Time lugs. Perhaps several screws and a gasket like the Panerai big Egiziano made for the Egyptian Navy in the 1950's, if you know what I'm talking about.
DG
Edit: Looks like you have the multiple screw back already designed from your picture.
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
I hear you. That would be a pain to have to wind the watch all the time. So that brings to mind a snap fit. But then you need a special tool. Not sure I'd like the idea of the watch without the case-back.
DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
if you decide to go with it I'm in for one or two.
I suspect a few others wd be keen
it could also spark a bout of frontrunning on the bretlings on eBay
buy now while stocks last !
So let's do it!
1. Dial size (visible/case opening)
2. Hand size (length from tip to pinion center)
Trying to come up with some figures here. With the dial size I might be able to get a better idea some of the Geiger's. Have a look at some of these screen grabs and let me know what you think the size of the lug width is. My original design was for a 20mm band for ease of sourcing but I think its smaller. One reason might be that the TT lugs have to fit in between. Not sure really until I get all the measurement shored up.
DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
While that's certainly worth a try, I doubt they will have it. The original family owned Breitling was sold many moons ago as well as the original tooling and cases. Unless the new company has purrchased the old watches for their archive or owns the old specs, you'll be out of luck.
DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.