Automatic changes

Focus on automatics.

Monster

In a slight departure from the usual look at one swatch watch, this time I'm looking at automatics in general and more importantly how one can manipulate them. I didn't want to do this originally as there is a certain mystique for many people as to how this manipulation is acheived but in the past few weeks and months I have been contacted by a growing number of collectors who are concerned that they might be buying so called prototypes and oddities that are just "re-worked" autos.

Above you will see the monster set of three swatch autos by (I think) Dan Komar. These were not official swatch items but are regarded as true swatch collectibles in their own right and were very professionally produced items with, I understand, completely new faces by Dan K. Of course they have their very own packaging etc as well. This is an example of a true, original, limited, re-worked automatic. There are very few of this type around. By comparison, anyone can make their "own" version of an automatic as you can see below.

Myown

In this picture you will see some unofficial automatics that I have made. On the far left (1) is Breakdance in a black case with black hands and a second hand. Picture 2 shows a Breakdance with "almost" correct hands. 3 shows a breakdance face with a clear case and black hands but no second hand. The 3 Breakdances I have made so far have the actual original faces from Breakdance gents swatches. Not easy to find! Number 4 is an X-Rated with correct face and hands. This shows a few examples of the endless choices you can have. Of course you could take the face from say Boxing and put it in a black case with normal white hands but some combo's just don't work.

Here's a brief description of how I made them. First get a donor automatic swatch. Second, get a broken or no longer working swatch for the face and hands you want. Take the auto and open it up (no I'm not telling you how) and remove the workings. Take off the hands (best done with the dedicated tool) and lift off the face. Now open up the donor swatch (again I'm not telling how) and take out the hands and face from this one. Transfer the face and hands (or whatever you choose) from the donor to the auto. There are a few different types of hands and they don't all work on an auto! Then just pop it all back together and there you have it. It's that simple, but be warned ! It is a very precise operation and should only be attempted if you are 1, steady handed, 2, don't mind if it goes expensively wrong. Anyone attempting this operation should take note that removing hands, winders etc can be very tricky and you only need to get it wrong once! I have and it can be expensive. You will be very, very lucky to get it right first time and unless you have access to dummies and cheap autos it will cost a lot. The reason I won't give the full details of how to do it should be obvious and I don't want to see everyone making their own swatch autos (a whole new area of collecting?) and devaluing the genuine auto editions out there. There are inevitable problems in identifying a true auto against a gents swatch if you don't know much about them. Read on.....

How to tell the difference.

versus

Ok so the pictures aren't great for comparison but they are all I have ;)

So you are buying the x-rated above. Is it a true x-rated or an automatic? Well to the experienced eye it will be immediately obvious. The case is larger and wider at the 3 o clock and 9 o clock areas but the big give away is simply to look at the back of the case. Auto's have a see through back, Standards don't. The second hand does not "tick" in the traditional way, it "sweeps" in a fluid motion. As far as I know (and I am probably wrong!) there is no suitable auto (yet) with date function to use in say the X-Rated conversion. You can insert a ring from a standard gents with dates on but it will not function as the neccesary gear wheels are not there in the auto.

Well I hope that has been of interest to someone (give me feedback please!) and I do hope to update this page more often than I have but it isn't easy to get the pictures without a scanner and I don't know what you would like to see next. Feel free to speak up........

Previous featured swatches

Juventus V.I.P. 100 package. Press here.

Access to space Press here.

Europe in Concert "Jarre".

Magic Spell "X-mas 96" .

Time cut chronometer "Irony" chronometer.

Time to move "Automatic" .

Zapping "Art special 96".

	Focus on automatics. In a slight departure from the usual look at one swatch watch, this time I'm looking at automatics in general and more importantly how one can manipulate them. I didn't want to do this originally as there is a certain mystique for many people as to how this manipulation is acheived but in the past few weeks and months I have been contacted by a growing number of collectors who are concerned that they might be buying so called prototypes and oddities that are just "re-worked" autos. Above you will see the monster set of three swatch autos by (I think) Dan Komar. These were not official swatch items but are regarded as true swatch collectibles in their own right and were very professionally produced items with, I understand, completely new faces by Dan K. Of course they have their very own packaging etc as well. This is an example of a true, original, limited, re-worked automatic. There are very few of this type around. By comparison, anyone can make their "own" version of an automatic as you can see below. In this picture you will see some unofficial automatics that I have made. On the far left (1) is Breakdance in a black case with black hands and a second hand. Picture 2 shows a Breakdance with "almost" correct hands. 3 shows a breakdance face with a clear case and black hands but no second hand. The 3 Breakdances I have made so far have the actual original faces from Breakdance gents swatches. Not easy to find! Number 4 is an X-Rated with correct face and hands. This shows a few examples of the endless choices you can have. Of course you could take the face from say Boxing and put it in a black case with normal white hands but some combo's just don't work. Here's a brief description of how I made them. First get a donor automatic swatch. Second, get a broken or no longer working swatch for the face and hands you want. Take the auto and open it up (no I'm not telling you how) and remove the workings. Take off the hands (best done with the dedicated tool) and lift off the face. Now open up the donor swatch (again I'm not telling how) and take out the hands and face from this one. Transfer the face and hands (or whatever you choose) from the donor to the auto. There are a few different types of hands and they don't all work on an auto! Then just pop it all back together and there you have it. It's that simple, but be warned ! It is a very precise operation and should only be attempted if you are 1, steady handed, 2, don't mind if it goes expensively wrong. Anyone attempting this operation should take note that removing hands, winders etc can be very tricky and you only need to get it wrong once! I have and it can be expensive. You will be very, very lucky to get it right first time and unless you have access to dummies and cheap autos it will cost a lot. The reason I won't give the full details of how to do it should be obvious and I don't want to see everyone making their own swatch autos (a whole new area of collecting?) and devaluing the genuine auto editions out there. There are inevitable problems in identifying a true auto against a gents swatch if you don't know much about them. Read on..... How to tell the difference. Ok so the pictures aren't great for comparison but they are all I have ;) So you are buying the x-rated above. Is it a true x-rated or an automatic? Well to the experienced eye it will be immediately obvious. The case is larger and wider at the 3 o clock and 9 o clock areas but the big give away is simply to look at the back of the case. Auto's have a see through back, Standards don't. The second hand does not "tick" in the traditional way, it "sweeps" in a fluid motion. As far as I know (and I am probably wrong!) there is no suitable auto (yet) with date function to use in say the X-Rated conversion. You can insert a ring from a standard gents with dates on but it will not function as the neccesary gear wheels are not there in the auto. Well I hope that has been of interest to someone (give me feedback please!) and I do hope to update this page more often than I have but it isn't easy to get the pictures without a scanner and I don't know what you would like to see next. Feel free to speak up........ Previous featured swatches Juventus V.I.P. 100 package. Press here. Access to space Press here. Europe in Concert "Jarre". Magic Spell "X-mas 96" . Time cut chronometer "Irony" chronometer. Time to move "Automatic" . Zapping "Art special 96".