ABOUT THAT ‘MAKING YOUR OWN ROLEX’ VIDEO

Today I want to talk about the video that's doing the rounds from Elliot Coll. Elliot filmed the assembly of his own Rolex GMT watch build with parts from Ali Express and I thought it was ingenious. 

I loved his enthusiasm, the clear descriptive tutorials, the transparency and I'm seriously thinking of doing something similar myself. Here are some of my key takeaways from the video .

There is no logos on the dial and I like that. How does one go about getting logos onto a blank dial face? Please DM me on instagram if you have some knowledge on this. 

The reason why i don't need a Rolex logo is because this is a custom build and I would much rather have something that is personal to me, and I'm not looking to pretend that I have a Rolex, only to pay homage to the designs that I revere. 

There is a Tiffany blue GMT Bezel with a GMT movement and case. It won't be the best quality, but then again the sum total of all the parts is circa £100 so I will be managing expectations. 

It looks easy enough, but I think there is certainly going to be a lot of attention to detail when it comes to placing the rotor, the dial face and the hands. The filing of the stem could also be a challenge. But fortunately Elliot has left links to all the tools he used, as well as the parts that he has purchased in the video. 

Great Tip 

In the video Elliot chooses to have different coloured Mercedes Rolex hands. He has some in tiffany blue, but then another in a yellow, which offers a nice contrast whilst staying in the desired colour palette 

It has a shiny iridescent pearl-like quality to the dial face and the hour indices markers look very striking. 

Great Tip 2

Get low down to the table and live with the watch when you're assembling it. There is little room for error when placing the rotor onto the adhesive so it's important you give it your full attention. Indeed I noticed in one of the comments someone wrote, 

I have to tell you, you did the assembly better than a majority of the do it yourself watch guys. You did it with confidence and you have dexterity.

Carl, have you thought of starting your own watch brand? 

I do get asked this from time to time. Having started my own e-tailor business selling custom shirts, Hawkins & Shepherd Shirts, and then releasing my own jewellry line Dion Dreyes,, creating a watch brand has certainly been an area of interest for me. 

My only anxiety would be the initial cost outlay, especially in a saturated market. But wouldn't it be cool? If you're thinking of starting a watch brand this could be a fun place to start. At least getting to know the workings of a watch from a base level will put you in good stead. 

You can watch the video on YouTube here.

Cover Photo by Omar Al-Ghosson on Unsplash