Sylar watch (2006/7 Heroes content!)

[DaveDW]

Hi all,

I've recently got into putting watches together, after the YouTube algorithm decided to show me how to put together a GMT style watch, turns out it's quite a fun hobby once you figure out a simple(ish) way of fitting the second hand. Then last week, Facebook showed me a memory of the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical watch I had, back when Heroes was a big thing, which got me thinking, I wonder if I can finally build my own Sylar watch.

Some searching on the subject to see if the hard work had been done led me to this place and this thread in particular: Sylar Watches... a discussion thread.

I messaged the very helpful dr_slurpee to see if I could get a copy of the graphic he'd made way back then, but set about making my own just incase he didn't frequent the place any more (he does and did reply ), I also thought with the movement I'm planning to use, the graphic might not work. Using the graphic in the thread for inspiration, reference photos of the Hamilton and some Sylar text I found online, I made my own, using measurements from watch faces I've previous purchased, I had to move the date window around to make it work, same with the gap from the edge of the dial to make sure it would work.

I got in touch with the company I've been using on Aliexpress for custom logo dials and they are up for making me one, with working green lume on the hour marker arrows. That's now ordered and all going well, should be complete in around 10 days, then shipping after of around 7 days from China to the UK.

Watch specs;
NH35 movement - This is a Japanese Seiko movement, very reliable and automatic, rather than a manual / wind up like the original.
Custom 29mm dial with cut out date window for the Nh35 movement, green lume on the hour markers.
Black canvas 20mm strap with metal eyelets - very similar (just without the leather backing / padding) of the Hamilton.
Brushed metal "pilots" style case
White Hamilton style (apart from the shape of the back of the second hand - can not find one in white with the round end) hands with green lume

If anyones interested, I'll keep this thread up to date, long forgotten series though, so this might be a bit niche now.

Dave.

 

[DaveDW]

Quick update on the current progress, the bulk of parts have now arrived with me, I went for two different straps so I could compare, neither are up to the standard of the leather backed Hamilton strap, but might consider that later down the line. There's also a second pair of hands, just in case.

The dial is also finally ready to ship, took longer than expected as they were trying to work round the white box around the date window, but with the date window placement for the Seiko NH movement, it just couldn't happen in a way that would look good. They've also printed the whole thing with a green lume, which was a bit of a surprise, but makes sense from a manufacturing point of view I guess.

and a poor fuzzy shot they sent me with the lume charged up and in simulated darkness

I expect the dial to be with me in 7-10 days, then I can get to putting this together

 

[DaveDW]

The dial arrived Saturday, the print of it looks to be great quality, however there is a slight lume issue with the minute markers between 6 - 8, main thing is the hour marker still shows and to be honest, I'm rarely out in the dark

Here it is attached to the movement in a movement holder (only step here was to trim off the "extra" feet on the back of the dial.

I then set about fitting the hands, which is where I found an issue (after I fitted the hour hand)..

This one shows the lume issue (will message the seller to see what they say).

Turns out the hands I'd purchased were for a 33mm dial, meaning they were too long for this one.

Much searching later and the only option seems to be to combine different sets of hands, as there isn't a set that has all three hands that I want, so this is now on hold again for another 7-10 days whilst I wait for several sets of hands to turn up, so I can mix and match and create one set. I'll also have to remove this hour hand, as it'll look too big compared to the rest of the new set(s).

 

[DaveDW]

It's finally done!

Since the post above, had a bit of a nightmare finding the correct, or even close to correct hands, they all felt like a bit too much of a compromise. Finally, last week a white version of some hands readily available in silver were available to purchase, these are as close as I'm going to be able to get, only real difference is the smaller circle on the back of the secondhand, but this is still a big improvement on my original choice.

Here's the hands attached to the movement / dial

Then here's the finished article - the screen is super reflective, very hard to take a clear shot of this with my phone (that's my excuse anyway)

 

[dr_slurpee]

Looks fantastic! Very nicely done!

 

[laellee]

Nicely done!

The 'fade' on those delineations looks just like a screen-print that didn't have enough luminous ink on it before being pulled.

You can buy luminous paint for watch hands, worst-case scenario you could touch up the segments with a brush bristle? Maybe not a great idea though, with my luck I would touch up the dull ones perfectly only to discover the new paint was A LOT brighter

If you wanted the link to the paint:
Luminous Paint Compund Kit Green Glow In The Dark Watch Hand and Dial 2 Part Glowing Paint

 

[DaveDW]

Nicely done!

The 'fade' on those delineations looks just like a screen-print that didn't have enough luminous ink on it before being pulled.

You can buy luminous paint for watch hands, worst-case scenario you could touch up the segments with a brush bristle? Maybe not a great idea though, with my luck I would touch up the dull ones perfectly only to discover the new paint was A LOT brighter

If you wanted the link to the paint:
Luminous Paint Compund Kit Green Glow In The Dark Watch Hand and Dial 2 Part Glowing Paint

Thank you!

I’ll be leaving well alone, the scenario you’ve described is exactly the sort of thing that would happen to me

Tbh I’m rarely out in the dark, the likely hood of the lume being an issue is slim, as frustrating as it is